§ Mr. Masonasked the Secretary of State for the Home Department what is the present scale of funding of the refugee agencies' Vietnamese programme; to what extent this funding will be increased by the implementation of the accepted recommendations of the third report of the Home Affairs Committee for the 1984–85 Session; and if he will make a statement.
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§ Mr. WaddingtonIn its third report, published in April 1985, the Home Affairs Committee recommended that the scale of the refugee agencies' Vietnamese programme should be increased and that its funding should be continued for as long as necessary to achieve its objectives. At that time, the level of funding support from the Home Office for the programme was £260,000 for the financial year 1985–86; and the programme was due to end on 31 March 1987. Following the Government's consideration of the report, it was decided to increase the level of the Home Office contribution by £130,000 in a full year and to extend the programme to 31 March 1988. A pro-rata sum of £52,000 was paid in 1985–86; and the grant in the current year will be £405,000.