§ Q8. Sir S. McAddenasked the Prime Minister whether, in the light of the proposals contained in the Buchanan 208 Report, he will appoint a Minister of Urban Development.
§ The Prime MinisterNo, Sir. Many Departments are concerned with various aspects of the modernisation of our cities. It is neither desirable nor practicable to attempt to concentrate all these responsibilities under one Minister.
§ Sir S. McAddenDoes the Prime Minister appreciate that I fully bear in mind the number of Departments involved? Since this matter involves a new approach to the whole question, would it not be better to have someone to co-ordinate the work of the different sections of these Departments and do the job properly?
§ The Prime MinisterIf my hon. Friend is interested in co-ordinating machinery in the Government, we already have that, because we have a joint urban planning group which serves both the Departments and the Scottish Development Department. I think that these are matters which can be best talked about in debate. I have no hard and fast ideas on this subject, although I do not think that one regional department would make sense at present.
§ Mr. ThorpeWould the right hon. Gentleman not agree that one of the difficulties in this matter has been that there are so many different Ministries involved? Is this not a case where there should be, apart from co-ordination, one central Ministry responsible for all these matters?
§ The Prime MinisterI have said "No Sir"—not as I see the thing at present. As I see it, this is not so much a matter of an inter-town question which my hon. Friend has raised but a problem of each town. I think that the co-ordinating machinery in the present circumstances is the best we can do, but I am always willing to think about new machinery if that is required.