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20 Nov 2003 : Column 1161W—continued

Market Research

Dr. Cable: To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Department for Constitutional Affairs how much the Department spent on (a) opinion polling and (b) market research in the last financial year; and if he will make a statement. [139990]

Mr. Lammy: My Department conducts a range of exercises to measure public satisfaction with services and to assess future needs. Information regarding expenditure on such activities is not held centrally and could be obtained only at disproportionate cost.

Office for the Supervision of Solicitors

Mr. Pickthall: To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Department for Constitutional Affairs if he will make a statement on the rate of throughput of cases in the Office for the Supervision of Solicitors. [139678]

Mr. Lammy: The OSS produce a monthly Digest of Performance Measures and Statistics which gives details of their performance. From January 2003 to October 2003, their throughput of cases is as follows:

Combined performance of conduct and service casesPer cent.

Percentage of cases closed within	Jan–Oct 2003
3 months	45
6 months	67
12 months	89
18 months	96
21 months	98

Further details are available on the Law Society website www.lawsociety.co.uk. (Please refer to the "Visitors" site for the Office for the Supervision of Solicitors.)

INTERNATIONAL DEVELOPMENT

Overseas Assistance

Mr. Bercow: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what proportion of European Community overseas development assistance has gone to low income countries in each of the last 10 years. [139545]

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Mr. Gareth Thomas: The proportion of European community overseas development assistance which went to low income countries over the last 10 years was:

	Percentage
2002	(1)52
2001	43
2000	38
1999	43
1998	46
1997	46
1996	52
1995	60
1994	59
1993	53

⁽¹⁾ Provisional

Source:

Geographical Distribution of Financial Flows to Aid Recipients, OECD-DAC.

Food Aid

Tom Brake: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development which countries have been the top five recipients of (a) UK and (b) EU food aid in 2003; what tonnages of food each received, broken down by food type in each of the last five years; and what local production of these food types was in the five countries in each of the last five years. [138889]

Hilary Benn: The top five recipients of UK bilateral food aid in 2002–03 are:

	£ million
Central Africa (regional)	25.75
Ethiopia	19.04
Zimbabwe	6.51
Zambia	4.28
Angola	2.75

EC figures (including UK attribution) for 2003 are not yet available.

UK Government food aid contributions are made in cash rather than in kind and disbursed through a variety of means including World Food Programme and Non-Governmental Organisations. Neither DFID nor the EC hold centrally information relating to the tonnages and types of food then purchased, or the local production statistics in each of the recipient countries. To answer the question fully and going back over five years, would incur disproportionate cost.

HIV/AIDS

Mr. Bercow: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what proportion of pregnant women aged between 15 and 24 years in sub-Saharan Africa suffered from HIV/AIDS in the last year for which figures are available. [139535]

Mr. Gareth Thomas: There is limited data on the prevalence rate among pregnant women in the 15 to 24-year-age group. However, the level of HIV infection among pregnant women is similar to that in the general female population and the latter can be used as a proxy for the prevalence in pregnant women of the same age.

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The latest UNAIDS estimates of the prevalence rate of HIV/AIDS in women aged 15 to 24 years in sub-Saharan Africa range between a low of 6.4 per cent. and a high of 11.4 per cent. at the end of 2001. The World Bank estimates the middle point of this range as 9.3 per cent.

Mr. Bercow: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what the prevalence rates of HIV infection were in vulnerable groups in Asia in each of the last 10 years. [139541]

Mr. Gareth Thomas: Comprehensive data showing prevalence rates for these vulnerable groups in Asia is not available for the whole period requested. What data is available comes mainly from internationally accepted sources e.g. UNAIDS (see www.unaids.org). It does suggest a clear trend of increasing HIV prevalence in specific vulnerable groups in several countries.

DFID is working closely with others, including UNAIDS, to improve data on HIV prevalence in these marginalised and often hidden population groups in China, India and other Asian countries.

Illiteracy

Mr. Bercow: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development if he will make a statement on illiteracy in developing countries in (a) 1980, (b) 1990 and (c) 2000. [139621]

Mr. Gareth Thomas: The Dakar Goal on literacy calls for a 50 per cent. improvement in levels of adult literacy by 2015. The world is making steady but slow progress on this goal. In 2000, almost one fifth of the world's adults, 862 million people aged 15 and over, were illiterate. This means that over the last two decades we have seen an improvement of less than 10 per cent. in adult literacy rates, from approximately 70 per cent. in 1980 and 75 per cent. in 1990 to 80 per cent. in 2000. Women continue to be disproportionately affected and still account for almost two-thirds of the world's illiterates. Clearly, the world needs to intensify efforts if the Dakar literacy goal is to be achieved

DFID believes that literacy is key to enabling individuals to acquire the basic skills necessary to build and sustain a livelihood, and to participate in and shape society. To support national governments in their efforts to reduce levels of illiteracy, DFID focuses on strengthening education systems to increase access to good quality primary education for all children. Since May 1997 the Government have committed over £700 million to support sustainable, high quality, primary education systems in developing countries. We will do more. Between 2002 and 2007 we intend to invest about £1 billion in education.

At the same time, improving literacy practice for adults will continue to be an integral part of many different sectoral programmes supported by DFID, such as health, transport and water. We will continue to emphasise the need to ensure that all such efforts to improve literacy levels are given appropriate priority in poverty reduction strategies.

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Iraq

Mr. Gardiner: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development pursuant to his answer of 1 September 2003, to the hon. Member for Edinburgh West (John Barrett), Official Report, column 809W, if he will make a statement on the work of the task force set up to remove radioactive material removed from the civil nuclear facility at al-Tuwaitha in Iraq. [138617]

Mr. Rammell: I have been asked to reply.

The findings of the inspection team which assessed the extent and impact of the looting of the storage drums and containers from Al Tuwaitha has been reported by the Director General of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA). The inspection team found that approximately 200 containers, used for storing low-enriched uranium, had been removed and the contents dispersed. The quantity and type of compounds dispersed were not found to be sensitive from a proliferation point of view. The site has now been secured and the radioactive material sealed in concrete.

A second task force, consisting of the Iraqi Ministry of Health, Ministry of the Environment, World Health Organisation (WHO), Coalition Provisional Authority, IAEA and NGOs was convened to address the potential risk to public health caused by the residual radioactive materials within the looted containers. As a result, the MoH, MoE and WHO have initiated a survey, through local public health centres, to assess and monitor the population potentially affected. The survey, still in its preliminary phase, has been disrupted by the impact of the bombing of the UN HQ on 19 August 2003 and has yet to be completed. The UK Government has provided £6 million to WHO in 2003 to support WHOs sectoral lead in health in Iraq.

Poverty Reduction Strategy Papers

Mr. Bercow: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development if he will list the follow-up action taken by the countries which have completed poverty reduction strategy papers. [139617]

Hilary Benn: So far, Poverty Reduction Strategy Papers (PRSPs) are being implemented in 32 countries, three of which are in the process of implementing their second PRSP (Bolivia, Nicaragua and Uganda). Through its Country Offices and with international partners, DFID is working closely to monitor progress on implementation.

Preliminary evidence suggests that many of these countries are using their PRSPs to maintain processes for civil society participation; improve the framing of macroeconomic policies; improve policies for service delivery and governance; improve public expenditure management; and shift spending priorities towards poverty reduction.

According to the World Bank and IMF, expenditure on poverty-reducing sectors (e.g. health, education, water, sanitations) has increased in PRSP countries by 4 per cent. of total spending, and by 1.5 per cent. of GDP. However, implementation of these strategies remains at an early stage, and will require sustained support both from country governments and the

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international community to help meet emerging challenges and realise the Millennium Development Goals.

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