SUPPLIES DISPOSAL

Evening Post, Volume CXL, Issue 58, 6 September 1945, Page 9

SUPPLIES DISPOSAL

IMPROVEMENT MADE

Discussing supplies ordered by the Ministry of Supply, the Controller- and Auditor-General in his annual report to" Parliament, stated that as he had previously called attention to the ordering of certain, supplies in excess of requirements not quite suitable for the purposes originally intended a commodity prices committee of the Ministry was formed in March, .1944. One of its duties was to prevent the importation of unsuitable supplies. An improvement in the disposal of all supplies had since been noted. Progress in accounting matters had been maintained by the Ministry and most of the relative problems had now been solved..

"That some previous criticism of past accounting was justified," adds the report, "is shown by the fact that refunds of some £14,500 were obtained during the year as the result of further Audit inquiries into transactions of previous years. A further amount of £8670 was recovered by the Ministry itself as the result'of an investigation made by it at' Audit request."- ; : - '

BULK OILS AND PETROL

The report stated that among matters not yet finalised was the fixing of stabilised prices ,of bulk oils and petrol sold to oil companies since December, 1942. Reference had been made in his reports of the past two j'ears to negotiations for review of the contract for the storage, handling, etc., of aviation fuel by two oil companies and the probability of a very large recovery—some £250,000 was in question —being effected in respect of past payments. The progress of negotiations had been slow but there now seeme.d to be prospects of a reasonable settlement "Bound up to some extent with the review of this contract," continued the. report, "is the price to be charged oil companies for motor spirit and other petroleum products. -For these products the companies, pending the final fixation of price by the Ministry of Supply, are being charged prices estimated to allow them the same margin between cost and selling prices as obtained in 1939." Stating that in his previous report he had called attention to undue pro-1 fits earned on building contracts let on a . master-schedule basis, the Auditor-General said that a contracts adjustment committee had been set up to review those profits and re-negoti-ate the contracts. The committee had not functioned and no adjustments on the grounds of excessive profits ' had been necessary. ■