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PUBLIC ACCOUNTS COMMISSION

National Audit Office

Mr. Leigh: To ask the Chairman of the Public Accounts Commission whether the Commission has reached a decision on the external audit arrangements for the National Audit Office. [179098]

Mr. Alan Williams: In exercise of its powers under section 4(5) of the National Audit Act 1983, the Commission has approved the renewal for a further two years of the appointment of Haines Watts as auditors of the National Audit Office. This arrangement covers the audits of the financial years 2004–05 and 2005–06.
 
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INTERNATIONAL DEVELOPMENT

Serbia and Montenegro

7. Mr. Randall: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what aid his Department is giving to refugees and internally displaced persons in Serbia and Montenegro. [178967]

Mr. Gareth Thomas: My department is working with the authorities in Serbia and Montenegro to strengthen their capacity to deal effectively with the needs of refugees and Internally Displaced People. We are supporting the comprehensive Poverty Reduction Strategy, which explicitly addresses the needs of IDPs. In Kosovo we are working to create an environment that makes it easier for IDPs to return, strengthening essential public services and promoting growth and job creation.

Montserrat

8. Mr. Pickthall: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what assessment he has made of current development priorities for Montserrat. [178968]

Mr. Gareth Thomas: We are working with the island government, to help generate local revenue and entourage private sector investment. (A new airport, for example, will be completed later this year.) Ultimately we want to enable the island to be self-sufficient, an ambition of the island government too.

I hope to discuss progress when I visit the island next week.

Sudan

9. Mr. Lyons: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development how his Department is contributing to relief aid in Sudan. [178969]

Hilary Benn: The humanitarian situation in Darfur, Western Sudan, is of grave concern. The UK has been a lead donor in the response to this crisis. We have allocated £34.5 million in humanitarian aid, as well as a £2 million contribution to the African Union Monitoring Mission for the region (through the Africa Conflict Prevention Pool).

HIV/AIDS

10. Mr. Gerrard: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development when he expects to publish his Department's strategy for HIV/AIDS. [178970]

Mr. Gareth Thomas: The strategy will be published shortly.

Development Aid

11. Ms Drown: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what recent discussions he has had on increasing the UK's overseas development assistance to 0.7 per cent. of gross national income by 2008. [178971]

 
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Hilary Benn: Funding of official development assistance up to 2007–08 will be decided as part of the current spending review, on which discussions between DFID and the Treasury are continuing.

West Africa

12. Kali Mountford: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development if he will make a statement on progress towards the millennium development goals in west Africa. [178972]

Hilary Benn: DFID closely monitors progress towards the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) in those countries—Sierra Leone, Ghana, Nigeria, Cameroon, The Gambia—where we have programmes of direct development assistance. These show that progress is disappointing on many of the MDGs. There are particular challenges on child and maternal mortality and HIV/AIDs. We are working with partner Governments and other donors on how to respond.

Information on the MDGs can be found on the UN website www.millenniumindicators.un.org.

British Virgin Islands

13. Mr. Steen: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development if he will make an official visit to the British Virgin Islands to discuss the impact of EU directives. [178973]

Mr. Gareth Thomas: There are no plans for a DFID Ministerial visit to the British Virgin Islands. The Foreign and Commonwealth Office and Her Majesty's Treasury have regular contacts with territory representatives on issues of mutual interest, including the impact of EU directives.

South America

14. Mr. Wilkinson: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what UK development aid has been allocated to (a) Ecuador, (b) Peru and (c) Bolivia for financial year 2004–05. [178974]

Mr. Gareth Thomas: DFID has allocated £2.4million to Peru and £4.9million to Bolivia in 2004–05 as direct bilateral assistance. There is no allocation for Ecuador.

DFID also provides assistance through its support to UK non-governmental organisations working in the region through the Civil Society Challenge Fund and Partnership Programme Agreements. In addition, DFID also spends about £170 million a year in these countries through its indirect share of multilateral concessional expenditure.

South Asia

15. Julie Morgan: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what progress has been made towards achieving universal primary education in south Asia. [178975]

Mr. Gareth Thomas: Some progress towards universal primary education is being made in south Asia but this needs to be accelerated. In Bangladesh and India gross primary enrolment rates are above 100 per cent. but this is partly due to children repeating grades and the enrolment of under and over-age children.
 
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Erratic data for Pakistan make it difficult to judge overall progress. More information is available in DFIDs Departmental report for 2004.

Departmental Websites

Mr. Heald: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what the total cost of his Department's websites, including those of its agencies, was in the most recent year for which figures are available. [178793]

Mr. Gareth Thomas: The cost of the DFID website (www.dfid.gov.uk) for the period March 2003 to February 2004 was £36,709. Staffing costs for the team of four who manage it were £111,249.

Ministerial Visits

David Davis: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development how many journeys were made by helicopter by each Minister in his Department and its predecessors in each of the last 10 years; and what the journey length was in each case. [175727]

Hilary Benn: In respect of overseas travel by Ministers, since 1999 the Government have published an annual list of all visits overseas undertaken by Cabinet Ministers costing £500 or more during each financial year. The Government have also published on an annual basis the cost of all Ministers' visits overseas. Copies of the lists are available in the Libraries of the House. These contain information reaching back to 1995–06. Information for earlier years and for the means of travel could be obtained only at disproportionate cost and in some cases will no longer be held. Information for 2003–04 will be published in due course

All ministerial travel is undertaken in accordance with the rules set out in the Ministerial Code and Travel by Ministers, copies of which are available in the Libraries of the House.

David Davis: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development if he will list the travel costs incurred (a) by his Department and (b) by each Minister within his Department, for each of the last 10 years. [175647]

Hilary Benn: Figures for travel costs within administration costs budgets for years for which information is readily available are as follows. Travel costs for 2003–04 are currently being collated. All official travel is undertaken in accordance with the rules contained in DFID's staff handbook.
£

	Amount
2001–02	2,358,000
2002–03	2,645,000

In respect of overseas travel by Ministers, since 1999 the Government has published an annual list of all visits overseas undertaken by Cabinet Ministers costing £500 or more during each financial year. The Government has also published on an annual basis the costs of Ministers' visits overseas. Copies of the lists are
 
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available in the Libraries of the House. These report information reaching back to 1995–96. Information for earlier years could be obtained only at disproportionate costs and in some cases will no longer be held. Information for 2003–04 will be published in due course. For UK travel by Ministers, information is not available centrally for the last 10 years and to collate this information would incur disproportionate cost.

All Ministerial travel is undertaken in accordance with the rules set out in the Ministerial Code and Travel by Ministers, copies of which are available in the Libraries of the House.

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