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European Commission (Fraud)
Mr. Bercow: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what assessment she has made of reports of alleged Commission fraud made by Dr. Nikolas Alexandrakis; if her Department has investigated these allegations; and if she will make a statement. [92870]
Clare Short: We take fraud against the EC budget very seriously. Specific decisions on fighting EU fraud are a matter for the Chancellor of the Exchequer and are discussed at ECOFIN Council.
I am not aware of the reports by Dr. Alexandrakis. However, the report of the Committee of Independent Experts, which led to the resignation of the Commission in March, revealed a lack of responsibility and accountability in the Commission's handling of external aid spending in the Mediterranean, in emergency aid and in nuclear safety in Eastern Europe. I welcome the report and the shake up which it has triggered. The new Commission and member states must now ensure that fraud and weak controls are rooted out and that EC funds are spent properly and effectively on development and other programmes.
Botswana (HIV)
Mr. Nigel Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development when she last met representatives from Botswana to discuss the problems of HIV/AIDS. [92709]
Clare Short: The Director of UNAIDS, Dr. Peter Piot and I discussed ways to intensify the international response to HIV/AIDS in Africa with representatives of the Government of Botswana and several other African countries during a private meeting in New York on 30 June in the margins of a United Nations conference.
Non-governmental Organisations
Mr. Streeter: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what changes are proposed to her Department's funding arrangements for non- governmental organisations; and if she will make a statement. [92378]
Clare Short:
We are proposing to make changes to the arrangements for funding Non Governmental Organisations (NGOs) from the Civil Society Unit. 1999-2000 was the last year in which UK NGOs could apply for funding under the Joint Funding Scheme (JFS)
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which was originally set up to support the initiatives of the voluntary sector in the UK. Over the next five years, expenditure under this scheme will be phased out and replaced by two new arrangements; the Civil Society Challenge Fund and Partnership Programme Agreements for individual organisations.
The Civil Society Challenge Fund is expected to contribute to the achievement of the International Development Targets, in particular the reduction of poverty. It will be open to a wider range of UK civil society than was the case with the JFS and will fund projects which have a focused approach to strengthening civil society in developing countries. Applications may be submitted from October of this year. Approved projects will be funded from April 2000.
Partnership Programme Agreements will be open to organisations who share DFID's goal of the eradication of poverty and are actively engaged in a range of DFID's strategic concerns. The Agreements will be linked to mutually agreed strategic outcomes, allow for selectivity and flexibility in the application of DFID funding and provide the opportunity for DFID and the partner organisation to maximum the effectiveness of their collaboration. The negotiation of Agreements with individual agencies will begin in Autumn 1999.
In addition to these special schemes DFID will continue to support the work of NGOs across the range of its programmes.
Further information on the new arrangements is available from DFID's Civil Society Unit based in East Kilbride.
Dr. Tonge:
To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what resources her Department has given in the past three years to projects specifically targeting widows in Third World and conflict zones. [92820]
Clare Short:
Information in this form is not held centrally and could be obtained only at disproportionate cost.
Mrs. Mahon:
To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what sums have been provided (a) as grants and (b) as loans or credits to (a) Montenegro, (b) Macedonia, (c) Bulgaria, (d) Albania, (e) Romania and (f) Hungary since the beginning of NATO's military operation against Yugoslavia. [92720]
Clare Short:
From the beginning of the NATO military operation, on 24 March 1999, up to 22 July, the following sums (in £ sterling) have been spent under our bilateral programme. All figures are grants. We do not provide loans to these countries from our bilateral programmes.
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| Projects | Humanitarian Aid | |
|---|---|---|
| Federal Republic of Yugoslavia | 104,765 | 4,776,775 |
| Macedonia | 164,000 | 6,935,220 |
| Bulgaria | 670,364 | -- |
| Albania | 163,000 | 12,034,980 |
| Romania | 1,217,368 | -- |
| Hungary | 591,758 | -- |
Expenditure for Montenegro is included in that for the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia.
Democracy Building
Mr. Menzies Campbell: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development how much overseas aid is being spent on democracy building in the current year; and what percentage this constitutes of total overseas aid. [91338]
Clare Short: We do not record expenditure on democracy building on our Policy Information Marker System (PIMS) which covers all bilateral projects with a commitment over £100,000. However, we do record expenditure to promote good government which includes activities to support democracy.
Records of expenditure in the current financial year are not yet available. We are therefore providing figures for 1998-99 where we spent just over £300 million on projects which recorded good government as an objective. This represents almost 40 per cent. of total PIMS marked expenditure. Nearly £70 million or 8 per cent. of PIMS marked expenditure was spent on projects for which good government was the principal objective of the project. Projects may have more than one objective.
Mr. Menzies Campbell:
To ask the Secretary of State for International Development how much funding (a) has been provided for and (b) is earmarked for future democracy-building in the Eastern Adriatic. [91337]
Clare Short:
In Albania we have provided about £20,000 over the last year to establish citizen's advice information services.
In Bosnia, we have provided some £8 million on democracy building projects since 1996. This has been provided through the Organisation for Security and Co-operation in Europe and for reform of the police, the media and government systems.
In Croatia we have provided £690,000 since 1996 on support to reform of local and national government, the police and judiciary, and the media.
In Macedonia, we have spent £25,000 in the last year to assist with the regulation of the media.
New strategies are currently being developed for Bosnia, Albania and Macedonia to support economic and social reforms and promote democracy.
In Kosovo, we are providing financial and in-kind support to the UN Civil Administration, some of which is used for democracy building. We are supporting independent media organisations and have contributed $1 million to the UN Trust Fund. We are now carrying out assessments of the region's needs for future reconstruction and longer-term development.
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Mr. Baker:
To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what progress has been made in the scientific audit of DFID-funded projects during the past 10 years which have supported the development, testing or use of GMOs; and if she will make a statement. [93149]
Clare Short:
From the many hundreds of natural resources research projects supported over the last decade we have identified 43 which address genetic modification technologies. I shall send the hon. Member a list of these showing the principal collaborators. We have asked our international partners to identify the extent to which genetic modification technologies are used in the activities to which they allocate my Department's funding. When we have this information we shall carry out the next stages of the audit.
Mrs. Gillan:
To ask the Secretary of State for International Development if she will list the emoluments of the (a) Chief Executive and (b) members of the Executive Management Committee of the Commonwealth Development Corporation for 1998 indicating performance-related bonus payments where applicable. [93171]
Clare Short:
Total emoluments for CDC's Chief Executive in 1998 were £168,189 and for the members of the Executive Management Committee £819,429.
In 1998 CDC senior management were eligible for performance related bonuses up to a maximum of 20 per cent. of basic salary. Each individual's award (within that ceiling) was made on the basis of individual performance.
Mrs. Gillan:
To ask the Secretary of State for International Development if she will publish the formal maximum exposure limits for each country and each sector in which the Commonwealth Development Corporation invested for each year since 1994-95. [92945]
Clare Short:
My Department has not set formal maximum exposure limits for CDC's investments, either by sector or by country. CDC has an internal portfolio management system based on management judgment, which aims to take a prudent approach to asset allocation.
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