§ Mr. A. M. SAMUELasked the Chancellor of the Exchequer why Mr. A. Heane, of Ash Vale, Surrey, the inventor of a synchronised firing gear for aircraft, has not yet received out-of-pocket expenses incurred with regard to his invention, and for which he made a claim as long ago as 1918; whether Mr. de Mole, who received £987 out-of-pocket expenses with regard to his tank invention, after his claim had been rejected by the Royal Commission on Awards, was asked to supply a detailed statement to show how this amount was arrived at; and why Mr. Heane's claim was not dealt with in the same way as Mr. de Mole's?
§ Mr. LEACHI have been asked to reply. As regards the first part of the question, the claim for out-of-pocket expenses put forward by Mr. Heane was disallowed on the ground that the expenses were not incurred at the request or with the consent of any Government Department, and Mr. Heane was so informed. As regards the second part of the question, I am not prepared' to admit that Mr. Heane's claim is in any way analogous to that of Mr. de Mole, which was settled in the special circumstances explained by my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for War in reply to the hon. Member for IIford on 7th May last.