HC Deb 08 December 1960 vol 631 cc1424-5
26. Mr. Leather

asked the Secretary of State for the Colonies if he will now make a statement regarding the report of the Sinclair Committee on the future of the Colonial Development Corporation.

37. Mrs. White

asked the Secretary of State for the Colonies when he intends to publish the Government's proposals for dealing with the financial structure of the Colonial Development Corporation.

Mr. Iain Macleod

I shall make a statement as soon as I can. For the moment, I cannot add to what I said in reply to the Question by the hon. Member for Dundee, East (Mr. G. M. Thomson) on 8th November; that is, that I am in close consultation with the Corporation on the complicated issues involved.

Mr. Leather

Whatever the outcome may be of these very long-drawn-out and complex talks, will my right hon. Friend give us an assurance that he will not allow the Treasury to hamstring the C.D.C.? Would he reaffirm that it is still his view that C.D.C. is the Government's primary agency for this important work, and that he will give the fullest possible support to the very experienced and successful management and staff of the Corporation?

Mr. Macleod

I can certainly give those assurances, but I should also like to add that my hon. Friend must not assume that the Treasury is being difficult in this case. That, of course, is a popular assumption which may sometimes be true. It is not true in this case.

Mrs. White

Do the Government accept the important recommendations of the Sinclair Report, or is it true to assume that these long-drawn-out discussions are because the Government's proposals were so inadequate that the Corporation could not possibly be expected to accept them?

Mr. Macleod

No. With respect, that is not the situation. It is a very complicated story, and if the hon. Lady would like to talk about it with me, I will give her as much background as I can. We had almost reached finality in our discussions when new proposals were put forward by the Corporation itself.