§ 22. Mr. Robert Atkinsasked the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster if he is satisfied with the provision of accommodation for the new Select Committees.
§ Mr. St. John-StevasYes. Five additional Committee Rooms were brought into use in April last.
§ Mr. AtkinsDoes my right hon Friend agree that, even allowing for the increased number of Committee Rooms, the pressure of Select Committee meetings on the meetings of Back-Bench 953 groups on both sides of the House is causing considerable annoyance, because of the cancellation at short notice of meetings in rooms that have been booked? What will he do about it?
§ Mr. St. John-StevasAs we all know, there is a general shortage of accommodation in the Palace of Westminster. One has to arrange a system of priorities within limited resources. Of course, the ultimate solution is the provision of a new building, but I am afraid that that is unlikely to occur in the foreseeable future.
§ Mr. Ernie RobertsWill the right hon. Gentleman look at the problem, which has been raised with him right from the beginning of this Parliament, of the conditions under which many right hon. and hon. Members, especially on the Opposition side, have to work in this House? They are worse than many workers in industry have to put up with, and that is saying a lot. If conditions of this kind operated outside in private industry, action would be taken by the work force. I ask the Leader of the House to look into this matter and to see that conditions are made tolerable. He will he aware that there are as many as 12 of us sitting in passages trying to do our work.
§ Mr. St. John-StevasThat is another aspect of the general problem to which I referred. However, I think that there are disadvantages in every hon. Member being in a hermetically sealed room by himself. For many years I occupied a desk in a passage, and I found that I knew more about what was going on in the House then than I do now.