§ Mr. Budgenasked the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will give details of programmes which will benefit from the money saved by withdrawal from UNESCO.
§ Mr. RaisonWe intend to allocate through the aid programme in the next financial year the amount saved from the UNESCO contribution of about £6.4 million to the following activities: the ODA technical co-operation training programmes; a joint scheme to provide scholarships in the United Kingdom for Chinese students; the ODA shared scholarship scheme; the Key English language teaching programme, particularly in Francophone Africa; a distance learning programme among academic institutions in the Commonwealth; a Commonwealth training scheme for black South Africans at post-graduate level; the Foreign and Commonwealth Office scholarships and awards scheme; participation in the Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission, the international geological correlation programme, in international hydrology and environmental sciences through the Natural Environment Research Council and research in arid Commonwealth Africa; dissemination of results of research at universities and other bodies and an increased grant to the Commonwealth Africa; dissemination of results of research at universities and other bodies and an increased grant to the Commonwealth media development fund.
I shall be responsible for the above programmes with the exception of the Foreign and Commonwealth Office scholarships and awards scheme. The diplomatic wing of the Foreign and Commonwealth Office will be responsible for our bilateral relations with UNESCO as from 1 January 1986.