§ Mr. Cormackasked the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster if he will make a statement about the British Library.
§ Mr. St. John-StevasI have now completed my review of the Library's Euston Road building project, and I am very pleased to be able to say that I have decided to make a start on the scheme.
The British Library is one of this country's great institutions and a start should be made in providing it with a permanent home. The library makes a valuable contribution to our industrial efforts as its services, in addition to those related to language and literature, include an important provision of information services to science and industry.
Some changes have been made in the proposals approved by the previous Government, which were open to serious objection in present circumstances. They would have involved heavy expenditure in the next few critical years and yet would not have resulted in usable accommodation for the library for many years to come. However, with the help of my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for the Environment, and of the British Library Board, it has been possible to modify the plans so as to allow the initial provision, at a reduced cost and by the end of this decade, of certain essential accommodation for book storage and reference services, including those of the science reference library. The construction of this accommodation will start as soon as possible.
The cost of the work now to be started will be £72 million at 1979 prices. The greatest part of this expenditure, which will be spread over 12 years, will fall in the later years of the project, towards the end of the decade. Provision is made within the revised arts and libraries expenditure programme for meeting that part of the cost which falls within the public expenditure planning period.
A decision on the timing of the next part of the work need not be taken for another four or five years. No decisions on subsequent stages of the project have yet been taken. The work now to be started will not directly affect the use of the reading room in the British Museum building. The British Museum Trustees have informed me that when he time comes for decisions to be taken about the future of the reading room, they will have full regard to the traditions and associations of the latter in making their decisions.