§ 22. Mr. Bryant Godman Irvineasked the Secretary of State for Commonwealth Relations what was the date of the last meeting of the Oversea Migration Board; and what is his policy for its future.
§ Mr. Cledwyn HughesThe last meeting of the Oversea Migration Board was on 8th December, 1964. The future of the Board and its functions are at present being reviewed.
§ Mr. Godman IrvineCould the hon. Gentleman give any indication that the Government will make use of this Board and see that it considers specific proposals, which is why it was set up?
§ Mr. HughesWe are carrying out a review because we wish to know what useful rôle the Board can play in future. Its members have given very useful service, and I believe it to be the wish of the members of the Board that there should be a reappraisal of what it could usefully accomplish in future.
§ Mr. FisherI used to be a member of the Board during its more active days. I was wondering whether the hon. Gentleman could tell us what it does now. I think that it does very little indeed. Has not the time come when it should either be disbanded or given something more useful and constructive to do than merely collecting statistics?
§ Mr. HughesThe Board does exactly the same work as it did when the hon. Gentleman was a member. It meets to consider and approve its report on emigration statistics. As the hon. Gentleman knows, it was appointed to advise the Commonwealth Secretary of specific proposals for emigration schemes put to him by other Commonwealth Governments or migration organisations. As I have said, we are conducting a review and perhaps we had better wait to see what the results of it are.
§ Mr. FisherIs the hon. Gentleman aware that in former days we used to make recommendations—they were not always acted on—and studied the problem? Now the Board merely collects statistics and is not very usefully employed.