COMMUNITY RELATIONS (Hansard, 16 July 1968)

§ Ql. Miss Lestor
asked the Prime Minister if he will take steps to establish a Government Department with responsibility for the general promotion of harmonious community relations and to include matters relating to race relations within the United Kingdom.

§ The Prime Minister (Mr. Harold Wilson)
No, Sir. My right hon. Friend the Home Secretary already has overall responsibility for community relations in Great Britain.

§ Miss Lestor
I thank my right hon. Friend for that reply, but does he not agree that the effective working of race relations legislation rests to a large extent on good community relations and welfare services, including, in particular, those Departments dealing with race relations?

§ The Prime Minister
The difficulty about this is that practically every important Home Department is involved in the special problems of community relations —the Ministry of Education and Science and the Ministry of Housing, as well as my right hon. Friend the Home Secretary's Department, which is responsible for co-ordination. I would have thought that the debates on the Race Relations Bill and other steps being taken to deal with immigration problems would satisfy my hon. Friend that everything possible is being done. We hope for further announcements in the near future.

§ Mr. Thorpe
May I revert to a suggestion, emanating from various quarters, that there should be an all-party committee at least to consider and discuss matters of race relations in this country? Does not the Prime Minister think that this could be an appropriate moment to take initiatives in that direction?

§ The Prime Minister
One form of suggestion—which I welcomed in a public speech—came from the right hon. Gentleman himself. We are considering this. I accept the desirability of dealing with 1247 these matters on an all-party basis, and we shall soon be ready to take an initiative in this matter.

§ Mr. Heath
Can the Prime Minister say when the official survey of race relations in Britain will be ready? We hope that it will produce a great deal of information which will provide a sound basis for policy. Secondly, when will the Government's own urban programme be announced, and when may we see the provision of capital expenditure for the cities most affected?

§ The Prime Minister
On the first part of the question, I shall have to discuss it with my right hon. Friend, but I shall let the right hon. Gentleman know the likely timing. On the second part, a lot of work has been done. It is practically ready and I hope that it will be announced in the near future. I cannot be certain, but I hope that it will be before the House rises.

§ Mr. Christopher Price
Does not the Prime Minister agree that when the amalgamation takes place between the Ministry of Health and the Ministry of Social Security, the new Department of Social Affairs, or whatever it is to be called, would be the appropriate Department, with the social resources at its disposal, to look after the community aspects of race relations in particular?

§ The Prime Minister
That is worth considering, but my hon. Friend will be aware that perhaps the biggest single problems are the problems of education and housing, neither of which will be in the merged Department. I thought that there was a general feeling in the House that control over immigration should be in the same Department as the Department responsible for community relations.