§ Viscount SANDONasked the Chancellor of the Exchequer whether he will procure figures, either for the post-War years or for any recent single year, as to the total monetary losses to the State, by fire and from any other insurable cause, in the case of all Government property; and what would have been, in the same period, the cost of insurance premiums on all such property?
Mr. SAMUELBetween 1st April, 1922, and 28th February, 1929, there were 401 fires in buildings occupied by Civil Departments which caused damage amounting to £45,784. I am sending my 1745W Noble Friend the figures for each of these years. The corresponding information as regards the Service Departments is not available. It is not possible to estimate the amount of the insurance premiums that would have to be paid for the insurance of Government property, but it is clear that the cost would have greatly exceeded the losses incurred during the period under review.