Schedule 7. Amendments made, in page 32, line 2, after the word "Fixed," by inserting the word "Kilowatt"; in lines 4 and 6, by leaving out the word "total"-(Colonel Sir Joseph Nall); by leaving out lines 10 to 12 inclusive, and inserting the words: "One-twelfth of the amount of the fixed costs in the year of account, divided by the average of the monthly maximum demands in that year, shall, subject to such variations whether by way of decrease or increase as the Electricity Commissioners may by regulations prescribe, according to the magnitude of the maximum demands of supplies furnished, be the fixed kilowatt charges component," instead thereof; in line 16, after the word "in," by inserting the words "in each month of"; and in line 17, at the end, by inserting the words: "Provided that if the number of kilowatts of maximum demand so ascertained for any particular month shall be less than the number of kilowatts of maximum demand for any previous month of the same year of account the higher number shall be taken as the number of kilowatts of maximun demand for the first-mentioned month "-(Lieut.Colonel Moore-Brabazon). Schedule, as amended, agreed to. Ordered: To Report the Bill, as amended, to the House. Printed under the authority of HIS MAJESTY'S STATIONERY OFFICE FROM THE SELECT COMMITTEE ON ESTIMATES I.-CLASSIFICATION OF ESTIMATES II.—CO-ORDINATION OF COMMON SERVICES III.-TREASURY MINUTE ON REPORTS TOGETHER WITH THE PROCEEDINGS OF THE COMMITTEE, MINUTES OF EVIDENCE, APPENDICES AND INDEX. Ordered, by The House of Commons, to be Printed, LONDON: PRINTED & PUBLISHED BY HIS MAJESTY'S STATIONERY OFFICE To be purchased directly from H.M. STATIONERY OFFICE at the following addresses: Adastral House, Kingsway, London, W.C.2, 120, George Street, Edinburgh; York Street, Manchester; 1, St. Andrew's Crescent, Cardiff; 15, Donegall Square West, Belfast; 1926 Price 11s. Od. net. 59, 119 ORDER OF REFERENCE. [Thursday, 18th February, 1926]:-Estimates,-Ordered, That a Select Committee be appointed to examine such of the Estimates presented to this House as may seem fit to the Committee, and to suggest the form in which the Estimates shall be presented for examination, and to report what, if any, economies, consistent with the policy implied in those Estimates, may be effected therein. Ordered, That the Committee do consist of Twenty-eight Members. Committee accordingly nominated of,-Mr. Ammon, Major Astor, Mr. Walter Baker, Mr. Bennett, Captain Bourne, Mr. Brocklebank, Mr. Charleton, General Charteris, Captain Craig, Sir Henry Craik, Mr. Dalton, Captain Gunston, Colonel Sir Frederick Hall, Mr. Hannon, Colonel Henderson, Captain Loder, Mr. Mackinder, Sir John Marriott, Major Owen, Mr. Penny, Sir Philip Pilditch, Mr. Potts, Mr. Ramsden, Sir Archibald Sinclair, Colonel Vaughan-Morgan, Mr. Thomas Williams, Sir Fredric Wise, and Colonel Woodcock. Ordered, That Seven be the quorum of the Committee. Ordered, That the Committee have power to send for persons, papers, and records, and to sit notwithstanding any adjournment of the House. Ordered, That the Committee have power, if they so determine, to appoint one or more Sub-Committees, and in that event to apportion the subjects referred to the Committee between the Sub-Committees, any of which shall have the full powers of the undivided Committee; and that Four be the quorum of any of the Sub-Committees. Ordered, That the Committee do report any evidence taken by the Committee or by any of the Sub-Committees to the House. (Colonel Gibbs.) [Tuesday, 2nd March, 1926] :-Estimates,-Ordered, That Sir Archibald Sinclair be discharged, and that Mr. Ellis Davies. be added to the Committee.-(Colonel Gibbs.) TABLE OF CONTENTS. ORDER OF REFERENCE REPORT ... ... ... TREASURY MINUTE ON REPORTS ... ... ... ... p. 1 The cost of preparing for publication the shorthand Minutes of Evidence taken before the Committee was £82 7s. 1d. The cost of printing and publishing this Report is estimated by the Stationery Office at £320 Os. Od. FIRST REPORT. The Select Committee on Estimates have made progress in the matters to them referred and have agreed to the following First Report: (1) A Sub-Committee, consisting of Colonel Henderson (Chairman), Mr. Ellis Davies, Captain Bourne, Mr. Brocklebank and Captain Loder, was entrusted with the task of examining the form in which the Estimates are presented to Parliament, with a view to making recommendations which would be conducive of greater efficiency and economy. Our Sub-Committee examined Mr. F. W. Leith-Ross, C.B., Deputy-Controller of Finance at the Treasury, and Mr. F. P. Robinson, of the same Department. 2. The examination of the subject fell into two partsTo consider : (a) Whether the existing system of classification of the Estimates facilitates Parliamentary control, or encourages Departmental responsibility. (b) Whether any recommendations made under the above head would prove ineffective without some alteration in the composition or terms of reference of the Estimates Committee, or some amendment of the existing procedure of the House of Commons. ALLOCATION OF FUNCTIONS BETWEEN DEPARTMENTS. 3. Estimates are at present submitted in five categories: (1) Army, (2) Navy, (3) Air Force, (4) Revenue Departments, (5) Civil Services. In the present investigations attention was concentrated on the Estimates for the Civil Services where the need for re-classification seems urgent, and no recommendations are therefore made in this Report as to the Estimates for the Fighting Services or the Revenue Departments. 4. Careful consideration has been given to the recommendations of the Select Committee on National Expenditure in 1918. in their Seventh and Ninth Reports (H.C. 98 and 121) and to the views expressed in the Haldane Committee's Report in the same year on the Machinery of Government (Cmd 9230). 5. We are of opinion that a reclassification of certain existing Votes for the Civil Services would be of great assistance in making the Estimates present a clearer picture of the Services to which public funds are appropriated. It appears to us that the existing classes under which Votes are grouped no longer correspond with those major divisions of the functions of Government which we think they ought to 56840 a 2 |