§ Lieut.-Colonel Sir A. WARRENasked the Prime Minister whether, having regard to the Report of the Auditor-General on the Ministry of Munitions, he will state what steps will be taken to deal with the officials implicated; and what action will be taken in respect of the contractors concerned?
§ Mr. KELLAWAYMy hon. and gallant Friend's question appears to be based on the same misapprehension of the Comptroller and Auditor-General's functions as was shown in much of the newspaper comment on the recent Report. The Comptroller's duty is to call the attention of the House to any case which appears to him to require farther examination. He does not pass judgment on the facts, nor does he do more than point out that in his opinion there areprimâ facie, reasons why further inquiry is necessary. In accordance with the proper procedure, the Reports of the Comptroller come before the Public Accounts Committee, and until that Commttee has reported to the House it is not possible to say whether any action is necessary and, if necessary, what should be its nature.
In view of the fact that the discussion on the Munitions Vote which was arranged for to-day has been postponed. I may be permitted to point out that in paragraph 2 of this Report the Comptroller states that the cases cited are extremely few in comparison with the vast number of transactions negotiated by the Ministry, and that the sums involved are small in relation to its turnover.