§ Mr. Nicholas Bakerasked the Lord Privy Seal what decisions have been taken in respect of the rationalisation of United Kingdom support for tertiary education overseas, in the light of the examination of the position of the Inter-University Council for Higher Education Overseas, mentioned in the "Report on non-departmental public bodies"—Cmnd. 7797.
§ Mr. Neil MartenIt has been agreed that the work of the IUC will be brought together with analogous and related British Council work in the field of higher education. Accordingly, from 1 April 1981 the work now done by IUC will be carried out by a higher education unit within the British Council. The British Council will appoint a new standing committee, comprising members selected by an independent Inter-University and Polytechnic Council, representing the institutions concerned in Britain. The task of the standing committee will be to guide the work of the higher education unit, which will be concerned with assistance and co-operation in this field in all countries, developed and developing.
These arrangements will provide a means through which support from the aid programme for higher education in developing countries can be deployed. Staff transferred from the IUC to the British Council will help in this. Funds in support of the work of the standing committee will be included in Government grants to the British Council. There will be some savings, particularly when it is possible to locate the unit in British Council premises. The arrangements will be reviewed by those concerned in three years time.
I should like to take this opportunity of expressing the Government's appreciation of the excellent work carried out by the Inter-University Council since its creation in 1946. It has made a distinguished contribution to overseas development and Commonwealth partnership. I believe that the new arrangements will provide an appropriate basis for an equally effective partnership in future covering a broader field of higher education and a wider circle of countries, between all those concerned with the advancement of higher education.