HL Deb 20 November 1962 vol 244 cc874-6WA
LORD BARNBY

asked Her Majesty's Government:

With regard to reports in the Press of an additional substantial contribution or subscription to the United Nations since the rising of the House in August, will they state what, if any, commitment has been made and under what Vote it will fall to receive the sanction of Parliament?

THE EARL OF DUNDEE

During the period referred to, Her Majesty's Government made or pledged the following voluntary contributions to United Nations funds:

On September 5, we pledged $5 million over a three-year period to the newly-established World Food Programme directed by the United Nations and the Food and Agricultural Organisation.

On October 16, we pledged $10 million as our contribution for 1963 to the United Nations programmes of technical cooperation (the Expanded Programme of Technical Assistance and the Special Fund). This is $2 million more than our contribution for 1962.

These pledges were made subject to Parliamentary approval. The amounts will be included in the Votes of the Foreign Office and the Department of Technical Co-operation respectively, and will be considered in Parliament early next year.

On October 31, Her Majesty's Government purchased $12 million worth of United Nations bonds. The decision to purchase up to this amount was announced in January this year, and token provision was made, in the Foreign Grants and Loans Vote, in the 1962–63 Estimates approved before the House rose in August. The full amount will be included in a Supplementary Estimate later in the year.

As announced by the Lord Privy Seal in the House of Commons on November 2, we have also decided to make a grant of $2 million to assist the Congo, to be channelled through the United Nations. This amount will be included in a Supplementary Estimate in due course, under the Foreign Grants and Loans Vote.

House adjourned at ten minutes past seven o'clock.