Clause 1 - Commonwealth Institute
Commonwealth Bill
11:45 am
Mr Ivor Caplin (Assistant Whip (funded by HM Treasury); Hove, Labour)
Welcome to the Chair, Mr Cummings.
I congratulate the hon. Member for Havant (Mr. Willetts) on coming 17th in the ballot for private Members' Bills and for introducing a Bill that is uncontroversial. I hope that it will receive the support of the Committee this morning; it certainly has the
Government's support. I place on record the apologies of the Under-Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, my hon. Friend the Member for North Warwickshire (Mr. O'Brien). Had he not been engaged on other Foreign Office business, he would have been here this morning. I know that he has written to you, Mr. Cummings, and to the hon. Member for Havant.
As the hon. Gentleman said, the Bill repeals the statutes that provide for the management of the Commonwealth Institute as a non-departmental public body under the Foreign and Commonwealth Office, following the severance of the institute from the Foreign and Commonwealth Office's responsibility and its establishment as an independent charitable company in January 2000. The Commonwealth Institute played a significant role in the golden jubilee celebrations, not least by leading the parade in the jubilee procession in the Queen's honour in the Mall on 4 June.