Catalogue description Committee of Inquiry into Bristol Siddeley Engines Ltd Contracts (Wilson Committee): Records

The Wilson Committee was appointed jointly by the Minister of Technology (the Rt Hon Anthony Wedgwood Benn) and the Chancellor of the Exchequer (the Rt Hon James Callaghan) on 24 April 1967. Its task was to investigate - among other things - the pricing of certain contracts for the overhaul of aero-engines between 1959 and 1963, the repair of spares during the period 1959/1960 to 1964/1965 and the profits made under those contracts leading to repayment in March 1967 to the Ministry of Technology by Bristol Siddeley Engines Ltd the sum of £3.96M.

The committee consisted of three members, and was chaired by Sir Roy Wilson QC. Its terms of reference required the investigation of all the circumstances of the case, and the committee was invited to make such recommendations as it considered necessary 'on the need for further investigation into any aspects of government contractual operations'.