§ Mr. GRANTasked the Prime Minister whether the responsibility for the preservation of the decorations of the older galleries and staircases of the Victoria and Albert Museum is divided between the First Commissioner of Works and the President of the Board of Education?
§ Mr. J. A. PEASEThe Prime Minister has asked me to answer this question. The First Commissioner of Works is responsible for the execution of structural 1871W and decorative repairs and alterations to the Museum Buildings, the money for which is provided out of the Vote of his office. Where the stability or security of the buildings is not concerned but the matter is one which affects their convenience, utility, or appearance, or in which æsthetic considerations are involved, the Board of Education is responsible.
§ Mr. GRANTasked the Prime Minister if he will cause the memorials and signatures addressed to him in regard to the decorations of the Victoria and Albert Museum to be laid upon the Table, together with a copy of the Report by the Committee appointed to inquire into their partial destruction and the means of their future preservation; and whether he will cause to be suspended further mutilation of the decorations until this House has had an opportunity of discussing the Committee's Report and any action it may be intended to take upon it?
§ Mr. PEASEThe Prime Minister has asked me to answer this question. I am laying upon the Table the Report I have received from the Committee which I appointed to advise me on certain questions relating to the decorations of the Victoria and Albert Museum, together with the memorials which have been addressed to the Prime Minister on the subject. I shall be glad to receive from the hon. Member any observations he desires to make upon the Report and to postpone any action until he has had an opportunity of communicating with me in writing upon it.