§ Sir MAURICE LEVYasked the Parliamentary Secretary to the Ministry of Food whether his attention has been called to the remarks of Mr. Justice Atkin when passing sentence upon Mr. Alfred H. Gibbings; by whom the appointment of Mr. Gibbings was made and upon whose recommendation; what inquires were made at the Ministry of Munitions before he was appointed, and why his salary was fixed upon a scale much in excess of the remuneration he received when employed by the Ministry of Munitions?
§ Mr. PROTHEROMr. A. H. Gibbings is not, and never has been, an official of the Food Production Department, nor is there any record in the Department of any temporary appointment having been given to him. In November last a temporary official of a section of the Department, which was then in process of being transferred to the Ministry of Food, required the immediate services, in a temporary advisory capacity, of an electrical engineer in connection with the installation of a fruit pulping plant at Kidderminster. Acting within his discretion, he engaged for this purpose (at a fee of £2 a day and out-of-pocket expenses) Mr. Gibbings, who had been city electrical engineer of Bradford, and whose technical qualifications were beyond reproach. Mr. Gibbings's total period of employment was seventeen days, and the amount paid to him was £39 0s. 3d. in all. No other connection ever existed between2132W him and the Food Production Department. As regards the alleged knowledge by the official who engaged Mr. Gibbings of the offence for which he has since been tried at the Old Bailey, it has been ascertained that whilst the official in question was aware that Mr. Gibbings had been called upon to resign his post at the Ministry of Munitions, he was given to understand that Mr. Gibbings had done nothing of a criminal or dishonest character, that he had been guilty merely of an indiscretion, and that no cause existed why he should not be employed by another Government Department.
§ Sir HENRY CRAIKasked the President of the Board of Agriculture whether Alfred Horswill Gibbings, who was on Wednesday last sentenced to four months' imprisonment for dishonourable communication of official documents and who was called upon to resign his post in the Ministry of Munitions, was afterwards appointed, at a higher rate of pay, to the Food Production Department of the Board of Agriculture; and, if so, what explanation can be given of such an appointment?
§ Mr. ANDERSONasked the Parliamentary Secretary to the Ministry of Food whether he will state the circumstances in which A. H. Gibbings, who was sentenced last week at the Old Bailey to four months' imprisonment, was employed by the Food Production Department; whether this man, whilst employed by the Ministry of Munitions, was proved to have attempted to disclose to a foreigner a confidential report belonging to the Department and was compelled to resign; whether he was then employed in an advisory capacity at £2 per day and out-of-pocket expenses by the Food Production Department; whether the Department obtained references as to his character, and, if so, from whom?
§ Mr. PROTHEROIn reply to this question and to Question No. 136 by the hon. Member for the Attercliffe Division of Sheffield, I beg leave to refer to the answer which I gave to an unstarred question by the hon. Member for the Loughborough Division on the 1st inst. It is being printed in the OFFICIAL REPORT to-day.