HC Deb 26 November 1942 vol 385 c895W
Dr. Morgan

asked the Under-Secretary of State for the Colonies how many persons of West Indian birth have been chosen to represent or do work for the British Council in the West Indies; how many such persons have been selected since the war by the Colonial Office for special investigation in the West Indies; and what special inquiry is being conducted by Mr. Evans, a late ex-Colonial Secretary of one of the Caribbean Colonies, in that area?

Colonel Stanley

The answer to the first and second parts of the Question is "nil," though such persons who have been chosen to represent or do work for the British Council in the West Indies, or have been chosen by the Colonial Office for special investigation in the West Indies invariably consult local organisations and bodies at every stage of their work. Mr. E. W. Evans, C.M.G., who is the gentleman referred to in the third part of the Question, is a retired officer of the Colonial administrative service. He was recently appointed by the British Broadcasting Corporation to collect information in the West Indies concerning the effectiveness of the programmes sent out by the B.B.C. His main function is to find out who in the West Indies listens to programmes from London; what their reactions to British programmes are; how the Corporation can improve the value of programmes to those who already listen to them, and how a wider audience can be secured