Abbildungen der Seite
PDF
EPUB

Report, 1924-continued.

Trinity House.-Grants to General Lighthouse Fund, removal of wrecks due to Enemy action, Hipwood 644-51.

Turkish Treaty.-Mixed Arbitral Tribunal to be set up under, Robinson 1085-93,

Typists.-Male to be replaced by female, Clark 860.

U.

U.S.A.-North Atlantic Ice Patrol, see that title.

W.

War Bonus.-Increase, Taylor 854.

War Insurance Accounts Branch.-Taylor 929-30-Estimates, App. I (p. 133).

War Services.-Estimates, Report 3; Payne 749-53; Taylor App. I (p. 133-4).

Z.

Zinc Producers' Association Proprietary, Ltd.-Government not interested in, Mead Taylor 927-8.

(49578-22) Wt. 14926-3116 750 10/24 H. St. G. 71

[blocks in formation]

PROCEEDINGS OF THE COMMITTEE, MINUTES OF EVIDENCE, AND INDEX.

Ordered, by the House of Commons, to be Printed,
July 15th and 29th, 1924.

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; 28, Abingdon Street, London, S.W.1; York Street, Manchester; 1, St. Andrew's Crescent, Cardiff;

or 120, George Street, Edinburgh;

or through any Bookseller.

1925

Price 5s. net.

127, 142

SECOND REPORT FROM THE

ORDER OF REFERENCE.

[Thursday, 6th March, 1924]:-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.

Ördered, That the Committee do consist of Twenty-eight Members.

Committee accordingly nominated of,-Mr. Ackroyd, Mr. Black, Mr. Buchanan, Mr. Charleton, Sir Henry Craik, Captain Viscount Curzon, Mr. Franklin, Mr. Hannon, Mr. Harmsworth, Mr. Haycock, Mr. Hoffman, Mr. Pethick-Lawrence, Mr Mackinder, Sir John Marriott, Sir William Mitchell-Thomson, Mr. Mond, Mr. Murray, Sir John Pennefather, Sir Philip Pilditch, Mr. Rose, Mr. Arthur Michael Samuel, Sir Archibald Sinclair, Mr. D. G. Somerville, Colonel Spender-Clay, Mr. Graham White, Colonel Penry Williams, Sir Frederic Wise, and Mr. Andrew Young.

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. (Mr. Griffiths.)

[blocks in formation]

The cost of preparing for publication the shorthand Minutes of evidence taken before the Committee was £58 15s.

The cost of printing and publishing this Report is estimated by the Stationery Office at £148 15s. This amount is additional to the cost of the separate issue of the Reports (£7 10s.).

1

SECOND REPORT.

THE SELECT COMMITTEE ON ESTIMATES have made further progress in the matters to them referred and have agreed to the following SECOND REPORT.

(1) Your Committee have made a detailed investigation into the Estimates of the Ministry of Health and have examined Sir Arthur Robinson, K.C.B., C.B.E., First Secretary; Mr. E. J. Strohmenger, C.B., Accountant-General; and Sir Alfred Woodgate, C.B.E., Director of Establishments. Your Committee also examined Mr. E. F. C. Mosse, of the Ministry, and the following Treasury Representatives: Sir Otto Niemeyer, K.C.B., Controller of Finance; Sir Russell Scott, K.C.B., C.S.I., Controller of Establishments; and Sir George Barstow, K.C.B., Controller of Supply Services.

(2) The net total of the estimates for the current year is £19,492,361, as compared with estimates for last year of £19,599,020 but with an actual expenditure for last year of £17,069,272. This shows an estimated increase of nearly £2,500,000 as compared with last year's actual expenditure. For the year 1913-14 the expenditure was only £4,213,375, or something between one-fourth and one-fifth of the estimate for the current year.

(3) Your Committee have carefully scrutinised the reasons for this vast increase of expenditure. The main reason is to be found in expenditure on Housing and expansion of the Health Services, which together account for about £14,500,000, to which must be added another £1,000,000 for increased cost of staff. The present charge for Maternity and Child Welfare is £830,000, which compares with a figure of £11,000 for the year 1914-15 when these services were first introduced and about £500,000 for the year 1919-20. This service shows a decrease from the highest. point (£1,100,000) which was reached in 1921-22. This decrease is due not to curtailment of the service but mainly to the general fall in prices.

(4) In regard to these Health Services the Geddes Committee made an important recommendation, namely, that from an administrative point of view it would be a great saving to get rid of the percentage grants system. The whole of that important and far-reaching question was referred to a Special Departmental Committee appointed by the Treasury in May, 1922. The Committee over which Lord Meston was appointed to preside was asked to report "what system of Exchequer grant in respect of locally administered services assisted from the Exchequer can be substituted for the percentage grant system, and to what extent and with what exceptions, if any, the system can be applied.'

48533

A 2

(5) The Meston Committee held 27 meetings, the last of which was held as long ago as March, 1923. A large amount of evidence was taken, but it was decided for reasons of economy not to print it, nor has any Report been presented up to date by that Committee to the Treasury.

(6) Your Committee, having taken evidence both from the Ministry of Health and from the Treasury, are of opinion that this Report should should be expedited and laid before Parliament at the earliest possible date. The question referred to the Meston Committee plainly goes to the root of the relations between the Central Government and the local authorities, and may very seriously affect national expenditure in respect not only of the Ministry of Health, but of the Board of Education and of other Departments whose expenditure is at present largely dependent upon the expenditure of local authorities which within wide limits the Central Government is unable to control.

(7) Your Committee learn that it was suggested by the Ministry of Health that better value for the expenditure of public money could be obtained by a departure from the existing system. The Ministry of Health proposed to the Meston Committee that at the beginning of each year the Ministry should make an Assessment of the sum which appeared necessary to them to carry out the existing services, and that there should be added to that a sum necessary for any development of the services during the current year, and that the grant to the local authorities should be assessed beforehand and should never be exceeded. Pending the Report of the Meston Committee your Committee are unable to express any opinion upon this alternative proposal, but they consider that in the interests of public economy it is essential that a decision should be reached on this point with the least possible delay.

SALARIES, WAGES AND ALLOWANCES.

(8) The Vote for Salaries, Wages and Allowances for the Current Year is £1,198,156, as against £1,198,000 for 1923-24. In regard to numbers and cost of staff the figures produced to your Committee show that while the number of people employed has increased from 3,226 in August, 1914, to 3,775 in April, 1924 (an increase of about 15 per cent.), the cost has increased from £449,000 to £1,198,000, or over 150 per cent. This increase of cost is accounted for as to £364,000 by bonus and £220,000 by the operation of the ordinary increment, the remainder of the increase being due to an increase in numbers of staff. The evidence laid before your Committee tends to the conclusion that no further serious reductions of staff can be anticipated, but on the other hand that unless further work is thrown upon the Ministry the existing staff ought not to be increased.

« ZurückWeiter »