§ Mr. TOUCHEasked the Under-Secretary of State for War if, in January 1915, on its being known that men were wanted for hut work in France, the War Office were reminded of the offer of the services of the architectural profession, made through the Royal Institute of British Architects in September, 1914; how many men nominated by the institute or its president were thereupon appointed to work in France; (2) if the offer of the services of the Royal Institute of British Architects, made through the president of the institution in May, 1915, which was stated to be not availed of because the greater part of the work was then finished, was supplementary to previous offers, and was submitted after hearing that many huts had been badly placed and badly built, with the hope of preventing anything of the kind in the future; (3) if a formal offer of the services of the architectural profession was received through the Royal Institute of British Architects in September, 1914; if any steps were taken by the War Office at that time to avail themselves of the services of competent men so offered; (4) if, in October, 1914, or shortly afterwards, the names of about fifty men, selected with great care as suitable for supervising certain military works then under consideration, were submitted to the War Office by or on behalf of the Royal Institute of British Architects; whether the services of any and, 166W if so, how many of these skilled men were thereupon utilised; and (5) if he will state the total number of men whose services have been employed by the War Office arising out of the original and subsequent offers of the Royal Institute of British Architects to supply competent men for every kind of work connected with the profession?
§ Mr. TENNANTOffers were made by architects, and names of gentlemen selected by the Institute of British Architects were submitted to the War Office in November, but for the building of the large hutted camps in the British Isles and for work in France, civil engineers rather than architects were needed. The huts in all cases followed typical plans, prepared by the already existing technical staff at the War Office, copies being distributed to various local officers. There was consequently comparatively small scope for designing. But the local problems of water supply, sewerage, lighting, etc., which varied in every case and were in some cases of great magnitude, were such as appertain to the engineering profession, and experts in these branches were engaged in various places to supplement the technical staff at headquarters and in various commands. About ten gentlemen who were members of the Royal Institute of British Architects were so appointed, as far as can be traced, but none of these were in the list submitted in November by the Institute. As far as the quality of the hutted camps is concerned, the Army Council invited the president of the Institution of Civil Engineers to appoint a committee of inspection. This was done, and a strong voluntary committee, with the president as chairman, visited all the large camps in the early part of this year, while they were still under construction. They dealt with design, construction, materials, and adaptation to sites, though not with any purely military questions, and the views they expressed supported the action taken by the War Office generally in respect of the gigantic task with which they were confronted last year. As far as the Institute of British Architects is concerned it may be said that, having due regard to the requirements of the public service, and the enormous number of offers received from other institutions, and individuals, the institute received a due share of attention and of appointments.