11 Apr 2000 : Column: 81W
Written Answers to Questions
Tuesday 11 April 2000
SOLICITOR-GENERAL
Departmental Report
Mr. Dobbin: To ask the Solicitor-General when he expects the Law Officers' Department's departmental report to be published. [118810]
The Solicitor-General: I can confirm that copies of the departmental report have been placed in the Libraries of the House today.
John Howes
Mr. Cohen: To ask the Solicitor-General for what reason Mr. John Howes of the Treasury Solicitor's staff visited the Law Society building on 2 December 1999; and with whom he had contact. [118288]
The Solicitor-General: On 2 December 1999, Mr. John Howes, a member of the Treasury Solicitor's staff, visited the Law Society's headquarters in Chancery Lane for the purpose of having lunch with an administrator in a client department, the Office of Fair Trading, on whose behalf he had conduct of a case. He had attended the High Court for an interlocutory hearing in that case with the administrator in the morning. In the afternoon he was to attend a meeting in the offices of the Office of Fair Trading in Chancery House, Chancery Lane. Mr. Howes had no other purpose in visiting the Law Society on that date.
INTERNATIONAL DEVELOPMENT
Sri Lanka
Mr. Gardiner: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what annual contribution Britain has made to aid for Sri Lanka since 1964. [117674]
Clare Short: Bilateral expenditure from the UK is given in the table. The UK also assists Sri Lanka through its contributions to multilateral organisations such as the World bank and the EC.
(1) Aid statistics have been presented on a financial year basis since 1992. In order to give complete coverage, figures for both calendar year 1987 and financial year 1987-88 have been included. The series cannot therefore be summed as this will involve double counting data for the final three quarters of 1997.
Source:
British Aid Statistics and Statistics on International Development
11 Apr 2000 : Column: 82W
Works of Art
Mr. Brake: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development how much has been spent on (a) the upkeep and (b) the purchase of works of art in her Department for each financial year since 1992. [117468]
Clare Short: The Department for International Development (DFID) has not purchased any works of art. The 13 works of art on display in DFID are on loan from the Government Art Collection, who are responsible for the upkeep of the items.
In 1993-94 the Overseas Development Administration purchased two Howard Hodgkin limited edition lithographs at a total cost of £22,938, including framing and dealer's commission. These prints were purchased with the intention of presenting them to the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development to mark the opening of the new bank building in London. It was, however, subsequently agreed that these lithographs should be loaned to the Government Art Collection and they are at present on display in the DFID London office.
Burma
Mrs. Fyfe: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what discussions she has had with her international colleagues concerning humanitarian aid to Burma via non-governmental organisations. [117608]
Clare Short: My Department is working to promote a more coherent and consistent approach by the international community. This issue is a central element of this Government's discussions with their international partners about policy towards Burma.
11 Apr 2000 : Column: 83W
Mrs. Fyfe: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what representations she has made concerning the transmission of hydroelectric power produced in Karenni state to Rangoon. [117290]
Clare Short: My Department has made no representations on the issue of transmission of hydroelectric power in Burma.
Mrs. Fyfe: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what recent negotiations her Department has had with the State Peace and Development Council in Burma concerning the operations of non-governmental organisations in (a) Karenni state and (b) Shan state. [117289]
Clare Short: My Department has no dealings with the State Peace and Development Council. But the Government have urged that non-governmental organisations should be allowed unrestricted access within Burma.
Mrs. Fyfe: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what assessment her Department has made of the extent to which humanitarian aid has reached the minority tribes of Burma. [117287]
Clare Short: United Nations agencies and non-governmental organisations report regularly on their activities. Projects implemented at community or village level, avoiding Burmese official channels, generally benefit the poor and disadvantaged, as is intended.
Mrs. Fyfe: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what recent humanitarian assistance her Department has given via non- governmental bodies in Burma. [117286]
Clare Short: The challenge for the international development community is to help poor people in Burma without helping the government that is largely responsible for keeping them poor. We are attempting to work with others to improve the livelihoods of poor and socially excluded people inside, and who have fled from, Burma; provide support to and build the capacity of civil society; reduce human rights abuses; and contribute to tackling serious threats to public health to poor people inside and adjacent to Burma. We shall publish a Country Strategy Paper shortly.
Four projects are currently being implemented by NGOs financed from the Civil Society Challenge Fund, or the Joint Funding Scheme which it replaced:
Population Services International
Condom Social Marketing to improve reproductive health £498,197.
To increase the availability of condoms. To increase the acceptability of condoms. To increased local capacity to prevent AIDS/HIV/STDs.
World Vision
Street and Working Children £451,224
To improve the status and quality of life among children.
World Vision
Community based disability, prevention and rehabilitation £94,045
To improve the well being, status and opportunities of disabled people within their own communities and at the national level.
11 Apr 2000 : Column: 84W
Health Unlimited
A basic health care programme, Kachin State £250,000
Establish a basic primary health care service that covers 100,000 people in that part of Burma controlled by the Kachin Independence Organisation.
Lawyers
Mr. Ieuan Wyn Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development how many lawyers are employed by her Department; and how many were employed in 1995. [117809]
Clare Short: My Department does not employ any lawyers to act on behalf of the Department. We buy in legal services from the Scottish Executive and Treasury Solicitors to meet our requirements.
In the implementation of its overseas development assistance programme, DFID employs contract staff to provide legal advisory and executive functions to overseas governments. DFID currently employs eight lawyers on this basis as compared with 21 in 1995.
TRADE AND INDUSTRY
Utilities Bill
Dr. Cable: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry, pursuant to his answer of 10 March 2000, Official Report, column 839W, on the Utilities Bill, if the officials of his Department who met the Other Licensed Operators group on 15 February to discuss the Utilities Bill included secondees to his Department from commercial companies. [115770]
Mr. Byers [holding answer 22 March 2000]: A secondee from the law firm Simmons and Simmons was present at the OLO group meeting on 15 February. All secondees are covered by arrangements to avoid conflicts of interest.
EU Structural Funds
Mr. Redwood: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry if the complete sites for car manufacturing at (a) Longbridge, (b) Dagenham and (c) Cowley are covered by the EU Objective 2 map. [118085]
Mr. Byers [holding answer 7 April 2000]: Most of the Longbridge site and all of the Dagenham site are included in the new Objective 2 European Structural Fund map. The Cowley site is not included in the map.
Miss Kirkbride: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry for what reason Worcestershire has not been given Objective 2 status. [118699]
Mr. Caborn: Worcestershire did not meet the criteria set out in "The UK Government's proposals for new Objective 2 funding" (URN99/1021). Consequently only a few wards in the county have been included in the Objective 2 map. Those wards were included to make up contiguous areas of sufficient size, as required by the European Commission.
11 Apr 2000 : Column: 85W
| Next Section | Index | Home Page |