§ 1. Mr. Roebuckasked the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs why his Department signed 65 additional leases for property in Brussels last year.
§ The Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs (Mr. George Brown)Forty-eight of these properties were hired for the staff of our North Atlantic Treaty Organisation delegation shortly before the Organisation's headquarters moved to Brussels. An equivalent number of hirings have been given up in Paris and the rents of these are therefore an offsetting saving.
The other 17 leases replace existing hirings or were needed for extra staff in the Embassy and our delegation to the European Communities.
§ Mr. RoebuckIs it not a fact that the Government are now spending more than £200,000 a year for rent for accommodation in Brussels? What inquiries were made by the Foreign Office to see that all this accommodation was being properly used before these additional hirings were acquired? Can my right hon. Friend assure us that there will be no further hirings in 1968?
§ Mr. BrownI do not know about that, but my hon. Friend clearly wrote his supplementary question before he heard my reply. The extra hirings which we are taking in Brussels are, for the most part, to replace the ones which we previously had in Paris.