§ Sir A. WARRENasked the Parliamentary Secretary to the Ministry of Munitions whether, having regard to the fact that the Gretna Gunpowder Factory was a matter of war-time emergency and had to be constructed hurriedly, he will say if a great part of the factory was built with green and unseasoned wood, necessitating at no distant date reconstruction; and if it is to be established as a permanent factory, thereby entailing considerable cost to the country?
§ Mr. KELLAWAYThe answer to the first part of the question is: No, Sir. The buildings which will be retained for factory purposes, as distinct from certain hostels and canteens, are brick and steel structures, which will not require reconstruction. It is not, therefore, anticipated that the retention of Gretna as a permanent factory will involve any expenditure on reconstruction.
§ Sir A. WARRENasked the Parliamentary Secretary to the Ministry of Munitions, having regard to the intention of the Government to transfer the Royal Gunpowder Factory from Waltham Abbey to Gretna Green, on what certified basis the relative merits of Waltham and Gretna Green were considered, and what influenced the decision to transfer an industry of 300 years' standing (135 years under Government control) to an absolutely new site, thereby incurring expense; and, seeing that the Royal Gunpowder Factory, Waltham, was only lent by the War Office to the Ministry of Munitions for the period of the War, what authority does the Ministry possess to deal with this question?
§ Mr. KELLAWAYThe recommendations of the Committee that considered the future of His Majesty's Factories, Gretna, and Waltham Abbey, will shortly be laid on the Table of the House. The Ministry of Munitions, in carrying out the recommendations of the Committee, are acting on the instructions of the Cabinet.