§ LORD ISLINGTONMy Lords, in his unavoidable absence my noble friend Lord Downham has asked me to put the Question standing in his name on the Paper—namely, whether His Majesty's Government are in a position to make any statement as to the policy of the Government with regard to the institution of a National Corporation of Sea Training as recommended by the recent Departmental Committee on Sea Training.
THE EARL OF CRAWFORDMy Lords, I am afraid I am not in a position to announce any decision as to the policy of the Government on this subject, as this difficult and rather technical matter is still under Departmental treatment. But I think I may say briefly that, having re- 534 ceived the Report of the Committee which was directed to prepare a national scheme of training for the Sea Service, the Board of Education has decided that the next step is to hold a conference of the different Government Departments concerned. These are the Board of Trade, the Admiralty, the Scottish Education Department, the Ministry of Shipping, the Treasury and the Home Office. Nominations from these different Departments are now being received, and it is hoped that at a very early date the conference will be held. At that conference it is possible that the Government policy may be definitely defined.