§ 48 and 49. Mr. I. J. Pitmanasked the Lord President of the Council (1) whether, in view of the anxiety felt by the contractors at the progress made and of the 659 short time remaining, he is satisfied that in general the contracts for display treatment for the various static and travelling exhibitions of the Festival of Britain were placed in time to allow economical and efficient completion and that the displays will be completed in time for the date specified in the standard contract;
(2) to what extent he expects that the display treatment for the various exhibitions of the Festival of Britain will be complete as originally planned in time for the official opening; and what further degree of completion he expects by what dates.
§ Mr. H. MorrisonAs I informed the House on 21st February in reply to my hon. Friend the Member for Dartford (Mr. Dodds), I am confident that, barring further accidents, the South Bank Exhibition will open according to plan, and the same applies to the Exhibitions of Science and Industrial Power, and the land and seaborne travelling exhibitions. It was always intended that building operations should continue during the Exhibition of Live Architecture at Lansbury, and there is no change in this situation.
These exhibitions will all open on the announced dates, even if certain features should be incomplete, but it is still hoped and expected that, given continued satisfactory co-operation and effort by all concerned, the shows will be complete by the due dates.
§ Mr. PitmanThe Lord President has mentioned buildings, but my Questions deal with displays within the buildings; will he give an answer on that rather than on buildings?
§ Mr. MorrisonThe answer is the same, we shall open, but it may be that not everything will be entirely finished