§ 60. Sir A. LAMBERT WARDasked the First Commissioner of Works if he will state the nature of the business connected with the new Embassy at Washington that requires a journey thither by the Permanent Secretary to the Office of Works; and will he explain the reason why it could not be carried out by technical officers of the Department?
§ The FIRST COMMISSIONER of WORKS (Mr. Lansbury)The primary object of the forthcoming visit to Washington, by the Permanent Secretary of my Department is to deal with a number of 1913 important points relating to the standard of furnishing to be adopted in the new Embassy. Such matters must be dealt with on the spot, and cannot be left entirely to the discretion of technical officers, particularly in the case of so important a post as the Embassy at Washington. Quite apart from this, I consider it highly important that the Permanent Secretary of His Majesty's Office of Works should, as the officer responsible for the expenditure on Works Votes, take the opportunity, as occasion offers, of visiting, or of sending an administrative officer to visit, important buildings erected or furnished at Government expense, to satisfy himself that the services for which the Department is responsible are carried out on a scale adequate, and no more than adequate, to the purpose for which the building is required.