§ Lord ORR-EWINGMy 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 when they expect the Review of Home Defence to be completed and whether the report will be published.
§ The PARLIAMENTARY UNDERSECRETARY of STATE, HOME OFFICE (Lord Belstead)My Lords, the Government hope to be able to make an announcement soon after the Easter Recess.
§ Lord ORR-EWINGMy Lords, will my noble friend say whether this report, when it is produced, will be published? If it is to be published, can he try to make sure that it is available to your Lordships' House so that we may absorb it before the defence debates take place?
§ Lord BELSTEADMy Lords, I quite understand the concern of my noble friend. Of course, it depends on the form that the Statement takes.
§ Lord SHINWELLMy Lords, is the noble Lord aware that I am surprised at that announcement, because some weeks ago when this matter was raised we were informed that by 20th March the Government would make an announcement about Home and Civil Defence, whereas now we are told that we have to wait until after Easter? What is the cause of the delay? Do the Government realise that this is a matter of extreme importance?
§ Lord BELSTEADMy Lords, the Government are treating it as a matter of importance. I am not aware that either 948 House of Parliament was told that there would be a Statement on or by 20th March. If the noble Lord can help me further with that point, then perhaps I may reply more effectively to him.
§ Lord DAVIES of LEEKMy Lords, is the noble Lord aware that some of us think it would be a constructive approach to civil defence if with regard to the countryside of Britain and the rural schools these were looked upon as areas for evacuation in—which I hope to God will never be—case of an emergency? Therefore, instead of the problem being entirely on the education grant, could not civil defence look upon the upkeep of rural schools as providing an area for evacuation for the children of the cities if there should be the need?
§ Lord BELSTEADMy Lords, I will certainly take into account what the noble Lord has said and will pass it on to my right honourable friend so that he may take it into account in the review which he is conducting.
§ Lord CLIFFORD of CHUDLEIGHMy Lords, this Question refers to home defence, but is this not a question which should not necessarily be only for the Home Office but also for the Ministry of Defence? Home defence is understood by many people to include such things as the Territorial Army and its equivalent in the other services, whereas recently everyone has been referring to it only as civil defence. Surely both these matters are interrelated. Would not the Government ensure that the report includes home and civil defence, and not merely civil defence alone?
§ Lord BELSTEADMy Lords, there is nothing between the Government and the noble Lord in what he is saying in his question. The review which my right honourable friend has been conducting covers many departments in Whitehall, but it is the Home Office which is answering in your Lordships' House.
§ Lord TAYLOR of BLACKBURNMy Lords, I am grateful for the Answer to this Question, but may I ask that when we receive the report we should have ample time to discuss and realise what the report is really saying, rather than be presented with a fait accompli?
§ Lord BELSTEADMy Lords, I am sure that I shall need even more time than the noble Lord to assimilate the facts.
§ Lord ORR-EWINGMy Lords, I think my noble friend did not get the point of my supplementary question; namely, is the report to be published? That is what we want time to study before we consider our defence debate.
§ Lord BELSTEADMy Lords, what I meant when I replied to my noble friend, and said that it depended on the form of the Statement, is that of course if the report to Parliament is made in the form of a Parliamentary Statement, then there is nothing further to publish because the Statement is being given to Parliament.