HC Deb 06 March 1939 vol 344 cc1828-9

Motion made, and Question proposed, That a Supplementary sum, not exceeding£10, be granted to His Majesty, to defray the charge which will come in course of payment during the year ending on the 31st day of March, 1939, for the salaries and expenses of the office of the Commissioners of His Majesty's Works and Public Buildings.

7.30 p.m.

Sir P. Sassoon

This Vote is concerned with the salaries of the staff of my Department and various expenses connected with the work and administration. I am directly responsible for carrying out the work which is detailed for the most part in Votes 1 to 11 in class VII of the Civil Estimates, and the staffs and other costs incurred in so doing are charged on this Vote. In addition, however, I carry out extensive works for other Departments on an agency basis, for which I receive a percentage of the cost of the work to cover the cost of the services of my Department. Hon. Members will observe in the details of the printed Estimate that the receipts from these sources shown under appropriations in aid will practically cover the additional staff and other costs, with the result that I am in the happy position of having to ask the Committee to give me a token sum of only £10.

7.31 p.m.

Mr. Benn

Am I right in supposing that the amount asked for is reduced because of the increase in the appropriations in aid and that therefore some of the sums which the right hon. Gentleman would have spent on some of his purposes has not been called for?

Sir P. Sassoon

I am not allowed to get more than will cover my deficiency. If I get more it goes back to the Exchequer.

Mr. Benn

Last year we found out some very interesting things on this Vote. The right hon. Gentleman is the agency employed in, for example, building war department factories. If it happens that that work is in arrears we can find that from his Vote, and we did so last year. We found to our surprise that a lot of orders that had been given had not been carried out and the money had not been asked for. Does the amount of these appropriations in aid mean that there has been a retardation in the building of these factories and that they have not been built to the extent that it was thought they would be when the original Estimate was drawn up.

Sir P. Sassoon

I think that this amount is the result of the fact that we have had a speeding up of work on these factories. We have had to do more work than we originally estimated we would have to do. That is why the salaries for which we are asking is larger.