HC Deb 21 July 1953 vol 518 cc30-1W
117 and 118. Mr. Hale

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department (1) the present per capita contribution to the cost of defence of the United Kingdom, including cost of the Armed Forces, the Ministry of Defence, the European Defence Organisation and the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation, borne, respectively, per capita by the people of the United Kingdom and of the Isle of Man;

(2) whether an agreement has now been arrived at in relation to the amount of the annual payment from the Isle of Man to this country in respect of the services rendered to the Isle of Man by Her Majesty's Government and the United Kingdom.

Sir D. Maxwell Fyfe

Under the Isle of Man Customs, Harbours and Public Purposes Act, 1866, the sum of £10,000 is paid annually into the Consolidated Fund of the United Kingdom out of the insular customs duties collected by the United Kingdom Customs. In 1949 Tynwald resolved to increase this sum for a period of five years in respect of Imperial defence and other common services to an amount equal to 5 per cent. of the principal insular Customs receipts.

I am advised that the cost of defence borne by the people of the United Kingdom for the year 1952–53 expressed in terms of the average payment per head of the population is approximately £31 10s. The increased amount payable by the Isle of Man in respect of the year 1952–53 is estimated to be £92,354 which, divided by the population of the Isle of Man, yields a quotient of about £1 14s. per head.