§ 2. Mr. Christopher Priceasked the Minister for the Civil Service if he will ensure that those Government Departments which pay the fees of children at private schools do so at the same rate.
§ Mrs. HartBoarding school allowances are paid at the same rates except to the staff of the Diplomatic Service for whom the 1964 Plowden Committee on Representational Services Overseas recommended higher rates on the ground that 4 the nature of their careers warranted special treatment. Allowances towards the cost of private day school fees overseas are paid at the same rates for all children.
§ Mr. PriceDoes my right hon. Friend agree that this £5½ million a year of rather dubious public expenditure needs criticising rather closely to find out whether it is being spent in schools which co-operate? Will she explain a little more clearly why the Diplomatic Service needs to be remunerated at a rate which is nearly twice as generous as that, for instance, for members of the Armed Forces?
§ Mrs. HartOn the second part of my hon. Friend's question, the point is that the Armed Forces and most home civil servants overseas serve in places where schools are provided by the Ministry of Defence, whereas members of the Diplomatic Service have no choice but to send their children to boarding schools in this country if they are to be educated under the British system.
On the first point, as with all other Government expenditure, there is very careful scrutiny of the items expended.
§ Sir G. NabarroWill the right hon. Lady bear in mind that the only boarding facilities generally available in this country are at private fee-paying schools, and that those private fee-paying schools contributed approximately £40 million to our balance of payments last year?
§ Mrs. HartIndeed, knowing, as he does, of volume 1 of the Newsom Public Schools Commission the hon. Gentleman, I am sure, will be aware of a number of considerations affecting this matter.