Captain A. EVANSasked the President of the Board of Trade what the present staff of the Food Control Board consists of; what is its cost to the Treasury; and when it is proposed to close this Department entirely?
§ Sir P. CUNLIFFE-LISTERThe staff of the Food Department of the Board of Trade has been reduced from time to time as its work diminished; and now consists of 23 officers, whose total salary cost is at the rate of about £9,500 per annum. This staff is mainly engaged upon the liquidation of accounts and claims involving large sums of money. The judgment of the House of Lords in the case of Swift and Companyv. Board of Trade (Food Department), which was delivered yesterday, settles the broad principles of compensation in respect of requisitioned bacon, but a mass of details has to be explored before the claims of the American packers can be finally adjusted. It is expected that all the liquidation work will be finished in the early autumn, and it will not be possible to close the Department before then.