MR. PIEIEI beg to ask the First Commissioner of Works if he can state what sums will be inserted in the Estimates for next year for the new post office buildings in Aberdeen, and whether the building operations could be commenced during this winter, more especially as money has already been voted and that delay has taken place in commencing the work.
§ MR. AKERS DOUGLASThe amount to be taken in next year's Estimates for the Aberdeen Post Office is not yet settled, but the work will not be delayed by financial conditions. My hon. friend the Secretary to the Treasury explained the situation on Monday,† and I would again point out that building has not been commenced owing to the difficulty of coming to terms with the town authorities, who, at the last moment, put forward a proposal for widening the street. After long negotiation the town authorities have agreed to provide the necessary equivalent in land, but the shape of the site is altered so that fresh plans and specifications have to be drawn up; and with every desire to push matters on, I cannot undertake that the work can be commenced before the middle of next year.