HC Deb 31 October 1956 vol 558 cc1434-6
22. Mrs. White

asked the Secretary of State for the Colonies what recent grants have been made to the University of Hong Kong.

Mr. Maclay

Subventions totalling £500,000 are being given by the Hong Kong Government in this financial year. The most recent grant by Her Majesty's Government, approved in June, 1955, was £80,000 from colonial development and welfare funds for the construction of a pathology building.

Mrs. White

Is the Minister aware that this is the only university in the British Commonwealth in which there is discrimination against the women members of the staff, and that this discrimination has been only very recently enforced? Before entertaining applications for further grants, will the right hon. Gentleman see that this matter is put right?

Mr. Maclay

I have no information regarding the extent to which the decisions about relative salaries are influenced by financial conditions. I am not quite certain if that was the purpose of the hon. Lady's Question, but I have noted what she said.