§ 60. Mr. Frank Allaunasked the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs if he will stale the total cost of maintaining British embassies abroad, giving details for each capital; and what reduction in expenditure is intended in the recent reductions of public expenditure.
§ Mr. MulleyFor the financial year 1967–68 I would refer my hon. Friend to Table IV of the Estimate for the Diplomatic Service, which shows the cost of Diplomatic Service staff and allowances in each country in which we are represented. I am sending him a copy. I regret that the figures for each Embassy are not available in all cases since the costs of Consulates, etc., are included within the total for each country.
The costs of communications are not included since they cannot be broken down among individual posts. Additional costs for accommodation are largely the responsibility of my right hon. Friend the Minister of Public Building and Works. The system of regular inspection of posts ensures that the scale of representation is kept under constant review.