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External Reports

Mr. Maude: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development if she will list (a) the title and subject, (b) the total cost to her Department and (c) the commissioned author or organisation of each external report commissioned by her Department in each year since 1997. [103719]

Clare Short: DFID Departments and overseas offices commission a range of reports and research from external organisations on a variety of subjects related to poverty reduction. Details of these reports are not held centrally and a breakdown of such outputs could only be provided at disproportionate cost.

Palestine

Mr. Gareth Thomas: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what further action she

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is taking to tackle (a) infant mortality, (b) illiteracy and (c) unemployment among the Palestinian people. [109292]

Clare Short: We have supported a wide range of initiatives, bilaterally and through our contributions to the EC and the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestinian Refugees, to meet the needs of Palestinians as the humanitarian situation has deteriorated. This includes a number of emergency health programmes including midwifery training and women's health development. We also support work aimed at reducing the impact of violence on Palestinian children, as well as supplementary educational materials for children unable to attend school full time due to closures and curfews. Our work with the World bank and UNRWA helps fund employment generation schemes.

Mr. Gareth Thomas: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what discussions she has had with the (a) World Bank and (b) United Nations about the situation in the West Bank and Gaza; and if she will make a statement. [109293]

Clare Short: We maintain very close contact with both the World Bank and the United Nations on the West Bank and Gaza Strip. I discussed the Palestinian situation with both UN Secretary General Kofi Annan and World Bank President Wolfenson in New York and Washington last month. The World Bank and the United Nations Special Co-ordinator's Office play a key role in analysing the social and economic impact of the current conflict. We work closely with them on these issues, and jointly finance a number of specific initiatives. Our relations with the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestinian Refugees are strong. Its mandate to provide education, health and emergency services to the refugee population remains critical in these troubled times.

Mr. Gareth Thomas: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what recent discussions she has had with the EU about the situation in the West Bank and Gaza; and if she will make a statement. [109294]

Clare Short: We maintain close contact with our European partners and with the European Commission. I have spoken recently to Commissioner Patten about the humanitarian situation in the West Bank and Gaza Strip. We discussed the importance of support to Palestinian reform efforts, and implementation of the Roadmap towards a two state solution. The appalling humanitarian situation can only be resolved through a just political settlement. The EC shares our view of the need to balance immediate humanitarian assistance with longer-term support for institutional development. In the current circumstances it is essential that organisations respond quickly and flexibly to emerging Palestinian needs. I raised this issue with Commissioner Patten in relation to EC assistance.

Part-time Workers

Mr. Bercow: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what assessment she has made of the impact of the Part-time Workers Directive on staff in her Department. [109277]

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Clare Short: No formal assessment has been made—nor has there been any need for one. DFID employment practices were already compliant with the Part-time Workers Directive and the Part-time Workers (Prevention of Less Favourable Treatment) Regulations 2000 in advance of their introduction. Other than a minor technical adjustment to the formula used to calculate hourly remuneration rates there have been no substantial consequences for DFID. DFID supports work/life balance for staff and part time working is only one of several ways in which we offer staff flexibility in their working patterns. 7 per cent. of DFID's UK based staff work part-time.

Sickness Absence

Mr. Bercow: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development how many staff in her Department were on long term sick leave in each of the last five years. [109257]

Clare Short: There is no central definition of long term sick absence. DFID classifies sick absence of three months or more as long term.

The number of staff on long term sick absence for the period 1 April 2001 to 31 March 2003 was as follows:

1 April 2001 to 31 March 2002: 39


1 April 2002 to 31 March 2003: 39

Details of staff on long term sick absence prior to this period could be obtained only at disproportionate cost.

DFID is working towards a reduction of 23.8 per cent. in sick absence rates from 8.4 days per staff year in 1998 to 6.4 in 2003.

World Food Programme

Mr. Tynan: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development if she will make a statement in response to the comments made by the Executive Director of the World Food Programme to the United Nations Security Council on 7 April. [109227]

Clare Short: I agree with the assessment of James Morris that conditions in many parts of Africa are a cause of great concern and must not be overlooked at a time when the world's attention is on Iraq. I welcome the efforts of the World Food Programme to address urgent humanitarian need in the continent and elsewhere. In 2002, the UK gave over £60 million to WFP, principally for humanitarian operations. We will continue to be strong supporters of the Programme.

However, the Government puts different emphasis on some of causes of the crises and on the steps needed to address them. An adequate donor response is of course important. I made special efforts last year to encourage other donors to respond to the urgent needs in Southern Africa. But we must go beyond investments in food aid and agriculture. In Southern Africa, the main problem is Zimbabwe and the central issue is one of governance. As Mr. Morris recognises, in other parts of Africa, continuing conflict drastically hampers opportunities to reduce hunger and poverty. We need to take account of the wide range of factors affecting food security in Africa andencourage steps, including by African governments themselves, to address the social, political and economic constraints.

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I talk regularly to James Morris about problems in Africa, most recently in London on 31 March. We will continue to keep in close touch. We will also give full consideration to the proposals set out in Mr. Morris's statement for actions by the G8 countries.

PRIME MINISTER

Athens European Council

Geraint Davies: To ask the Prime Minister if he will make a statement on the informal European Council in Athens on 16 April. [109538]

The Prime Minister: I attended the Informal European Council in Athens on 16 April.

The centrepiece of the meeting was the signature by the member states and the Accession Countries of the Treaty which formalises their membership of the European Union. After ratification in all the countries the new member states will formally join the Union in May next year. In the meantime they will participate as active observers in most of the Union's meetings.

I expressed my unreserved welcome for enlargement and the contribution which it makes to the democratic stability of Europe and to its prosperity.

The European Council heard a report from the Chairman of the Convention, President Giscard d'Estaing, on progress so far. The Council reaffirmed its

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commitment to the successful completion of the Convention by the June meeting of the European Council.

The European Council took the opportunity to discuss Iraq in the presence of the Secretary General, Kofi Annan. We reaffirmed the view the UN should play a central role in Iraq; that Iraqis should progressively be involved in the management of their country and that the EU would consult on the contribution it could make beyond the humanitarian assistance already being offered.

I had separate bilateral meetings with the UN Secretary General, with the Irish Prime Minister and the President of the Commission.

TRANSPORT

Railways

Norman Baker: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what the net cost to the public purse was of expenditure on railways in each year from 1973. [102479]

Mr. Jamieson: For each of the 30 years from 1972–73 to 2001–02 the table shows, in columns (1)-(4), total central government support to, and the external finance requirement of, British Rail and, since privatisation, total central government support to the rail industry. In column (5), it shows total rail investment. Columns (1)-(4) are not cumulative with column (5).

£ million

	(1)	(2)	(3)	(4)	(5)
	Central government support to BR in 1976 Public Expenditure Survey prices	Central government support to BR in cash prices	External finance requirement (EFR) of BR in cash prices	EFR of BR and, since privatisation, central government support to rail industry in cash prices	Total rail investment in cash prices
1972–73	171				110
1973–74	251				119
1974–75	533				147
1975–76	507				216
1976–77		457			213
1977–78		479			249
1978–79		494			281
1979–80		641			367
1980–81			790		431
1981–82			960		409
1982–83			848		378
1983–84			811		439
1984–85			1,045		476
1985–86				910	550
1986–87				777	530
1987–88				545	631
1988–89				376	695
1989–90				711	889
1990–91				1,077	1,022
1991–92				1,464	1,293
1992–93				2,064	1,476
1993–94				1,461	1,184
1994–95				1,497	1,250
1995–96				231	1,100
1996–97				775	1,225
1997–98				1,454	1,544
1998–99				1,249	1,999
1999–2000				1,106	2,248
2000–01				931	2,958
2001–02				1,520	4,070

Source:

Central government support figures for the years from 1972–73 to 1975–76 are from The Government's Expenditure Plans, Volume II, Cmnd 6721–11, February 1977, Table 2.6. Central government support figures for the years from 1976–77 to 1979–80 are from The Government's Expenditure Plans 1982–83 to 1984–85, Volume II, Cmnd 8494–11, March 1982, Table 2.6. British Rail external finance requirement (EFR) figures for the years from 1980–81 to 1984–85 are from The Government's Expenditure Plans 1986–87 to 1988–89, Volume II, Cmnd 9702–11, January 1986, Table 5.21. EFR and central government support figures for the years from 1985–86 onwards are from National Rail Trends (NRT), Table 5.1. Investment figures are from NRT, Table 5.2.

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Central government support figures for 1994–95, 1995–96 and 1996–97 include privatisation effects.

These consisted of:

(a) proceeds from the sales of businesses which (other than those from the sale of Railtrack) were used to reduce the rail industry's overall funding requirement; less

(b) the external finance contributions (EFCs) lost when businesses were sold. A business's EFC represented the excess of its income from revenue and grant over its costs. Each time a business was sold, its EFC was lost to the public sector and BR's overall external finance requirement adjusted accordingly.

Investment figures for 1993–94 onwards include investment by the private sector.

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