§ 22. Mr. Gwynoro Jonesasked the Secretary of State for Wales if he will seek to pay an official visit to the European Economic Community Commission headquarters at Brussels.
§ Mr. Peter ThomasI shall do so when and if necessary.
§ Mr. JonesDoes not the Secretary of State agree that he should make an early visit to Brussels to ensure that, if we are to enter the Common Market, Wales is adequately represented on delegations to Community bodies? What studies are going on in his Department to that end?
§ Mr. Peter ThomasI agree with the hon. Gentleman that it is important that these matters should be considered. Arrangements are being made by my hon. Friend the Minister of State to visit Brussels, but a firm date has not yet been agreed. I shall certainly pay a visit when I consider it to be in the interest of Wales to do so.
§ Mr. Cledwyn HughesWhat consideration has been given to the appointment of Welsh and Scottish Commissioners to sit permanently in Brussels to represent our interests throughout these enormously important developments?
§ Mr. Peter ThomasConsideration is being given to the appointment of Commissioners, and all these matters are taken into account. No decision has yet been taken about appointments.
§ Mr. Jeffrey ThomasOn how many occasions have officials from the right hon. Gentleman's office visited Brussels, and how many visits are proposed in the near future?
§ Mr. Peter ThomasI cannot give the exact dates without notice, but I can assure the hon. Gentleman that officials from my Department—the previous Permanent Secretary, the present Permanent Secretary, the Under-Secretary who was referred to earlier and other officials—have visited Brussels and have had extremely useful talks with Community officials.
§ Mr. Jeffrey ThomasHow often?
§ Mr. Peter ThomasI have told the hon. Gentleman that I cannot give the dates without notice.
§ 15. Mr. Elystan Morganasked the Secretary of State for Wales what increase is envisaged in the staff of the Welsh Office in order to establish direct co-ordination between his Department and the institutions of the European Economic Community.
§ Mr. Peter ThomasMy Office is joined with other United Kingdom Government departments in establishing links with the institutions of the EEC; as United Kingdom involvement deepens and work increases, appropriate additional staff will be made available in the Welsh Office.
§ Mr. MorganDoes the Secretary of State appreciate that we would have been happier to have had a more specific reply than that? When the Secretary of State himself, in this as in other related problems in Wales, maintains a planetary distance between himself and those problems he cannot properly discharge his stewardship to the Welsh people without apprising either himself or the people of Wales of vital effects in every field following our entry into the EEC. That is something we have never had.
§ Mr. ThomasThe Question is about staffing. The staffing needs of the Welsh Office for this and other purposes are kept under constant review. In advance it is not possible to say precisely what the eventual needs will be, but I expect that some additional posts will be created this year.
§ Sir A. MeyerCan my right hon. and learned Friend give an assurance that the Welsh Office will indeed be mindful of the very great opportunities which will open out for Wales after British entry into the Common Market and that provision of information of those opportunities is not missed as a result of under-staffing of his Department?
§ Mr. ThomasI can give my hon. Friend an unequivocal assurance on that matter.
§ Mr. John MorrisTo what level of expenditure will the Welsh Office have to be raised for Permanent Secretary status to be established, with full Permanent Secretaryship, as opposed to having only a 19 Deputy Secretary without full supporting staff? Is there any other Cabinet Minister who is the head of a spending Department who has not such support?
§ Mr. ThomasWhat the right hon. Gentleman says may well be right. This is a matter which does not follow on the Question asked by his hon. Friend. It is an entirely different matter, and perhaps he will put down a specific Question.