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Great Lakes

27. Mr. Timms: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs how much of his Department's bilateral and multilateral budget was allocated to the Great Lakes area of Africa in the last year for which figures are available; and if he will make a statement.[11142]

Dr. Liam Fox: More than £14 million of gross public expenditure was provided to the Great Lakes region in the financial year 1995-96. Comparable information on multilateral expenditure is not readily available.

Mr. Timms: I thank the Minister for that answer. In view of his earlier answer, will he reassure the House and the country by expressing outrage at last week's revelation that British arms were supplied to Hutu extremists in Rwanda? Does he agree that it is extremely important that the perpetrators of genocide in Rwanda are rapidly brought to justice if we are to ensure that the welcome British and other aid that has been supplied since 1994 is not wasted?

Dr. Fox: Indeed, human rights problems cause us great concern not only in Rwanda but in Burundi. The perpetrators of genocide must be brought to trial. We are looking at events in Rwanda to make sure that the trials

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are fair and that a proper system of justice is applied because, as the hon. Gentleman rightly said, without basic political stability we will be unable to use the large resources that are currently available in the Great Lakes region to help the refugees. The greatest problem identified by non-governmental organisations is moving the stocks that are already in place to the refugees; political stability is required first.

Mr. Rowe: In such a tangled area there have, of course, been distressing stories of some aid being misappropriated. Will my hon. Friend assure us that, particularly in parts of Africa where the NGOs are far less strong but aid is given, every possible means is used to avoid it being misappropriated or falling into the wrong hands?

Dr. Fox: Of course we shall try to do that as far as we can, but it would be quite wrong and improper for me to suggest to the House that we have that degree of control over where the aid goes once it has been disbursed. We hope that the organisations to which we provide aid will make the best use of it. We should commend the courage of the NGOs, especially those who have been willing to put their lives in danger to use the aid that we supply for the greater good. We are grateful that people are still willing to take that risk for humanitarian reasons.

Miss Emma Nicholson: Will the Minister inform the House how much of his Department's bilateral aid programme has been dedicated to education? Education in Rwanda touches only the 8 per cent. of the population who are literate, despite the fact, of which the Minister does not appear to be aware, that for the past two and a half years the Rwandan Cabinet has been a coalition, elected from all parts of society, and a very good Government. None the less, our Government are still not supporting UNESCO through multilateral aid, despite the wonderful work of the organisation there. Will the Minister discuss the matter with UNESCO's deputy director-general, Professor Maurizio Iaccarino, who will be in London this week?

Dr. Fox: While I am always willing to take part in discussions that I believe will be fruitful, our position has been made quite clear in UNESCO and I need say nothing further on that. Much aid is focused on the internal structure in Rwanda. Since 1994, £127 million of European Union money--of which £18.5 million was United Kingdom money--has been given for human rights, health, education, environment and other projects in Rwanda. The Government have a good record on supporting education projects in Rwanda. It is certainly nothing to feel sorry about. We are proud of our record since 1992.

Aid Budget

28. Mr. Pike: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what representations he has received since the Budget regarding the level of aid projected for 1997-98.[11143]

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Dr. Liam Fox: We have received a number of representations from hon. Members and others.

Mr. Pike: Are not organisations involved in overseas aid concerned that the figure for 1997-98 represents a real-terms cut of 8.4 per cent.? It is also a cut in cash terms. Do not the Government stand condemned on their record of cutting money for overseas aid?

Dr. Fox: I really did not think that any Opposition Member would have the nerve to say that today. The Labour policy document of October 1996 says:

"Labour will start to reverse the decline in UK aid spending."
I wonder how that squares with what the shadow Chancellor said last week. Either Labour's tax and spend promises are not worth the paper on which they are written or Labour Members, if they now agree with our tax and spend priorities, have been telling porkies for the past 17 years. Either the shadow Chancellor's document is dishonest, or Labour now admits that it has been consistently wrong for the past 17 years. If it is going to increase aid, what will it cut--or is its promise just another casualty in its seemingly insane search for power?

PUBLIC ACCOUNTS COMMISSION

National Audit Office (Staff)

33. Mr. Steen: To ask the Chairman of the Public Accounts Commission how many staff without professional qualification are employed by the National Audit Office.[11148]

Sir Terence Higgins (Chairman of the Public Accounts Commission): The National Audit Office employs 328 staff who do not currently have a professional qualification. Included in that number are 91 staff who are training for a professional qualification and 100 others who have been trained to a high standard in the professional disciplines required by the office. The remaining 137 include the full range of support staff required by a professional organisation.

Mr. Steen: Is it not clear that the National Audit Office is doing well and reducing the number of staff because it is working with a Government who are committed to reducing bureaucracy, cutting red tape and getting rid of unnecessary laws? Is it not true that if the Labour party ever got into power, the number of staff, skilled and unskilled, in the National Audit Office would rise dramatically, simply because of the number of rules and regulations that a Labour Government would introduce? Labour does not trust the people and would introduce ever more laws, so more people would be needed in the National Audit Office to check on what was going on.

Sir Terence Higgins: In 1997-98, a greater volume of work will be done at a lower real-terms cost. As for the second part of my hon. Friend's question, he may well think that, but it would be wrong for me to answer a hypothetical question.

Mr. Maclennan: Does the Public Accounts Commission accept that the qualifications of those in the National Audit Office are adequate--indeed, highly

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suitable--to take on the task of considering the work of the non-departmental public bodies that spend public money? The work of those bodies is not subject to review and has for too long been excluded from proper oversight. Will the right hon. Gentleman invite his colleagues on the commission to consider the resource implications, if any, of expanding its remit in that way?

Sir Terence Higgins: The main work of the office covers 570 accounts, involving expenditure and income of more than £500 billion. It is also the auditor of half of the 300 or so non-executive agencies to which the hon. Gentleman referred. I shall consider carefully what he has said and bring it to the attention of the commission.

Mr. Janner: Has the commission complied with the recommendations of the Equal Opportunities Commission and the Commission for Racial Equality to carry out proper sex and ethnic monitoring? If so, what are the results?

Sir Terence Higgins: I cannot give the hon. and learned Gentleman an immediate reply, but I shall happily look into the matter and write to him. Alternatively, he may wish to table a specific question. I am not aware of any form of discrimination in the employment of the staff to whom I referred in answer to my hon. Friend the Member for South Hams (Mr. Steen).

OVERSEAS DEVELOPMENT

Angola

29. Mr. Harry Greenway: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what support his Department is giving to (a) school and (b) higher education schemes for Angola; and if he will make a statement.[11144]

Dr. Liam Fox: We are supporting efforts to improve the teaching of English in secondary schools and at the Institute of Languages.

Mr. Greenway: Is my hon. Friend aware of the devastated condition of many schools in Angola following the civil war? Is he aware that quite a lot of aid is given to Angola? Should not that aid be directed into education, which would best enable the country to help itself and its citizens?

Dr. Fox: I am grateful to my hon. Friend for that question. I am also grateful for the fact that schoolchildren in his constituency, following his visit to Angola, raised £500 and donated it to the Chiva primary school near Huambo for classroom furniture and educational materials. We currently have two English language teaching projects, costing £900,000. It is important for us as a nation to recognise that whatever the colonial legacy in terms of language, English is the international business language and the language of the future. It is important for developing nations to learn English if they are to trade successfully in the future.

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