HC Deb 06 February 1962 vol 653 cc206-8
10. Mr. Prentice

asked the Secretary for Technical Co-operation what was the total amount spent by Her Majesty's Government on technical assistance overseas during 1961; and what was the comparable figure for 1960.

Mr. Iain Macleod

I have been asked to reply.

The total for 1960 was £10.1 million The figure for the first three quarters of 1961 was £17.4 million; the figure for the last quarter of 1961 is not yet available. The increase in 1961 over 1960 is largely accounted for by the establishment of the Overseas Service Aid Scheme. The figures do not cover quite all the United Kingdom technical assistance effort, as some of it cannot be assessed in quantitative terms. They do include our voluntary contributions to the United Nations technical assistance funds and the United Nations Children's Fund, but not the technical assistance element in our regular contributions to the United Nations and the specialised agencies.

Mr. Prentice

I welcome the fact that the 1961 figure shows an increase on the 1960 figure, but will the right hon. Gentleman bear in mind that many of us think that it should be a great deal larger still? Can he say whether in 1962 these programmes are likely to suffer from current attempts by the Treasury to cut Government expenditure? If there are such attempts, will the right hon. Gentleman use his influence in the Cabinet to try to resist them?

Mr. Macleod

I cannot reveal Estimates which have not been presented to the House, but I think that it is reasonable to say, as indeed is implicit from the figures that I have given, that the trend of expenditure in this field anyway is upwards.

Mr. Ridsdale

Has my right hon. Friend any estimate of the help being given in technical assistance from the private sector of the economy? It must be quite considerable.

Mr. Macleod

I agree that it is substantial, but I do not think that I have any means of estimating it.

Mr. G. M. Thomson

While welcoming the increase in technical assistance, may I ask the right hon. Gentleman whether he will balance this against the information given by the Colonial Office this morning that Commonwealth Development and Welfare grants last year dropped from over £40 million to £26 million? Will he as the Minister with co-ordinating responsibilities for these matters consider the whole strategy of our aid schemes to make sure that the kind of aid which newly independent Commonwealth countries use to receive through Colonial Development and Welfare funds is not cut off abruptly but is replaced by new forms of aid to new Commonwealth Governments?

Mr. Macleod

Yes, but one cannot take a particular corner of the field. As more colonies become independent the amount of aid that we give to the dependent territories is almost bound to drop. But the amount of aid that we give to the independent territories is going up, and this must be taken into account.