HC Deb 20 February 1956 vol 549 cc18-20
28. Mr. Dodds

asked the Minister of Supply in connection with the sale by auction at Bicester of hammers, screwdrivers, paint brushes, car batteries and fuse wire, which of these items were previously offered to other Government Departments and how this was done.

Mr. Maudling

All these items were previously offered to other buying Departments by the circulation, before the auction, of the catalogue of the goods for disposal. This is the standard practice.

Mr. Dodds

Is the right hon. Gentleman not aware that there is widespread concern at the ever-increasing sales of Government stocks at give-away prices, indicating waste and extravagance? Is it not about time there was a thorough inquiry into these activities?

Mr. Maudling

The rate of disposal of surplus at the present time is very much less than it was under the previous Administration. [HON. MEMBERS: "Oh."] Exactly. The point is that when we are making a reduction in the size of the Armed Forces, such as the disbandment of Anti-Aircraft Command, naturally a certain amount of stock is thrown up as surplus.

Mr. G. Brown

Are we not a long way further from the war than we were under the previous Administration and that it is extremely likely, therefore, that there will be a good deal less stuff to dispose of? Will not the right hon. Gentleman apply his mind to the real problem? If this stuff is of use, is he satisfied that the turning of it down by other buying Departments is satisfactory? Should not the Government have an inquiry into how it comes about that other buying Departments can be ordering new supplies of the very stuff which they are refusing to buy from the right hon. Gentleman's Department?

Mr. Maudling

That is precisely what is not happening. They are not ordering other supplies of precisely the same stuff. My right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for War explained on 13th February about the paint brushes and the hammers. The batteries to which reference has been made had already exhausted their legitimate shelf life. The fuse wire was a special resistance type not useful for any civil purpose.

Major Beamish

Why does the right hon. Member for Belper (Mr. G. Brown) apparently think that hammers and screwdrivers are only used in war?

Mr. Beswick

Will the Minister of Supply tell us why these hammers and screwdrivers are not to be used in peace?

Mr. Maudling

My right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for War has already explained why he declared these articles surplus. If the size of the Forces is being reduced, the size of their requirements for all types of articles is also reduced.

29. Mr. Dodds

asked the Minister of Supply why 582 motor car tyres and 247 inner tubes were offered for sale by auction at the Royal Arsenal, Woolwich, on 14th February; what offers had been previously made to other Government Departments; how many were sold; how much they realised; and how this compares with the cost of purchase by his Department.

Mr. Maudling

The tyres, which were mostly synthetic retreads, and the tubes, were old stock for which no further use could be foreseen. Catalogues were sent to other buying Departments. Five hundred and forty-one tyres and 247 tubes were sold and realised £1,730. They were purchased more than ten years ago, and I am unable at this length of time to trace the original cost.

Mr. Dodds

Is the right hon. Gentleman aware that I went to that sale and saw these tyres? Is he really suggesting that the people who bought them are going to keep them as souvenirs of ten years ago, or are they going to sell them? Is he aware that some of the sizes were of popular type? Why cannot they be used in his or some other Government Department?

Mr. Maudling

There are plenty of uses for old tyres which I could suggest to the hon. Gentleman opposite. I do not think it would be right to equip our Forces, for example, with tyres more than ten years old.

32. Lieut.-Colonel Lipton

asked the Minister of Supply what loss was incurred in the sale by auction of surplus paint at Woolwich Arsenal last Thursday.

Mr. Maudling

The paint cost £26,046 and was sold for £13,400.

Lieut.-Colonel Lipton

Is the Minister aware that the firm bought back paint supplied to the Army only a year or two ago? Has not the right hon. Gentleman perhaps got a spare rocket available for the persons guilty of this really damnable waste?

Mr. Maudling

As I have said in reply to an earlier Question, when the size of Army units is run down their requirements are also reduced, and it is better to sell paint which is surplus to requirements than to let it run to waste.

Lieut.-Colonel Lipton

In view of the unsatisfactory nature of the reply I beg to give notice that I shall raise this question on the Adjournment.

Mr. Dodds

I beg to give notice that I shall raise with the Prime Minister the question of the need for an inquiry at an early date.