London, June 19.
The announcement last Thursday on the setting up of a Foreign Publicity Department at the Foreign Office, with the former British Ambassador at Rome, Lord Perth, as its head, gave rise to a number of questions Which were answered in the House ct Commons today.
It was made clear that, as the purpose of the Vansittart Committee, appointed some 18 months ago, was to ce-operate the work of foreign publicity undertaken by such bodies as the British Council, the British Broadcasting Corporation and the Travel Association, and to bring to> gether such Government departments as were concerned in this work, the new department at the Foreign Office would henceforth be responsible for ce-ordinating these activities Accordingly, the department would have the expert advice and assistance of these and other outside organizations in making better known abroad significant sociological developments and industrial and cultural achievements in Great Britain, It was also stated that the existing relations between the British Broadcasting Corporation and the Foreign Office regarding foreign language broadcasts would undergo no change. Although the responsibility for what is broadcast will continue to rest with the BjB.C. it will continue to maintain the closest contact with the Foreign Office and will make full use of the information at the disposal of the Foreign Publicity—Department—Reuter.
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.