Sir F. HALLasked the First Lord of the Admiralty, what is the actual work of the contract purchasing department: who is the head of the same; how many officers are employed the number of assistants; and the annual cost of that department?
§ Commander EYRES-MONSELLThe work carried out by the Contract and Purchase Department is as follows:
The purchase and conclusion of all contracts for ships and their equipment, ordnance, machinery, armour, torpedoes, mines and other munitions, food and 1337W clothing, fuel and stores of H.M. Naval and Marine Forces and Establishments and in connection therewith, but excluding the requirements of the Works Department, other than coal and timber imported direct.
Contracts for the conveyance of stores by rail and lighter, hire of trucks, tank wagons and barges.
In order to ensure uniformity of policy and co-ordination of the purchases made by all the fighting services, this Department maintains close touch with the other State Contracting Departments.
Sale of old ships and old stores of every kind for all Admiralty Departments.
Selection of firms to be placed on the Admiralty list of contractors.
Examination of all questions relating to patents, inventions and improvements in trade methods.
Technical costings for Admiralty and other Government Departments.
Liquidation of work arising out of the War.
It will be appreciated that this is, necessarily, only a brief summary of the activities of the Department.
The Head of the Department is Mr. W. St. D. Jenkins, C.B., C.B.E. The staff employed numbers at present 166, exclusive of the staff, borne in the central Admiralty pool, for registry and copying work. Details of the staff are given in the Navy Estimates for 1923–24, pages 174–175. The numbers and grades employed are reviewed from time to time according to the work. The cost of the staff (excluding that employed on registry and copying work) is estimated, for 1923–24, to be £66,253 of which about 21,850 is recoverable in respect of work carried out for other Government Departments.