§ 7. Mr. Doddsasked the Secretary of State for War, in view of the substantial stocks of paint sold as surplus from his Department, what is the purpose of placing orders for 1,100,000 gallons during the past twelve months.
§ Mr. HeadThe figure quoted by the hon. Member is the quantity taken into stock since 1st January, 1955. Six hundred and ten thousand gallons of 1945 paint have been ordered during the last twelve months. The types of paint included in this order were entirely different from those recently put up for sale.
§ Mr. DoddsWill the right hon. Gentleman state what type of paint it is necessary to stock in such huge quantities, and in view of the recent experiences of the tremendous loss to the taxpayer, why are such big orders placed to retain paint in stock for a long time? Is the Minister not aware that the paint manufacturers have huge stocks of paint and that it is easy to get, at very little notice, the type of paint which the Army is buying? If only steps would be taken it would be possible to get rid of the jiggery-pokery about surplus sales which is now going on.
§ Mr. HeadThe hon. Gentleman will appreciate that this question has arisen only recently, and is a consequence of the run down in the size of the Army, due to the abolition of A.A. Command and so forth. The types of paint concerned are not those normally used by householders, but those used for ammunition, jerricans and tentage, and also for painting buildings and for various specialised needs of the Army. I admit that this is a problem, but I would stress that it is one which has arisen from the reduction in the size of the Army and as a result of the long cycle of ordering paint between sixteen and eighteen months in advance of its world-wide use.