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Computer Security

Dr. Gibson: To ask the Prime Minister what steps he takes to ensure the security of information held on, or transmitted via, the Downing street computer system. [132144]

The Prime Minister: Information security remains a high priority and its effectiveness is kept under continuous review.

Lords Lieutenant

Mr. Baker: To ask the Prime Minister, pursuant to the answer of 13 July 2000, Official Report, column 663W, on lords lieutenant, what recent assessment he has made of the system for appointing deputy lords lieutenant. [132331]

Mr. Mike O'Brien: I have been asked to reply.

Under section 2 of the Lieutenancies Act 1997, the lord lieutenant of a county or area shall appoint such persons as he thinks fit to be his deputy lieutenants, subject to the non-disapprobation of the Queen. The Act, which was granted Royal Assent on 19 March 1997, repealed parts of the Reserve Forces Act 1980, including

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those relating to lord lieutenants and deputy lieutenants. There are at present no plans to change the system of appointing deputy lieutenants.

SOLICITOR-GENERAL

Government Property Lawyers

Siobhain McDonagh: To ask the Solicitor-General when the Government Property Lawyers 1997-98 Annual Report and Accounts will be published. [132500]

The Solicitor-General: I can confirm that I have today placed copies of the Annual Report in the Libraries of the House.

INTERNATIONAL DEVELOPMENT

Liberia

Mr. Streeter: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what development assistance has been given to Liberia since 1997; and if she will make a statement. [126416]

Clare Short: Development assistance for the period 1997 to 1999 totalled 3.55 million.

Full details are included in the respective "British Aid Statistics" which is available in the Library of the House.

Oxfam Report

Dr. Tonge: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what assessment she has made of the recent Oxfam report, "Missing the Target: the price of empty promises"; and if she will make a statement. [128715]

Clare Short: The UK Government have taken the lead in seeking to mobilise the international development system including development NGOs to focus on the achievement of the 2015 targets. We have always made clear that the 2015 targets are extremely challenging, but very substantial progress has been made and more is possible. Some targets are nearer to achievement than others. It is also possible that some of the targets will be achieved overall but not achieved in some countries. The purpose of the targets is to seek to galvanise a greater effort in each country and by all parties.

At last year's Summit in Cologne, the G8 called for an annual poverty report from the international financial institutions as a means of focusing the international effort toward the targets. The first report has been prepared for this year's Summit in Okinawa. The report draws attention to the concerted and sustained commitment that will be needed if the 2015 targets are to be met. However its conclusion is that achieving the targets is still possible overall, though it will be more difficult in some parts of the world than in others. The report proposes a comprehensive range of measures for dealing with this: these include improving the global environment faced by developing countries; increasing aid flows and improving the effectiveness of aid; accelerating the implementation of the enhanced heavily indebted poor countries initiative; harnessing new

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information and communication technologies for increased productivity and economic growth; and working to reduce conflict.

Amazon Basin (Logging)

Mr. McGrady: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what assessment she has made of the logging activities in the Amazon by the Brazilian Environment Agency; and if she will make a statement. [131153]

Clare Short: The role of the Brazilian Environment Agency (IBAMA) is to monitor and control logging rather than actively engage in it. Our assessment is that environmental management capacity in Brazil needs to be developed in order to implement policies that have already been formally adopted. We believe that IBAMA are currently under-resourced and there are many weaknesses in the enforcement of existing forestry legislation owing to lack of incentives and capacity. We, and other donors, are contributing to institutional strengthening of IBAMA through the Pilot Programme to Conserve the Brazilian Rainforest.

Mr. McGrady: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what action she proposes to take to discourage logging activities in the Amazon by the Brazilian Environment Agency. [131154]

Clare Short: We are contributing to the international efforts to encourage sustainable logging practices in Brazil. Our contribution is mainly being channelled through the Pilot Programme to Conserve the Brazilian Rainforest.

Financial Contributions

Mr. Streeter: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what are the policy aims underlying her Department's contribution to (a) the Asian Development Bank, (b) the African Development Bank, (c) the International Monetary Fund, (d) the International Finance Corporation, (e) the Multilateral Investment Guarantee Agency, (f) the International Development Association, (g) Trade and Investment Research Activities, (h) UNAIDS, (i) the UN Fund for Population Acts, (j) the African Development Fund, (k) the WHO, (l) the UN Centre for Human Settlements, (m) the European Commission Attribution, (n) EU research, (o) the Desertification Convention, (p) the International Trade and Timber Organisation and (q) the World Food Programme; what assessment she has made of the value for money of these contributions; and if she will make a statement. [131620]

Clare Short: The policy aims underlying our contribution to (a), (b), (d), (e), (f), (j), (l), (m) and (n) are set out in the relevant Institutional Strategy Papers, which have been deposited in the Library of the House. Strategy Papers for (h), (k), (l) and (q) will be published shortly and will be deposited in the Library of the House, with the exception of the International Monetary Fund which is a Treasury lead.

Our policy aims on (g), (o) and (p), are outlined in chapters 3, 4 and 5 in DFID's 2000 Departmental Report.

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HIV/AIDS

Mr. Streeter: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what proportion of the current multilateral budget funding HIV/AIDS programmes will be principally directed towards Africa. [131619]

Clare Short: It is not possible to identify statistically how our contributions to the core funding of multilateral organisations involved in tackling HIV/AIDS is allocated. Obviously the major effort of most international organisations working on HIV/AIDS is being devoted to Africa.

Mr. Streeter: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development if she will list the total amounts spent by her Department on HIV/AIDS in each year since 1992. [131616]

Clare Short [holding answer 20 July 2000]: DFID's total expenditure on HIV/AIDS from 1992-93 to 1999-2000 was as follows:

	£ million
1992-93	15
1993-94	30
1994-95	35
1995-96	34
1996-97	41
1997-98	41
1998-99	43
1999-2000	55

The statistical system used excludes activities costing less than £100,000 and multilateral expenditure.

Bangladesh

Mr. Cousins: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development for what reasons Bangladesh has been excluded from the HIPC initiative; and what representations the UK Government have made on this matter. [131624]

Clare Short: According to the World bank and IMF, Bangladesh's debt sustainability ratios are below the minimum thresholds used by the enhanced Heavily Indebted Poor Countries (HIPC) Initiative. This means that it would not qualify for debt relief.

For a country to receive HIPC debt relief, it requires not only unsustainable levels of debt, but also a commitment to poverty reduction and reform. In the case of Bangladesh, any consideration of debt relief would be likely to require further progress in areas such as public expenditure allocations on essential services for poor people, measures to improve the quality of public services, improving revenue administration, and a serious start on structural measures such as financial sector and public enterprise reform.

Our substantial aid programme to Bangladesh-- £65 million in 1999-2000--focuses on promoting the reduction of poverty both directly and by addressing constraints on faster pro-poor growth and improved governance.

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