3 Μαν 1989)
THE FOREIGN AFFAIRS COMMITTEE
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[Continued
Vote 2 Section B
10. Can you identify expenditure on academic research into Soviet and East European Studies in this section? What information do you have about other Government-funded research in this field (grant- aided by the British Council, DES, etc)?
In Financial Year 1989/90 under Vote 2 we shall contribute £205,000 to the GB/USSR Association and £165,000 to the GB/East Europe Centre. Neither of these organisations is engaged in specific academic research but both organise seminars and conferences on East Europe/USSR.
Under Vote 1, from a total budget of £111,000 for developing links with universities, and academic institutions, some £22,750 has been earmarked for studies on East Europe/USSR under the auspices of the Royal Institute of International Affairs. This is the largest single area studies programme. In addition the FCO is contributing £10,000 to a major conference to be held in Harrogate in 1990. The Harrogate Conference will bring together British and overseas scholars specialising in the Soviet Union and Eastern Europe. The FCO also sponsors or organises conferences and seminars on the Soviet Union and Eastern Europe. Last year about £10,000 was spent to promote discussion of current developments in the area between government officials and scholars, and to enable researchers to exchange information with their opposite numbers in the United States.
The FCO's Research Department has a programme of ongoing research on Eastern Europe and the Soviet Union to complement reporting from Posts and other sources.
DES do not currently fund any research in this field. The DES has however commissioned a review of Soviet and East European studies in the UK to be carried out by a Working Party under the chairmanship of Dr Norman Wooding, formerly vice chairman of the East European Trade Council. They are due to report to the University Funding Council on 30 June. The Working Party's terms of reference are:
"To review the current state of undergraduate teaching and research in Soviet and East European language and area studies in the United Kingdom and by 30 June 1989 to make recommendations for consideration by the bodies concerned, with particular reference to:
(a) the current provision for Soviet and East European Studies, including the scope for making more
effective use of available resources;
(b) the evolving economic and diplomatic requirements;
(c) the scope for contributing from the Private Sector."
A large scale research project is to be presented to the Economic and Social Research Council later this year. It will cost approximately £1 million (to be funded by ESRC) over five years and would involve scholars from both Britain and Eastern Europe. We understand that later this year, the ESRC will commence a large scale research project on Eastern Europe covering inter alia the processes of political, economic, social and administrative change.
The British Council do not fund academic research in this country directly, though they do give awards to individual students from overseas.
11. In your memorandum on the PEWP, you describe how you intend to agree with the Commonwealth Institute "targets...for significantly reduced long-term dependence on grant-in-aid funding?" Can you describe progress in these discussions? On what basis has the provision of £2.5 million grant for 1989-90 been calculated? What consultations were held with the Institute?
Professional consultants were appointed by the Institute at the end of 1988 to assess the Institute's revenue-generating capacity, its site development potential and capital requirements. The consultants are expected to report later this year. Their recommendations will form the basis of discussions on how to maximise the Institute's revenues and reduce significantly long-term dependence on grant-in-aid.
The level of grant-in-aid for the Institute in FY 1989-90 was established after consideration by Ministers of the estimates provided by the Institute and of various competing calls on FCO resources. As recommended in the policy review of 1986, full and detailed exchanges between the Institute and FCO officials took place on the Institute's financial requirements.
12. Can you describe the various stages in the UK/Iran Compensation Agreement, and identify when the second instalment will be paid?
Under the UK/Iran Compensation Agreement, the UK agreed to pay the Iranian Government £1.82 million in three instalments. The first, amounting to 20 per cent of the total, was to be paid as soon as a contract had been awarded and work physically begun on the refurbishment of the premises of the former Iranian Embassy at 16 Princes Gate. The second, totalling 30 per cent, was to be paid 180 days
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