§ 13. Mr. Juddasked the Secretary of State for Education and Science what financial assistance he intends to provide for the Council for Education in World Citizenship during 1967–68.
§ Mr. CroslandMy Department and the Scottish Education Department will 682 provide the Council with a grant of £1,080 in 1967–68. The Council approached me last September for an increase in grant. I replied that this would not be possible during the period of immediate economic strain, but I invited the chairman in November to provide me with fuller and more up-to-date financial details. I received these this week, and shall now consider them sympathetically.
§ Mr. JuddWould my right hon. Friend agree that in view of the Government's commitment to the United Nations and the fact that this is the only organisation working extensively within secondary education to promote interest in the United Nations, the grant should be significantly increased at the first possible opportunity?
§ Mr. CroslandI would not like to commit myself precisely to the last words of my hon. Friend's supplementary question, but I have a great deal of sympathy with what he has in mind. My hon. Friend will know better than anybody that there is a long history to this matter and that for many years the Council did not take all the grant that the Government offered, in consequence of which the grant was cut savagely in 1957. There is, therefore, a rather complicated background to this matter. I repeat, however, that I have great sympathy with the aims of this organisation and now that the chairman has been kind enough to let me have detailed financial considerations, I will examine them very carefully.