§ Mr. Wrigglesworthasked the Minister of Overseas Development what arrangements she proposes to assist developing countries in employing British staff in 36W their public services and universities when the present supplementation schemes expire in 1976.
§ Mrs. HartAs the present agreements with overseas Governments for supplementing the salaries of British staff expire on 31st March 1976 I have been considering whether any changes may now be desirable in the supplementation schemes. I expect the numbers of staff whose emoluments are supplemented under these schemes and who currently number about 6,500 to continue to decline in line with the general trend since the schemes were first introduced in 1961, but over the next five or six years there will still be a significant demand for expatriate manpower and the developing countries of the Commonwealth will look to Britain as the major source of recruitment.
Supplementation schemes are an economical and valuable form of aid and are generally welcomed by overseas Governments and I propose to consult those overseas Governments with which Her Majesty's Government at present have supplementation agreements about their willingness to negotiate new agreements, where these are desired and the need exists, for further periods of up to five years from 1st April 1976.
I shall maintain a selective approach to the provision of expatriate manpower based upon a country's development needs and its ability to meet them from its own manpower resources, and I shall be considering the extent to which a country's financial resources may enable it to bear a higher proportion of the cost.
I have taken the opportunity of this review to introduce some improvements in scheme benefits and I shall keep under review the effectiveness of our recruitment methods.