§ Mr. Norman Lamontasked the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs whether he will publish in the Official Report a table showing the average amounts paid per head at our embassy in Paris at Ambassador, Minister, Counsellor and First and Second Secretary level in salary, allowances, and boarding schools allowances; and whether he will adjust these total amounts to what they would represent in gross income terms if the allowances were taxable.
§ Mr. EnnalsThe table below shows the average amounts paid per head at the British Embassy in Paris at Ambassador, Minister, Counsellor and First and Second Secretary level in salary, allowances and boarding school allowances:
§ Mr. Norman Lamontasked the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs whether he will publish in the Official Report a table showing the average amounts paid per head to members of the dipomatic services in boarding school allowances at Ambassador, Minister, Counsellor, First and Second Secretary levels at the British embassies, in Bonn, Paris, Rome and Brussels.
§ Mr. EnnalsThe following table shows the amounts being paid per head in boarding school allowances, at an annual rate, averaged over all staff in the Diplomatic Service in these grades currently at the Embassies indicated.
Minister, Counsellor, First and Second Secretary levels, were not included in his answer to the hon. Member for Kingston-upon-Thames, as requested in his original Question for answer on 24th November.
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§ Mr. EnnalsBoarding school allowances for children resident at boarding school in the United Kingdom, and financial assistance towards day school fees for children who accompany their parents abroad, are paid according to individual family circumstances within prescribed limits. The amounts paid in these respects to officers at different levels at posts abroad consequently vary considerably as staff change.
§ Mr. Norman Lamontasked the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs whether he will specify what costs, other than accommodation, or education which are in fact not met out of the same allowances are meant to be met out of the allowances paid to members of our embassies in Bonn, Paris, Brussels and Rome as detailed in the answer to the Question of the hon. Member for Kingston-upon-Thames on 10th December.
§ Mr. EnnalsThese allowances are designed to help staff meet all other normal living costs. In aggregate these costs exceed net salaries paid. Allowances, therefore, represent the difference between such costs and net salaries. The allowances also include a supplement to enable staff to meet the extra costs which they necessarily incur in carrying out their representational duties.
§ Mr. Norman Lamontasked the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs (1) what assumptions he made about the number of children of the British Ambassadors to Germany, Italy, Belgium and France, in the table of after-tax income and allowances published in the Official Report in response to the Question of the hon. Member for Kingston-upon-Thames, on 10th December;
(2) what assumptions he has made about the marital status and the number of children of Ministers in the British embassies to Germany, Italy, Belgium and France in the table of income, and after-tax income published in the Official Report on 10th December in response to the question of the hon. Member for Kingston-upon-Thames; and whether these assumptions correspond with the facts;
(3) why the after-tax income of the British Ambassadors in Bonn, Paris and 536W Rome is listed as the same amounts in the answer to the Question of the hon. Member for Kingston-upon-Thames about diplomatic salaries, in spite of the fact that the Ambassador to Italy has four children, the Ambassador to France three children, the Ambassador to Germany three children; and whether these assumptions in the answer fit the facts of each case.
§ Mr. EnnalsIn column I of the table given in the reply of 10th December the gross figures quoted were the actual salaries for the Ambassadors and Ministers; for Counsellors, First and Second Secretaries the figures were the mean of salary scales. The net salary figures shown under the net salary heading were the approximate net salaries, after payment of United Kingdom income tax, of married officers in each grade, based, in the case of Counsellors, First and Second Secretaries, upon the mean of salary scales. These average or notional net salaries may not correspond exactly with the net salary in a particular case, since the amount of income tax payable depends upon a wide range of individual circumstances. But the amount of the average or notional net salary for a grade is the sum which staff in that grade must contribute towards normal living expenses at their post and continuing commitments in this country before any overseas allowances become payable. The figures in the table assumed that each Ambassador and Minister was married, and this accords with the facts; no assumptions were made about children.
§ Mr. Norman Lamontasked the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs whether there are any facilities for purchasing cheap petrol or other goods at a reduced price available to British diplomats in the Brussels, Rome, Bonn and Paris Embassies.
§ Mr. EnnalsThey are able to buy duty-free petrol, drink and tobacco. They are also able to buy certain foodstuffs and household goods from an Embassy commissary or the NAAFI. All such sources of supply are taken into account when allowances are calculated.
§ Mr. Norman Lamontasked the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what are the representational aspects, other than entertainment 537W of British diplomats duties referred to in the answer on 10th December to the Question of the hon. Member for Kingston-upon-Thames about expenses and salaries of British diplomats in Bonn, Paris, Brussels and Rome.
§ Mr. EnnalsThey are required to establish and maintain useful contacts at appropriate levels within the local community. These duties are normally performed by means of appropriate entertainment. Allowances, therefore, include a representational supplement which is mainly intended to meet the extra cost of running a home in which this entertainment can be carried out. The supplement does not cover the cost of food and drink; this is included in entertainment expenses.
§ Mr. Norman Lamontasked the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what are the prescribed limits for bounty school allowances for British diplomats in the Paris, Bonn, Rome and Brussels embassies.
§ Mr. EnnalsThe limits within which boarding school allowances may be paid for each child, against school bills, to Diplomatic Service staff serving at all the posts in question, are as follows:
Boys' boarding school £1,293 per annum Girls' boarding school £1,241 per annum Boys' preparatory school £1,164 per annum Girls' preparatory school £1,117 per annum A supplement of £50 per annum is payable in respect of the second and each subsequent child resident at boarding school.
§ Mr. Norman Lamontasked the Secretary of State of Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs whether he is satisfied with the financial control over expenses at our embassies in Bonn, Paris, Rome and Brussels.
§ Mr. EnnalsYes. Control is maintained by carrying out regular and frequent reviews of allowances and entertainment expenses. There are set accounting procedures at post where spot checks are also conducted. As a complementary check, detailed accounts of expenditure are available each month for538W scrutiny by internal audit teams and the Exchequer and Audit Department.
§ Mr. Norman Lamontasked the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs whether loans are ever advanced to British diplomats for the purchase of motor cars while abroad; and, if so, whether these were included in the table of allowances for diplomats in Europe in the answer to the Question of the hon. Member for Kingston-upon-Thames on 10th December 1975.
§ Mr. EnnalsA loan may be made to assist with the purchase of a car when a member of the Diplomatic Service is posted abroad at the end of a tour of duty in this country. The maximum loan is 90 per cent. of the purchase price, within limits varying, according to grade, from £1,032 to £1,632. A loan, which is interest free, must be repaid in not more than two years. A typical member of the Service may be eligible for a loan once in roughly 11 years.
A member of the Service already serving abroad may receive a loan only if he suffers an excessive loss in selling a car locally, and requires a new one on posting to another country. In such a case the loan is limited to the amount by which his loss exceeds normal depreciation and it must be repaid within not more than two years.
Any such loans were not included in the table of allowances for diplomats in Europe in the answer to the hon. Gentleman on 10th December since they are not remunerations but are repayable in full.
§ Mr. Norman Lamontasked the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs which allowances payable to British diplomats abroad for expenses are taxable.
§ Mr. EnnalsNone.
§ Mr. Norman Lamontasked the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what was the total amount of money spent in the last financial year on school fees for the children of diplomats at the British Embassies in Paris, Rome, Bonn and Brussels, respectively; and what number of diplomats these sums covered in each case.
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§ Mr. EnnalsThe total amount paid in boarding school allowances to all Diplomatic Service staff serving at the British Embassies in Paris, Rome, Bonn and Brussels in the financial year 1974–75 was £19,276, £14,766, £19,506 and £10,316 respectively. The number of staff in receipt of boarding school allowances at these posts was 13, 9, 13 and 8 respectively. The total amount paid to staff at the levels of Ambassador, Minister, Councellor, First and Second Secetary at the same posts during the same period was £11,722, £12,126, £17,208 and £2,529 respectively; and the number of these staff in receipt of the allowance was 8, 7, 11 and 2 respectively.
Similar details in respect of day school fees for children who accompany their parents abroad are not recorded centrally.
§ Mr. Norman Lamontasked the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs why the hon. Member for Kingston-upon-Thames did not receive through the post or on the board an answer to his Question, answered on 10th December, about Foreign Office pay and allowances at the same time that it was sent to the Official Report.
§ Mr. EnnalsI can assure the hon. Gentleman that the reply to his Question answered on 10th December, and a copy of that reply for the Official Report, were delivered to the House of Commons at the same time.