HC Deb 20 July 1954 vol 530 cc89-91W
55. Mr. Willey

asked the Parliamentary Secretary to the Ministry of Works, as representing the Lord President of the Council, what expansion of the activities of the Department of Scientific and Industrial Research has taken place, and is planned to take place, during the present financial year.

Mr. Bevins

The Estimates for this financial year provide for an increase in gross expenditure of £714,402 and for an addition to staff of 197, as compared with last year's Estimates. The expansion centres mainly on the development of the Hydraulics Research Station, the Mechanical Engineering Research Laboratory, the Road Research Laboratory and the Water Pollution Research Laboratory. Increased provision has also been made for work on the promotion of productivity and for grants to the European Organisation for Nuclear Research.

56. Mr. Willey

asked the Parliamentary Secretary to the Ministry of Works, as representing the Lord President of the Council, what particular building projects have been undertaken as part of the 1954–55 building programme of the Department of Scientific and Industrial Research; and what progress has been made towards the completion of these projects.

Mr. Bevins

The major works included in the building programme for the Department of Scientific and Industrial Research for 1954–55 are for the Hydraulics Research Station (£159,800), the Mechanical Engineering Research Laboratory (£254,600), the National Physical Laboratory (£111,700), the Radio Research Station (£92,500), and the Water Pollution Research Laboratory (£115,000).

The Water Pollution Research Laboratory will be completed and occupied this year, and the work at the Hydraulics Research Station should also be nearing completion. Work on the new Radio Research Station began this year and is expected to be completed in 1955–56. The full programme for the Mechanical Engineering Research Laboratory includes a number of buildings of which some are already finished and occupied; one further large building (the Hydraulics Machinery Laboratory) should be about completed, and partly occupied, this year. A beginning is expected to be made on two other buildings.

The provision for the National Physical Laboratory is principally for the commencement of construction of a new ship tank (for research and testing on the form of ships' hulls and propellers), which is expected to take some four to five years to complete.

Mr. Skeffington

asked the Parliamentary Secretary to the Ministry of Works, as representing the Lord President of the Council, what increase in staff in each of the grades of administrative, technical and industrial workers are provided for in the estimates for 1954 of the Department of Scientific and Industrial Research; and what proposals are suggested for each year in the next five years.

Mr. Bevins

The current Estimates provide for the appointment, by the end of the financial year, of 197 more staff than were provided for in the Estimates for 1953–54. Final decisions have not yet been taken about the division of the increase between individual grades and, in any event, the apportionment is subject to modification in detail as needs change. It is, however, expected that about 50 of the additional posts will be filled by industrial staff and that the great majority of the remainder will be in the scientific officer, experimental officer and assistant (scientific) classes. It is planned to make provision for a further 200 posts, of which about 50 would be for industrial staff, in each of the four financial years 1955–56 to 1958–59. No plans have yet been made for 1959–60.