§ Mr. Gowasked the Secretary of State for Scotland whether he will make a statement about the progress being made in the preparation of the Royal High School building in Edinburgh as the site for the proposed Scottish Assembly.
§ Mr. Harry EwingThe Property Services Agency has reached agreement in principle with Edinburgh District Council on the purchase of the former Royal High School; the plans for adaptation are well advanced; and it is hoped to begin work on the site in the early autumn.
§ Mr. Dalyellasked the Secretary of State for Scotland (1) if he will publish in the Official Report the terms of his offer of £650,000 to Edinburgh District Council for the Royal High School; and on what basis the sum was calculated;
(2) what is the estimated cost of (a) architect's services, (b) quantity surveyor's services and (c) structural services and engineering services, or the equivalent cost of Government staff, where appropriate, in the alterations to (1) the Royal High School and (2) Old St. Andrews House;
(3) what estimate he has had from a structural engineer or quantity surveyor of the feasibility and cost of adapting the Science Laboratory Building of the Royal High School to Assembly purposes;
(4) if he will publish in the Official Report the report of the surveyors he commissioned to study the structural suitability of the Royal High School, as the seat of a Scottish Assembly;
(5) whether he has a technical assurance that the stonework of the 1820s, such as that used in the construction of the Royal High School, lends itself to major reconstruction work;
359W(6) what is the extent of various forms of "stone rot" in the structure of the Royal High School,
(7) what plans he has for constructing offices in Old St. Andrews House for 142 members of the proposed Scottish Assembly; and what is the estimated cost;
(8) where accommodation in Edinburgh is to be found for the civil servants displaced from Old St. Andrews House by the 142 Assembly Members, secretaries and officials; and what is the estimated cost of alternative accommodation;
(9) what staff he estimates will be required to work for 10 committees of a Scottish Assembly in an administrative capacity; and at what cost;
(10) how many stenographers and other secretarial staff will be required to service 10 committees of a Scottish Assembly; and at what cost;
(11) if he will give a breakdown into as many component parts as possible of his estimate of £2 million as the costs of converting the Royal High School Building into a Scottish Assembly;
(12) whether contracts for the proposed Scottish Assembly are to be on a fixed price or cost plus basis; and whether he intends to negotiate penalty clauses for non-completion of work on a given schedule;
(13) what plans he has for car parking facilities for members, officials and staff of all categories of a Scottish Assembly at the Royal High School; and if he will give a cost estimate of such facilities, including any necessary adjustments to existing facilities for old St. Andrews House;
(14) what information he has as to the date of construction of the main drainage system serving the Royal High School; and if he will make an estimate of the cost of the necessary reconstruction of the drainage system;
(15) if he has explored any alternative use to which the Royal High School could be put, after his proposed reconstruction, in the event of an Assembly choosing to adopt an alternative site;
(16) why he proposes to fill in the existing swimming pool of the Royal High School; and at what cost;
360W(17) what plans he has for a special pedestrian crossing to facilitate the crossing of the main road between the Royal High School and the offices of Old St. Andrews House by members of a Scottish Assembly and officals; and what is his estimate of the effect of such a crossing on the flow of traffic into central Edinburgh from an easterly direction;
(18) what is the cost of the proposed duct under the road between the Royal High School and Old St. Andrews House;
(19) what is the estimated cost of providing furniture for the offices in Old St. Andrews House for 142 Assembly Members and their staff;
(20) what is the estimated cost of providing carpets for the offices in Old St. Andrews House for the 142 Assembly Members and their staff;
(21) what is the estimated cost of providing furnishings, other than carpets and furniture, for the offices in Old St. Andrews House for 142 Assembly Members and their staff;
(22) what is the estimated cost of providing furniture for the Royal High School Building and related outhouses;
(23) what is the estimated cost of providing carpets for the proposed Scottish Assembly in the Royal High School, and related outhouses;
(24) what is the estimated cost of providing furnishings, other than carpets and furniture in the Royal High School and related outhouses;
(25) what estimate he has made of the costs of printing a daily Hansard for the Scottish Assembly; and what talks he has had with HMSO or private printers;
(26) what plans he has for a Members' post office inside the Royal High School, for a proposed Scottish Assembly; and what talks he has had with the Union of Post Office Workers on suitable staff accommodation;
(27) what discussions he has had with manufacturers and designers of electronic voting systems as to the cost and practicability of the installation of the electronic voting system in the Royal High School; and whether in this connection he will send an expert to Bonn to study the reasons for the failure of electronic voting procedures in the German Bundestag;
(28) what provision is being made for radio and television in the Royal High 361W School; what consequent alterations are needed in lighting and sound proofing; and at what cost;
(29) what provision he proposes for newspapers and news agencies in outhouses of the Royal High School; and at what cost;
(30) how many volumes of books he proposes to purchase for the library of a Scottish Assembly; and at what estimated cost;
(31) how many qualified librarians and researchers will be employed in the library of a Scottish Assembly; and at what estimated annual salary;
(32) whether he proposes to provide accommodation for more than 50 members of the public in the proposed Scottish Assembly; and what facilities will be provided for those who may wish to queue to enter the debating chamber;
(33) what is the estimated annual cost of providing security for a Scottish Assembly;
(34) what is the estimate cost of the heating system of the proposed Scottish Assembly building complex;
(35) what is the estimated cost of office equipment, such as Xerox machines for the proposed Scottish Assembly;
(36) what is the estimated cost of finding alternative accommodation for the recreational canoe facilities currently accommodated in the Royal High School, Edinburgh:
(37) what is the estimated cost of finding alternative accommodation for the art collection, currently accommodated in the Royal High School, Edinburgh.
(38) what scope exists for building additional structures on the Royal High School site;
(39) if he will report on a quarterly basis, to the House of Commons, the latest total estimated cost of the Scottish Assembly project.
Mr. MilanSome of these Questions raise points of detail which cannot yet be answered; some raise points the answer to which will depend on decisions of the Assembly.
The offer of £650,000 made by the Property Services Agency reflected the cost of replacing the Edinburgh District Council's Art Centre in other premises. I am assured that the Royal High School 362W buildings are worthy and capable of being kept in permanent active use. The best available estimates of capital and running costs of the proposed Scottish Administration remain as stated in Cmnd. 6348. They are based on a close examination of the Royal High School buildings and on the minimum necessary assumptions that can be made in advance of how the Scottish Administration is likely to operate. Like other estimates, they may be subject to variation, either before or after devolution, but even if they are, the final costs will not be such as to be a decisive or even a significant factor in the case for a radical change in the system of Government in Scotland. So far as these costs are incurred in advance of devolution and are the responsibility of the Government, they will be subject to the same degree of financial control and the same procedure of reporting to the House as any other projects of comparable magnitude.