§ Mr. Hooleyasked the Minister of Overseas Development what arrangements he is making in the present financial year in respect of colonial development and welfare assistance to the South Arabian Federal Authorities.
§ Mr. PrenticeColonial Development and Welfare grants have been made towards the Federal authorities' recurrent and capital expenditure of a developmental nature.
The arrangement under which C.D. and W. funds contribute to recurrent expenditure is the result of past administrative decisions on the division between ordinary and developmental charges, but both are comprised in the Federation's annual budgetary expenditure. In order to simplify accounting procedures in the situation obtaining in South Arabia in recent months, and because of the obvious difficulties which may be foreseen 175W in the way of securing the usual detailed audit clearance for the contributory expenditure (since many of the relevant statements would not be receivable until well after the date of Independence) it has been decided that subject to the approval of Parliament such expenditure should from the 1st April, 1967, be met from the provision for budgetary aid in Class II, 7 Subhead D.9 of the Civil Estimates. Issues of budgetary aid are subject to a simple certificate that the money has been devoted to the purposes for which it was provided.
A Supplementary Estimate will be laid before Parliament in due course.
Issues from the approved C.D. and W. grants for capital development projects will until Independence be made on the basis of estimates of expenditure currently being incurred. On the attainment of In-dependence previously dependent territories cease to be eligible for assistance under the Colonial Development and Welfare Acts.