§ Mr. William Hamiltonasked the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs what was the total annual cost of Great Britain's diplomatic representation abroad in each of the last five years; and what steps he will take to reduce it.
§ Mrs. WhiteThe estimated costs falling on the Diplomatic Service Vote (including the cost of the Foreign Office and the Commonwealth Relations Office in London) in 1965–66 amount to £37.8 million of which some £21 million represents overseas expenditure. The costs falling on the Vote in the previous four years was as follows:
1961–62 £24.7 million 1962–63 £26.4 million 1963–64 £28.9 million 1964–65 £33.9 million In this period the Service had to undertake many new commitments, including the establishment of missions in eleven newly independent Commonwealth countries. Nevertheless the total cost of the Diplomatic Service remained constant at approximately 0.5 per cent. of the total of Government expenditure.
The Diplomatic Service is making its full contribution to the cuts in Government overseas expenditure to which the Prime Minister referred in his statement on 20th July.