§ Lord Brockwayasked Her Majesty's Government:
What annual grants are made to the British Council; how many persons from overseas were aided to visit here during 1982; and from which countries they came.
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§ The Minister of State, Foreign and Commonwealth Office (Lord Belstead)The British Council receives a grant-in-aid from the Foreign and Commonwealth Office diplomatic wing and a grant from the Overseas Development Administration. For the financial year 1982–83 these payments were £39,450,000 and £19,623,000 respectively. In addition, the ODA also makes contributions in respect of aid administration, higher education and for technical education and training in developing countries.
The council does not keep its records by calendar year and it is not possible to give the precise breakdown of figures of aided visitors requested for the year 1982. The council's records, however, show that there were 5,970 aided visitors in Britain on 31st March 1982 (of whom some will have arrived in 1982) and that a further 15,020 arrived between 1st April and 31st December 1982, making a total of 20,990. The visitors came from 156 countries.
A breakdown of the countries concerned and the numbers of aided visitors who arrived in Britain from them will be the subject of a separate letter.