CAB129-52 — Page 187

Page 187

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receipt Pages88f20e total cost would be a million. Mvpage188 to 200would

almost certainly be strong pressure that any special allowance should be extended to pensioners, which might well result in as many as five million beneficiaries in all at a cost of over £1 millions. The Minister of National Insurance supports the Committee in recommending that next year there should be no such expenditure of public money for which, in the Committee's judgment, there would be little justification in present circumstances.

Decorations etc.

13.

210

In 1937 the expenditure on decorations, floodlighting and fireworks amounted to rather more than £50,000. The corresponding provision proposed for 1953 is practically £150,000. It is inevitable that merely to repeat the 1937 scale of decoration should cost considerably more now than 15 years ago. It must also be borne in mind that perhaps £50,000 of the 1953 estimate will be attributable to textiles, the orders for which will contribute to relieve unemployment. Nevertheless, the Committee felt that a total sum as large as £150,000 for display alone might well excite unfavourable comment; and while they recommend that the Minister of Works should be given a free hand to spend whatever sum is granted him in accordance with his own judgment of its most remunerative use, they think it is for consideration whether the total provision for decoration, floodlighting and fireworks should be reduced.

Disposal of seats.

14.

It will be seen that it is expected that in 1953 a higher proportion of gross expenditure will be offset by receipts than was the case in 1937. This is mainly due to the arrangements which the Minister of Works has in mind for disposing of seats in stands erected by the Ministry. Whereas in 1937 charges for seats in such stands were fixed so as to cover rather over half of the cost of erecting them, the Minister intends on this occasion at least to recover the full cost of erection (apart from a relatively small proportion of seats to be issued free) and if possible to make the stands as a whole entirely self-balancing, if not profit- making.

15.

Seats in stands erected by the Ministry will not be sold by them to

individuals but will be disposed of in one of three ways:-

(i)

(ii)

issued free to members of the Royal Household, the Diplomatic Corps, Stewards, etc.;

the majority sold in blocks to organisations at a price sufficient to offset the cost of erection for disposal by them as may seem best;

(iii) sold to agencies, if possible at a profit, for resale to private

individuals.

F

The general effect of such arrangements would be that, except for those covered by (i) above, everyone wanting a seat wuld be required to pay the cost of it (estimated at £5. 10s. (covered) or £3. 15s. (uncovered)), except to the extent that the purchase of seats by individuals might be subsidised by the organisations through which they were obtained.

16.

lines.

The Committee recommend the adoption of arrangements on these