§ Lord TAYLOR of GRYFEasked Her Majesty's Government:
1008WA(1) What is the strength of the United Kingdom Defence Force in Belize; (2) what is the annual cost to the United Kingdom taxpayer of this military presence and (3) what is the total United Kingdom aid from all sources to Belize, giving details of each source.
§ Lord WINTERBOTTOMThe British garrison in Belize, which provides a force for the external defence of the territory, is based on a battalion group with allarms support plus an RAF element, including helicopters, a detachment of the RAF Regiment for air defence and a radar detachment. The estimated budgetary cost for 1976/77 is some £7 million at 1976 Survey Prices.
The total amount of Government aid provided by the United Kingdom to Belize since 1970 is as follows:
Of this total approximately £9 million was capital aid, the rest technical co-operation. We do not know the amount of aid provided by voluntary agencies.
£'000 1970 2,265.9 1971 1,803.3 1972 1,197.1 1973 1,492.5 1974 1,861.1 1975 2,271.9 Total 10,891.8