TNAG-0289-FCO40-325-Departmental-briefs-on-Hong-Kong-1971 — Page 27

IN CONFIDENCE

CONFIDENTIALM

Gafina

on

1

My note on (151). There в стаи нк is no time to commet HK almá

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this byn. the meeting. I think tagh that we shi, kup quist. If

BRITISH COUNCIL ESTIMATES 1972/3

не

Camond

En. artistin in IK.

asked, we shi usist any I anleiting 2 by the Pre-Estimates Planning Meetings on Overseas Information 199

1. Details are being circulated separately for consideration

Expenditure of proposals made by Ambassadors, High Commissioners and others, for expansion, reinforcement or modification of British Council work in overseas countries. In considering these various suggestions, however, the following major factors must be taken into consideration.

2.

First, there are two major proposals which must be regarded as having received ministerial approval:

(a)

(b)

an increased Council effort in support of measures to improve our cultural relations with the French. This involves expenditure of some £70,000 a year on stepping up selective youth exchanges and promoting civic links with France; and £50,000 a year on scholarships;

expansion of British Council work, particularly on teaching English, in the Gulf at a cost of some £90,000 a year rising to £120,000 a year, to which must be added about £100,000 non-recurrent expenditure on building.

Complementary to (b) is the proposal, to which the Prime Minister lent a sympathetic ear, to open a British Council presence in North Yemen; this might cost a further 35,000 a year. We thus have to find as a matter of first priority about 4 million recurrent money; if new money cannot be found for the British Council budget as a whole, this would have to be done by making economies in other directions. It is fully recognised that savings of such an order would be extremely difficult to achieve, and as will be seen from paragraph 3 below, measures are in train to seek additional funds for the mixed budget of the Council. Nevertheless, political departments should be prepared at the meetings to say what Council activities or presences might, if the worst came to the worst, be discontinued in the countries for which they are responsible.

3. Political departments are reminded that the mixed budget of the Council, fixed for 1971/72, at £13.2 million, is funded jointly by the Whitehall Wing and the ODA in the ratio of 69:31 per cent. The Whitehall Wing contribution is made from within the Overseas Information Expenditure Limit from which also have to be funded the British Information Services, the Central

/Office

I attended mating toxen

*

No question arose of cutting the HagKong

allocation.

Над

Ang

14.99

CONFIDENTIA!

PA

ANG

14.216