§ 19. Mr. Awberyasked the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he is aware that basket manufacturers in Bristol were not invited by the Rural Industries Bureau to submit a tender for a contract on behalf of the Government and that the contract has now been placed abroad; and, in view of the fact that the Bureau receives a grant of public money, if he will take steps to ensure that in future cases all manufacturers are given an opportunity to tender.
§ The Financial Secretary to the Treasury (Sir Edward Boyle)The hon. Gentleman may be under some misapprehension. While it is true that the Rural Industries Bureau received an annual grant from the Development Fund, it does not play any part in the placing of Government contracts.
§ Mr. AwberyBut if the Bureau receives a grant from the Government, is it not desirable that every person connected with the industry should be consulted before a contract is sent abroad?
§ Sir E. BoyleThe hon. Member may be under some misapprehension as to what the Rural Industries Bureau does. The Bureau gives advice to craftsmen and small firms employing fewer than twenty skilled persons in rural areas. It plays no part in the placing of Government contracts.
§ Mr. AwberyThe Bureau invited applications for contracts from various people in Bristol and let some of them, but apparently this contract was not 956 accepted and was given to someone on the Continent by the Bureau.
§ Sir E. BoyleIf necessary we can pursue this by correspondence. My information is that Bristol is not in an area served by the Bureau but that recently, in response to an inquiry from a Bristol firm, the Bureau offered to give such help as it could give, because it had some experience of the basket-making trade. The firm was seeking a contract then being let by the War Office, to whom the firm were referred by the Bureau. That is my information, but if the hon. Member wishes to pursue this matter by correspondence I will take account of what he says.