§ LORD REDESDALE,who had given notice of several Questions, said, he wished, in the first place, to ask Her Majesty's Government, Whether, and to what extent, the buildings on the vacant land in Downing Street are to be proceeded with this year? Seeing the comfortable surplus which it was believed existed he hoped sufficient money would be voted to complete the present block of buildings. He was also anxious to learn, Whether the houses in King Street and Parliament Street, which it was arranged four years ago should be purchased for the extension of the site of the Public Offices in Downing Street, have been purchased, or are agreed for to be purchased? He understood that all, or most of them, had been bought, large sums having been given for the immediate dislodgement of the occupants; but some of them had been allowed to continue their occupation, paying rent, he presumed, to the Crown; while several were now unoccupied and producing no return, while under the provisions of the Act rates had to be paid on this ground. His third Question was, Whether any design has been prepared for the extension of the buildings on the site so procured, and whether it can be laid before Parliament? Now, the whole, or a portion of the ground in Charles Street had been purchased on behalf of the Indian Government, in order, by the removal of the houses, to secure proper light for the India Office; but though the purchase money had been handed over, and rates had to be paid, nothing had been done, and the ground was unoccupied. This was very unprofitable management, and it was not creditable to Parliament that a little money could not be laid out for the completion of the Government Offices. Parliament, he was sure, would willingly make the necessary grant; but it seemed that the Chancellor of the Exchequer was not disposed to ask for money for this purpose. All the plans had been prepared for some time, and the Report of 1868 contemplated the acquisition of the whole block of ground down to George Street for the Public Offices, in order to procure a concentration—which was very 1279 desirable—in the vicinity of the Houses of Parliament. He suggested long ago that the freehold of all this property should be purchased by the Government, in order that they might have the control of the property at any time when it was practicable to carry out the scheme, and the late Lord Llanover, when First Commissioner of Works, was very anxious that this should be done; but he was thwarted, and nothing had been done. The site was constantly receiving improvements in the way of repairs and rebuilding, so that whenever action was taken in the matter much greater expense would have to be incurred than would originally have sufficed. He had further to ask, Why, and on what terms, a House lately erected fronting St. James's Park, has been allowed to be brought forward beyond the line of frontage of the adjoining houses, and additional land has been allowed to be enclosed in front of it, and whether that House is on Crown property? That house was only approached out of what was called Chapel Court, in Duke Street; it was an expensive and decorated building, but whether an ornamental one was a question of taste. The additional land enclosed in front was apparently intended to prevent the basement windows from being overlooked. That was one of the houses which, if the Report of 1868 was carried out, would require compensation; and it was very improvident to allow Crown property to be so managed.
§ THE MARQUESS OF LANSDOWNE,in reply, stated that it was intended to proceed with the buildings in Downing Street this year, and £80,000 would be voted for the purpose, this amount representing the maximum extent of the buildings which could be erected within that period. There was every desire to push on the work; but it was impossible to complete so large a mass of buildings as that eventually to be completed in one year. Arrangements had been made for the purchase of the whole of the houses in King Street and Parliament Street required for the extension of the Public Offices, the greater part of the purchases having been already concluded, and the £18,000 which appeared on the Estimates this year represented the whole of the outstanding purchases. A design for the extension of the buildings was placed in the Library of the House of Commons 1280 last Session, and would, if the noble Lord wished it, be placed in their Lordships' Library for inspection. With regard to the house fronting St. James's Park, it was built on Crown property; but no additional land had been enclosed. The property of the Crown was bounded by an iron railing, and this had not been removed. It was under the control, not of the Board of Works, but of the office of Woods and Forests, and it was within their competence to approve designs of buildings, including the basement windows to which the noble Lord alluded.
§ LORD REDESDALEwished to know whether there was any design for the utilization of the ground in Charles Street?
THE DUKE OF ARGYLLsaid, part of this site belonged to the Indian Government, which contemplated the erection of an Indian Museum there. The present Museum building was very inadequate, and it was increasingly important for the exhibition of the commercial products of India to erect a better one. In the present state of Indian finances, however, no money could be spared for this purpose.
§ LORD REDESDALEsaid, this showed that the Government were dealing with the Crown lands without any definite plan. This piece of ground was already required for other Government Offices, and that the erection of a museum would derange the entire plan. It was most unfortunate that plans should be constantly changed without any definite and comprehensive basis. He did not know how much of Parliament Street would be occupied by the design to which the noble Marquess had referred; but it would be very unwise to do things by halves, and while diverting the traffic of King Street into Parliament Street to leave a portion of the latter as narrow as at present.