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Flood Defences

Mr. Liddell-Grainger: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what specific resources have been allocated to river and coastal flood defences between 2005–06 and 2007–08; and if she will make a statement. [186569]

Mr. Morley: Defra funds most of the Environment Agency's flood defence activities and provides grant aid on a project-by-project basis to the other flood and coastal defence operating authorities (local authorities and internal drainage boards) to support their investment in improvement projects to manage flood and coastal erosion risk.

The Department plans to invest at least £564 million each year between 2005–06 and 2007–08 in the management of flood and coastal erosion risk and related expenditure. The amount for flood defence projects (as opposed to projects primarily for coastal erosion or other activities such as funding of the Storm Tide Forecasting Service) will be decided later this year.

Landfill

Norman Baker: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs how many (a) complaints, (b) court actions and (c) fines against landfill sites for problems related to (i) odours, (ii) water pollutions, (iii) air pollution and (iv) human health impact there were in each year since 1995, broken down by region. [184862]

Mr. Morley: The Environment Agency holds information on reported incidents of pollution on the National Incident Recording System and information on court actions and fines, separately on the National Enforcement Database. It is not possible to present the
 
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data in the form requested so a document setting out the available information will be deposited in the Library of the House.

INTERNATIONAL DEVELOPMENT

Venezuela

Mr. Pike: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what support the British Government offered to Venezuela following the floods in Caracas in December 1999; and if he will make a statement. [186412]

Mr. Gareth Thomas: DFID provided over £770,000 to Venezuela following the floods in December 1999. This was mainly through the World Health Organisation, the United Nations Children's Fund and the British Red Cross. These funds went towards providing emergency assistance for those affected and initiating long-term rehabilitation for up to 10,000 families.

Designated Accommodation

Bob Spink: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development how many rooms are set aside for (a) the use of smokers, (b) worship, broken down by religion and (c) nursing mothers and pregnant women in each building and set of offices for which his Department is responsible. [187316]

Mr. Gareth Thomas: DFID's two main UK offices at 1 Palace Street, London, and Abercrombie House, East Kilbride, both have a smoking room, a room set aside for worship (not designated for any specific faith) and a nursing mothers room. The provision of facilities such as those for religious groups and nursing mothers is a small but important contribution to our Commitment to creating a workplace which embraces diversity, one of DFID's core values.

Kenya

Mr. Dodds: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what proportion of the international aid budget was spent in Kenya in each year since 1997. [187409]

Hilary Benn: The proportion of DFID's total aid budget which was spent in Kenya in each year since 1997 is set out in the first column of the following table. The second column gives the proportion of DFID's bilateral programme spent in Kenya. In addition to the funding disbursed under DFID's bilateral programme, we estimate that about £10 million is disbursed annually to Kenya through the contributions which we make to multilateral institutions.
Expenditure in Kenya as percentage of DFID programme

Percentage of
total programme		Percentage of bilateral programme
1997–981.42.8
1998–991.42.9
1999–20001.02.0
2000–011.83.7
2001–020.91.8
2002–031.32.4
2003–040.71.3









 
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Mr. Dodds: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what recent discussions he has had with the Kenyan Government on aid from the UK in relation to corruption within Kenya. [187410]

Hilary Benn: DFID is in regular contact with the Kenyan Government on the issue of corruption and its impact on our development assistance. DFID's Kenya Country Assistance Plan recognises that poverty reduction budget support is the Government of Kenya's preferred form of aid. It also makes clear that the level of British aid to Kenya, and whether or not we will provide bilateral poverty reduction budget support, will depend on the pace with which the Kenyan Government implements its Economic Recovery Strategy, especially in tackling corruption, preparing and implementing budgets that benefit the poor, and strengthening public financial management. Progress is not yet sufficient to enable us to provide such support. This point was most recently reinforced in a meeting with President Kibaki on 1 September.

We are particularly concerned about recent reports of corruption allegedly involving senior members of the Kenyan Government and have urged President Kibaki, in previous meetings, to ensure that appropriate and firm action is taken to investigate these reports, make the results public and take appropriate action against all those found to have acted corruptly. Some progress is being made, i.e. in the establishment of anti-corruption institutions, but it still remains to be seen whether this will lead to decisive action in the short-term.

We will, therefore, continue to use sector support and project aid where we believe that it can have a sustainable impact on poverty reduction and progress towards the Millennium Development Goals in Kenya.

PFI/PPP Contracts

Matthew Taylor: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development how many contracts his Department had with (a) Barclays, (b) Royal Bank of Scotland, (c) UBS Warburg and (d) Bank of Scotland for advice on private finance initiative and public private partnership contracts in each financial year since 2001–02; and what fees were paid in each case. [186693]

Hilary Benn: None.

Political and Economic Liberalisation

Mr. Wiggin: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what research his Department has commissioned regarding connections between political and economic liberalisation and improvements in human security in developing countries. [186775]

Hilary Benn: DFID funded research in this area as part of a three year programme on 'Globalisation and Poverty Elimination' between 2000 and 2003. The website address is www.gapresearch.org

DFID currently funds the Crisis States Development Research Centre based at the London School of Economics. Website www.crisisstates.com.
 
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Somalia

Mr. Liddell-Grainger: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what support he is giving to humanitarian operations in Somalia. [186443]

Hilary Benn: So far in 2004 DFID has agreed to provide £2,941,534 for the following ongoing humanitarian operations in Somalia (DFID contribution in brackets):

The Somali population, due to instability and severe poverty, remains highly vulnerable to climatic and conflict generated crisis. DFID's continuing humanitarian assistance to Somalia will be based on assessed needs and will address immediate and critical problems in order to reduce suffering and save lives.

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