§ Lord VAIZEYasked Her Majesty's Government:
What is the total cost of the British mission in Paris; and whether they will express this figure as a proportion of the proposed reduction in the Vote for overseas broadcasting.
§ The SECRETARY of STATE for FOREIGN and COMMONWEALTH AFFAIRS (Lord Carrington)The cost of the mission in Paris in the financial year 1978–79 was £4.4 million of which £0.3 million was Ministry of Defence expenditure. The Government have announced that the increase in the financial provision for the BBC External Services in 1980–81 will be £4.9 million instead of £7.6 million as envisaged in the plans inherited from the previous Government. The difference of £2.7 million is 62 per cent. of the cost of the Paris Embassy for 1978–79. It can equally well be said, however, that the increase in the financial provision for the BBC External Services in 1980–81 represents 111 per cent. of the cost of the Paris Embassy.