60
3 May 1989]
MINUTES OF EVIDENCE TAKEN BEFORE
Sir PATRICK WRIGHT, KCMG, Mr D BLATHERWICK, OBE, Mr D Moss, CMG, Miss C PESTELL, CMG, Mr G GRIFFITHS AND Mr AR PAUL
[Mr Wells Conid]
be accommodated in student accommodation at student rates.
(Miss Pestell) In the case of the British Council they have some scope for slight softening of that, which they use. I am not aware that the British Council feel particularly anxious about what they are able to do with the funds that they have. They feel I think that they have been very successful in being able to target really desirable people and have introduced all sorts of flexibility about the amount of time they have people over for to try to ensure that they can tempt the people whom they want. No doubt they are anchored rather financially by the strict rules that apply to Foreign Office scholar- ships. I have not gathered that there has been more than the odd case where an individual has felt he is getting a bad impression of Britain because of the terms on which he is here. I think on the whole the British Council have been helpful in provoking a good response from the people they handle. I should be interested if you felt you did have evidence.
174. We do have such evidence.
(Miss Pestell) I think we should be more worried about our scholars than about British Council ones, and it is the British Council ones you are asking about.
175. Perhaps we could send you the correspon- dence we have had. I raise the question because clearly it sounds an alarm note.
(Miss Pestell) What sort of numbers are you thinking of?
176. Ah, we do not know—we have an odd com- plaint or two only.
(Miss Pestell) I am aware that there is the odd
one or two.
177. If you look into it you might be able to tell us the numbers.
(Miss Pestell) Sometimes it is not so much people who are not happy with what they have but people who are not happy because they have not got quite the same that someone else has. This is always a trap once there is some flexibility. The British Council I think tried to use it as carefully as possible.
(Sir Patrick Wright) I should explain that these rates are set each year and as a department we have no flexibility at all.
[Continued
178. It raises an alarm and I would like to leave it with you to look at it. In regard to the Fund for International Student Co-operation, we gather that you have decided not to continue to fund that. Could you let us know why? I understand that you commissioned a report. Can you let us see it? Could you clarify what the on-going effects are likely to be on two related organisations, the Overseas Student Trust, administered from the same office; and UKOSA?
(Sir Patrick Wright) We are required to review at regular intervals the cost effectiveness of all the grant aided bodies that we provide funds for. The fund for International Student Co-operation has done some very good work over the years and we are grateful for that. We have reviewed this and concluded it was no longer the most effective way for the Foreign and Commonwealth Office to use its funds for overseas students support. We have now said that the grant of £78,000 will be it and it will finish then. We will redeploy the resources to help our activity with overseas students in other ways.
(Miss Pestell) Possibly the two organisations that you named would be the kind of recipients that we would be looking for. We are certainly not looking in any way to diminish the effort we are making about overseas students. On the contrary, it is because that has become such a growth industry and has a lot of dynamism behind it now-the old days of the sixties were very different, and we are now wanting to make sure that all the resources we have are going into the creative parts of this kind of activity. There is a lot going on that is being looked at and concern about overseas students. We are wanting to introduce ideas and progress. You have hit on two of the most likely organisations.
179. Can you give us a brief memorandum on what your thinking is in this sphere?
(Sir Patrick Wright) Certainly, we should be happy to do that.
Chairman: Sir Patrick, that completes our ques- tioning this morning. We have ranged from the vital central strategic to the very detailed. In all these matters you and your colleagues have answered us most helpfully and with great pre- cision. We are grateful to you. On behalf of the Committee I thank you all very much indeed.
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