§ Mr. Jeffrey Archerasked the Secretary of State for the Environment whether he can now make a statement on the future use of the Fine Rooms at Somerset House.
§ Mr. ChannonMy noble Friend the Paymaster-General and I have considered the various proposals for the use of these rooms, which will become available when the reaccommodation of the Registrar General and his staff is completed. These rooms originally housed the Royal Society, the Royal Academy of Arts and the Society of Antiquaries of London; and it is intended to complete the restoration of their original architectural character and to make clear these historic associations. The rooms will be put at the disposal of the Victoria and Albert Museum, which will use them to display, as part of a Theatre Museum, objects from the collections now at Leighton House, and from the Enthoven Collection and elsewhere. Other rooms in Somerset House will be made available for the purpose of the Theatre Museum, including the use of societies150W interested in the theatre. Details are being worked out in consultation with the Victoria and Albert Museum and theatre interests.
I am also discussing with the Churchill Centenary Trust the possibility of making use during 1974 of the five rooms for an exhibition to mark the centenary of the birth of Sir Winston Churchill.