§ 2.31 p.m.
§ THE MARQUESS OF SALISBURYMy Lords, I beg leave to ask the Question which stands in my name on the Order Paper.
§ [The Question was as folows:
§ To ask Her Majesty's Government whether a decision has yet been reached on the provision of a new laboratory to house a 4GeV electron synchrotron, as recommended by the National Institute for Research in Nuclear Science.]
§ THE LORD PRESIDENT OF THE COUNCIL AND MINISTER FOR SCIENCE (VISCOUNT HAILSHAM)My Lords, I am happy to tell my noble friend that approval has now been given for this project. The capital cost is expected to be about £3½ million. The new laboratory will be set up in the North of England and will be particularly associated with the Universities of Liverpool, Manchester and Glasgow. A number of sites in the Liverpool-Manchester area are being investigated. 1008 The first Director of the laboratory will be Professor A. W. Merrison, and he is to be seconded from Liverpool University for a period of five years to take up the post.
§ THE MARQUESS OF SALISBURYMy Lords, may I welcome most warmly the statement of the noble Viscount, and say how much satisfaction it will give to all those who are interested in maintaining the supremacy—or pre-eminence, at any rate—of this country in this particular branch of science?