§ MAJOR STEELasked the Parliamentary Secretary to the Ministry of Munitions what is the procedure that a contractor has to adopt before he can obtain payment of his accounts for goods delivered and contracts completed; if he will state the internal procedure controlling the inspection and checking of a contractor's account before it is passed for payment, giving the minimum possible number of officials through whose hands such account has to pass; and whether he can state the average time which elapses between the delivery of the contractor's account at the Ministry and the date of this payment?
Mr. HOPEContractors are required to submit bills supported by signed advice and inspection notes. The internal procedure is primarily directed to ascertaining that the bill is in accordance with the terms of the contract, that the supporting documents are in agreement with the separate advices received by the Ministry, and that the bill is arithmetically correct. This entails passing the bill through four operations. The average period between receipt and payment of a bill is six weeks. My hon. and gallant Friend will appreciate the fact that before the final payment is made the position of the contractor's account must be reviewed in relation to any loans and advances that may have been made, or material that may have been supplied to him by the Ministry.