HC Deb 18 June 1941 vol 372 cc671-2W
Sir E. Graham-Little

asked the Secretary of State for War whether he is aware that the proposal to requisition a large part of Royal Holloway College, a school of London University, for housing 300 members of the Auxiliary Territorial Service, will make the resident population of the college three times as large as the building was designed to house; that the administrative staff of the University of London was assigned about one-third of the accommodation existing at the college where the business of dealing with the requirements of 24,000 registered students of the University has been carried on since the war; that the proposition now made by the War Office must further hamper this work; that structural alterations required to house these additional numbers must be costly; and whether, in view of these facts, he will reconsider this decision as other accommodation is available?

Captain Margesson

As my hon. Friend is aware, I have given my personal attention to this case, and I have had the advantage of discussing it both with him and with representatives of the university and college authorities. While 1 much regret any inconvenience to which the college may be put by the requisitioning of part of their buildings, I am satisfied that no suitable alternative accommodation exists, and I am afraid that the present decision must stand.