H—4s

Annual maintenance charges in the nature of cleaning, heating, and lighting are a direct charge on National Administration Fund Levies of ports where buildings have been erected. These port funds also receive contributions towards such costs from Harbour Boards to the extent that such charges were met by the Boards prior to the Commission erecting new buildings. The Commission, however, has undertaken ths full responsibility for major repairs and maintenance of its buildings and for depreciation on them. In order to spread these costs equitably, a " buildings maintenance levy "of 5 per cent, on original cost is made annually on all completed buildings, and this also is charged against port National Administration Fund levies. The total of such levies foi the year ended 31st March, 1948, credited to Buildings Fund Revenue Account was £1,677 ; of this amount, £867 has been set aside for depreciation, £42 represents the .Commission's internal administration assessment of 2| per cent, on fund incomes, and the balance of £756 (an increase of £179 on 1946-47) has been transferred to Accumulated Funds Account. This makes a total of £1,550 available to meet future repairs and maintenance charges on buildings. (c) CONSOLIDATED (VOTE, " LABOUR AND EMPLOYMENT ") FUND (See Appendix, page 93) The parliamentary grant from Consolidated Fund (vote, " Labour and Employment ") was £17,079 for 1947-48, an increase of £4,829 on the 1946-47 appropriation. Included, however, in the 1947-48 total was an amount of £1,454 for additional expenditure in 1946-47. It has also since been found possible to transfer a surplus of £1,129 on 1947-48 expenditure in reduction of the estimated grant required for 1948-49. The net effect of these adjustments is that the true expenditure from parliamentary grant for 1947-48 was £14,496, or only £792 greater than the corrected expenditure for 1946-47. All the increases in expenditure were on account of salaries, partly due to the £25 per annum adjustment which operated from Ist October, 1947, but mainly on account of the reconstitution of a full-time Commission, comprising Chairman and five members as from 10th November, 1947. The surplus referred to above was due to a reduction in salary payments for the Commission. When these were estimated early in October, 1947, it was anticipated that the Chairman's salary would also be payable out of the Commission's grant. The appointment as Chairman of a Deputy Judge of the Arbitration Court, whose salary is provided for under permanent appropriations, altered the position. The net expenditure provided by way of charges or grants from Consolidated Fund for the eight-years period 1940-48 now aggregates £96,723, or an average of £12,090 per year. The estimated net expenditure of £17,230 for 1948-49 makes provision for a full year's expenditure on the revised basis for 1947-48 of £18,359 less surplus of £1,129 from 1947-48. (d) CO-OPERATIVE CONTRACTS FUND (See Appendix, page 78) The outstanding feature of the accounts for the Co-operative Contracts Fund for the year ended 31st March, 1948, is the striking increase in total income, which at £2,939,456 is £614,829 greater than total income for 1946-47. This increase is notable not only because it reverses the downward trend which has operated during each of the three financial years following the wartime peak of £3,378,148 in 1943-44, but also because of the extent and nature of the increase in income. While the 1943-44 income increase was due almost entirely to American and New Zealand Armed Forces non-contract handling of cargo costing £1,178,366 in waterfront wages, only £17,974 of the 1947-48 income increase is on account of non-contract wages. Of the balance, £464,508 is in respect of co-operative contracts and £142,312 in respect of equivalent contracts —that

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