§ Mr. CohenTo ask the Secretary of State for Defence, pursuant to the answer of 21 December 1999,Official Report, column 501W, if he will make a statement on the purpose of his Department's financial contribution to BBC World Service Monitoring, indicating those votes and subheads which cover these funds. [105076]
§ Mr. HainBBC Monitoring provides a valued information service to Government. Rapid reporting of open source information from around the world is an important aspect of the work of the FCO and other parts of Government. The FCO's financial contribution (40 per cent.) to BBC Monitoring's core operation reflects this. The contribution is made from Class VII, Vote 1, Section A2.