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South Africa

Mrs. Curtis-Thomas: To ask the Minister of State, Department for International Development what recent assessment he has made of the impact of HIV/AIDS on the humanitarian situation in South Africa. [129056]

Mr. Gareth Thomas: All agencies active in responding to the humanitarian crisis in Southern Africa recognise that the high HIV/AIDS infection rates there are both affecting the crisis and being affected by it. In countries such as Zimbabwe, where one in four adults is HIV-positive, current rates of malnutrition and mortality are closely related to the underlying AIDS pandemic. An estimated 2,500 deaths per week in Zimbabwe are due to AIDS.

We are still learning how HIV/AIDS affects the crisis, including recovery. Evidence from Malawi, Zambia and Zimbabwe shows that households affected by chronic

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illness plant fewer crops and can afford fewer inputs like fertiliser. In some cases, households are shifting production to less labour intensive but also less nutritious crops. In addition, governments' capacity to respond to the crisis is undermined by the loss of public sector workers due to AIDS and other factors.

DFID is taking steps to integrate HIV/AIDS in its humanitarian programmes. Regionally, DFID is working to ensure that HIV prevention is integrated with food distribution, and that AIDS affected households receive food and care. We are also working closely with Governments, UN and non-governmental agencies to ensure that there is better understanding of the impact of HIV/AIDS on hunger and vulnerability. We are exploring how best to support longer-term safety nets for households affected by chronic illness. We also have a substantial programme of support for HIV/AIDS prevention and care, working with national AIDS councils and others to ensure appropriate multi-sectoral responses to the epidemic.

UN Aid Target

Norman Baker: To ask the Minister of State, Department for International Development when he expects the Government to meet the UN target of 0.7 per cent. of gross national product in their contribution to overseas aid. [129249]

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Mr. Gareth Thomas: The Government remain firmly committed to the 0.7 per cent. target. Although there is no timetable for reaching the target, the trend in the UK oda/GNI ratio has been upward since 1997, when it was 0.26 per cent. By 2006, the ratio will be 0.4 per cent., the highest since 1981. The rate of progress thereafter will depend on decisions to be taken in the next Spending Review.

US Overseas Development Assistance

Mrs. Curtis-Thomas: To ask the Minister of State, Department for International Development what representations he has made to the US Administration calling for them to raise overseas development assistance to 0.7 per cent.of GNI. [129448]

Mr. Gareth Thomas: The US Government does not accept the 0.7 per cent. target. However, it has subscribed to the Monterrey Consensus on increasing assistance to developing countries and before Monterrey announced increases in ODA worth $5 billion over three years, followed more recently by President Bush's announcement of significant new funds for HIV/AIDS. It is the world's largest donor in terms of volume.

The UK continues to press all donors to increase their contributions to developing countries in line with the Monterrey Consensus and has recently proposed an International Finance Facility (IFF) which would allow donors, including the US, to mobilise increased resources for international development.

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WORK AND PENSIONS

Health and Safety

Mr. Luff: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions if he will make a statement on the health and safety environment within which fruit and vegetable packhouse operators and growers operate; and what regulations apply to these sectors to take account of the particular needs of the casual and foreign labour they use. [129777]

Mr. Browne: The potential hazards at fruit and vegetable packhouses and growers typically include: transport; machinery; manual handling; noise; slips, trips and falls; and dermatitis. These hazards are common across a range of industries.

The Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974 requires all employers to ensure, so far as is reasonably practicable, the health, safety and welfare of all their employees. The Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulations 1999 require employers to assess the risks to the health and safety of their employees, and to provide them with information on the risks and measures introduced to protect them.

The risk assessment should identify those employees that may be particularly at risk because they do not speak, read or understand English. Employers should make special arrangements to safeguard the health and safety of these employees. This may include providing translations, using interpreters or replacing written health and safety notices with clearly understood symbols or diagrams. An increased level of supervision and monitoring of work activities may also be appropriate.

Mr. Drew: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many Health and Safety Executive full-time inspectors there are; and how many there were in each of the previous three years [130576]

Mr. Browne: I refer the hon. Member to the written answer given to the hon. Member for Tunbridge Wells (Mr. Norman) on 7 March 2003, Official Report, column 1269W.

Mr. Drew: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what reasons underlie the policy of the Health and Safety Executive (a) to allocate further staff to accident investigations and (b) not to allocate staff to preventative work. [130577]

Mr. Browne: The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) has not adopted a policy of allocating further staff to accident investigations, at the expense of staff allocated to preventative work.

HSE has recently reviewed the balance of resource applied to preventive inspections and investigation of incidents and complaints. HSE has decided to realign its resource to focus more on preventive work; allocating more staff time to preventive inspections, while concentrating the resource applied to investigation on the most serious incidents and complaints. This approach will enable more effective delivery of its mission to ensure that risks to people's health and safety from work related activities are properly controlled.

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This is in response to the fact that more cases of ill health caused by work are occurring and there has been a levelling off in the incidence of serious and fatal injuries.

The policy of selecting a proportion of accidents and complaints for investigation, with the most serious being investigated, to ensure lessons are learnt to prevent recurrences has not changed. Accidents and complaints are selected for investigation using criteria set out in its incident selection and complaints procedures.

Dr. Cable: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what the Health and Safety Executive's annual budget was in each year since 1997. [130910]

Mr. Browne: I refer the hon. Member to the answer given to the hon. Member for Worcester (Mr. Foster) on 14 July, Official Report, column 75W.

Workplace Stress

Chris Grayling: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what guidance the Government have issued to employers on combating stress in the workplace. [130107]

Mr. Browne: The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) has published a range of guidance on tackling work-related stress. Further guidance is due to be published over the coming year.

"Tackling Work-Related Stress—a Manager's Guide to Improving and Maintaining Employee Health and Well-Being", was published on 25 June 2001. It sets out a risk assessment approach to tackling stress in the workplace. It clearly outlines possible hazards and risks, and offers practical advice to managers.

"Work-Related Stress—a short guide", was published in November 2001. This guide offers similar information but is aimed at small and medium-sized enterprises.HSE has developed new guidance in response to informal consultation that identified the need for further help for organisations in developing solutions to problems with stress. The new guidance, to be launched by HSE in October, is based on case studies of successful solutions employed in a range of organisations. The case studies have been derived from an extensive range of HSE-commissioned research into good practice in stress prevention. HSE plans to launch the new guidance at a conference on 30 October 2003. It will help employers work with employees to develop solutions in response to issues identified by their risk assessments.

HSE also publishes information on stress on its website (www.hse.gov.uk/stress). This includes resources to help employers begin to tackle stress and provides access to further sources of help.

Advertising

Mr. Beggs: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what (a) TV advertising and (b) other costs are involved in the promotion of new arrangements for state pensions, benefits and tax credits to be paid directly into the bank accounts of claimants. [130029]

Mr. Pond: A budget of up to £25 million is available for the Direct Payment campaign, spread over a three-year period (2002–03 to 2004–05). The campaign raises

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awareness of all account options for Direct Payment; including bank, building society and Post Office accounts.

TV advertising media costs from the start of the campaign to date total £1,799,000.

Other costs total £4,932,000. This figure breaks down as follows:

	£
Radio media	1,239,000
National press media	1,111,000
Regional press media	1,257,000
Magazines	322,000
Ambient media	189,000
Production across all media	814,000

Note:

Figures exclude VAT and apply to the campaign in England, Scotland and Wales only.

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