§ 37 and 38. Mr. Ian Lloydasked the Lord President of the Council (1) whether he will make arrangements for a pair of electronic desk calculating machines to be made available in a suitable room for the use of hon. Members;
§ (2) whether he will make arrangements for hon. Members to have access, from a suitable point within the Palace of Westminster, to pragramming and calculating facilities on a high speed computer.
§ Mr. BowdenThe provision of such equipment and services could be justified only if it were to be established that hon. Members had a need for them.
§ Mr. LloydIn that event will the Lord President take some steps to ascertain how many Members would find this a great convenience—certainly the desk calculating machine—in enabling this House to catch up to the 20th century with the shortest possible time lag?
§ Mr. BowdenI should be interested to know how many Members feel that an electronic desk calculating machine would be of help to them. On the second Question, I do not know whether they feel that they should have some system whereby they could programme their requirements for the future.
§ Mr. David PriceWill the right hon. Gentleman take into account that the needs of Members for better statistical information from Government Departments could fit in with the Government's having a central computer; that much of the basic statistical information of Government Departments—non-classified—could be fitted into a central computer, and that if this House were able to have access to that computer it would help the Government as well as hon. Members?
§ Mr. BowdenThis could be done at some cost if the House generally thought it was necessary. It could he done by agreement with a university, or some organisation which has such a computer at hand.