HC Deb 14 November 1916 vol 87 cc613-4W
Sir COURTENAY WARNER

asked the Minister of Munitions whether he is still appointing accountants of military age; and, if so, will he state the reasons for so doing?

Mr. PRIMROSE

The answer is in the affirmative. I regret to say that the supply of suitable accountants who are ineligible or unfit for military service became exhausted some months ago, and it has therefore been impossible to fill vacancies or provide for expansion of work without engaging a certain number of accountants who are fit for military service.

The Institutes of Chartered and Incorported Accountants, and the accounting profession generally, have done their utmost to assist my Department in obtaining qualified men, and I welcome the opportunity of recognising this publicly. I have also advertised for accountants in the professional journals, but without substantial results. The private firms with their depleted staffs are heavily overworked and cannot be expected, except in isolated instances, to spare more of their staff for Government work.

Qualified accountants are required in my Department to deal with work of the following kinds:

  1. (1) Accounting for the central expenditure of the Ministry.
  2. (2) Cost accounting, upon which the price of munitions depends, and through which the managements of factories are enabled to eliminate waste in every department. This applies to all classes of munitions material and not to shells only.
  3. (3) Auditing cash transactions, and organising stores systems for the receipt and disposal of material in the numerous Government factories and stores.
  4. (4) Limitation of profits in controlled establishments.

Most of this work is highly specialised, and can only be entrusted to members of one of the recognised institutes of accountants, as they alone possess the essential status, experience, and training.

The hon. Member will recognise the necessity of securing and retaining the services of a sufficient number of skilled accountants when I remind him that the expenditure for which the Ministry of Munitions is responsible is greater than the total annual national expenditure before the War.