Mr. RobertsonTo ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs (1) what is the total budget for youth exchanges between Britain and Europe; and if he will make a statement on the effect on this total of contributing to the Youth for Europe scheme;
(2) how many people are covered by youth exchange programmes between Britain and Europe; how many schemes there are; how many of these are administered by the British Council; within the total how many places relate to each of Scotland, Northern Ireland and the North of England; and how many places relate to each of (a) the disabled, and (b) ethnic minorities.
§ Mr. EggarThe information requested is not readily available. I will reply to the hon. Member as soon as possible.
Mr. RobertsonTo ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs how many youth exchange places there are between Britain and Comecon countries.
§ Mr. EggarBritain's Government-sponsored youth exchanges are demand-led by British youth organisations. There are, therefore, no set number of places allocated each year. In 1986–87, a total of 1,902 young people were funded by Her Majesty's Government, to take part in exchanges with Comecon countries. The total grant amounted to £90,418.