§ Mr. StreeterTo ask the Secretary of State for International Development if she will list(a) British Council grant-in-aid funded by her Department and (b) the value of contracts awarded to the British Council in each year from 1979 to 2000 [124566]
§ Clare Short(a) in 1998–99 it was agreed that the management of the British Council by two Departments was unnecessarily cumbersome. Responsibility was passed to the FCO along with the funds earmarked for this purpose.
(b) The total value of consultancy and Technical Co-operation Training contracts that DFID have awarded to the British Council in each of the following financial years are:
£ million 1999–2000 23.3 1998–99 52.8 1997–98 42.2 1996–97 62.0 1995–96 27.3 We introduced a new computerised contract monitoring system early in 1996, and we are unable to provide accurate data prior to this period.