§ Mrs. Virginia Bottomleyasked the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what was the amount given by the Government to the British Council in 1969, 1974, 1979 and 1984; and how this has changed in real terms.
§ Mr. RentonMoney received by the British Council from the Government in the relevant years, excluding agency money, was as follows:
£ million 1968–69 11.3 1974–75 25.3 1978–79 45.9 1983–84 73.4 From 1968–69 to 1983–84 this represents a 25 per cent. increase in real terms calculated by using the GDP deflator, or a 2 per cent. decrease on the basis of risen costs at home and overseas and of exchange rate movements.