§ Mr. Matthew TaylorTo ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, pursuant to his answer of 19 January,Official Report, column 587, what are the criteria and rules applying to the housing assistance scheme advances, including the circumstances under which advances can be written off; what were the total amounts advanced under the scheme in 1992–93 and so far in 1993–94; and how many staff were assisted in 1992–93 and so far in 1993–94.
§ Mr. GoodladThe information is as follows:
The criteria and rules of the diplomatic housing assistance scheme
To qualify for an advance of salary for house purchase diplomatic service officers must be buying, for the first time, a house within normal commuting distance from London or Hanslope Park. They may apply for the advance at any time during or after a substantive tour of duty abroad. Application must be made at the time of purchase.
Repayment of the advance may be spread over a maximum of nine years following an initial three-year grace period. Any amount outstanding at retirement, resignation or death is recovered immediately.
The advance is subject to a range of maxima—the highest of which is currently £10,500—related to current salary scales and in any case will not exceed the difference between the purchase price and the mortgage obtained.
All applications must be supported by documentary evidence, normally in the form of a solicitor's letter indicating the purchase price of the property, the mortgage obtained and the expected completion date.
Circumstances under which advances may be written off
The officer must sign an undertaking to repay any outstanding balance on leaving the diplomatic service for any reason, or in the case of death. This is recovered by abating the accrued superannuation or death entitlement due to the officer. These entitlements are thus used as security when early recovery is required. In cases where this security is not sufficient, recovery would be pursued vigorously if necessary, including recourse to legal action up to the point where the cost of that might exceed the benefit of recovery, in accordance with the provisions of government accounting. But in fact no advance has been written off since the scheme was introduced in 1975.
Total amounts advanced £ Staff 1992–93 549,321.05 66 11993–94 769,800.50 90 1 To date. The figures for the ODA scheme to which I referred in my reply of 19 January are:
£ Staff 1992–93 18,736 2 1993–94 27,693 3