HC Deb 08 May 1957 vol 569 cc75-6W
Captain Kerby

asked the Under-Secretary of State for Commonwealth Relations (1) if he will state the reciprocal fields of technical assistance promised to the United Kingdom by the Government of Ghana under the agreement on the scheme of mutual technical assistance announced recently by Her Majesty's Government and the Ghanian Government;

(2) how many younger Ghanian public servants, who are to be nominated by the Government of Ghana, he anticipates training in the United Kingdom in practical and technical subjects at the expense of the British taxpayer during 1957; and what he estimates the total cost of this technical assistance to Ghana to be during 1957, 1958, and 1959;

(3) if he will list the practical and technical subjects which will be available under the technical assistance scheme for Ghana for Ghanian younger public servants who, upon nomination by their Government, will come to the United Kingdom at our expense for training;

(4) if he will give an estimate of the price to the British taxpayer, for 1957, of the British share of the costs of those United Kingdom experts who are to be supplied to the Government of Ghana by the United Kingdom to fill specialist, technical and professional posts of a temporary or advisory nature in Ghana; and how long he anticipates that this expression of British co-operation to Ghana in technical and other fields will continue.

Mr. Alport:

It is not intended to define in advance more closely than I did in reply to my hon. Friend the Member for Essex, South-East (Mr. Braine) on 2nd April the types of technical assistance which the United Kingdom Government and the Government of Ghana will give to each other. Nor is it possible to make at this stage detailed estimates of the numbers of Ghanaian pubic servants likely to come here for training, of the number of experts we may send to Ghana, or of the cost of the scheme to us. We await proposals from the Government of Ghana, and we will do our utmost to meet their requirements speedily in the spirit of mutual co-operation upon which the scheme is based. We have placed no limit of time on our offer.