Part of Royal Assent – in the House of Commons at 3:22 pm on 20 March 2008.
The Foreign and Commonwealth Office takes the lead on overseas territories, and I assume that is why the Foreign Affairs Committee decided to conducts its current inquiry into this area. Other Departments have responsibility for a range of issues in overseas territories—this is a Government-wide responsibility—so other Select Committees, such as the Select Committee on Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, could specifically examine the issues in relation to overseas territories. There is nothing to prevent their doing that.