§ 8. Mr. Costainasked the Minister of Public Building and Works what estimate he has made of the area of Government office requirements in 1969; and how this compares with 1965.
§ Mr. MellishSomething over 40 million sq. ft. in 1969, compared with about 35 million sq. ft. in 1965.
§ Mr. CostainIs not this a very large increase? Has the Minister no control over other Government Departments? Is he satisfied that the accommodation is satisfactory, anyway?
§ Mr. MellishThat is the whole point. The conditions in which many of our civil servants live can only be described as conditions of squalor. That has been the position for years, and we are trying to improve conditions, some of which would not be tolerated under our own Acts of Parliament. It is the policy of 9 the Government that there should be no net increase in the total number of civil servants this year.
§ 9. Mr. Costainasked the Minister of Public Building and Works if he will give the percentage saving represented by the rents which his Department pays for office space in the provinces compared with rents for similar accommodation in London.
§ Mr. MellishThe average rent of office accommodation held on lease by my Department is about 60 per cent. lower in the provinces than in London. For new hirings the difference is nearer 70 per cent.
§ Mr. CostainDoes not this information show the necessity to get more Government Departments out of London? Would the right hon. Gentleman make an announcement about how he intends to do this?
§ Mr. MellishWe have an extremely good reoord on that, compared with the record of the previous Government. During the last five years, something like 9,000 Government office jobs have been dispersed from London. On present plans, the figure will increase by another 15,000. In this time, offices employing over 5,000 staff on new Government work have been opened outside London, and that figure will go up to 10,000.