§ 76. Mr. Frank Allaunasked the Postmaster-General what was the nature of the surplus engineering and other stores sold in the last financial year; how, and where, the invitation of tenders was advertised; how many tenders were received; and what was the loss on sale.
§ Mr. K. ThompsonThe stores in question consist of worn out and obsolete telecommunication apparatus which is broken up and sold as scrap; old wire and cable; second hand motor vehicles and parts; and such items as scrap iron, waste paper and canvas.
Apart from small quantities disposed of locally, sales are arranged centrally by inviting competitive tenders from firms known to be interested in the types of material available. Last year, 11,260 such invitations were issued and 5,160 tenders were received. In special cases, tenders are invited by advertisements in the Press.
Generally speaking, the stores sold had been written down, through depreciation, to scrap value so that there is no question of loss.