§ 37. Mr. Heathcoat-Amoryasked the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs whether he has any plans to change the method of financing of the external services of the British Broadcasting Corporation; and if he will make a statement.
§ Sir Geoffrey HoweAn arrangement for multi-year funding of the external services has been agreed with the BBC for the three years from 1985–86 to 1987–88. This change in the way the external services are financed follows a recommendation in the Perry report that the grants-in-aid to the external services should be determined on a multi-annual basis for the same period as the licence fee.