3 May 1989]
THE FOREIGN AFFAIRS COMMITTEE
Sir PATRICK WRIGHT, KCMG, Mr D BLATHERWICK, OBE, Mr D Moss, CMG, Miss C PESTELL, CMG, Mr G Griffiths and Mr AR PAUL
[Mr Temple-Morris Contd] that are happening there your own departments rely very much upon the monitoring service that the BBC World Service provides for Europe. Would you accept that just to cater for glasnost something like nine extra monitors need to be employed now or in the future? Is that the sort of special service that you might consider?
(Sir Patrick Wright) I think I am right in saying the BBC have only just put to us a detailed case on the monitoring service and possible expansion of it. It is not yet clear whether Caversham can man- age without the BBC having to reduce requirements elsewhere. We are looking at this.
(Miss Pestell) Flexibility is always their inten- tion. We are always ready to listen to a case about a problem that has arisen in the course of funding. We are aware of course of the pressure that is now coming on the monitoring service in one area. The first thing we want to do is talk to them about the details, and the Under Secretary is right: we have only just got anything approaching detail on this. We will be talking to them about whether some re- ordering of priorities would easily meet this or what the size of the problem is and what kind of arrangement might be necessary to ensure the work that we want done is done.
(Sir Patrick Wright) We shall of course be look- ing at the next triennium for the public expenditure round next year.
168. Starting March-April 1991, that would be? (Sir Patrick Wright) That is right.
Mr Lawrence
169. Is it the Foreign Office's view that glasnost means we ought to be spending more money in broadcasting behind the iron curtain or less money?
(Sir Patrick Wright) I think more, and that is the rationale behind the decision to increase audibility for Eastern Europe and the Soviet Union next year and the year after.
Mr Temple-Morris
170. We shall be seeing Mr John Tusa very soon and going into these matters in some detail. I think you are aware, Sir Parrick, that what is described as a grave problem by the World Service is of course the impact of inflation in the current trien- nium. Something like 5 per cent a year for each year of that triennium is now added by way of an automatic increase although because everyone these days is presumed to be inefficient 1.5 per cent is clawed back as a presumed efficiency saving so one is reduced to something like 3.54 per cent increase for the World Service in a situation of 8 per cent inflation. That is the problem, of which I am sure you will be well aware. Are you prepared to take account of it should the BBC World Service come to your door?
(Sir Patrick Wright) As Miss Pestell said, we are always ready to listen to cases where the BBC put them to us, but I should remind the Committee perhaps that the idea of triennium funding was introduced at the BBC's request to enable them to
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[Continued
plan ahead more efficiently and effectively against an assured level of funding based on FCO priori- ties. It is the BBC's responsibility, and I am sure they accept it, to manage within those resources. In fact the present triennium provides for about 5.5 per cent each year for running costs.
171. Finally, to give a non-specific example, were the delights of uniform business rate introduced at the BBC's request and bearing in mind that that is coming into effect now within the current triennium and will mean a considerable increase as far as Bush House is concerned, is that a matter you might take account of, not to mention the rent review of Bush House as well?
(Miss Pestell) We are aware of those things on the horizon. Mr Tusa is quite zealous in making sure that we are. We realise that there might be something of a problem in that last year. We do not forecast what in discussing it with them we would decide the solution to that problem was. The first thing is to look at whether there is any- thing within the way you organise your current priorities and the number of hours already being broadcast and whether there are any small changes that will help alleviate the problem. We would agree with you that there are some rather big things on the horizon, and we recognise this and are talk- ing to them.
Chairman: As Mr Temple-Morris said, as the head of the World Service Mr Tusa is coming before us shortly, I am sure we will all be made very sharply more aware of this problem when that discussion takes place. The final detailed question concerns the British Council.
Mr Wells
172. I want to ask whether you would look into a problem that has been brought to our attention. Visiting fellows to this country under British Coun- cil auspices are now receiving stipends to look after their accommodation as small as £367 to last them for a month and if they are lucky they get an increase to £500. These stipends are very consider- ably smaller than other countries are offering and lead to a sense of dissatisfaction on the part of people who are visitors to this country whom we should be making welcome and reasonably comfortable. I wondered whether these stipends and this rate of accommodation allowances and so on are sufficient to make our visitors welcome and comfortable so that they have an enjoyable and useful stay in this country rather than sending them back saying how mean we are in Britain and how much they would have preferred to go somewhere else.
(Sir Patrick Wright) We are aware of unease in this area but I should say that stipends for FCO scholars are set at the same rate as those for students studying in the UK under the ODA's tech- nical co-operation and training programme.
173. Perhaps therein lies the problem because some of these people are very much more senior than students of course and would not expect to
No comments yet.
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