| Previous Section | Index | Home Page |
Government Expenditure
Mr. Wallace: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will publish a table showing both expenditure and per capita expenditure for (a) Northern Ireland, (b) Scotland, (c) Wales and (d) England for the years 1992-93 to 1998-99, analysed by the same programmes as Table 7.6B of Cm 3901. [69565]
Mr. Milburn:
Tables showing identifiable General Government Expenditure (GGE) and identifiable GGE per capita, by territory and broad function, for the years 1992-93 to 1996-97 were published in Chapter 7 of the last edition of Public Expenditure Statistical Analyses (PESA) (Cm 3901). Tables for the years 1993-94 to 1997-98 will be published in PESA 1999-2000.
8 Feb 1999 : Column: 32
Colombia
Mr. Gerald Howarth: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development when her Department first made contact with the Pathfinders rescue organisation following the earthquake in Colombia. [69367]
Clare Short: My Department has not been contacted by the Association of Pathfinders in relation to the Colombian earthquake. The International Rescue Corps and RAPID UK, which are partners of the Association of Pathfinders, were in contact with my Department and undertook, independently, search and rescue work in Colombia. Both organisations were facilitated in their efforts in-country by the British Embassy in Bogota.
Mr. Soley: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what plans her Department has to assist Colombia following the recent earthquake disaster. [69479]
Clare Short: I refer my hon. Friend to the answer I gave to my hon. Friend the Member for Leicester, East (Mr. Vaz) on 4 February 1999, Official Report, column 723.
Technical Assistance Programmes
Mr. Streeter: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what proportion of her Department's budget for 1997-98 was spent on technical assistance. [69478]
Clare Short: In 1997-98 DFID spent £676 million on technical co-operation (comprising capital-related TC, stand alone TC, grants and other aid in kind). This represented 65 per cent. of the Department for International Development's bilateral programme and 33 per cent. of total expenditure.
Mr. Streeter: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development if she will list the technical assistance programmes that her Department funded in 1997-98. [69477]
Clare Short: Technical co-operation expenditure in 1997-98 was allocated regionally as follows:
| Country | £ million | Percentage |
|---|---|---|
| Africa | 197 | 29 |
| of which, South of the Sahara | 186 | 28 |
| America | 62 | 9 |
| Asia | 173 | 26 |
| Europe | 87 | 13 |
| Pacific | 5 | 1 |
| Non-region specific | 152 | 22 |
| Total | 676 | 100 |
8 Feb 1999 : Column: 33
personnel
training and scholarships
knowledge generation (including technology development and research)
support to the development work of the UK and international voluntary organisations
grants to the British Council and for other development work by the UK institutions
non-emergency appeals through multilateral agencies
British Partnership and Heads of Mission Gift schemes
funding of land and geological surveys in developing countries
provision of books, equipment and other supplies in support of TC
funding of evaluation of aid activities
cost of certain pensions and related payments where the UK has taken over responsibility from the governments of developing countries.
Know How Fund
Mr. Cox: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what is the budget of her Department from the Know How fund for 1999. [69068]
Clare Short: The Know How Fund budget for financial year 1998-99 is that published in the Departmental Report: £79 million.
Future years are currently being considered in the Resource Allocation Round.
The final figure will be published in the next Departmental Report in March 1999.
Mrs. Virginia Bottomley:
To ask the Secretary of State for International Development how much was spent on overseas aid in 1997-98 by her Department in (a) India, (b) Pakistan, (c) Bangladesh, (d) Zimbabwe and (e) Kenya. [69166]
Clare Short:
The Department for International Development bilateral programme expenditure in 1997/98 to the countries specified is given in the table.
| 1997-98 | £ million |
|---|---|
| India | 80.9 |
| Pakistan | 27.8 |
| Bangladesh | 38.9 |
| Zimbabwe | 12.2 |
| Kenya | 29.2 |
Aid Debt
Mr. Streeter: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development how much bilateral aid debt of developing nations has been cancelled by Her Majesty's Government since 1 May 1997. [69225]
Clare Short:
In September 1997, as part of the Mauritius Mandate, we agreed to cancel the outstanding aid debts, worth £132 million, owed by those lower income Commonwealth countries that are committed to pursuing the international development targets, that are
8 Feb 1999 : Column: 34
following sound policies which benefit the poor and promote responsive and accountable government, and that are bearing down on corruption. To date, under this initiative we have cancelled aid debts worth £29 million.
In August 1997 we agreed a package of assistance to help the Government of Antigua and Barbuda with the costs arising from the influx of people from Montserrat following the volcanic eruptions there. This package included debt relief of £1.25 million.
In addition, in the last two financial years, we have forgone repayments of aid loans totalling £38.8 million under debt relief agreements reached before May 1997.
Mr. Streeter:
To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what proportion of her Department's budget in the year 1997-98 was paid (a) directly to other Governments, (b) to non-Governmental organisations outside of the United Kingdom and (c) to the EU. [69226]
Clare Short:
The information is as follows:
Mr. Cox:
To ask the Secretary of State for International Development if she will list the countries with whom she has discussed their human rights record during the last 12 months. [69401]
Clare Short:
Efforts to secure human rights, including economic and social rights, are an integral part of building sustainable development. These issues are part of my dialogue with all countries where we work.
Mr. Cox:
To ask the Secretary of State for International Development if she will list the countries in which her Department currently supports programmes to assist street children. [69389]
Clare Short:
The main countries in which we are currently funding programmes to assist street children are listed. In addition to these country-specific initiatives, we support organisations with programmes for street children in a large number of countries. These include The Consortium for Street Children, UNICEF and the International Programme for the Elimination of Child Labour of the ILO which, between them, cover all countries.
8 Feb 1999 : Column: 35
(a) Amounts paid directly to recipient country governments (that is, financial aid, programme aid, aid and trade provision, and debt relief) totalled £257 million in 1997-98. This represented 25 per cent. of DFID's bilateral programme expenditure in that year (12 per cent. of total expenditure).
(b) Payments to non-governmental organisations outside the UK are not separately identifiable in the statistics for 1997-98.
(c) Our contribution to the EC in 1997-98 was £536 million which represented 56 per cent. of DFID's multilateral programme expenditure in 1997-98 (26 per cent. of total expenditure).
Brazil
Ecuador
Kenya
India
South Africa
Russia
India
Tanzania
Myanmar (Burma)
Zambia
Uzbekistan
Kurdistan
Bangladesh.
PRIME MINISTER
Business Costs (EU Directive)
Mr. Brady: To ask the Prime Minister if he will list the EU directives which he has identified as affecting business costs and which he is seeking to renegotiate. [69743]
The Prime Minister: The Government are committed to working with the Commission and other Member States to ensure that EC legislation does not impose unwarranted burdens on business.
| Next Section | Index | Home Page |