§ VISCOUNT BRIDGEMANasked Her Majesty's Government whether they can make a statement about the plans for a Science Centre and the reconstruction of the Patent Office.
§ VISCOUNT HAILSHAMThe Ministry of Works are negotiating with the L.C.C. for the lease of the site on the South Bank, which was designated under the Science Centre scheme for the Patent Office, and it is intended to start building within the next five years. As originally proposed, this building will be designed to accommodate, in addition to the Patent Office, a new National Reference Library of Science and Invention, built up from the existing Patent Office Library; the Government believe that this will make an important contribution to the spread of scientific and technical knowledge in the years ahead.
It was originally intended that accommodation for the scientific learned societies at present housed in Burlington House and elsewhere, together with certain other scientific bodies, should be provided on a site adjoining that which has now been leased, the whole forming a Science Centre. A further review of this scheme has now been carried out and this has shown that the needs of the Royal Society and of the other scientific learned societies at present in Burlington House can, for some time to come, be met more satisfactorily in that neighbourhood. Discussions are proceeding 567WA between the Ministry of Works and the learned societies. The Government have therefore decided that they would not be justified in proceeding with the Science Centre scheme in its original form.