§ 3.38 p.m.
§ LORD CARRINGTONMy Lords, with your Lordships' permission, I should like to repeat a statement being made in another place by my right honourable friend the Prime Minister, in answer to questions on the Plowden Committee's Report.
The Government are very grateful to Lord Plowden and the members of his Committee for their Report and for the great amount of effort and thought which they put into it.
The Report concludes that the division of the world for representational purposes into Commonwealth and non-Commonwealth countries has obvious practical disadvantages and that the logic of events points towards the amalgamation of the Foreign and Commonwealth Relations Offices. It recognises, however, the special nature of the Commonwealth relationship. It therefore recommends that the Foreign and Commonwealth Relations Offices should remain separate but that a unified overseas representational service to be known as "Her Majesty's Diplomatic Service", should be created. Her Majesty's Government accept the views of the Plowden Committee and have decided that the unified Service proposed should be formed on January 1, 1965. The Queen has graciously agreed that it should be called Her Majesty's Diplomatic Service.
One of the main purposes of the 1943 reforms was to enable the Foreign Service to seek recruits from the widest possible field; and to this end its conditions of service were designed to ensure that officers had no need of private incomes. The Plowden Committee have, however, been much impressed by the financial difficulties of members 1235 of the Foreign Service and of the Commonwealth Service, especially those with several children who must, because of their parents' peripatetic career, be sent to boarding schools in the United Kingdom. Their Report recommends improved conditions of service for the Overseas Services designed particularly for those with children. It also recommends a common system of foreign allowances for members of the Representational Overseas Services and members of the Home Civil Service when serving abroad. Her Majesty's Government have accepted these recommendations, subject to a few minor modifications, and propose to put them into effect as soon as is practicable after the 1st of April, 1964.
As membership of the Diplomatic Service will alter in important respects the conditions of service of Commonwealth Relations Office staff, the latter will be able to opt for transfer to Home Civil Service Departments. Members of the Trade Commission. Service will be able to apply to enter the Diplomatic Service.
Though the future of the Colonial Office did not fall within the terms of reference of the Plowden Committee, the Government have had it under review and have decided that as soon as possible after the new Diplomatic Service is brought into being—which must be the first step—the Colonial Office should be merged with the Commonwealth Relations Office. It will take some months after vesting date to put into full effect the arrangements for the new Diplomatic Service, so that the merger of the Colonial Office with the Commonwealth Relations Office could not take place until the latter half of 1965, although it will be effected on the earliest possible date in that period and, if practicable, on July 1, 1965.
This change in our arrangements for discharging our Commonwealth responsibilities continues the process of integration which my right honourable friend Mr. Harold Macmillan began in July, 1962, by the appointment of my right honourable friend the Commonwealth Secretary to fill the office of Secretary of State for the Colonies in addition to that of Secretary of State for Commonwealth Relations.
In the implementation of the decisions announced in this statement, the staff 1236 problems involved will be worked out in detail in consultation with the staff associations concerned.
§ EARL ALEXANDER OF HILLSBOROUGHMy Lords, I am much obliged for the statement made by the noble Lord. I must say that there are many things which may seem quite desirable in what has been done, and which have been fully explained in the Plowden Report, but I think the terms of the answers given will require a little study; and perhaps if we should have one or two Questions to put down about it afterwards, we can do that. For the moment, we should like to reserve the position and have a further study of the statement.
§ LORD CARRINGTONI am much obliged to the noble Earl. The Report is rather long, and I am afraid the statement is rather long, too.