§ 4.7 p.m.
§ THE DUKE OF SUTHERLANDMy Lords, I beg leave to ask the following Question, of which I have given private notice—namely, whether His Majesty's Government have any statement to make on the action they propose to take on the Report of the Gowers Committee on English country houses classed as buildings of historic interest and scheduled as ancient monuments.
THE MINISTER OF CIVIL AVIATION (LORD PAKENHAM)My Lords, the Report is being published to-morrow and copies are available in the Printed Paper Office. I should like to take this opportunity on behalf of His Majesty's Government, of publicly thanking Sir Ernest Gowers and his colleagues for their extremely able and thorough inquiry into this difficult problem. The Report is under consideration, but it will be some time before any decisions on it can be reached. The Committee's recommendations cover a wide field and raise some large issues of policy, and legislation would be required to give effect to them.