§ 76. Mr. Grimondasked the Minister of Public Building and Works how much new office accommodation the Government took over in London last year; and how much more they plan to acquire.
§ Mr. SharplesApproximately 700,000 sq. ft. of new office accommodation in London was taken into occupation by Government Departments in 1962 and 153,000 sq. ft. of accommodation was given up. About half the additional space was required to enable certain buildings to be vacated for modernisation or reconstruction, and the balance for new organisations and the expansion of certain Departments.
The need for accommodation is subject to the constantly changing requirements of the public service and to the results of the review now being made into further dispersal of Headquarters staff from London. No useful forecast of future acquisitions can therefore be made at this stage.