Foreign Office Libraries (Salaries and Acquisitions)

HC Deb 05 August 1971 vol 822 cc432-4W

Mr. George Cunningham

asked the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what was the cost of the Foreign Office libraries in respect of salaries and acquisitions, respectively, in 1970–71.

Mr. Anthony Royle

For the period 1970–71, excluding clerical and other supporting staff, the departmental library of the Foreign and Commonwealth Office and that of the Overseas Development Administration, which is jointly administered, employed 21 professional librarians whose salaries amounted to £40,450.

The expenditure on library acquisitions for this period is not available but it is estimated to have been in the region of £16,000. This figure excludes the cost of British official publications; publications

			Net total £	Overseas Aid £
Main Estimates 1971–72:
Class II, 2. Foreign and Commonwealth Services:
C14. Central African Pension Fund	…	…	139,437
C15. Gibraltar: Medical and Surgical Services	…	…	10
C16. Anguilla: Expenses of Her Majesty's Commissioners Administration	…	…	61,000
E1. United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (Grant in Aid)	…	…	1,875,000
E2. United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (Grant in Aid)—Part	…	…	75,000
				2,150,447
Class II, 5. Overseas Aid (International):
Total Estimates constituting direct public expenditure	…	…	176,407,000
Less items not classified as overseas aid—Subheads M1, M2, M3 and N	…	…	2,134,010
				174,272,990
Class II, 6. Overseas Aid (General Services):
Total Estimate	…	…	32,704,000
Less items not classified as overseas aid—Subhead A (Part)	…	…	200,000
				32,504,000
Class IV, 12. Export Credits (Special Guarantees, 8c):
Subhead c (Part) Acquisition of Guaranteed Securities	…	…		2,134,000
Class VI, 5. Civil Accommodation Services, etc., United Kingdom:
Subhead A (Part) New works on specialised buildings	…	…		185,000
Class XI, 3. Pensions, etc. (Overseas Services):
H. Her Majesty's Overseas Civil Service (Nigeria): Pensions	…	632,000
N. Other Superannuation payments: Items (2) to (6)	…	…	1,513,000
O. Superannuation and Other Payments to and in respect of certain Overseas pensioners and their dependants	…	…	12,000,000
Z. Appropriations in Aid:
(1) Recoveries from the Federal Republic of Nigeria in respect of pensions, compensation, etc. (Subheads H and O)	…	405,000
(2) Miscellaneous receipts (Part)	…	…	1,000
				13,739,000
Summer Supplementary Estimates 1971–72:
Class II, 2. Foreign and Commonwealth Services:
C20. United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East: Gift	…	…	5,000
C21. Refugee relief	…	…	250,000
E20. United Nations Educational and Training Programme for Southern Africa (Grant in Aid)	…	…	50,000
				305,000
Class II, 5. Overseas Aid (International):
Total Supplementary Estimate	…	…	2,342,000
Less item not classified as overseas aid—Subhead M4	…	…	62,500
				2,279,500
Class II, 6. Overseas Aid (General Services):
Total Supplementary Estimate	…	…		294,000
Class XI, 3. Pensions, etc. (Overseas Services):
Total Supplementary Estimate	…	…		29,000

bought for the libraries by diplomatice posts overseas; and the cost of publications sent in exchange for material presented to the libraries.