---

10 May 2004 : Column 64W—continued

Maldives

Mr. Paice: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development how much aid has been provided by (a) the UK and (b) the EU to the Maldives Government in each of the last three years. [172053]

Hilary Benn: The information is as follows:

(a) UK bilateral assistance to the Maldives totalled £286,000 in 2000–01, £83,000 in 2001–02 and £195,000 in 2002–03. Data for 2003–04 is not available yet for publication. UK assistance is part of the Small Grants Scheme, administered locally by the High Commission on behalf of DFID for poverty alleviation. Funds go mainly to small projects and institutions.

(b) The European Union has given no aid to the Maldives government in 2000 and 2001. Data for 2002 and 2003 are not yet published.

Parliamentary Questions

John Thurso: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what proportion of (a) Ordinary Written Questions to his Department were
 
10 May 2004 : Column 65W
 
answered within five sitting days of tabling and (b) Questions for written answer on a named day received a substantive answer on that day in (a) the 2002–03 parliamentary session and (b) this parliamentary session, broken down by month. [171193]

Hilary Benn: We are unable to provide information in the format requested without incurring disproportionate cost. DFID endeavours to respond to all Parliamentary Questions within deadlines where possible. I refer the hon. Member for Caithness, Sutherland and Easter Ross to the statement made by the Leader of the House on 3 March 2004, Official Report, column 907W.

Poverty Reduction

Mr. Bercow: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development if he will list in ascending order of progress the 16 key countries in Sub-Saharan Africa for which the Millennium Development Goal on poverty reduction was set. [171681]

Hilary Benn: The PSA target for poverty reduction relates to the entire region of Sub-Saharan Africa and is not based on the 16 key countries because comparable data over time are not available at the country level. The latest figures show that the percentage of the population below $1 a day ¹ in Sub-Saharan Africa is 49 per cent. (compared to a 1990 figure of 47.4 per cent.). The latest comparable figures for nine of our 16 key countries are given in the following table.

	Percentage of population below $1 a day(28)
South Africa	<2
Kenya	23.0
Mozambique	37.9
Malawi	41.7
Ghana	44.8
Zambia	63.7
Nigeria	70.2
Ethiopia	81.9
Uganda	82.2
Congo, DR	(29)—
Lesotho	(29)—
Rwanda	(29)—
Sierra Leone	(29)—
Sudan	(29)—
Tanzania	(29)—
Zimbabwe	(29)—
Sub-Saharan Africa	49.0

⁽²⁸⁾ The percentage of the population living below the commonly used international $1 a day standard, measured in 1993 international prices and adjusted for local currency using purchasing power parities.
⁽²⁹⁾ Not available.

Primary Education

Helen Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what recent discussions he has had on improving access to primary education; and if he will make a statement. [171016]

Hilary Benn: Discussion with international agencies, partner governments and civil society on improving access to primary education is a continuing priority. Recent examples include strengthening the Fast Track Initiative led by the World Bank; improving girl's education in collaboration with UNICEF in support of
 
10 May 2004 : Column 66W
 
the 2005 gender equity MDG target; participating in the Global Campaign for Education for All (GCE), led by British NGOs, in which 460 MPs, and children's representatives took part; and providing education guidance for the Africa Commission.

Both the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State and I have also recently taken part in Parliamentary discussions—a Children's Parliament at Central Hall and an MPs' meeting, respectively—as part of the GCE Week of Action in April to discuss the importance of education for all children.

Progress has been made in many countries with global enrolment in primary education increasing from 596 million in 1990 to 648 million children in 2000. However, with over 100 million still out of school, much still remains to be done.

Helen Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what progress has been made in providing primary education for girls in developing countries; and if he will make a statement. [164510]

Mr. Gareth Thomas: Please accept my apologies for a slight error contained in the previous reply published on 31 March 2004, Official Report, column 1429W.

Pursuant to that reply, the EFA Global Monitoring Report 200304 shows that the net enrolment ratio (NER) for girls' primary enrolment in developing countries has increased from 73.5 per cent. in 1990, to 78.9 per cent. in 2000. The ratio between girls and boys' enrolment rates, has also improved from 0.86 in 1990 to 0.93 in 2000 for primary education.

However, much still remains to be done. DFID is planning to increase its investment in primary education to £1 billion over the next four years.

Sustainable Development

John Barrett: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what steps he is taking to promote the delivery of sustainable development within Government. [165432]

Hilary Benn: The Department for International Development works with other departments to assist in the delivery of Sustainable Development (SD).

The World Summit on Sustainable Development's Plan of Implementation provides the international framework for the promotion of sustainable development. The lead UK departments are DFID, DTI, FCO and Defra (coordinator), all represented on the Ministerial SD Task Force. DFID leads in four areas,

Water and sanitation

Integrating environment into poverty reduction strategies

Access to clean energy

Finance (volume and effectiveness of aid—joint lead with Treasury)

The UN Commission on Sustainable Development tracks progress on United Nations Conference on Environment and Development (UNCED)/World Summit on Sustainable Development (WSSD) follow-up (including MDGs). It works to a two-year cycle—progress review years followed by policy development years. The 2004–5 biennium covers (1) water and
 
10 May 2004 : Column 67W
 
sanitation, (2) human settlements, and (3) "Type 2" partnerships. DFID officials have been involved in the CSD 12 meetings just concluded (1/05/04).

HOME DEPARTMENT

Commission for Racial Equality

13. Jeremy Corbyn: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what assessment he has made of the likely impact on staffing levels of changes to the budget of the Commission for Racial Equality. [171328]

Fiona Mactaggart: The Home Office, like other public sector bodies, is seeking to improve Value for Money. As part of this, it has set itself a target to generate significant savings in administration costs, for redirection to support front line services, over the next three years.

We have agreed with Commission for Racial Equality (CRE) that, following a successful exercise last year to reduce its budget deficit, its administration costs should be reduced this year by 4.5 per cent., the same percentage as the Home Office. This will have some effect on staffing levels, which the CRE are assessing, but will not effect work to deliver key objectives.

CCTV

14. Mr. Bill O'Brien: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what advice is given by his Department on the provision and funding of CCTV in urban areas; and if he will make a statement. [171329]

Caroline Flint: Since 1997, the Home Office has provided a variety of funding, which has been used to establish and run CCTV schemes in large and small urban areas, as well as residential and rural locations. Under the Crime Reduction Programme CCTV initiative, which ended in 2003, £170 million was invested in 684 CCTV schemes.

Crime and Disorder Reduction Partnerships have funding of £72.3 million in 2003–04 and £74 million in 2004–05 available for crime reduction initiatives under the Building Safer Communities Fund, which could include CCTV, and £50 million per annum to police BCUs in 2003–04 and 2004–05.

---