§ Mr. Mainwaringasked the Postmaster-General whether the list of 23 firms engaged upon non-competitive agreements 936W for supplying telephone equipment, published on the 19th June, is complete; and in precisely what way are Messrs. Switch-gear and Cowan engaged in Government contracts?
§ Major TryonThe list given in my reply of the 19th June to the hon. Member for Islington, West (Mr. Montague) is complete so far as the bulk agreements for the supply of telephone apparatus and equipment are concerned. I have no trace of Messrs. Switchgear and Cowan as holding or having held a contract with the Post Office.
§ Mr. Mainwaringasked the Postmaster-General whether the contracts upon which the 23 telephone manufacturers are engaged are entirely completed by them; or, alternatively, will he supply a list of all sub-contractors.
§ Major TryonThe amount of sub-contracting by these firms under the bulk agreements is small and is mainly confined to cases in which direct contracting might conflict with the responsibility which the main contractor is required to assume for the overall performance of the plant. Firms carrying out sub-contracts of any magnitude are already included in the list of 23 firms.
§ Mr. Cluseasked the Postmaster-General whether he will take steps to see that the ring of telephone manufacturers engaged upon non-competitive contracts will be treated the same as armament manufacturers and charged 60 per cent. on additional annual profits over £200,000?
§ Major TryonI have nothing to add to the reply I gave to the hon. Member for West Islington (Mr. Montague) on the 19th June.
§ Mr. Mainwaringasked the Postmaster-General whether he is still satisfied with his Department's position in regard to the 937W price ring arrangements with the telephone industry, observing that three firms, namely, the General Electric Company, Messrs. Siemens, Limited, and the Automatic Telephone and Electric Company, out of 23 manufacturing telephone equipment, made collectively annual profits of £2,291,307?
§ Mr. Cluseasked the Postmaster-General (1) whether he will now furnish a complete statement showing, individually and collectively, the annual profits made by the whole group of 23 telephone equipment manufacturers, observing that some of the firms are private companies and their profits therefore not readily ascertinable, the public importance of this matter being that three of these firms made a combined profit of £2,291,307 last year;
(2) whether he will state the annual net profit of Standard Telephones and Cables, Limited, one of the group of 23 telephone equipment manufacturers who have non-competitive contracts with his Department during the past five years, this concern being a private company and the balance sheets not being readily accessible?
§ Major TryonI have no information as to the individual companies' profits, beyond that made available to the public by the Registrar of joint stock companies. The activities of the 23 firms referred to, including the named firms, are not restricted to telephone work for the Post Office. Our concern is to get a reasonable price for that portion of the firm's business which is connected with the Post Office.
As the House is aware, detailed investigations by my Department are now proceeding into prices under the largest of the bulk agreements and I hope to extend these arrangements to other bulk agreements as they fall due for renewal.