§ 2.40 p.m.
§ VISCOUNT BRIDGEMANMy Lords, I beg leave to ask the Question which stands in my name on the Order Paper.
§ [The Question was as follows:
§ To ask Her Majesty's Government whether the new Inspector General of Civil Defence, whose appointment was announced on May 16, will have executive responsibility in the Home Office for Civil Defence and, if not by whom executive responsibility will be exercised.]
EARL BATHURSTMy Lords, when the present Director General of Civil Defence retires in October, responsibility in the Home Office for the work of the Civil Defence Department as a whole will fall to a Deputy Under-Secretary of State. The new Inspector General of Civil Defence will be responsible for planning and training and related matters, including liaison with the armed forces.
§ LORD OGMOREMy Lords, will the noble Earl try to ensure, or will the Government try to ensure, that the headquarters of the various Civil Defence Commissioners (or whatever they are going to be called) should be put, wherever possible, near the military headquarters? I understand that for Wales they succeeded in putting military headquarters in England, in the north part near Wales, and the civil defence headquarters down in the South, near Cardiff. This would seem at any time, particularly in time of emergency, to be undesirable.
EARL BATHURSTMy Lords, I doubt whether that question which the noble Lord has put to me quite arises from the Question on the Order Paper, but I am sure that what the noble Lord has said will be noted by the relevant authority.