§ Mr. CryerTo ask the Chairman of the Catering Committee if he will list the occasions in each of the last five years when cutlery has been sold; what were the scrap weights and the estimated number of items in each consignment; and if he will make a statement.
§ Mr. Colin ShepherdI understand from the Director of Catering Services that the Refreshment Department records show that cutlery and holloware has been sold on three occasions, detailed as follows:
Date Scrap weight cwt. Approximate number of items Scrap value per cwt. Credit received £ £ 3 May 91 6.82 2,000 16.00 109 12 February 1992 4.25 500 17.50 74 1 April 1993 1.37 75 25.50 35 The Department's records indicate that damaged and worn out cutlery and holloware were not sold back to its supplier until May 1991. Prior to that time, they were written off by stock-takers, agreed by the National Audit Office as "unusable" and accumulated in the Refreshment Department stores. This accumulated stock was sold in the two lots noted above, dated May 1991 and February 1992, 95W hence the large number of items disposed of in these transactions. At the financial year-end stock-take in March 1993, approximately 75 items were written off as a result of wear and tear and were sold for scrap in the transaction above dated April 1993.
There is no evidence of any substantial theft of cutlery or holloware from the House.
The Department's conditions of trade now specify that no cutlery or holloware will be disposed of by its supplier unless all identifiable crests and marks have been erased.
§ Mr. CryerTo ask the Chairman of the Catering Committee if he will publish the letter from the Director of Catering Services to the hon. Member for Bradford, South dated 27 April, relating to House of Commons silverware.
§ Mr. Colin ShepherdThe terms of the letter are as follows
Further to your question tabled for reply on 26 April, I am pleased to write with the details you requested.The cutlery to which I believe you refer was damaged as a result of normal wear and tear and was disposed of by sale as scrap to the Department's nominated silverware supplier. In fact two small consignments of redundant silverware have been disposed of in this manner in the past six months. The total scrap value paid to the Department was £109, based on the weight of the redundant silverware.In November 1992, it was brought to our attention by The Sunday Times that House of Commons silverware was being offered for sale in the USA. It transpired that a consignment of redundant silverware sold back to our supplier in the normal way had been sold on by them for melting down by a third party without having first erased all Portcullis badging. The silverware was then sold on by the third party and eventually appeared for sale on the open market in the USA. Rest assured, contractual agreement has since been formalised that no old silverware will be disposed of by our supplier unless all identifiable crests and marks have been erased.I trust this information is helpful to you, please do not hesitate to contact me if you have any points you would like to raise on the matter.I understand from the Director of Catering Services that there was an error in the letter. The two consignments of silverware mentioned in the second paragraph of the letter were in fact disposed of in February 1992 and April 1993.