Eleventh report from the Select Committee on Estimates : together with the minutes of evidence taken before sub-committee E and appendices, session 1950-1951: regional hospital boards and hospital management committees.
- Great Britain. Parliament. House of Commons. Select Committee on Estimates
- Date:
- [1951]
Licence: Public Domain Mark
Credit: Eleventh report from the Select Committee on Estimates : together with the minutes of evidence taken before sub-committee E and appendices, session 1950-1951: regional hospital boards and hospital management committees. Source: Wellcome Collection.
98/348 page 58
![8 February, 1951.] [Continued. received there is not sufficient time to put the work in hand and finish it; and so We cannot start it. Unless you can start and finish it before the end of the year, the financial provision disappears. There is no carry over. 656. When you say “unless you can start and finish it before the end of the year”, I take it you mean unless you can execute during the current financial year such part of the scheme as was allocated to that year for capital expenditure purposes?—Yes. Chairman. 657. Lo help you,’ is it true to. say, that you can do what you want now within narrow limits up to £1,000—I think that is what you said?—(Mr. Everingham.) No, Sir, we have to send in details on each revision. We suggest the revision should apply to £10,000 and over jobs. Miss Ward. 658. It is really a question of priority? —Yes, we want to be allowed to do it on small jobs. Mr. J. Enoch Powell. 659. You would presumably make ad- justments fairly frequently, otherwise you would not be bothering about it at all. If it were only exceptional, you would not mind?—(Sir Basil Gibson.) No, Sir. The fact is that we are a young body, and almost every month some new thing starts somewhere, something arises which is un- expected, and you have got to deal with it promptly. It is not as if we had been able to examine every hospital and decided to put on a schedule in a file everything that wanted doing. Items are constantly turning up, and that is how we nave to deal with them at the present time. Miss Ward. 660. The boiler system might break down in a hospital?—That is what in fact does happen. 661. Then you find the boilers are finished and you have then got to put in new boilers or a hot water system?—If we ordered a boiler and it was not delivered before the end of the financial year we should have to deduct the cost of that boiler from next year’s allocation of capital, although we had sufficient at the time in the current year, because we have no carry- over. Mr. Diamond. 662. I do understand that you are per- mitted to bring all these under £10,000 schemes, to use your own phrase, out of the cupboard in appropriate cases after approval, but there is some delay in getting approval?—Yes. 663. It is only the delay?—Only the delay. Mr. Thomas Reid. 664. Why does the Minister exercise this control over you and not let you carry out these small works ‘without his authority? What is the object?—That is a question | cannot possibly answer. Chairman.] Is that not a question to which we can guess the answer? Probably the Minister is only too anxious to help him- self; it is another Minister who has an object. Mr. Thomas Reid.| He has very often stated his objections, as for instance the reason why he issued these registrar circu- lars? Chairman.] I think this is general Gov- ernment policy. I do not think Sir Basil can answer that. Are there any other ques- tions on capital expenditure? Mr. J. Enoch Powell. 665. Would your difficulty be met if, instead of there being an annual capital budget approved, there were a five-year budget approved?—Our difficulty would be met at once. If having satisfied the Minis- ter about the proposal, about the need for it and that the proposal met the need, we could then proceed with it as quickly as we could having regard to the money avail- able, the five years would not make any difference. But I do not think we can look forward to five years, but what we do want to look forward to is to be able to do what the local authorities can do. A local authority, if it is building a sewage works, borrows the money. They start the work, and it goes on continuously to the very end. With the Minister—it is Govern- ment practice—he gives us so much money, and if we do not spend that money we lose it. Whatever you propose for the succeed- ing year must stand down because you must take out of the amount first this sum of money which was lost the year before. Chairman. 666. What happens in the case of a sub- stantial expenditure which is bound to take several years?—The same principle applies. 667. You get an annual allocation towards that expenditure?—That is right. Mr. Thomas Reid. 667. You get an annual allocation towards third years?—We get a re-vote, but not a re-vote plus the money which we failed to spend in the preceding year. That is what we want. Chairman.] I think that is quite clear. Mr. Diamond. 669. Would your difficulty about carry- over be met if in your view there were, as](https://iiif.wellcomecollection.org/image/b32182478_0098.jp2/full/800%2C/0/default.jpg)
