SIR WALTER FOSTER (Derbyshire, Ilkeston)To ask the hon. Member for Chorley, as representing the First Commissioner of Works, if the Board of Works intervened in October, 1904, when the Westminster City Council was about concluding a contract for the better lighting of Parliament Square; if so, what steps have been taken since by the Board of Works to improve the lighting of the square; and if it will continue to be lighted by the Board or whether the City Council of Westminster will be allowed to perform the work.
(Answered by Lord Balcarres.) Parliament Square lies within the jurisdiction of the Office of Works, and the Westminster City Council has therefore no power to conclude any contract for the lighting of it; experiments have been made by the Office of Works to determine what method of improved lighting should be adopted. It is proposed to light the Square with the same lamp which has proved so successful in New Palace Yard; and it is expected that the work will be carried out in the autumn so that the lamps may be available before the winter.