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Iraq

Mrs. Spelman: To ask the Minister of State, Department for International Development how many departmental staff are employed in Iraq; and what their role in Iraq is. [115450]

Hilary Benn: DFID currently has four advisers in the Office for Reconstruction and Humanitarian Assistance (ORHA) in Baghdad. A number of additional short-term advisers will be seconded to ORHA over the coming days. DFID advisers are working on humanitarian assistance and liaison between ORHA and Iraqi administrators, UN agencies, the International Committee of the Red Cross, relevant NGOs and the UN Humanitarian Coordinator for Iraq.

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DFID has two advisers seconded to the UK military in Basra. A third is expected to arrive soon. A further two staff based in Basra are liasing with the humanitarian agencies as well as with the UK military based there.

KPMG

Mr. Kilfoyle: To ask the Minister of State for International Development how many contracts the Department has awarded to KPMG since 1997. [113687]

Hilary Benn: DFID has awarded 67 contracts to KPMG since 1 January 1997. This does not include any lower value contracts issued by our overseas offices, details of which are not held centrally and could be provided only at disproportionate cost.

Kuwait

Mrs. Spelman: To ask the Minister of State, Department for International Development what recent discussion he has had with the Ministry of Health in Kuwait concerning the treatment of Ali Ismaael Abbas and other Iraqi children in the Ibn Sina Hospital in Kuwait. [115449]

Hilary Benn: DFID has not had any discussions with the Ministry of Health in Kuwait concerning the treatment of Iraqi children in hospitals in Kuwait.

DFID's priority is to work with our partners to help improve health care for all Iraqis who need it. The UN, Red Cross/ Red Crescent, Save the Children Fund, Merlin and International Medical Corps have all received DFID funding for this work.

We agree with the International Committee of the Red Cross the priority is to ensure that the Iraqi medical service is able to treat Iraqis, rather than have the war-wounded flown out of Iraq. If in exceptionally grave situations, children are taken abroad for treatment, they should be cared for in neighbouring countries where possible.

Middle East

Richard Burden: To ask the Minister of State, Department for International Development if he will place in the Library a copy of the memorandum sent during the week commencing Monday 12 May to the Quartet envoys by international development agencies operating in the Occupied Palestinian Territories concerning the impact of restrictions on their freedom of movement and ability to operate imposed by the Israeli Government since 1April 2003; if he will list the restrictions involved; and what his assessment is of their impact. [114902]

Hilary Benn: I have placed in the libraries of both Houses copies of the 12 May note by the Association of International Development Agencies (Palestinian Territories) and the United Nations press release of 18 May on this subject.

These documents list the restrictions involved. In particular they highlight the difficulties for people without diplomatic passports in entering the Gaza Strip. These restrictions are seriously impeding the ability of

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humanitarian agencies to carry out their work, in the context of an already deteriorating humanitarian situation.

This is unacceptable. The British Government continues to make representations to the Government of Israel, bilaterally, through the EU, and with our other partners in the international community.

Sub-Saharan Africa

Jim Dobbin: To ask the Minister of State for International Development what proportion of the Department's funding in sub-Saharan Africa is allocated to (a) primary health care and (b) reproductive health care. [114896]

Hilary Benn: Provisional figures for 2002–03 show that of £747 million DFID bilateral spend in Africa, approximately £113 million was directly in support of the health sector, some 15 per cent. of the total. This figure will represent an underestimate as some development assistance instruments, for example direct budget support to national Governments, support a range of national programmes, including health, without us necessarily being able to identify the specific level of support to each of the sectors.

Similarly, in an increasing number of African countries, DFID is providing general health sector budget support to the overall national health plan. In many situations, we believe this to be a better approach than financing specific ring-fenced initiatives within the health sector. For this reason, it is no longer possible, or indeed appropriate, to specify the proportion of DFID funding in Africa allocated to primary health care and reproductive health services. We would, however, expect both primary health care and reproductive health services to be priority components of the national health plans to which we provide sector budget support. However, we do continue to support specific primary health care and reproductive health services investments in a number of African countries where budget support is not appropriate.

Third World Debt

Mr. Cox: To ask the Minister of State for International Development what progress has been made on the eradication of third world debt during the last three years; and if she will make a statement. [114851]

Hilary Benn: To date, 26 countries out of a total of 37 eligible countries have qualified for relief under the Heavily Indebted Poor Countries (HIPC) Initiative, and will receive over US$62 billion in debt relief. Of these, eight countries (Benin, Bolivia, Burkina Faso, Mali, Mauritania, Mozambique, Tanzania and Uganda) have reached Completion Point and have received an irrevocable reduction in their stock of debt. The other 18 (Cameroon, Chad, Ethiopia, Ghana, Guinea, Guinea Bissau, Guyana, Honduras, Madagascar, Malawi, Mali, Nicaragua, Niger, Rwanda, Sao Tome and Principe, Senegal, Sierra Leone and Zambia) have reached Decision Point and are receiving interim relief on their debt servicing payments. During this stage of the process, these countries are no longer required to make any further payments on the debt to be written off. We expect most of these 18 countries to reach

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Completion Point within the next two years when they, too, will receive full debt relief. It is difficult to predict when the remaining 11 countries will qualify for HIPC relief, as many are still affected by conflict and governance problems. We expect the Democratic Republic of Congo to reach its Decision Point in the coming months, and the Central African Republic, Comoros and Cote d'Ivoire to do so later this year but, in some cases, this will depend on progress towards peace. The other countries (Burundi, Congo Republic, Liberia, Myanmar, Somalia, Sudan and Togo) are a long way from qualifying, as they are affected by conflict or have serious governance concerns.

DEPUTY PRIME MINISTER

Audit Commission

Mr. Pickles: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what the outturn expenditure of the Audit Commission was in (a) 1996–97 and (b) 1997–98; what the estimated expenditure is in the forthcoming financial year; and if he will make a statement. [111077]

Mr. Leslie: Information on expenditure by the Audit Commission at constant 2002–03 prices is tabled as followed:

£ million

Year	Expenditure
1 April 1996—31 March 1997	111.1
1 April 1997—31 October 1997	71
1 November 1997—31 October 1998	120.1
1 November 2002—31 October 2003	217 (estimated)

Note:

The Audit Commission's financial year, which is earlier years ran from 1 April to 31 March, was amended to run from 1 November to 31 October with effect from 1 November 1997. Information on the transitional seven-month period 1 April 1997–31 is therefore shown separately.

The Commission has taken on a significant number of new responsibilities since 1997, notably those derived from the Local Government Act 1999 on local authority performance. These included the setting up of the best value inspection service and the development of the comprehensive performance assessment process.

Mr. Pickles: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister how many (a) staff (full-time equivalent) and (b) press and public affairs staff were employed by the Audit Commission in (i) 1996–97 and (ii) 1997–98; how many are employed now; and if he will make a statement. [111078]

Mr. Leslie: The information requested on staff directly employed by the Audit Commission is tabled as follows:

Year	Total staff directly employed	Press and public affairs staff directly employed
1996–97	1,277	1
1997–98	1,349	1
2002–03	2,400	8

Note:

During 1996–97 and 1997–98, the majority of press office and public affairs work was contracted out to an external consultant. The press office is now located in-house, although some advice on public affairs is obtained from an external consultant.

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The Commission has taken on a significant number of new responsibilities since 1997, notably those derived from the Local Government Act 1999 on local authority performance. These included the setting up of the best value inspection service and the development of the comprehensive performance assessment process.

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