---

Accountancy Services

Mr. Bercow: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland what the total cost to her Department was for accountancy services in each of the last four years. [34171]

Mrs. Liddell: The Scotland Office was established in its present form on 1 July 1999.

Accountancy services to the Department are provided by the Scottish Executive, as required, and detailed costs are not available. The Scotland Office has not used external accountancy services.

Mobile Telephones

Mr. Bercow: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland if she will list, for 1997–98 and for each subsequent financial year, the amount spent (a) in the United Kingdom and (b) abroad by (i) her Department, (ii) its agencies and (iii) its non-departmental public bodies on (1) providing mobile telephone equipment, including handsets and other associated equipment, (2) telephone calls made using such equipment and (3) telephone calls made using privately owned mobile telephones but subsequently reclaimed by (x) Ministers and (y) staff. [34405]

Mrs. Liddell: The information is not held in the form requested and could be obtained only at disproportionate cost.

Entertainment Costs

Mr. Bercow: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland if she will list for 1997–98 and for each subsequent financial year, including the current year to date, the amount spent by (a) her Department, (b) its agencies and (c) its non-departmental public bodies on (i) food and (ii) alcohol, indicating how much was spent on guests, and how much in respect of (A) Ministers and (B) staff, broken down to show how much was provided directly by her Department and how much reclaimed. [34457]

Mrs. Liddell: The information requested is not held centrally and could be provided only at disproportionate cost.

Departmental Events

Mr. Bercow: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland if she will list the (a) conferences, (b) seminars, (c) workshops, (d) exhibitions and (e) press conferences which have been sponsored by her Department and which took place on non-Departmental premises in each of the last four years giving the title, purpose, date and cost of each. [34295]

Mrs. Liddell: The information requested is not held centrally and could be obtained only at disproportionate cost.

Working Conditions and Practices

Dr. Cable: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland what assessment has been made of the effect of the Working Time Directive on her Department's employees; how many employees are working in excess of 48 hours per week; what steps she is taking to reduce this number; and if she will make a statement. [35895]

21 Mar 2002 : Column 466W

Mrs. Liddell: The standard terms and conditions of service for staff in the Scotland Office fall within the limits set by the working time regulations. At present I have no staff who have opted to sign a waiver disapplying the 48 hour limit. Persistent working in excess of 48 hours per week would be discouraged and my Department advocates flexible working patterns in line with the Government's work-life balance policies.

Fair Trade

Mr. Weir: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland, pursuant to her answer of 22 November 2001, Official Report, column 407W, on fair trade goods, if she will review during Fair Trade Fortnight the amount of fairly traded goods used in her Department. [35454]

Mrs. Liddell: My Department did not participate directly in Fair Trade Fortnight. The Government are contributing through the Department for International Development, which is providing £120,000 to the Fair Trade Foundation over three years (2001–2003) in support of its efforts to target new groups through its annual Fair Trade Fortnight campaigns. When the opportunity arises, fair trade goods are used.

INTERNATIONAL DEVELOPMENT

Third World

Mrs. Irene Adams: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what action the Government are taking to help eradicate (a) debt and (b) child poverty in the third world. [43932]

Clare Short: The UK has played a major role in tackling the unsustainable debt burden of the poorest countries. We led the way in securing the revision of the Heavily Indebted Poor Countries (HIPC) Initiative, which was agreed in September 1999. Up to US$100 billion debt could be written off for the 42 HIPC countries. So far, 26 countries have qualified for this exceptional relief. These countries will receive more than US$60 billion worth of debt relief, reducing their debts by more than two-thirds on average. We hope that more countries will qualify for debt relief but substantial further progress will be difficult, as many of the remaining HIPC countries are either affected by conflict or have severe governance problems.

The UK goes further than is required under the HIPC Initiative and provides 100 per cent. relief on its bilateral debts to countries once they qualify, and holds any debt repayments 'in trust' in the meantime. The Government have already cancelled their aid debts to all the poorest countries, not just HIPC. The UK is also the second largest contributor (US$306 million) to the HIPC Trust Fund to help international financial institutions meet their share of HIPC costs.

We seek to reduce the poverty of children, which causes suffering to today's children and jeopardises the well-being of future generations, by working to address the cause of poverty and deprivation in the families and communities in which they live. Support for children's rights to basic health care, education, nutrition, shelter, protection from violence and abusive labour, along with sustainable livelihoods for their parents, is central to our work towards the millennium development goals.

21 Mar 2002 : Column 467W

We are working to energise the international system to achieve the goals. The goals include the target of, by 2015, lifting 1 billion people out of abject poverty, universal primary schooling, and reducing under-five child mortality by two thirds.

Heavily Indebted Poor Countries

Mrs. Irene Adams: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what action the Government are taking to persuade the World bank to change loans to heavily indebted poorer countries to grants. [43933]

Clare Short: We are firmly opposed to any suggestion that World bank highly concessional loans should be converted to grants. The International Development Association (IDA) of the World bank provides very concessional loans which are paid back over 40 years with a 10 year grace period and low service charge. Such loans are highly effective in helping countries to reduce poverty and are complemented by grant resources provided by other agencies. Any move to change IDA loans to grants would undermine the effectiveness of IDA and its future financial integrity.

Pakistan

Ms Oona King: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what financial aid her Department has provided to Pakistan in the current financial year; and what she plans to allocate in the next financial year. [45864]

Clare Short: By the end of the financial year, 31 March 2002, my Department will have provided £20 million of budget support to Pakistan. Next year, I plan to allocate £40 million. This is a slight change from the planned disbursement I announced to Parliament last December, and reflects the pattern of resource availability in my Department. Our overall commitment to provide £105 million financial aid over three years remains unchanged.

Iraq

Mr. Tynan: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development if her Department is in a position to make an assessment about the likely humanitarian impact of military action against Iraq before any military action is taken; and if she will make such a study prior to military action. [44299]

Clare Short: No decisions have been taken on any military action against Iraq.

Mr. Tynan: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development which organisations have provided her Department with reports on the current humanitarian situation inside Iraq. [44298]

Hilary Benn: DFID has access to reports on the current humanitarian situation from a number of agencies working in both northern and central/southern Iraq. These include the United Nations Childrens Fund (UNICEF), the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), and the World Health Organisation (WHO), as well as a number of NGOs.

21 Mar 2002 : Column 468W

Cluster Bombs

Norman Lamb: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, pursuant to her answer of 13 March 2002 ref. 40655 on cluster bombs, what estimates she has received from UNMAS on the number of (a) cluster bombs used and (b) unexploded bomblets located at the sites where cluster bombs were used in Afghanistan. [44391]

Clare Short: UNMAS estimate that 1,152 Cluster Bomb Units have been used in Afghanistan. (b) UNMAS estimate that there are up to 14,000 unexploded bomblets as a result. The accuracy of this estimate cannot be confirmed until more clearance work is undertaken and/or actual weapons used and target information is received from the Coalition.

---