§ Mr. Teddy Taylorasked the Lord Privy Seal (1) if the grant of £30,000 to the European Movement for 1981–82 was volunteered by his Department or whether it was given in response to a request;
(2) why he agreed that the expenditure of the £30,000 grant to the European Movement for its educational programme should not be accounted for in detail to the Comptroller and Auditor General;
(3) why he agreed that any balance of the £30,000 grant to the European Movement which is not expended on the movement's educational programme should not be liable to surrender to the Consolidated Fund;
(4) whether Her Majesty's Government support the aims of the European Movement;
(5) if he will publish details of the educational programme which the European Movement is to conduct with the £30,000 grant which he has given to the movement in respect of 1981–82; and if, in particular, the programme wall include press advertisements;
(6) whether he made any inquiries into the grants and payments made by the European Economic Community to the European Movement before he agreed to provide it with a grant of £30,000 for 1981–82;
(7) whether he made any inquiries into the financial position of European Movement Ltd. and European Movement (Investments) Ltd. before awarding them a grant.
§ Sir Ian GilmourThe grant was made in response to a request from the European Movement and on the basis of information provided about the movement's resources, income and needs. Her Majesty's Government support the European Movement's aim of promoting public understanding of and debate on matters of European Community interest. This is consistent with the Government's concern that the facts about our membership should be made known. It is for the European Movement itself to decide how best to publicise its programme. The grant has been provided in accordance with the principles of Government accounting relating to grants of this kind. As the supplementary estimates make clear, the movement's books will be open for inspection by the Comptroller and Auditor General. The Government are satisfied that the money will be spent on the purposes for which it is intended.
§ Mr. Teddy Taylorasked the Lord Privy Seal if, having regard to the fact that the European Economic Community Commission, the European Parliament and the European Movement, all of which are financed in part from public funds, are engaged in programmes to explain the benefits of European Economic Community membership, he will, in the interests of economy, take steps to ensure that their campaigns do not involve duplication.
§ Sir Ian GilmourThe Government are concerned to ensure that the facts about our membership of the European Community are widely available and welcome every effort to set them before the public. It is for the organisations themselves to decide how best to present the facts.