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Written Answers to Questions
Monday 14 October 1996
OVERSEAS DEVELOPMENT ADMINISTRATION
Gambia (Aid)
Miss Emma Nicholson: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what is the United Kingdom budget per annum in each year since 1979 committed to bilateral aid programmes in Gambia. [39600]
Dr. Liam Fox: United Kingdom gross bilateral aid to the Gambia since 1979 was as follows:
1979-80--£2.00 million
1980-81--£2.32 million
1981-82--£2.48 million
1982-83--£2.40 million
1983-84--£3.64 million
1984-85--£3.61 million
1985-86--£9.90 million
1986-87--£7.20 million
1987-88--£6.53 million
1988-89--£5.10 million
1989-90--£6.37 million
1990-91--£5.75 million
1991-92--£4.88 million
1992-93--£4.39 million
1993-94--£2.76 million
1994-95--£2.23 million.
Miss Nicholson: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will list the United Kingdom budget per annum currently committed to on-going bilateral aid programmes in Gambia. [39562]
Dr. Fox: Spending on on-going bilateral aid programmes in the Gambia is estimated at £1.2 million in 1996-97.
Miss Nicholson: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what is the United Kingdom budget for 1994-95 and 1995-96 committed to aid programmes in Gambia through the European Union; and what is the amount allotted for use in voter registration projects in that country. [39575]
Dr. Fox: The European Union committed 2.5 mecu to the Gambia from 1994 to 1996. The United Kingdom share is estimated at £0.29 million.
The United Kingdom and the European Commission jointly provided about £0.9 million this year to fund a voter registration project in the Gambia.
Miss Nicholson:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will set out the conditions to be met before Her Majesty's Government will lift the United Kingdom aid embargo on Gambia; and what plans he has to review that embargo. [39599]
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Dr. Fox:
The United Kingdom, along with other members of the European Union, will not consider making new aid commitments in the Gambia until there is a return to a democratically elected civilian Government.
We have, however, jointly with the European Commission, provided help to prepare a voter register. We have made it clear that no further assistance for the elections will be given until the ban on political parties is lifted, political detainees are released or charged, and harassment of the press ceases.
The situation is under constant review.
Sir Anthony Durant:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what representations he has received from former officers of the Southern Rhodesia public service recruited and now living in the United Kingdom about the payment of their pensions; what response he has given; and if he will make a statement. [39588]
Dr. Liam Fox:
In recent years, representations have been received from many former members of the public service in Southern Rhodesia about the decline in the sterling value of their pensions. Southern Rhodesia was an independent self-governing colony from 1923; recruitment to its public service was made directly by that Government, and staff served on local as opposed to expatriate terms of service.
The Government of Zimbabwe is responsible for the payment of pensions to former Southern Rhodesia civil servants. Our responsibility is limited to those who were recruited by, or on behalf of, the Secretary of State for the Colonies, and who were employed on expatriate terms in the central Government of a colony. There are large numbers of overseas pensioners whose pensions are being eroded by falling exchange rates and, indeed, many who receive no payment at all.
The Government could not justify helping Zimbabwe pensioners in isolation; the financial consequences of assisting all overseas pensioners who find themselves in this position would be prohibitive.
Sir Anthony Durant:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what would be the cost, including the saving in state benefits, of honouring the undertaking by the Minister of State in 1979 in respect of safeguards under the Zimbabwean constitution for the pensions of former officers of the Southern Rhodesia public service; and if he will bring their pensions within the aegis of the Overseas Pension Act 1973. [39587]
Dr. Fox:
The Government of Zimbabwe have honoured their obligation under the constitution by continuing to pay the pensions of those former officers who were employed in the public service in Southern Rhodesia, although the sterling value of these pensions has been eroded through the effects of inflation and adverse exchange rates.
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The Government have no plans to bring Southern Rhodesian public service pensions within the scope of the Overseas Pensions Act 1973. The cost of doing so would necessarily be very substantial and would expose Her Majesty's Government to similar pressures from pensioners who served on local terms elsewhere.
Mr. Clifton-Brown:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs how many applications from non-governmental organisations have been received for funding for reproductive health and family planning projects from the seedcorn fund for the financial year 1996-97; and in how many and which countries these non-governmental organisations are based. [39644]
Dr. Liam Fox:
The seedcorn fund has received 27 eligible applications from 17 non-governmental organisations for the financial year 1996-97. All applying organisations are based within the United Kingdom.
Mr. Clifton-Brown:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, pursuant to his answer of 13 December, Official Report, columns 664-66, on allocations from the seedcorn fund for family planning and reproductive health projects, how many and which non-governmental organisations, additional to those listed in the reply, have received funding for reproductive health and family planning projects for each of the financial years 1995-96 and 1996-97; in which countries the NGOs receiving the grants are based; in which countries the funded projects are based; what are these projects; and what is the amount of funding granted and for what length of time. [39779]
Dr. Fox:
The following table summarises seedcorn fund grants that have been provided since 13 December. In addition to these, three new projects have been approved in this period. Currently, only UK-based organisations are eligible to apply to the seedcorn fund.
| Organisation | Title | Country | Budget (£000) | Duration |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Marie Stopes International | To Ascertain the Practicalities and Economics of Initiating a Social Publishing Programme in Almaty | Russia | 6 | 1 month |
| Marie Stopes International | Feasibility Study to Expand Depo-Provera through Nurse Aid Training | Uganda | 21 | 6 months |
| International Family Health | Community-Based Social Marketing: Testing and Piloting a new Health Production and Information Delivery Strategy | India | 297 | 2 years |
Hong Kong Public Service
Sir Anthony Durant: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what figure would be used under part II of the schedule to the Hong Kong (Overseas Public Servants) (Pension Supplements) Order 1996 to calculate the notional pension if it were based on
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a median average rather than a mean average of comparable Hong Kong and United Kingdom civil service grades; what would be the maximum potential cost to the United Kingdom Government if the sterling pension safeguard scheme were based on that figure; and if he will review the scheme in the event that the value of the Hong Kong dollar falls significantly after 30 June 1997. [39682]
Dr. Liam Fox: The notional pension under part II of the schedule to the Hong Kong (Overseas Public Servants) (Pension Supplements) Order 1996, based on the mean salary differentials between comparable grades in the Hong Kong and United Kingdom public service, is calculated at the rate of HK$21 to £1. If median as opposed to mean salary differentials were used this would not affect the rate. The hypothetical maximum liability to Her Majesty's Government would therefore remain unchanged at £130 million over the lifetime of pensions. The scheme was introduced on 1 July 1996 and is designed to provide a fair and reasonable level of pension protection in the event that there is a significant fall in the value of the Hong Kong dollar. The Government have no plans to make any changes to it.
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