Sir M. BARLOWasked the Under-secretary of State to the Air Ministry what provision is made for the inspection of material supplied to the Air Service; and what arrangements, if any, are made for making contractors who supply defective materials responsible for those defects?
§ Sir W. EVANSI have been asked to reply to this question. Materials supplied for the Air Service by the Ministry of Munitions axe purchased either from direct contractors or by them from subcontractors. In either case, the material is fully inspected at the source of origin, with the exception of small quantities of material supplied by sub-contractors, which are inspected at the main contractors' works. The cost of replacing defective material falls on the contractor, and an excessive percentage of defective materials results in the loss of future contracts and even in the cancellation of existing contracts.