9. Mr. Creech Jonesasked the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs whether he can make available to the House information regarding the situation in Ethiopia during the period since the agreement following the liberation of that country; what British advisers have been appointed or have resigned; who have been reappointed and which appointments lapsed; whether the whole subsidy from Britain has been expended and under what main heads; and whether any report on the period to date will be published.
§ Following is the reply:
§ As regards the first and last parts of the Question I would refer my hon. Friend to the reply given to my Noble Friend the Member for South Dorset (Viscount Hinchingbrooke) on 16th February last. Since the Agreement referred to was signed His Majesty's Government have assisted the Ethiopian Government to obtain the services of 30 British subjects as advisers in the Ministries of the Interior, Finance, Justice, Public Works, Commerce and 146 Industry, Education, Communications, and Posts and Telegraphs; and as judges and police officers. The adviser on Communications died during the currency of his contract, while the adviser on Posts resigned owing to ill-health. Neither of these two advisers has been replaced. Four other advisers have resigned for various reasons, while eight have left the country on the expiry of their contracts. Advisers in the Ministries of the Interior, Finance, Commerce and Industry, a judge in the High Court and a number of Police officers have renewed their contracts on the expiry of the initial period of two years, while others have varying periods of their contracts still to fulfil. His Majesty's Government have also provided, at their own expense, the British Military Mission to Ethiopia which comprises a comparatively large number of British officers and other ranks.
§ As regards the subsidy, I would refer the hon. Member to the information given to the House on 17th May in reply to a Question by my hon. and gallant Friend the Member for Leicester, East (Colonel Lyons). The subsidy is absorbed into the general revenue of the Ethiopian Government and it is not possible to regard it in isolation as having been expended under specific heads.