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Human Rights

Mrs. Spelman: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what priority her Department accords the promotion of human rights in its development policy. [71147]

Clare Short: Details of our commitment to a rights based approach to development are set out in my Department's publication, "Realising Human Rights for Poor People".

Environmental Know How Fund

Mr. Breed: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, pursuant to her answer to the hon. Member for Gordon (Malcolm Bruce) of 10 July 2002, Official Report, column 959W, what proportion of the funds in 2001–02 were supplied to United Kingdom (a) companies, (b) organisations and (c) other bodies; and if she will list them. [71247]

Clare Short: A list of the projects and the companies contracted has been placed in the Libraries of the House.

Developing Countries

Mr. Blizzard: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what steps she is taking to monitor the effectiveness of voluntary corporate social responsibility strategies of United Kingdom companies which invest in developing countries. [72053]

Clare Short: My Department supports a number of initiatives aimed at monitoring the impact of the corporate social responsible strategies of UK companies on developing countries. For example, in the retail sector, we have supported the work of the Ethical Trading Initiative (ETI) since its establishment in 1998. The ETI is an alliance of 28 UK businesses (with a combined turnover of over £100 billion), NGOs and trade unions that work to improve labour conditions in the supply chains of the company members. The ETI is conducting research to assess the impact of its code of conduct on workers and suppliers, and the business case for adopting such codes.

DFID is also funding research on measuring the impact on poverty of companies' international investments and operations. This will include looking at both the direct impacts, such as welfare provision and training, and the indirect impacts, such as taxation payments to national Governments.

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Departmental Press Office

Dr. Cable: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development how many (a) full-time equivalents were employed by her press office and (b) secondees were placed in her press office in the last five years; and if she will make a statement. [70540]

Clare Short: We currently employ four press officers, and this number of posts has remained the same since January 1997 and we have had no secondees in that time.

Information Campaigns

Dr. Cable: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development how much her Department spent on information literature, advertising and campaign material in financial year 2001–02; if she will list the campaigns that spent over £250,000; and if she will make a statement. [70210]

Clare Short: We have since 1997 published all our major strategy documents, including two White Papers, all country and institutional strategy papers, as well as

22 Jul 2002 : Column 722W

major consultation papers and speeches. Our publishing output continues to expand.

We do not produce anything which we would regard as campaign material. Our spending on publications over the period in question is as follows:

2001–02: £1,060,000.

We do not have a specific advertising budget. However, the bulk of our paid advertising is in relation to recruitment advertising in newspapers and journals. The cost in 2001 calendar year was £1.208 million.

CDC Capital Partners

Gregory Barker: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development if she will list CDC Capital Partners' investments by (a) sector, (b) size and (c) country since 1997. [67348]

Clare Short: CDC's new investments since the beginning of 1999 are listed in the table, ranked by sector, size and country. Relevant information for 1997 and 1998 can be obtained only at disproportionate cost, owing to a change in CDC's portfolio accounting systems.

Company	Size	Sector	Country	Date
Digicel	US$20 million	Telecoms and converging technologies	El Salvador	July 2002
Southern Cone Power Ltd.	US$70 million	Power	Peru, Chile, Argentina	March 2002
DVI, Inc.	US$25 million	Healthcare	Americas	March 2002
UTI Bank	26 per cent.	Financial institutions	India	December 2001
MediKredit	57 per cent.	Healthcare	South Africa	November 2001
NorthPole Ltd.	US$30 million	Consumer business	China	October 2001
Songas	US$18 million	Power	Tanzania	October 2001
MSI Cellular	US$40 million	Telecoms and converging technologies	Pan Africa	September 2001
Medscheme Ltd.	9 per cent.	Healthcare	South Africa	September 2001
Vancouver Airport Services	US$30.5 million	Transport	Americas	April 2001
Ace Power	US$2.7 million	Power	India	April 2001
Praxis Active Equity Fund II	US$8 million	Healthcare	South Africa	February 2001
Aquarius Platinum	US$12 million	Minerals, oil and gas	South Africa	January 2001
The Medicine Shoppe	US$1 million	Healthcare	India	January 2001
MRO-tek	US$1.12 million	Telecoms and converging technologies	India	December 2000
Prime Cure Clinics	12 per cent.	Healthcare	Africa	December 2000
Gateway Container	£12 million	Transport	Pan Asia	December 2000
Regal Forest	US$15 million	Consumer business	Central America	December 2000
Puerto Quetzal Power Project	25 per cent.	Power	Guatemala	October 2000
Corporacion Fischel SA	US$5 million	Healthcare	Costa Rica	September 2000
DFCU	35 per cent.	Financial institutions	Uganda	May 2000
Tsavo Power	US$19 million	Power	Kenya	May 2000
Konkola Copper Mines	US$30 million	Minerals, oil and gas	Zambia	April 2000
San Pedro de Macoris	US$25 million	Power	Dominican Republic	April 2000
Cineplex	US$4.9 million	Consumer business	Peru	March 2000
Compania Minera Colquiri (CMC)	US$10 million	Minerals, oil and gas	Bolivia	January 2000
China National Offshore Oil Company	US$25 million	Minerals, oil and gas	China	January 2000
Empresa Generadora de Electricidad	US$74 million	Power	Nicaragua	January 2000
SSB Bank	20 per cent.	Financial institutions	Ghana	December 1999
Satyam Infoway	US$12 million	Telecoms and converging technologies	India	December 1999
Guyana Power and Light	50 per cent.	Power	Guyana	October 1999
Orzunil de Electricidad Limitada	US$20 million	Power	Guatemala	September 1999
Kingdom Transport Ltd.	US$6.9 million	Transport	Ghana	September 1999
South Asia Gateway Terminals	US$42 million	Transport	Sri Lanka	August 1999
Ferrocarril Central del Peru	30 per cent.	Transport	Peru	July 1999
Protea Hospitality Corporation	40 per cent.	Property	Pan Africa	April 1999
African Lion Ltd.	US$8 million	Minerals, oil and gas	Pan Africa	February 1999
Kondapalli Power Corporation Ltd.	25 per cent.	Power	India	January 1999

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CHURCH COMMISSIONERS

Hunting With Dogs

Mr. Gordon Prentice: To ask the hon. Member for Middlesbrough, representing the Church Commissioners, if the Church of England has contributed to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs consultation on hunting with dogs. [68945]

Mr. Bell: The Church Commissioners have made no contribution to the current DEFRA consultation on hunting with dogs, but I understand that other bodies within the Church of England are looking at this issue from an ethical or theological point of view.

Clergy (Terms and Conditions)

Mr. Ben Chapman: To ask the hon. Member for Middlesbrough, representing the Church Commissioners, when he expects to make an announcement about terms and conditions of service for the clergy. [70772]

Mr. Bell: The Archbishops' Council, which in its role as Central Stipends Authority is responsible for these matters, publishes details of the stipends paid to clergy in its annual report to the Church of England's General Synod. The report for 2001 was published in January this year; a copy is available in the House of Commons Library.

The Archbishops' Council is in the course of considering the Department of Trade and Industry's discussion document on employment status in relation to statutory employment rights, published earlier this month.

Church Property

Michael Fabricant: To ask the hon. Member for Middlesbrough, representing the Church Commissioners, what role (a) English Heritage and (b) the chancellors of each diocese have in approving schemes of work on church property; and if he will make a statement. [70721]

Mr. Bell: In general, work of substance may not be carried out to a parish church or certain other Church of England places of worship without a "faculty" or permission from the Chancellor of the ecclesiastical court of the diocese or, in some cases involving less significant changes, from the archdeacon. (Separate controls apply to cathedrals.) The faculty system is a legal system of controls which has been strengthened by recent legislation; it predates secular listed building controls, is broader in scope and also applies to unlisted buildings. Because it satisfied Government requirements for "ecclesiastical exemption", Church of England churches are not in general subject to listed building control, though they are not exempt from the need for planning permission where that applies.

It is for the court alone to decide whether to grant the faculty or permission, but with limited exceptions the Chancellor or archdeacon must seek the advice of the Diocesan Advisory Committee before doing so. Three members of that committee are appointed in consultation with English Heritage, with the National Amenity Societies and with Local Government associations.

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There is also statutory provision in the faculty jurisdiction system for consultation with a range of bodies, including English Heritage, in appropriate cases. Parishes contemplating changes to listed churches are in any case encouraged to seek its informal advice and that of the Amenity Societies as early as possible. English Heritage will need to approve any works for which it is providing grant aid, and must also be consulted where it has in the past made a grant to a particular church.

Church property not used for worship is subject to normal secular controls.

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