§ MR. HERBERT LEWIS (Flint Boroughs)I beg to ask the Secretary to the Treasury whether he can state the remuneration fixed by the agreements entered into with the architects for the new War Office, Whitehall, the new Public Offices, Westminster, and the Science and Art Buildings, South Kensington, and whether such remuneration has been fixed as a lump sum or by way of commission on the total cost; if so, at what rate per cent., and whether the commission is subject to variation in respect of additional, substituted, or abandoned works; and can he say who are the architects appointed under the agreements above referred to, and what is the amount of commission payable to each, assuming that the work is carried out on the present plan.
§ MR. AUSTEN CHAMBERLAINI am informed by my right hon. friend the First Commissioner of Works that the amounts in each case were fixed by agreements with the architects as follows:—for the new War Office, £23,750; for the new Public Offices, Westminster, £26,000; for the Science and Art Buildings, South Kensington—(a) Victoria and Albert Museum, £25,000, (b) Royal College of Science, £10,000—total, £35,000. These lump sums were arrived at by taking a percentage of 5 per cent. by way of commission on an agreed total estimated cost, and they are subject to variations as stated by the hon. Member. If more details are desired the First Commissioner will be happy to show the agreements to any hon. Members who may wish to see them. The architects were in each case respectively the late Mr. W. Young, the late Mr. J. M. Brydon, and Mr. Aston Webb, A.R.A.