§ 11. Sir W. Bromley-Davenportasked the President of the Board of Trade with regard to the notice in the Export Service Bulletin of 10th April about tenders invited by the Ports Railways Transport Department of Portuguese East Africa, why there was a delay of three weeks in supplying his Department's list of forty firms willing to submit tenders on behalf of British manufacturers; whether he is aware that the list included firms not in a position to submit tenders; and whether he will ensure that full and early details are given to inquiries about matters of such importance to United Kingdom export trade.
§ Mr. ErrollMy Department has special arrangements for dealing with inquiries about tenders which normally work entirely satisfactorily and expeditiously. The 401 delay in this particular case, which I greatly regret, was due to an unfortunate series of human errors.
As regards the second part of the Question, the list supplied by my Department made it quite clear that it was a list of firms qualified to tender but that some of the firms listed might be unable to do so because of other commitments. These would not normally be known either to my Department or to the Commercial Officer at the overseas post. The completion of agency arrangements must of course be a matter for firms themselves.
§ Sir W. Bromley-DavenportIs my right Hon. Friend aware that, as a result of this delay, large export orders may have been lost? Is he further aware that this is not the only incident of its kind which has happened, and will he look into the matter?
§ Mr. ErrollI am very sorry that this error occurred and we are doing our best to ensure that it will not happen again. The firm concerned could have helped us by sending its request to the address given in the particular issue of the Export Services Bulletin instead of to our regional office. However, we are taking steps to ensure that mistakes of this kind do not, so far as is humanly possible, recur.