§ 1. Mr. C. Pannellasked the Civil Lord of the Admiralty whether he has completed his inquiries following his interview with Mr. F. R. Evans, of Leeds, concerning the procedures adopted in his Department in relation to the purchase of Government stows; and whether he will make a statement.
§ The Civil Lord of the Admiralty (Mr. C. Ian Orr-Ewing)Yes, Sir. Surplus Admiralty stores are almost invariably sold by competitive tender. All tenders received are held unopened until the due date. They are then opened and examined in the presence of senior officers who witness the due recording of the individual tenders. I am satisfied that this long-established procedure eliminates the possibility of any irregularities in the Admiralty.
§ Mr. PannellThe hon. Gentleman will be aware—though I must ask him whether he is—that my constituent, who has had great experience in these matters, suggested that there was some commercial leakage in the Admiralty in cases in which he has been concerned, and that there were people, known in different parts of the country, who had "leaked". These names were given to the Minister at the time.
I ask the hon. Gentleman now whether he is satisfied that the allegations, which were made in good faith—I shall not mention any names—were well founded, or whether he has been able to investigate the particular cases referred to?
§ Mr. Orr-EwingYes, Sir. The allegations were serious, and I therefore looked 1212 into them most carefully. In the particular instance of the firm whose name was mentioned, I found that, in tendering for machinery, it was unsuccessful with over 80 per cent. of its bids, so the story was not wholly true that it was always successful in its tendering.