3. Your Committee also note that their recommendations in regard to Departmental Expenses, the co-ordination of Contracts and Surplus Stores have been accepted in principle by the Treasury. 4. Your Committee made certain other recommendations which the Treasury have found it necessary to refer to the Departments concerned for their observations, and your Committee will expect to receive the views of the Treasury on these recommendations in due course. 5. The Government informed the House of Commons on 15th July last, that they were prepared to arrange that a Treasury witness should attend your Committee meetings in future, and assist them. Since Parliament reassembled on the 9th November, Mr. R. S. Meiklejohn, C.B., DeputyController of the Supply Services at the Treasury, has been in attendance at all meetings of your Committee. Clothing Contracts. 6. During the short Autumn Sitting of Parliament, your Committee decided to direct their attention to the possibility of greater coordination in the purchase and supply of clothing by Government Departments. 7. Your Committee examined representatives from the Admiralty, War Office, Air Ministry, Post Office, and Office of Works. They also obtained information from the Home Office, Prison Commission, Broadmoor Asylum, Board of Customs and Excise, and Board of Trade. 8 Your Committee visited the War Office Clothing Factory at Pimlico, and one member visited the Air Force Depot at Kidbrooke, and the Royal Marine Depot at Chatham, on the Committee's behalf. 9. The Departments concerned with the Supply of Clothing mentioned in paragraph 7 may be classified under two heads, namely, those making large and those making small contracts. The Larger Contracting Departments. 10. The Admiralty, War Office, Air Ministry and Post Office all make large clothing contracts. Admiralty. 11. Admiralty clothing is obtained from four different sources: -(a) By purchase from commercial firms, under contract. This system embraces the main portion of the Navy's requirements and includes materials like serge, flannel, and cloths, and finished goods like boots, caps, hosiery. underclothing and blankets. (b) Under making-up contracts with Master Tailors of the Royal Marine Divisions. Uniform clothing for Royal Marines and certain items of Naval uniform are made up under this system, the work being given out to wives and widows of Naval Ratings and Royal Marines. (c) Under making-up contracts placed with local firms at Chatham, Portsmouth and Devonport. These contracts provide for the supply of "fore and aft" rig. (d) From the War Office as a repayment service Materials required for the Royal Marines, where they correspond with Army uniform are drawn from this source. 12. Your Committee have given careful consideration to these different systems. They realise that naval ratings are encouraged to make up their own clothing, and that the organisation and needs of the Navy are different to those of the other two Services. Whilst there are certain objections in principle to the two systems of local making-up contracts and the employment of Master Tailors of Marine Divisions, your Committee do not think the adoption of any other system would serve the purpose in view more economically or efficiently, and they are strongly in favour of giving employment to the dependants of naval ratings. 13. They desire, however, to make the following recommendations: (a) Steps should be taken from time to time to test the local contractor's prices for making up "fore and aft" rig, by inviting similar tenders elsewhere. (b) Cloth is at present delivered at the three Naval victualling yards where it is inspected. The Admiralty should consider whether it would not be more satisfactory to have all the technical examination and testing of cloth carried out at the principal yard at Deptford. War Office. 14. The manufacture of clothing for the Army is divided between the Royal Army Clothing Factory and contractors. The factory, which is entirely a making-up establishment, is supplied with the necessary materials by the Clothing Depôt alongside. The work done there includes full dress, and Service dress clothing, kilts, shirts, kit bags and overalls. Boots and hosiery are not made in the factory. 15. Clothing inspection at Pimlico is carried out under the Inspector of Clothing, and includes both materials and garments made up by contractors. Garments made by the factory are inspected by the factory foremen, who are qualified to do so. Inspection work is also carried out for other Government Departments, to which reference is made below. 16. The Clothing Factory is well organised and the system of inspection efficient. Your Committee have only three observations to offer. They note that no felling machines are used in the factory, and that consequently such work has to be done by hand, and is more expensive. They also note that no apparatus exist in the Inspection Department for opening out pieces before being passed over the perch for inspection, and that this work has also to be done by hand. The desirability of installing both types of machines should be considered by the War Office. 17. The Pimlico Factory is not at present employed at its full capacity. Whilst your Committee realise the desirability of keeping a balance between the trade and Government establishments in case of emergency, they consider that the possibility of employing the factory at its full capacity, either with War Office work or work for other Government Departments, should be considered, as the existing system does not tend to economy. Air Ministry. 18. Nearly two-thirds of the clothing required by the Air Ministry is purchased through the War Office, Admiralty and General Post Office. The Air Ministry contracts are principally confined to blue cloth and web equipment which are peculiar to that Service. Materials purchased by the Air Ministry are inspected by them at Kidbrooke. Cloth obtained from the War Office is inspected at Pimlico. 19. Your Committee consider that the inspection of cloth by the Air Ministry at Kidbrooke is not satisfactory. No test is made to ensure that the composition of the cloth is exact to requirements, and up-to-date machinery is not available for the examination of the cloth. Your Committee recommend that the inspection of Air Force blue cloth, should, in future, be carried out at Pimlico. The system by which this cloth was purchased through the War Office should be reverted to again. Post Office. 20. Contracts are placed by the Post Office both for cloth and for making up the uniforms required by them for their employees, and also for Government Messengers, Lift Attendants, Custodians of Historic Buildings, Warders of Royal Palaces, and Night Watchmen of Public Buildings. 21. Under the Post Office system all cloth is inspected for them at Pimlico, but the garments are made up by contractors, and inspected by Post Office officials at their depôt at Studd Street. 22. Your Committee consider the Post Office system to be efficient and economically organised. The only suggestion they would make is that it does not seem necessary to move the cloth from Pimlico to Studd Street before it is issued to contractors, and it ought to be possible to devise a system to avoid this. The Smaller Contracting Departments. 23. The Home Office, Office of Works, Board of Customs and Board of Trade all make small clothing contracts. Home Office. 24. Contracts for cloth are made by the Prison Commissioners, and the cloth is inspected at Pimlico. Eighty per cent. of the women officers' uniform, and 30 per cent. of the male officers' uniform is made up in prisons. The remaining garments, which are made up by contract, are not inspected at Pimlico, as the garments are made to measure, and passed on parade by the Prison Governor. 25. No cloth or clothing is submitted by Broadmoor Asylum for inspection by the War Office. All uniform is made up in the asylum by patient labour. Tenders for cloth are considered and accepted by the governing body of the asylum. 26. Your Committee recommend that the desirability of combining the Broadmoor and Prison contracts for material should be considered, and that the Royal Army Clothing Department be consulted as to the placing of clothing contracts by Broadmoor, and the inspection of the cloth. Other Departments. 27. The Board of Trade, Board of Customs, and Office of Works all place small contracts for cloth and the making of a variety of uniforms. The Board of Trade supply uniforms to the Coast Guard and the staff of their Mercantile Marine Department. The Board of Customs supply uniforms to the men in the Customs Service, who, for this purpose, are divided into no less than seven groups. The Office of Works supply uniforms for park keepers and game keepers, firemen in public buildings. Custodians at the Houses of Parliament and Hampton Court, engineering attendants in public buildings, attendants in County Courts, Armoury attendants and Yeoman Warders at the Tower of London. 28. In all these cases the cloth and garments are inspected at Pimlico. The War Office are also consulted as to the placing of the contracts. Your Committee consider this system satisfactory, but in view of the very limited competition for making up the uniforms of the Yeoman Warders, they recommend that steps should be taken to find out if the work could be undertaken more economically at Pimlico. 29. Your Committee realise that the varying nature of the duties on which the men in the above Departments are engaged entails the use of a variety of cloths and uniforms. As, however, the technical coordinating Committee on clothing and textiles is empowered by its terms of reference to consider the standardisation of clothing and design, your Committee consider they should give further attention to this question. The technical Committee should aim at the elimination of unnecessary distinctions, and contracts for small quantities of a particular material. In cases of dispute, the question should be referred to the Treasury for decision. General Observations. 30. During the inquiry the question of the valuation of stocks held by the Fighting Departments was considered by your Committee. As, however, they understand that the Treasury has appointed a Special Committee to examine the question, they make no recommendation. 31. More consideration should be given to the possibility of economy by inviting tenders for materials and making up garments during those months when manufacturers are likely to be least occupied with their ordinary trade. The War Office and Post Office have already made experiments in this direction, but further attention requires to be given to this subject by the Contracts Co-ordinating Committee. 32. Your Committee understand that the lease of Pimlico will expire within a reasonable time. Should the War Office decide to remove the factory to another site, the Government should consider the desirability of concentrating the inspection of all cloth bought by Government Departments, including the Admiralty, at the new factory. 33. Your Committee drew attention to the question of Departmental expenses in their last Report, and the Treasury in their Minute of 7th October agreed to review these charges. Your Committee do not see how the economical advantages of the Agency System can be appreciated or extended if Departments make too high a charge. They would therefore call the Treasury's attention to the charge of 9 per cent. made by the War Office for inspecting clothing, which would appear to be too high, judging by trade standards. Question that the Report be read a second time paragraph by paragraph, put and agreed to. Paras. (1) and (2) agreed to. Para. (3) Amendment made at the end by adding the words "And they understand they will be informed when arrangements have been made to give effect to them."-(The Chairman.) Para. as amended agreed to. Para. (4): Amended and agreed to. Paras. (5) to (11) agreed to. Para. (12): Amendment made by leaving out all the words from the word " Systems" in line 2 to the end of the paragraph and incorporating para. (13) as part of para. (12).—(Mr. Bennett.) Paras. (14) and (15) agreed to. Para. (16) amended and agreed to. Paras. (17) and (18) agreed to. Para. 19: Amendment made in line 7 by leaving out all the words after "Pimlico" to the end of the paragraph and inserting the words "and a reversion to the system by which this cloth was purchased by the War Office should be carefully considered."-(Mr. Bennett.) Para. as amended agreed to. Paras. (20) to (24) agreed to. Para. (25) amended and agreed to. Paras. (26) to (33) agreed to. Question that this be the Report of the Committee to the House put and agreed to. Ordered to Report with Minutes of Evidence and Appendices. |