asked the Prime Minister whether he will move to appoint a Joint Committee of the two Houses, or a committee of large-scale organisers of great trading firms, to make a critical examination of the powers, duties and responsibilities of the Ministries of Supply and Labour, and the Board of Trade, to ascertain whether the inter-relationship of their war effort is efficient, so that if found capable of improvement a reorganisation of those Departments may be ordered?

No, Sir. I do not think the proposal of my hon. Friend would be likely to produce the result he desires.

asked the Prime Minister whether he is aware that hon. Members are frequently kept waiting several weeks before they receive replies to urgent letters to Government Departments on matters affecting their constituents; that there is good reason to believe that this delay, which inflicts great hardship on many individuals, is caused by ineffective methods of dealing with correspondence; and will he, by moving to appoint a committee of hon. Members with business experience to inquire into the matter, or by some other means, take steps to find a remedy for the present unsatisfactory state of things?

I am satisfied that every effort is made by Government Departments to reply as quickly as possible to letters from hon. Members, and I do not consider that it is necessary or desirable to adopt the suggestion made by the hon. Member. Delay is sometimes unavoidable, particularly when it is necessary to obtain information from outlying naval or military stations or from the detached branches or local offices of civil Departments. It must, of course, be recognised that in present circumstances the pressure upon Departments is intense, and I would appeal to hon. Members on their side to refrain as far as possible from putting questions to Departments that are unnecessary or that entail great labourin order to provide answers.

If Departments are very heavily worked at the present time, is not that an additional reason for ensuring that the methods for dealing with correspondence are the best possible, and has the Prime Minister no other means to suggest for dealing with the delay which occurs, not only here but in those cases where inquiries have to be made?

I am sure that the Departments are doing all that is possible in the circumstances.

May I put a question with regard to Departments offering advice to hon. Members?

That does not arise out of the Question on the Paper.

asked the Financial Secretary to the Treasury whether he is aware that various Government Departments have sent advice in varying terms to local authorities on the attitude they should adopt towards housing and other contractors who plead that they are unable to fulfil their contracts at the contract prices; whether any administrative machinery or any committee exists through which uniform principles may be applied to the solution of this problem; and, if so, whether he will circulate a statement of what these principles are?

The Departments concerned have discussed together the treatment to be accorded to contractors in respect of rises in wages and increases in the prices of materials. I am not aware that different Departments have given different advice to local authorities, but if the hon. Member has any particular cases in mind, perhaps he will let me have details. I am sending the hon. Member a copy of a circular issued to local authorities in Scotland giving general advice on the subject. I am informed that it has not been necessary to issue any similar circular in England and Wales but that the Ministry of Health has dealt with individual inquiries on the same basis.

If the Parliamentary Secretary has discussed this matter with other Departments, how is it that he does not know that circulars in varying terms have been sent to local authorities? If I send him copies of the circulars sent by different Departments will he undertake to see that a common policy is devised for local authorities?

In my reply I invited the hon. Gentleman to be good enough to let me have cases.

And in my Question I asked whether the right hon. and gallant Gentleman will act on the information if I send it to him.

I had better see the information first.