§ 24. Sir Harold Webbeasked the Parliamentary Secretary to the Ministry of Works for what Department the premises, the address of which has been given to him, have been requisitioned; and by whose authority electric radiators in large numbers are being installed to supplement the ordinary hot water system provided for the use of the previous tenants?
§ The Parliamentary Secretary to the Ministry of Works (Mr. Hicks)The premises will be occupied by the Ministry of Aircraft Production. The building is only partially heated by central heating, and previous tenants used, in addition, electric fires for which power points were provided. My Ministry has put in electric radiators only to the extent necessary to enable the temperature of the rooms to be raised to approximately 60 degrees F. which is the commonly recognised standard.
§ Sir H. WebbeIs my hon. Friend aware that one room previously heated by five radiators now has an additional nine large electric radiators, and is he aware that a company of which I am a director occupied these premises and found the radiator system perfectly satisfactory in 877 peace-time? Is this part of the Government's economy plan?
§ Mr. HicksI was not aware of all the details which my hon. Friend has now given me, but I can assure him that a number of the rooms are new rooms. They have been partitioned off, and things are not in the same shape as they were when they were previously used. In order to give them a temperature of about 60 degrees F. by the existing central heating, they would require a new boiler and new and larger pipes, and this would probably be more expensive than heating by the present arrangements.
§ Mr. ThorneIs the hon. Gentleman dispensing with gas geysers in favour of electricity? If so, I am going to protest.