HC Deb 25 March 1970 vol 798 cc428-33W
Mr. Stratton Mills

asked the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will list the countries in which the British Council does not operate.

Mr. Foley

The British Council is not represented in any form in the following independent States (though they have budgetary provision for some cultural activities in the case of a few of them):

Albania. Jamaica.
Barbados. Korea.
Bolivia. Laos.
Bulgaria. Liberia.
Burma. Lichtenstein.
Burundi. Malagasy Republic.
Central African Republic. Mali.
Mauritania.
Chad. Monaco.
Chinese Peoples' Republic. Mongolian Peoples'
Republic.
Congo (Democratic Republic of). Muscat and Oman.
Nauru.
Congo (Popular Re public of). Nicaragua.
Niger.
Costa Rica. Panama.
Dahomey. Paraguay.
Dominican Republic. Philippines.
Ecuador. Rwanda
E1 Salvador. San Marino.
Equatorial Guinea. Senegal.
Gabonese Republic. Southern Yemen.
The Gambia. Syrian Arab Republic.
Guatamala. Togo.
Guinea. Trinidad and Tobago.
Haiti. United States of
Holy See. America.
Honduras. Upper Volta.
Iceland. Viet-Nam.
Ireland (Republic of). Western Samoa
Ivory Coast. Yemen.

Nor is the British Council represented in Taiwan, East Germany, North Vietnam and North Korea.

Mr. Stratton Mills

asked the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs how many British Council officials have diplomatic status, and in which countries;

(2) in which countries the British Council's representative is also the Cultural Attaché at the British Embassy.

Country Number of British Council officers Remarks
1. Algeria 1
2. Australia 1
3. Belgium 1 Also Cultural Attaché Luxembourg
4. Cambodia 1
5. Canada 1
6. Ceylon 4 Representative also Cultural Attaché, Maldives
7. Chile 4
8. Cuba 1
9. Czechoslovakia 2 Council not represented as such
10. Denmark 1
11. France 2
12. Greece 2
13. Guyana 1
14. Hungary 1 Council not represented as such
15. Japan 3
16. Mexico 3
17. Nepal 1
18. New Zealand 1
19. Rumania 1 Council not represented as such
20. South Africa 2
21. Soviet Union 1 Assistant Cultural Attaché Council not represented as such
22. Spain 1
23. Sweden 1
24. Tunisia 1
25. Turkey 2
26. United Arab Republic 3 Council not represented as such
27. Uruguay 2
Total 45

Mr. Stratton Mills

asked the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs why the British Council does not operate in the United States of America, in view of the fact that it does so in other English-speaking countries.

Mr. Foley

Educational and cultural exchanges between the United States and the United Kingdom already take place on a large scale under a wide variety of auspices (including sometimes those of the British Council): and it has not been thought that the contribution which could be made by British Council representation in that country would justify diversion of resources from other tasks elsewhere.

Mr. Stratton Mills

asked the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs (1) what progress has been made with the implementation of those aspects

Mr. Foley

The table below lists the countries were one or more British Council officers have diplomatic status, showing how many are thus privileged in each case. In all these countries the senior British Council officer serves on the staff of the British Ambassador or High Commissioner with the title of Cultural Attaché (or an equivalent title):

of the Duncan Report affecting the British Council;

(2) what provision is being made for the British Council's Budget in the year 1970–71, in the light of the recommendation in Chapter VIII, paragraph 28 in the Duncan Report.

Mr. Foley

Her Majesty's Government are still studying the recommendations made in the Report. In particular, they are considering with the British Council what steps might be taken to expand the Council's activities in Europe while not losing sight of the important rôle played by the Council in the rest of the world. Meanwhile, subject to Parliamentary approval, some increased provision will be made by redeployment of existing resources for Council activities directed towards Western Europe and for cultural manifestations generally in 1970–71.

Mr. Stratton Mills

asked the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will investigate the possibility of providing mobile bookshelves on wheels to enable British Council libraries to be used for meetings and other activities when no alternative accommodation is available.

Mr. Foley

The Council is examining the feasibility of this suggestion in the light of local circumstances.

Estimated Net British Council Overseas
Country Population (in millions) Expenditure £ £ thousand per million capita
Afghanistan 16.1 23,047 1?4
Algeria 12.9 47,712 3.7
Argentina 23.6 100,567 4.3
Australia 12.0 25,312 2.1
Austria 7.4 53,693 7.3
Bahrain and Southern Gulf 0.4 24,453 54.4
Belgium and Luxembourg 10.0 24,439 2.4
Brazil 88.2 133,756 1.5
British Honduras 0.1 12,127 121.0
Cambodia 6.6 11,396 1.7
Cameroon 5.6 10,617 1.9
Canada 20.8 15,977 0.8
Ceylon 12.0 42,154 3.5
Chile 9.4 62,174 6.6
Colombia 19.8 27,622 1.4
Cuba 8.1 18,638 2.3
Cyprus 0.6 65,825 109.7
Czechoslovakia 14.4 19,564 1.4
Denmark 4.9 11,111 2.3
Ethiopia 24.2 135,188 5.6
Finland 4.7 33,651 7.2
France 49.9 131,924 2.6
Germany 58.0 224,235 3.9
Ghana 8.4 109,777 13.1
Greece 8.8 92,105 10.5
Guyana 0.7 17,185 24.6
Hong Kong 3.9 41,945 10.7
Hungary 10.3 13,445 1.3
India 523.9 485,834 0.9
Indonesia 112.8 68,300 0.6
Iran 27.0 180,940 6.7
Iraq 8.6 38,767 4.5
Israel 2.7 48,585 18.0
Italy 52.8 173,108 3.3
Japan 101.1 125,927 1.2
Jordan 2.1 58,165 27.7
Kenya 10.2 104,509 10.2
Kuwait 0.5 34,450 69.0
Lebanon 2.6 55,749 21.4
Lesotho, Botswana and Swaziland 1.9 43,443 22.9
Libya 1.8 89,000 49.4
Malawi 4.3 32,069 7.5
Malaysia 10.3 127,857 12.4
Malta 0.3 28,638 95.3
Mauritius 0.8 17,879 22.4
Mexico 47.3 40,990 0.9
Morocco 14.6 34,319 2.3
Nepal 10.7 18,050 1.7
Netherlands 12.7 24,004 1.9
New Zealand 2.8 6,991 2.5
Nigeria 62.7 313,467 5.0
Norway 3.8 23,831 6.3

Mr. Stratton Mills

asked the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will express the British Council's budget in each country of operation as a sum per million of the population.

Mr. Foley

The table below provides the information requested in respect of countries where the Council is either represented as such or maintains staff:

Estimated Net British Council Overseas
Country Population (in millions) Expenditure ? £ thousand per million capita
Pakistan 121.8 394,443 3.2
Peru 12.8 39,962 3.1
Poland 32.3 67,215 2.1
Portugal 9.5 45,284 4.8
Rumania 19.7 10,731 0.5
Saudi Arabia 7.0 35,194 5.0
Sierra Leone 2.5 33,200 13.3
Singapore 2.0 29,107 14.6
Somali Republic 2.7 26,938 10.0
South Africa 19.2 21,888 1.1
Soviet Union 237.8 8,952 0.0[...]
Spain 32.6 68,715 2.1
Sudan 14.8 119,977 8.1
Sweden 7.9 13,595 1.7
Switzerland 6.1 11,733 1.9
Tanzania 12.6 96,888 7.7
Thailand 33.7 121,085 3.6
Togo 1.8 6,648 3.7
Tunisia 4.7 25,715 5.5
Turkey 33.5 102,419 3.1
Uganda 8.1 76,427 9.4
United Arab Republic 31.7 47,470 1.5
Uruguay 2.8 22,818 8.1
Venezuela 9.7 27,740 2.9
Yugoslavia 20.2 84,613 4.2
Zambia 4.1 42,911 10.5

Notes

(1) The figures do not include British Council Headquarters expenditure on services (e.g. scholarships and cultural manifestations) for individual countries, since this cannot be broken down on a country basis; but in some cases this greatly exceeds the amount allocated on the overseas budget (the Soviet Union is a case in point).

(2) The Council also incurs expenditure in or for various countries where it is not represented, generally on an ad hoc basis, from unallocated headquarters funds.