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Commonwealth Scholarship and Fellowship Scheme

I start with an apology. When I put my name down to speak in this short debate, I fully expected that it would have concluded by six o’clock. In view of the change in timing, I fear that I may have to leave for an unalterable commitment by 6.15. If that happens, I hope that the Minister and your Lordships will forgive me. I propose to speak briefly. I am grateful to the noble Lord, Lord Luce, for drawing attention to a problem that appears to reflect a shocking lack of co-ordination between departments. I presume—although I hope that the Minister will confirm this—that the Foreign and Commonwealth Secretary’s regrettable decision announced on 13 March was driven solely by financial pressures on the inadequate diplomatic service budget, rather than reflecting any lack of commitment to commonwealth scholarships or, indeed, the Commonwealth. As a former head of the Diplomatic Service, I confess to a feeling of shame regarding my own department that it fell to two other departments—the Department for International Development and the Department for Innovation, Universities and Skills—to rescue it from an act of sheer diplomatic folly. It must surely have been realised in advance of Mr Miliband’s announcement that one effect of turning these scholarships over to DfID would be to reverse the long-established principle that they should be available for citizens of all member countries, not only to the poorest. I was made acutely aware of the importance that at least one of our Commonwealth friends and allies attached to these scholarships when I attended an Anglo-Canadian seminar in Cambridge a few weeks ago. Attention was drawn to the large number of distinguished and influential Canadians who have benefited from these scholarships in the past and the importance which Canada, as one of our Commonwealth friends who would have been affected by the Foreign and Commonwealth Secretary’s Statement, continued to attach to the Commonwealth scheme. It was acknowledged that there had been some rethinking of the Foreign Secretary’s decision as a result of another department’s initiative. Was there any consultation with our diplomatic posts abroad or, indeed, with other Commonwealth Governments, before the Foreign Secretary announced his decision? If not, why not?