§ Mr. Harold Walkerasked the Lord Privy Seal what is the current annual cost of Great Britain's participation in the Council of Europe.
§ Sir Ian GilmourIn the financial year ending 31 March 1979, the following sums were paid to the Council of Europe:
£ Ordinary and pensions budgets 3,140,938 Extraordinary budget 577,477 Youth budget 92,477 Partial agreement in the social and public health field 62,835.59 European pharmacopoeia 92,646.74 In addition, the Foreign and Commonwealth Office spent an estimated £230,000 on the United Kingdom permanent delegation in Strasbourg. To arrive at the complete cost of United Kingdom participation in the Council of Europe it would also be necessary to include the cost of Ministerial and official attendance at meetings and the man-hours spent by London-based officials from several Government Departments in preparing briefing. I regret that these costs cannot be provided without disproportionate expenditure of time and resources.