§ Sir F. SYKESasked the Postmaster-General the equipment of foreign origin or manufacture, with their quantities and values, under orders outstanding on 1st November, 1924, and under orders placed subsequently for the Post Office; and if he will state in respect of each of such orders the circumstances which necessitated foreign sources of supply?
§ Sir W. MITCHELL-THOMSONThe figures for the dates referred to are not directly available and would require a large amount of labour to extract. During the financial year 1924–25 the total value of foreign manufactured articles purchased by the Post Office in connection with contracts amounting to nearly £13,500,000, was about £71,000, or slightly over one-half of 1 per cent. Of this, about £30,000 represents purchases, for experimental purposes, of cable and apparatus not manufactured in this country.