§ The Countess of Marasked Her Majesty's Government:
Whether the Samaritans have been, or are being directly funded by central Government and if so, by which departments, to what extent and for what purposes.
§ The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Department of Health (Baroness Cumberlege)The Department of Health has committed grant aid towards the central administrative costs of the Samaritans in England as follows: £155,000 in 1994/95, £135,000 in 1995/96 and £115,000 for 1996/97. The department has also awarded the Samaritans a project grant of £50,000 per annum for three years from 1994/95 towards an Outreach Programme project to help make its services available to vulnerable people in rural areas. In addition, the Home Office provides a grant of £46,300 over two years for the central costs of the Samaritans' service in prisons in England and Wales. The Welsh Office provided £4,000 in 1993 for a rural Samaritans initiative in Wales.