---

Africa

Mrs. Spelman: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what percentage of her Department's overall aid programme in Africa is provided specifically to help rural development. [43666]

Hilary Benn: Around £840 million in new commitments was made to Africa last year. Of this approximately 27 per cent. was allocated to projects in support of sustainable rural livelihoods.

Kalahari Bushmen

Mrs. Spelman: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what representations she has made to UNESCO regarding the fate of the Kalahari. [43660]

Hilary Benn: My right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for International Development has not made any representations to UNESCO about the Kalahari. UNESCO has a strong interest in supporting San communities across Southern Africa, and DFID has co-operated with UNESCO in supporting the South African San institute.

Mrs. Spelman: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development how much overseas aid is provided to the Kalahari bushmen. [43661]

Hilary Benn: The UK provides no assistance directly to the Kalahari bushmen. In the financial year 2000–01 the Department for International Development provided about £2 million to Botswana, for activities in education, governance, health and livelihoods creation.

Botswana

Mrs. Spelman: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what was the value of (a) bilateral and (b) multilateral aid provided to the Government of Botswana for the development of game parks and national reserves in each of the last five years. [43662]

Hilary Benn: In 1996–7 the UK provided £425,000 for a capacity building programme in the Government of Botswana's Department of Wildlife and National Parks. The project lasted one year. The European Union is the only multilateral donor assisting in this area, and has committed over 20 million euro to wildlife conservation since 1997.

Timber

Malcolm Bruce: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development if she will list the companies from which her Department has obtained timber and wood products and the total spent with each firm over the last five years. [43409]

Hilary Benn: The companies that have provided timber and wood products over the last five years are listed. The amounts given are in some cases estimated, as the companies supply a range of products, not all of which are timber and wood, and a precise breakdown is not available.

19 Mar 2002 : Column 204W

Company	Amount £
Kinnarps	905,423
J.S. Seating and Desking	294,660
Optimum Business Furniture	226,196
Kellys Interiors	63,283
Ensemble Corporation	51,605
Desking Systems	55,679
Ness	16,092
Guilberts	7,108

Lakshmi Mittal

Mrs. Spelman: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development if he consulted (a) the EBRD and (b) the World Bank before signing the letter to the Romanian Prime Minister about the SIDEX steel plant. [43770]

Hilary Benn: My right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for International Development has not written to the Romanian Prime Minister about the Sidex steel plant.

Mrs. Spelman: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what representations she has received from the Office of the Prime Minister regarding future loan applications from Mr. Lakshmi Mittal to the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development. [43772]

Hilary Benn: None.

Mrs. Spelman: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what representations she has received from Mr. Lakshmi Mittal regarding future loan applications to the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development. [43771]

Hilary Benn: None.

DEFENCE

Ministerial Visits

Matthew Taylor: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence on what dates Ministers in his Department have visited United States Government military bases and establishment on United Kingdom territory since 1 January 1999; which Ministers were involved; and what facilities were visited. [43476]

Dr. Moonie: Since 1 January 1999, Ministers from the Ministry of Defence have visited bases made available to the United States visiting forces in the United Kingdom on a number of occasions. The most recent visit was by my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Defence to RAF Menwith Hill on 5 July 2001. Prior to this, RAF Menwith Hill was visited by my right hon. Friend the Member for Warley (Mr. Spellar), the then Minister of State for the Armed Forces, on 24 January 2000, and my noble Lord (Lord Gilbert) the then Minister for Defence Procurement, visited RAF Fairford on 3 June 1999. A number of Ministers have also visited RAF Fairford during the Royal International Air Tattoo.

Efficiency Measures

Mr. Jenkin: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what savings have accrued from the replacement of five

19 Mar 2002 : Column 205W

contracts supporting a guided missile system with a single incentivised contract streamlined stockholdings and overheads, as noted in his Department's performance report 2000–01. [44219]

Dr. Moonie [holding answer 18 March 2002]: The reference in the report relates to a support contract for the Rapier FSB2 guided weapon system. This contract has been in place since April 2000. Savings of approximately £134,000 were achieved in the first year and similar levels of savings are expected throughout the remainder of the contract. Of equal importance is the increase in availability of the equipment system as a result of this contract.

Mr. Jenkin: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what savings have accrued to his Department from the use of incentives in the MOD's food supply contract that require the contractor to seek improved value for money on behalf of the Department. [44217]

Dr. Moonie [holding answer 18 March 2002]: The decision to contractorise Ministry of Defence food supply is estimated to be saving £13 million per year compared to previous arrangements. This is as a direct result of employing the contractor's commercial buying power to secure best value for money in the marketplace. The contractor does not profit from the cost of food supplied to the MOD and prices are subject to regular, independent, benchmarking. In addition to these savings the contractor's operating costs, on which the contractor does earn profit, are constrained through the use of a contracted Target Cost Incentive arrangement, under which annualised cost under- runs are shared. We are currently in negotiation over the precise amount accrued.

Mr. Jenkin: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence which sections of his budget received extra resources as a result of money gained from efficiency savings in each of the last three years; and how much was given to each. [43217]

Mr. Ingram: The allocation of resources within the Ministry of Defence is carried out in accordance with agreed priorities and objectives. We take into account many issues, including predicted efficiency savings. These are not managed separately and we therefore do not track how they are reinvested.

Mr. Jenkin: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence (1) how the efficiency savings in each of the last three years were achieved; [43218]

(2) which single efficiency measures have resulted in annual savings of over (a) £500,000, (b) £1 million and (c) £5 million. [44223]

Mr. Ingram [holding answer 18 March 2002]: Efficiency savings are achieved by each area of the Ministry of Defence and of the services reviewing its business and identifying ways in which it might operate more efficiently and effectively. This can involve, for example, internal restructuring, use of public private partnerships and wider markets and increased use of IT.

The MOD does not maintain a central list of efficiency measures and the information requested on individual measures could be provided only at disproportionate cost. Information on financially significant efficiency measures for 1998–99 and 1999–2000 was, however, provided to the House of Commons Defence Committee, and was

19 Mar 2002 : Column 206W

published on 9 May 2001 as part of the Committee's 8th Report, copies of which are available in the Library of the House.

Examples of efficiency measures taken in 2000–01 are set out in the Departmental Performance Report 2000–01 (Cm 5290), copies of which are also available in the Library of the House.

Mr. Jenkin: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what the annual target is for efficiency savings to be made in his Department's spending; and how much was saved in each of the past five years. [44216]

Mr. Ingram [holding answer 18 March 2002]: The Ministry of Defence's achievement against the efficiency target agreed in the 1998 Comprehensive Spending Review is set out in the Departmental Performance Report 2000–01 (Cm 5290), copies of which are available in the Library of the House. The cumulative achievement is:

£ million

	Target	Achievement
1998–99	505	594
1999–2000	998	1,126
2000–01	1,499	1,462

Information on efficiency achievement in 1996–97 and 1997–98 has been archived. I will write to the hon. Member when the information is available.

---