§ 46. Mr. Henderson Stewartasked the Minister for the Co-ordination of Defence what is the method adopted by his Department to survey and register the various factories, large and small, in the provinces which are potentially available for rearmament work; whether he is aware that many small factories, though they offer to undertake such work, are not examined by any Department of the State and have no ready means or Government assistance to make contact with the main constructors of armaments in order to offer themselves as sub-contractors; and whether, in order to remove complaints from employers and workers alike and to speed up rearmament work, he will reconside the potentialities of small factories and issue a public statement on the matter?
§ The Minister for the Co-ordination of Defence (Sir Thomas Inskip)As the statement asked for by my hon. Friend is necessarily long, I will ask his permission to circulate it in the OFFICIAL REPORT.
Mr. StewartWill my right hon. Friend give an assurance that all possible steps are being taken to bring into effective production every small factory?
§ Sir T. InskipIf my hon. Friend will read the long statement which I propose to issue, he will satisfy himself on that point. I shall be glad to listen to any other suggestion he may have to make.
§ Following is the statement:
§ The question of using the services of firms for the manufacture of armaments 217 and other war material may be dealt with under two headings
- (a) Requirements under the rearmament programme.
- (b) War requirements.
§ As regards the former, the present Service supply requirements under the programme, though of large volume and in some cases difficult to secure are, in contrast with the munitions requirements during the last War, not unlimited in extent. At that time it was a matter of developing munitions capacity to the very utmost and bringing in all suitable firms, large and small, to co-operate in the war effort in order to meet continuous and expanding war wastage. The needs of the present situation, on the other hand, are, except in some important cases, adequately met by the system of contracting between the Service Departments and firms selected for their special capacity and equipment. Contracts continue to be placed by the Service Departments concerned, and it has therefore been my practice to recommend any firms who have offered their services, and who might be of use in connection with the programme, to apply to the Directors of Contracts of the Service Departments most likely to be interested, and to ask to be put on the Departments' lists. It would be preferable if, in future, any firms desiring to offer their services should do so direct to the Service Departments and not to me. Inspection is made in every case in which there is reason to believe that the services of the firm in question might be used, and arrangements also exist for securing the exchange of all information between the Departments as to suitable capacity for special requirements.
§ In the case of most of the stores, the firms selected by the Ordering Department for their supply are those who were either on the Departmental lists at the outset or have been added to those lists as the result of an application. All firms on the Departments' lists are considered, but it does not, of course, follow that any particular firm will be successful in securing a contract. In cases where direct contracts are not received, a possible way in which firms can co-operate in the programme is to act as sub-contractors to the main contracting firms. It is the usual Government practice to allow main contractors where feasible, to select their own sub-contractors, and the possibilities 218 of obtaining such work can, of course, be explored through the normal trade channels by any of the smaller firms who may be interested. In cases where such firms experience difficulty in making the necessary business contact with main contractors and require advice as to the best method by which to proceed, it is suggested that they should approach the appropriate trade body who would doubtless do anything possible to bring within reach of them any work for which they might be considered suitable. In the case of a firm which considers itself equipped for the production of components for aircraft, which is the main supply where expansion is at present needed, such an approach had best be made to the Society of Aircraft Constructors.
§ As regards supply in war, as distinct from rearmament, which is covered by the second category, an organisation of the Committee of Imperial Defence, known as the Supply Board, has been in existence for a number of years and has, as one of its duties, the carrying out of a survey, by means of its Supply Committees, of the industrial resources of the country and allocating the manufacturing capacity of individual firms for the production of specific war stores and equipment. Between 6,000 and 7,000 firms have been so allocated up to the present. This organisation is superimposed on the normal peace-time organisations of the Service Departments and is not separate from them. It co-ordinates the war supply plans of those Departments, representatives of whom are members both of the Supply Board and of its Supply Committees. All contact between the latter and individual firms is made through the medium of these Departmental representatives who, through their own Departmental organisation, carry out the investigation of manufacturing capacity and the inspection of firms' works. The Supply Board and the Supply Committees act as the medium of exchange of all such information regarding firms.
§ In allocating the manufacturing capacity of firms for war purposes, consideration is normally first given to those firms already on the Departmental lists, and from whom normal peace-time supplies, or supplies under the rearmament programme, are being obtained, but the size of the war demand makes it necessary to go outside this list and to seek new 219 capacity. The search for such capacity is carried out by the Departmental representatives, and it is, therefore, desirable that firms, wishing to offer their services for supply during time of war only, either as main or sub-contractors, should approach the Service.Departments giving particulars of their facilities and the class of article which they consider themselves capable of producing.