§ Mr. Blakerasked the Secretary of State for Education and Science whether he is aware that the proposed Selective Employment Tax will cost the Youth Hostels Association about £30,000 a year, although the grant to be received by the Association from his Department this year amounts to only £5,500; and whether he will take steps to secure the exemption of the Association from the proposed tax.
§ Mr. CroslandI assume that the figure of £30,000 relates to the whole of the staff of the Association, including those employed in their hostels all over the country. My Department's grant relates only to training and administrative expenditure at the national and regional centres.
There can be no question of exempting grant-aided bodies of this kind from the new tax, but I am considerinig whether, and if so to what extent, they should be compensated through the normal grant machinery.