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Bananas

Mr. Foulkes: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what pressure the Department has put on negotiations to seek a positive outcome for Caribbean banana producers in the World Trade Organisation discussions on bananas. [176079]

Mr. Gareth Thomas: As part of the World Trade Organisation (WTO) settlement with the USA and Ecuador reached in 2001, the EU is committed to the removal of quota restrictions on banana imports by the end of 2005. Further WTO negotiations will be needed to determine how the existing quotas are converted into tariffs.

The UK recognises the importance of the banana trade to African, Caribbean and Pacific (ACP) exporters. DFID firmly believes that the inevitable changes to the banana regime must be phased at a rate that allows their economies to adjust.

Defra and European Commission officials met earlier this year to discuss the matter. Further representations will be made as necessary, when the Commission seeks a mandate from member states for proposals on a tariff-only import regime to submit to the WTO.

As a separate issue, the existing waiver under WTO rules allowing the EU to provide tariff preferences for the ACP countries expires in 2007 and is to be replaced by the development of Economic Partnership Agreements. The terms for these are currently under negotiation. The UK is taking a close interest.

Children and Young People Unit

Dr. Tonge: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what progress his Department is making in producing an action plan for children and young people in association with the Children and Young People Unit. [175983]

Mr. Gareth Thomas: DFID has been working with the Children, Young People's and Families Directorate of the DFES for the past year, examining how to enable children and young people to participate in our work. The DFID Action Plan on Children and Young People's Participation will be published in June. DFID has been consulting children and young people about our work for a number of years and there are many examples of this work outlined in the Action Plan.

China

Mr. Whittingdale: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what assessment he has made of the loss of farming land in China over the last 10 years. [177410]

Mr. Gareth Thomas: The majority of the 140 million remaining rural poor in China live in environmentally fragile and remote areas and are heavily dependent on agriculture and related activities for their livelihoods. The Department for International Development (DFID) has, and is working to develop, a number of activities in China which seek to address aspects of rural poverty, including those related to agriculture.
 
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Official statistics from the Ministry of Land and Resources in China indicate that current available arable land area is 123 million ha, or 12.8 per cent. of the total. The area of land for grain production is reported to have declined from 98 to 76 million ha from 1998 to 2003. DFID does not have equivalent figures for total arable land.

DFID currently provides financial support to a high-level policy body established by the State Council—the China Council for International Co-operation on Environment and Development. It currently has a task force that is looking specifically at agriculture and rural development, including evaluating the change in agricultural land availability. Their results will contribute to monitoring recent trends in land loss and developing approaches to address it. Recent reports from this group indicate that there have been periods of rapid reduction in the available area of land for agriculture over the past 20 years but that there are regional differences. The rate of loss per capita has increased from 0.6 per cent. in 1998 to 2.8 per cent. in 2003. Many academics believe that the overall loss is less than that reported in official statistics. The losses are thought to have resulted mainly from the growth of urban areas and construction, and the conversion of land to forests.

Consultants

Mr. Bercow: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development how many of the consultants used by his Department since 1997 have been based in (a) the United Kingdom, (b) the United States and (c) the recipient country for the project. [176608]

Hilary Benn: The following figures are in respect of contracts awarded by DFID's Procurement Group since April 2001. DFID does not keep information in the format requested for low value contracts issued by overseas offices or contracts awarded prior to April 2001 and this could be provided only at disproportionate cost.

	Number of suppliers(11)	UK	USA	Other
2003–04	350	282	16	52
2002–03	406	332	16	58
2001–02	497	483	2	12

⁽¹¹⁾ Some individual suppliers were awarded more than one contract

Mr. Bercow: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development how much was spent by his Department on the use of consultants in each year since 1997. [176658]

Hilary Benn: Expenditure on consultancy services is recorded in "Statistics on International Development", Table 12. A copy of this publication is available in the Library of the House.

Crisis Management

Mr. Bercow: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what discussions he has had with (a) the Conflict Prevention and Crisis Management Unit and (b) the Policy Planning and
 
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Early Warning Unit of the European Union about the links between environmental degradation, poverty, food security and conflict. [177432]

Hilary Benn: As Secretary of State I have had no direct discussions with these Units. However, DFID officials have been working with EU officials in these areas. One important aspect of discussion has been the European Security Strategy (ESS). The ESS sets out a strategic vision for the European Union's role in tackling global security threats using the range of instruments it has available. Effective implementation of this is a key priority for the European Union.

DFID and EC Officials are actively engaged in a multi-donor Poverty-Environment Partnership that has been producing guidance; and are also working with the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) on a Poverty-Environment Initiative that seeks innovative solutions in five developing countries.

Departmental Budget

Mr. Letwin: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what progress has been made towards the 5 per cent. reduction in real terms in his Department's administration budget by 2008 announced by the Chancellor in the House on 17 March 2004, Official Report, column 331. [176504]

Mr. Gareth Thomas: The real terms reduction of 5 per cent. or more will be a central feature of the public spending settlements for 2006–08 to be announced in detail later this year.

Mr. Bercow: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what proportion of the budget of his Department was (a) allocated and (b) spent in the last quarter of the financial year in each of the last seven years. [176609]

Hilary Benn: DFID does not keep information on the proportion of the budget allocated by quarter. The proportion of the total DFID budget (excluding EC Attribution) spent in the last quarter is as follows:

	Percentage
1997–98	41
1998–99	38
1999–2000	46
2000–01	35
2001–02	35
2002–03	31
2003–04	(12)29

⁽¹²⁾ Provisional figure

Departmental Staff

Matthew Taylor: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development how many staff were employed in the Department to work in the communications field, and what the total expenditure on communications for the Department was, broken down by (a) Government Information and Communication Service staff and (b) other staff, broken down by (i) press officers, (ii) special advisers and (iii) others, in (A) 1994–95, (B) 1996–97, (C) 1997–98 and (D) 2001–02. [168686]

 
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Mr. Gareth Thomas: DFID does not keep central records of all staff working on communications across the Department and this information could not be gathered without incurring a disproportionate cost for the years specified. Information on the press office is available from 1996–97 and is set out as follows.

	Number of press officers	Annual cost (£)
1996–97	6	195,000
1997–98	6	243,000
1998–99	4	240,000
1999–2000	3.3	100,000
2000–01	4.5	150,000
2001–02	4	148,000

The Special Advisers' Code of Conduct sets out the sort of work a special adviser may undertake on behalf of their Minister. This includes communications activity. Details of the costs of Special Advisers are given on an annual basis. Information for the financial year 2003–04 will be published in due course.

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