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Written Answers to Questions
Monday 2 February 2004
SOLICITOR-GENERAL
Serious Fraud Office
Malcolm Bruce: To ask the Solicitor-General how many (a) allegations and (b) reports of bribery of a foreign public official by a UK company or individual have been forwarded to the Serious Fraud Office by the Fraud Section of the Department of Justice in the US since 1997; and on what dates they were received. [151523]
The Solicitor-General: The SFO has received no reports of allegations of bribery of a foreign public official by a UK company or individual from the US Department of Justice since 1997.
One request for mutual legal assistance has been made involving a suspicion of bribery. In this instance the alleged offences took place prior to the implementation of the Anti-terrorism, Crime and Security Act 2001.
Mr. Simon Thomas: To ask the Solicitor-General how many allegations of bribery of a foreign public official the Serious Fraud Office received between November 1997 and February 2002; and how many of these allegations led to an investigation. [151403]
The Solicitor-General: The SFO have identified four cases referred to it between November 1997 and February 2002 where bribery of a foreign official has been one of the allegations. None of these cases have resulted in an investigation.
Mr. Simon Thomas: To ask the Solicitor-General how many of the requests for mutual legal assistance on corruption offences received by the Serious Fraud Office have (a) indicated an offence by a UK individual or company and (b) led to an investigation by the SFO into a possible UK offence. [151404]
The Solicitor-General: Prior to the implementation of the Anti-terrorism Crime and Security Act 2001, the SFO did not record the category of offences referred for mutual legal assistance by foreign authorities.
Since February 2002, the SFO has identified three mutual legal assistance requests where there may be suspicion of corruption offences of persons overseas involving UK citizens or companies.
These requests have not resulted in a domestic investigation. Two of the requests are still being assessed and the relevant offences in the other request took place prior to the implementation of the Anti-terrorism, Crime and Security Act 2001.
Mr. Simon Thomas: To ask the Solicitor-General whether the Serious Fraud Office has received additional resources for enforcing Part 12 of the Anti-terrorism, Crime and Security Act 2001 since February 2002. [151405]
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The Solicitor-General: The SFO has received no additional resource since February 2002 specifically for the purpose of investigating and prosecuting using the provisions of Part 12 of the Anti-terrorism, Crime and Security Act 2001.
As part of the 2002 Spending Review, the resource budget of the Serious Fraud Office will rise to £35.34 million by the end of the 2005–06 financial year. The Serious Fraud Office plans to use some of this resource to expand its permanent staff numbers from 232 to approximately 300 by the end of that financial year.
The Serious Fraud Office does not allocate its staff resource to a particular type of crime or case. Each case referred to the SFO is assessed on its individual merits, and this includes allegations of bribery by UK citizens or companies overseas.
INTERNATIONAL DEVELOPMENT
Commonwealth Scholarships Commission
Keith Vaz: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development who the members of the Commonwealth Scholarships Commission were on 1 January 2004; what their term of office is in each case; and whether they are remunerated. [151825]
Hilary Benn: The 14 members of the Commonwealth Scholarship Commission were:
| Member | First Appointed | Current Appointment Ends |
|---|---|---|
| Professor Trudy Harpham (Chair) | (1)12.12.01 | 11.12.04 |
| Professor William Hill (Deputy Chair) | (2)01.03.98 | 28.02.04 |
| Professor Jang B. Dilawari | 01.03.98 | 28.02.04 |
| Mr Sharon Huttly | 01.01.02 | 31.12.04 |
| Professor Maxwell Irvine | 01.01.02 | 31.12.04 |
| Professor David Johns | 01.01.02 | 31.12.04 |
| Ms Caren Levy | 01.04.00 | 31.03.06 |
| Dr Derek Miles | 01.04.00 | 31.03.06 |
| Professor John Morgan | 01.08.02 | 31.07.05 |
| Dr Hilary Perraton | 01.05.02 | 30.04.05 |
| Dr Patricia Richardson | 01.04.00 | 31.03.06 |
| Professor Timothy Shaw | 01.05.02 | 30.04.05 |
| Professor Gurharpal Singh | 01.01.02 | 31.12.04 |
| Professor Martin Snaith | 01.01.02 | 31.12.04 |
(1) As Chair. Member of Commission since 1 March 1998
(2) To the Commission. Appointed Deputy Chair on 12 December 2001
The Chair of the Commission receives an annual honorarium of £5,000. All other Commission appointments are unremunerated, but those serving on the Selection Committee receive an honorarium of £200 per meeting.
Departmental Staff (Disability)
Mr. Paul Goodman: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development if he will set out the number of employees in his Department who have a disability, broken down by disability type. [148988]
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Hilary Benn: As at April 2003, there were 23 members of staff with a disability.
| Type of Disability | Number of DFID Staff |
|---|---|
| Hearing Impairment | 8 |
| Visual Impairment | (3)— |
| Speech Impairment | (3)— |
| Mobility Impairment | 5 |
| Physical Impairment | (3)— |
| Reduced Physical Capacity | (3)— |
| Severe disfigurement | (3)— |
| Learning difficulties | (3)— |
| Mental Illness | 0 |
| Other | 0 |
| Total | 23 |
(3)— Denotes a figure where the number of staff is less than five.
The actual numbers in these categories are not published in order to protect the privacy of individual members of staff.
At DFID, staff with disabilities can often fall into more than one of the above categories; where this is the case, they have been assigned to the category relating to their primary disability. DFID is a member of the cross-departmental Cabinet Office Disability Working Group, the primary purpose of which is to improve data collection, monitoring and declaration within the Civil Service.
Direct Budget Support
Tony Baldry: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what assessment he has made of fiduciary risk for direct budget support. [152083]
Hilary Benn: DFID has developed a comprehensive approach to assessing and managing the fiduciary risks associated with direct budget support, which has been agreed with the UK's National Audit Office.
Firstly, a thorough evaluation of the recipient government's public financial management and accountability procedures, systems, practices and associated risks must be carried out. We have set out eight good practice principles and 15 related benchmarks which provide a framework both to ensure that adequate and sufficient information is obtained and that a broad assessment can be undertaken.
Secondly, the recipient government must have a credible programme to improve public financial management and if necessary to incorporate temporary safeguards to mitigate identified risks. The decision to provide direct budget support is made where the potential development benefits justify the risk involved. DFID's policy in this area is clearly identified in the published document "Managing Fiduciary Risk When Providing Budget Support".
DFID is working with other development agencies and international financial institutions to harmonise approaches to fiduciary risk management, thereby limiting the burden placed on governments to meet the requirements of different donors and lenders. This includes harmonisation of donor assessment procedures.
Iraq
Miss McIntosh: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development if he will make a statement on humanitarian aid to Iraq. [151683]
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Hilary Benn: DFID has committed £220 million towards humanitarian and reconstruction work in Iraq since the beginning of 2003. In spite of difficulties resulting from the security situation in Iraq, there is no humanitarian crisis in the country. Significant progress has been made since the end of the conflict in restoring essential services, maintaining the Public Distribution System for food rations, reopening hospitals and schools, and beginning the process of longer term reconstruction.
US$33 billion in grants and soft loans was pledged for the reconstruction of Iraq at the Madrid Donors' Conference in October, including over US$18 billion from the USA. The Coalition Provisional Authority, together with Iraqi Ministries, are making significant progress with the reconstruction effort.
DFID will publish its interim Country Assistance Paper for Iraq shortly.
Sudan
John Barrett: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what assessment he has made of the impact that the Government of Sudan's rezoning of camps for internally displaced persons around Khartoum is having on (a) levels of homelessness and (b) other humanitarian requirements in the region; and if he will make a statement. [151202]
Hilary Benn: DFID continues to be concerned about the protection and assistance afforded to all internally displaced persons (IDPs) in Sudan and have provided humanitarian assistance, including to those in camps around Khartoum.
During my visit in December 2003 I visited one of the camps and saw how re-zoning has led to the demolition of homes. I raised the need for proper support for IDPs, following the rezoning with the Government of Sudan. HM Ambassador has also raised this issue with the Government of Sudan, including the Wali (Governor) of Khartoum.
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