HC Deb 17 March 1953 vol 512 cc189-90W
Captain Bullock

asked the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs whether he will give an assurance that recent reductions in the grants available to the British Council have in no way reduced the effective implementation of the Anglo-French Cultural Convention.

Mr. Selwyn Lloyd

The terms of the Anglo-French Cultural Convention do not stipulate any specified level of activity which should be observed, but merely provide for cultural co-operation in a variety of forms. While the extent of certain of the activities carried out by the British Council as the principal agent of Her Majesty's Government for the purposes of the Convention has inevitably diminished in consequence of the reduction in recent years in the grants made available to the Council, I can assure my hon. and gallant Friend that Her Majesty's Government attach great value to the Anglo-French Cultural Convention and are satisfied that it continues to be effectively implemented.