§ Mrs. Ewingasked the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food if he will seek to arrange to transfer the head office of the Forestry Commission to Scotland; and if he will give the reasons for the transfer of the Scottish headquarters to England.
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§ Mr. Peart:More than half of the Headquarters staff of the Forestry Commission have been moved to Basingstoke within the last 18 months, and the Commission should be allowed to settle down. With regard to the second part of the Question, the hon. Lady is presumably referring to the discontinuance of separate Directorates for England, Scotland and Wales, which formed part of the Commission's re-organisation in 1965. One purpose of the re-organisation was to promote closer contact between the headquarters and the local organisation in the field. The Commission continues to maintain in Edinburgh a Senior Officer for Scotland together with headquarter units, to dispose as far as practicable of business arising in Scot-Scotland.