§ Mr Arthur Lewisasked the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs whether, before giving consideration to or approval of the British Broadcasting Corporation's request to him for £13 million to modernise its monitoring service at Caversham, Berkshire, he will require the British Broadcasting Corporation to make freely available full details of all of its expenditures, including the payments in salaries and fees to its contributors.
§ Mr. RifkindNo. Any decision to modernise the monitoring service will be taken on its merits and in the112W light of all relevant considerations. Details of the grant-in-aid to the BBC's external services, from which the monitoring service is funded, are published in the Supply Estimates. Further details about external services' expenditure, which the BBC is required to publish, are given in its annual report and handbook. Payments to contributors are a matter for the managerial discretion of the BBC.