§ Mr. Sillarsasked the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs how much is spent each year from Government sources to assist BBC foreign broadcasting services; and if he will provide a breakdown of the expenditure by service.
§ Mr. EnnalsDetails of the grant in aid to the Britsh Broadcasting Corporation in respect of external broadcasting and monitoring services are published in the annual Supply Estimates. Net estimated totals for the last three years have been:
1973–74 £15,854,000 1974–75 £16,549,000 1975–76 £22,751,000 In the current year the net cost of the External Broadcasting Service, excluding capital expenditure and the cost of the BBC Monitoring Services but including the cost of the relay stations for which the Foreign and Commonwealth Office is responsible, is estimated at £21,640,000.
With the apportionment of all overheads, this sum is broken down into services, as follows:
English-speaking broadcasting and associated activities £8,483,000 Foreign language broadcasting of which: £13,157,000 Central European Service £1,644,000 East European Service £1,769,000 South European Service £1,040,000 French Service £0,987,000 German Service £0,862,000 Eastern Service £1,413,000 Far Eastern Service £1,386,000 Latin American Service £1,023,000 African Service £0,600,000 Arabic Service £2,433,000