§ 5 and 6. Mr. Knox Cunninghamasked the Minister of Works (1) to what extent the cleaning of the central hall of the Royal Courts of Justice is being carried out under contract; the estimated cost of such work; and when it will be completed;
(2) the reason for not carrying out the work involved in cleaning the central hall of the Royal Courts of Justice during the long vacation.
§ Mr. H. NichollsThe cleaning of the central hall of the Royal Courts of Justice is being carried out wholly under contract at an estimated cost of £3,250. It should be completed by December. This work is only part of a larger programme of cleaning and decorating carried out this year. That part of the work which affected the Courts themselves was completed during the long vacation, leaving only the work on the central hall to be done later.
§ Mr. Knox CunninghamMight I ask my hon. Friend whether he is satisfied that the money which is being spent is being usefully spent, because to an ordinary observer the stonework which is cleaned appears exactly the same as the rest of the stonework? Secondly, owing to the great inconvenience and some danger to the public using the central hall, would not it have been possible to get much of the work done during the two months of the Long Vacation?
§ Mr. NichollsIt is the first time that the work of cleaning down the central hall has been done since before the war. I can assure my hon. Friend that it is being properly supervised and that we are getting value for the money that is being 985 spent. Most of the work at the Courts was done during the Long Vacation, and what is being done at present is only a mall part of it which simply could not be done during that period.