§ Lord EVANS of CLAUGHTONasked Her Majesty's Government:
What provision is made for young civil servants to obtain special leave with pay to attend international youth conferences and to participate in international youth exchanges.
§ Lord SOAMESNo provision is made for special leave with pay for these purposes. A measure of paid special leave is allowed, however, for civil servants attending training courses in youth leadership run by certain national voluntary organisations. The fact that this concession does not extend to other activities undertaken by members of youth organisations implies no lack of appreciation of their value. It is rather that for the purposes of leave, the range of charitable and social service activities undertaken by civil servants is so wide and varied in character that it would be impossible to draw the line between one and another.