HC Deb 21 October 1946 vol 427 cc1297-8
38 and 39. Major Poole

asked the Minister of Supply (1) if he will set out the details of the MAP/Vickers agreement which operated during the war;

(2) what were the total payments made to Messrs. Nuffields and Messrs. Vickers-Armstrongs in respect of work performed at Castle Bromwich.

Mr. Wilmot

The general principle of this agreement was that full managerial responsibility rested with the firm to engage staff, purchase materials and organise production on normal commercial lines. The firm were repaid all costs properly incurred by them. Both Nuffields and Vickers-Armstrongs agreed to waive their claim to remuneration for their services in connection with the erection and management of the factory.

Major Poole

May I ask the Minister, now that he has had time to review the workings of this agreement, if he is quite happy about the way in which it has worked, and the results which have accrued to the respective firms?

Mr. Wilmot

That is a different aspect of the matter of which I shall require to have notice.

Mr. Lennox-Boyd

Will the Minister put the hon. and gallant Member for Lichfield (Major Poole) in touch with the former right hon. Member for Rotherhithe (Sir B. Smith) and the hon. Member for West Islington (Mr. Montague), who as Chairmen of the Air Supply Board for a large period of the war, were responsible for these arrangements, and when the right hon. and learned Gentleman the President of the Board of Trade, as Minister of Aircraft Production, had an overall responsibility for a very long time?