§ 1. Mrs. Renée Shortasked the Minister of Public Building and Works how many staff are employed in his Directorate General of Research and Development; how many vacancies exist; what are the total costs of salaries, wages, pensions, accommodation and all overhead expenses since this Directorate was established; how many research reports it has published; and what reduction in the cost of housing units, or increase in the number of housing units constructed, has resulted from its work.
§ The Minister of Public Building and Works (Mr. Reginald Prentice)At the end of 1966 the staff employed totalled 231; there were 53 vacancies. Total costs amounted to £1,960,000. The Directorate has issued 28 publications, a monthly statistical bulletin, and a sub- 2 stantial number of contributions to the scientific and technical Press. The Directorate is helping the industry in many different ways, and its work is highly appreciated but it is not practicable to quantify the results of its efforts in the way suggested in the Question.
§ Mrs. ShortI thank my right hon. Friend for that reply, but would he not agree that, as this was an internal "gimmick" set up in 1962 by the party opposite when they were in power, as it has produced nothing worth while, and is a duplication of what is already done better by the Ministry of Technology, it should be disbanded?
§ Mr. PrenticeNo, Sir. In the deathbed repentance period of Conservative Government, they produced one or two good ideas and this was one. It is doing work of great value in winter building, building maintenance, the application of computers to building management, component development and other matters which it would take too long to describe in a supplementary answer. This work will grow in value over the years ahead.