§ Sir A. Bossomasked the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he is aware that, since there have been developments in the building industry, the traditional method of making grants to universities for new buildings or important additions to old ones now no longer gets the maximum of building for the money expended, or gets the building completed in the minimum time; and if he will arrange for this to be investigated technically and modified to suit present day conditions.
§ Mr. P. ThorneycroftIf my hon. Friend is referring to the practice of inviting tenders for large building contracts instead of adopting a form of negotiated contract with a contractor selected otherwise than by competitive tender, it would not be possible to deal with the relative merits of these systems within the limits of a Parliamentary reply. My hon. Friend will appreciate that the question which he raises applies to contracts for all buildings financed wholly or partly from public funds, and not only to those for university buildings.