§ 103. Mr. Errollasked the Parliamentary Secretary to the Ministry of Works, as representing the Lord President of the Council, how far the proposed expansion of the Road Research Laboratory will have to be spread over the next five years under the terms of Recommendation 4 in Appendix II of Departmental Replies to the Fifteenth Report of the Select Committee on Estimates; and, in view of the terms of the memorandum submitted to the Committee by the Secretary of the Department of Scientific and Industrial Research, what action is being taken to expedite this work.
§ Mr. BevinsNo decision has yet been taken on how the proposed expansion of the Road Research Laboratory will be phased over the next five years, but it is expected that, subject to the approval of Estimates of the Department of Scientific and Industrial Research for 1954–5, some expansion will be provided for in that year. The rate at which provision can be made for further expansion in subsequent years must depend on periodic assessment of the possibilities within the total resources available to the Department, having regard to the claims of the many other branches of its work.