§ Mr. Tony Banksasked the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs when he expects to announce agreement with the British Broadcasting Corporation on a revised financial memorandum governing the financial relationship between external services and his Department.
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§ Mr. EggarWe expect to reach agreement soon with the BBC on a revised financial memorandum on the external services' finance and principles governing expenditure. We believe that it should include provision for the National Audit Office to carry out economy, efficiency and effectiveness examinations.
§ Mr. Tony Banksasked the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will give details of the changes proposed and effected in the British Broadcasting Corporation's external services output following publication of the Perry review.
§ Mr. EggarSince publication of the Perry report, the BBC external services are broadcasting a post-1950 record of 732¾ hours per week. The net increase of 5¼ hours broadcasting per week over the pre-Perry output breaks down as follows:
Time change Increases per week English by Radio service 2 hours Portuguese for Africa service 1 hour, 45 minutes Indonesian service 1 hour, 45 minutes Persian service 1 hour, 45 minutes Decreases per week German service 1 hour, 45 minutes Hungarian service 45 minutes Czech/Slovak service 45 minutes