§ 39 and 40. Mr. G. M. Thomsonasked the Secretary to the Treasury (1) the contribution paid to Western European Union for the year ended 31st December, 1955; what was the advance for the year 1956; what was the subscription to the working capital fund; what proportion each of these three United Kingdom contributions bears to the respective total contributions of all member States; and why these figures were not separately shown in the Supplementary Estimate;
(2) what proportion of the total budget for Western European Union is represented by the sum of £59,990 in the Supplementary Estimate for 1955–56; and if he will include a statement of this proportion in all future estimates.
§ Mr. H. BrookeWestern European Union only came into existence on 6th May, 1955, and the budgets for the years ending 31st December, 1955 and 1956, have yet to be settled. So far the United Kingdom has subscribed £35,927 towards expenses incurred in 1955, an advance of £10,000 towards the budget for 1956, and £6,000 towards the working capital fund. Each of these sums represents 20 per cent. of the total contributions by member States. This percentage was shown in the Supplementary Estimate of last July and will be shown in future Estimates. The sums were not shown separately in the February Supplementary Estimate because at the time of its preparation the Council of Western European Union had not fixed the levels of the working capital fund nor of the 1955 and 1956 budgets.