§ 4. Commander Purseyasked the Civil Lord of the Admiralty if he will state the total floor space and number of rooms in the new Admiralty building at Earls Court; what branches of the 409 Admiralty are to be transferred there; and on what date the transfer is to commence and be completed.
§ Mr. C. Ian Orr-EwingThe floor space is 350,000 square feet net. There are 700 rooms including stores and plant rooms, canteen and telephone exchange roams. The transfer will start at the beginning of August and should be finished in two months. With permission I will include in the OFFICIAL REPORT the list of branches to be transferred.
§ Commander PurseyIs it Admiralty policy to extend all these civilian departments on the principle of Parkinson's Law, or to reduce the number of staff and the accommodation required, and instead of using the full accommodation to use only the minimum and release the balance to another Government Department? The Admiralty does not need the whole of this vast building at the vast expense which is largely unnecessary.
§ Mr. Orr-EwingI have announced to the House that it is our policy to cut down our Admiralty headquarters. I gave the undertaking that we would cut down our staff by one hundred every year for the next five years, and we are keeping to this undertaking. That was the spirit of the Select Committee's Report, which we are carrying out.
§ Captain LitchfieldWill my hon. Friend give further thought to the decision, which I believe has been taken, to move the Admiralty library out of the main building, which I understand will involve splitting the library between the main Admiralty building and the building at Earls Court?
§ Mr. Orr-EwingI shall certainly look at that point.
§ Mr. LiptonIs it not likely that the new building at Earls Court will itself prove inadequate, especially if it is proposed to rehouse there all our admirals, who now out-number the number of seagoing vessels in commission?
§ Mr. Orr-EwingI said that we were cutting down our total staff, so I cannot see why the hon. Member should say that we need more accommodation. The hon. Member's second point is a canard which comes up every time. If he looks 410 at the facts he will perhaps stop making incorrect imputations about the numbers of admirals. I have looked at the facts. In 1938 there were more admirals than we have now. We have cut down to 78 from 102, which was the number when the hon. Member's Government were in power.
§ Following is the list:
| Branches to be transferred | From |
| Medical Director General | Queen Anne's Mansions |
| Director of Stores | Admiralty Whitehall and Rex House |
| Director of Navy Contracts (London offices) | Queen Anne's Mansions |
| Director of Victualling | Queen Anne's Mansions |
| Admiral Commanding Reserves and Inspector of Recruiting | Queen Anne's Mansions |
| Director of Naval Weather Service | Queen Anne's Mansions |
| Royal Naval Scientific Service | Queen Anne's Mansions |
| Chief Constable Admiralty Constabulary | Queen Anne's Mansions |
| Director General Navy Works | Pinner and Queen Anne's Mansions |
| Regional Offices (London Area) | Regent's Park, Black-health, Ealing and Waterloo Road |
| Organisation and Methods Branch | Admiralty Whitehall |
| Civil Establishments Branch I (Training Section) | Admiralty Whitehall |
| Associated Common Services | Admiralty Whitehall and Queen Anne's Mansions |