HC Deb 13 May 1968 vol 764 cc856-7
37. Mr. Emrys Hughes

asked the Lord Privy Seal if he will now move that a Select Committee be set up to consider the Scottish Office.

Mr. Peart

I will certainly note the suggestion, but the scope for further Select Committees this Session is extremely limited.

Mr. Hughes

Is my right hon. Friend aware that Scotland is going right to the end of the queue for these Select Committees, and that there is a great demand in Scotland for the modernisation of Scottish government? Cannot he hasten the procedure so that we shall get this Select Committee?

Mr. Peart

As my hon. Friend must be aware, there are many Select Committees now. We must see how they work and how they progress. [Interruption.] I might be pressed for Wales as well, and there are other parts of the United Kindom which would press me on this. I must wait and see how things go.

Mr. David Steel

Does the right hon. Gentleman recognise that we had sympathetic noises on this question from his predecessor and more recently from his deputy? Will he look at it carefully since if the Committee met in Edinburgh it would impose no further strain on the facilities of the House?

Mr. Peart

I have always been a great defender of Select Committees, but I believe that for the moment we must see how the present Select Committee system works and then make decisions. I shall note what the hon. Gentleman says.