§ Mr. Ioan Evansasked the Prime Minister which Minister has responsibility for the Commonwealth Agricultural Bureaux.
§ The Prime MinisterIt has been agreed that the responsibility within the United Kingdom for relations at Government level with the Commonwealth Agricultural Bureaux, including payment of the United Kingdom official contribution, will be transferred to my right hon. Friend the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food from my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs. This change, which does not of course imply any diminution in the interest which the Foreign and Commonwealth Office has in Commonwealth organisations in general, now places responsibility, in a matter in which a number of Government Departments are involved, on the Department with a direct "user" interest, to take the lead on its own behalf and that of other United Kingdom Government users. The transfer of administrative responsibility will take effect from 1st December 1974 and of the financial provision from 1st April 1975.