§ Miss Joan Lestorasked the Lord Privy Seal what is the total annual cost of educating the children of diplomats.
§ Mr. HurdIn the last complete financial year, 1978–79, the cost to public funds of educating children of members of the Diplomatic Service was as follows:
Boarding school allowance (BSA) £3,790,371 Day school fees for children in posts overseas £ 623,518 Total £4,413,889 Of this sum, approximately £860,000 will have been recovered by the Inland Revenue on BSA, which is taxable when paid to officers serving at home.
§ Miss Joan Lestorasked the Lord Privy Seal what is the total annual expenditure on transport for the children of diplomats.
§ Mr. HurdIn the last complete financial year, 1978–79, the cost to public funds of unaccompanied journeys made by870W figures given to the hon. Member for Grimsby (Mr. Mitchell) on 13 November by the Chancellor of the Exchequer, showing the balance of trade in goods other than oil, to show the balance with, respectively, the EEC Eight and the EEC Six.
§ Mr. Parkinson[pursuant to his reply, 29 November 1979]: Figures on a balance of payments basis corresponding to those given by my right hon. Friend on 13 November are not available for EEC (8) or EEC (6). The equivalent crude balance figures are given in the table below, together with figures of the crude balance for total trade less oil.
Diplomatic Service children to join their parents in post overseas was £790,000 approximately. It is not possible, without incurring disproportionate cost, to identify the separate cost of other journeys, such as those made at public expense by children of Diplomatic Service staff travelling with their parents.