§ Mr. WrayTo ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what factors led to the United Kingdom not participating in the Council of Europe's social development fund. [24802]
§ Mr. David DavisThe cost of the United Kingdom joining the social development fund would be prohibitive. As a major contributor to the Council of Europe, our initial investment would be around £30 million, with annual running costs of about £225,000. This could be met only by diverting aid resources from bilateral and multilateral aid programmes.