§ Mr. Whitakerasked the Minister of Overseas Development whether he will make a statement about the pensions payable to British officials previously in the employment of the Government of Tanzania.
§ Mr. Tilneyasked the Minister of Overseas Development whether, in order to alleviate the concern of former members of Her Majesty's Overseas Civil Service who worked in Tanganyika and Zanzibar before 1st July, 1961, he will announce immediately that he will take over the liability for their pensions recently summarily abrogated by the Government of Tanzania.
§ Mr. PrenticeI regret that the Tanzania Government have announced that from 1st July they will make no budgetary provision for most of their pension liabilities towards expatriate (mainly British) members of the Tanganyika and Zanzibar Civil Services which arose before independence, and which are covered 175W by Public Officers' Agreements between the Tanganyika and Zanzibar Governments and the British Government. The Tanzania Government will therefore cease to pay about £1 million per annum of its current expatriate pensions bill of about £1.1 million per annum, and will not repay about £6.5 million of loans amounting to £9 million provided by Her Majesty's Government towards Tanzania's liabilities for compensating British officials for loss of career and for capitalising part of their pensions. The Tanzania Government have stated however that they will continue to honour their rights and obligations under the European and Asiatic Widows and Orphans Pension Schemes.
We are unable to agree that Tanzania should cease to be responsible for these obligations.
We have been in touch with the Tanzania Government through the Canadian High Commission in Dar-es-Salaam and a senior member of my Ministry has recently visited Tanzania to discuss the matter, and to make certain suggestions in order to help them meet the cost. He also urged a postponement of the Tanzania Government's decision pending further negotiations in the autumn. I regret to say however that the Tanzania Government were unable to accept these suggestions.
I am taking immediate steps to protect the pensioners from any hardship arising from these decisions, and arrangements are being made to continue payments to them without interruption. These payments will take the form of ex gratia loan advances, equivalent to the amount withheld by the Tanzanian Government. A Supplementary Estimate of about £800,000 for the current financial year will be presented in due course but, meanwhile, advances will be sought as necessary from the Civil Contingencies Fund. In making this arrangement, Her Majesty's Government do not regard themselves as relieving the Tanzanian Government of their liability in this matter.
In the light of this Tanzania decision I regret that we shall have to bring our aid programmes there to an end. The development loan of £7.5 million which was under negotiation with the Tan-zanians at the time of the break in dip- 176W lomatic relations in 1965, and which as announced by my predecessor on 7th February, 1966, has been reserved for Tanzania, will no longer be available. My Ministry will cease recruitment of further technical assistance staff for Tanzania and the other technical assistance programmes there will be brought to an end.—[Vol. 724; c. 30.]