§ 22. Sir Alfred Beitasked the Secretary of State for Air why the Report and Statement of Accounts of the British Overseas Airways Corporation for the year ended 31st March, 1942, were only presented to the House on 27th July, 1943, a delay of nearly 16 months?
§ Sir A. SinclairThe material from which these Accounts and the Report are compiled comes from many different and often distant parts of the world and its assembly in present circumstances necessarily take time. When the Accounts are finally available, they have first to be examined by the Corporation's auditors and then examined by my Department from the security aspect. The Report, which has also to be passed by the security authorities, cannot be completed in advance of the Accounts. There has in fact been no avoidable delay in the preparation and presentation of these documents.