§ Mr. Tilneyasked the Minister of State for Commonwealth Relations whether Her Majesty's Government, in considering the Report made on the Commonwealth Relations Office last year by the Select Committee on Estimates, have reached any decision on the recommendations which dealt specifically with the Trade Commission Service.
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§ Mr. AlportMy noble Friend, the Secretary of State, will today be letting the Select Committee have the views of Her Majesty's Government on its Report on the Commonwealth Relations Office as a whole. In advance of this full reply, however, he has, with the agreement of my right hon. Friend, the President of the Board of Trade, informed the Select Committee that the Government accept its recommendation that the work and the structure of the Trade Commission Service should be the subject of an inter-departmental inquiry. A Committee comprising senior officials of the Board of Trade, Commonwealth Relations Office and Treasury has been set up under the chairmanship of Sir Henry Wilson Smith and is seeking the views of Government Departments and nongovernmental bodies concerned with our commercial representation overseas. The Committee will in due course advise the Ministers concerned of its conclusions.