§ Major GLYNasked the Minister of Transport (1) what has been the total cost up to date of the section of his Ministry concerned with development; what proportion is this figure of the total cost of the Ministry as a whole; what work has been actually carried out of all the schemes formulated by this section; 580W and at what cost either to the various railway companies concerned or to the taxpayer;
(2) whether the Development Branch of his Ministry has yet been, or is about to be, closed; whether any other department in the Ministry is also to be brought to an end; whether situations and positions for all the officials of these departments and sections have been found for them; and how many are still to be retained in other departments of the Ministry of Transport?
§ Sir E. GEDDESIn view of the necessity for limiting public expenditure, I regret that I have had to inform local authorities and others who have submitted schemes for investigation and formulation by the Development Department that it will be impossible to give assistance from public funds during this and the next financial year to any schemes, however desirable in themselves. None of the sum of £1,000,000 voted by this House last year for the assistance of transport schemes has been expended on such schemes. The work already done, however, in the detailed examination of the various schemes will enable the most promising to be put into effect when financial conditions allow of transport development being recommended. The total cost of the Development Department, including local staff, travelling and incidental expenses, to the end of January, 1921, amounts to £30,555. This sum represents about 8 per cent, of the total cost of the Ministry as a whole for the same period, and covers the whole work of the Department, not only the examination of schemes. The reduction in expenditure above referred to makes possible a reduction in the staff of the Ministry, the details of which will be set out in the Estimates, which I do not propose to anticipate. In any case, as I have previously explained, some of the distinguished technical officers who are assisting me only consented to remain in the public service for a short time after the War. In particular, I regret that I shall now lose the invaluable services of Sir Alexander Gibb, who only postponed his return to private practice for a short time at my urgent request.