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8 Dec 2005 : Column 1486W—continued

Small Businesses

Kitty Ussher: To ask the Secretary of State for Tradeand Industry what progress he has made in his discussions with Government Departments towards implementing a mandatory small business research initiative programme. [35493]

 
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Alun Michael: My right hon. Friend, the Chancellor of the Exchequer, mandated departments to participate in the Small Business Research Initiative in the Budget on 16 March this year and the DTI's Small Business Service will shortly be publishing the overall performance figures, for 2003–04 and 2004–05.

The Government are taking steps to improve disclosure of SBRI performance by Departments and a new system of record keeping will be in place from April 2006.

Kitty Ussher: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what criteria he will use to ascertain whether the mandatory Small Business Research Initiative is a success. [35500]

Alun Michael: The Small Business Research Initiative target is that at least 2.5 per cent. of the value of the extramural research and development contracts of Government Departments' and agencies' will be placed with small firms. The Initiative will be considered a success when we are able to demonstrate that this has been achieved.

Mr. Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry how many businesses have started in Coventry, South with the help of the Small Business Service since its inception; and how much funding was disbursed by the Small Business Service to these businesses. [35216]

Alun Michael: I understand that Business Link Coventry and Warwickshire, has helped 455 individuals in Coventry, South with their business start up plans. Of these 60 are known for certain to have started a business.

The support offered to new businesses does not include the provision of start up grants. Since 2000 I understand that Business Link Coventry and Warwickshire has spent some £600,000 of its funding on helping start-ups in the Coventry and Warwickshire area.

Telephone Preference Service

Norman Lamb: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry pursuant to the answer of 16 November 2005, Official Report, column 1360W, on the telephone preference service, how many (a) informal warning letters the Information Commissioner has issued to companies in each of the last five years in respect of breaching the telephone preference scheme and (b) companies have received (i) more than one informalwarning letter, (ii) between two and 10 informal warning letters and (iii) in excess of 10 informal warning letters. [33961]

Alun Michael: I am advised that as explained in the Commissioner's previous correspondence about statistics, the database that the Commissioner's office uses to record complaints about breaches of the Privacy and Electronic Communications (EC Directive) Regulations 2003 (PECR), which includes the TPS
 
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scheme, does not enable his office to determine how many of the complaints they receive about telephone calls are TPS registered. In addition, due to the nature of the casework management system previously used, his office is unable to provide specific numbers for telephone marketing complaints prior to 2004.

The number of letters the Commissioner's office wrote to organisations that were alleged to be at fault was 597 in 2004 and 1,125 so far this year. The increase in complaints corresponds with the sharp increase in TPS registrations. On the issue of multiple warning letters to individual companies, his office is unable to provide precise statistics from their database, although there are a number of companies that they have written to on several occasions for potential breaches of PECR. Where it is considered that a company has persistently breached PECR, cases are sent to their new Regulatory Action Division who consider enforcement.

INTERNATIONAL DEVELOPMENT

AIDS/HIV

Mr. Iain Wright: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what action his Department is taking to tackle AIDS and HIV in China. [36198]

Mr. Thomas: DFID is providing £25 million to tackle HIV and AIDS in China. This support is focused on helping the poorest and most vulnerable groups, especially injecting drugs users and sex workers, to benefit from prevention and care services. It also aims to increase the coverage and quality of prevention and care and to increase the capacity of the government to develop and implement effective responses to HIV and AIDS. There is a particular focus on Yunnan and Sichuan provinces in southwest China. Support is also provided to the central government and to Hunan, Hubei, Gansu, Guangxi, Jilin and Zhejiang provinces.

DFID is discussing a new programme of up to £30 million to support the Chinese Government's plans to increase work on HIV and AIDS. This programme would be co-ordinated with the United Nations and the Global Fund on AIDS, TB and Malaria. The programme is expected to be approved in April 2006 and to last for five years.

Asian Earthquake

Mr. Paul Goodman: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development if he will list the (a) organisations in receipt of monies made available by his Department in response to the recent earthquake in Kashmir and Pakistan and (b) the amounts given; and if he will break down those amounts by (i) grant and (ii)loan. [35116]

Mr. Thomas [holding answer 5 December 2005]: DFID has allocated £58 million for the continuing relief effort. The details of grants provided to date in support of organisations' humanitarian response are as follows.
 
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Partner	Activity	Amount (£)
Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs)
Oxfam	3,500 winterised family tents	(7)998,448
	19,700 collapsible 10-litre jerry cans
	7,530 wool blankets
	40,000 sleeping mats
	20,000 tarpaulins
Oxfam	Water and Sanitation	560,000
Islamic Relief	10,000 tarpaulins	(7)258,000
	20,000 blankets
	1,000 winterised family tents
Christian Aid/Church World Services	1,000 winterised tents in-kind; Programme for shelter, food and first aid. 2,000 tarps from Lahore (£10,000)	(8)310,000
Save the Children UK	Provision of shelter, blankets, clothing, primary health care, psycho social support to children	300,000
Save the Children UK	Shelter	600,000
Save the Children India	Shelter	500,000
Action Aid	Food packages, health centres, psycho social support, and shelter; 1,250 tarps from Lahore (£6,100)	306,100
Rural Support Programme Network (RSPN)	Tents, food, sanitation, water; 2,750 tarps from Lahore (£13,500)	313,500
Mercy Corps	Health units, emergency obstetrics and outreach	212,000
International Health Partners	Provision of various emergency medicines	50,000
Norwegian Refugee Council	Stoves and fuel	300,000
Norwegian Refugee Council	Shelter	700,000
CAFOD	Water and Sanitation and shelter, and cash for work; 2,000 tarps from Lahore (10,000)	310,000
International Medical Corp (IMC)	Mobile health clinics, primary health care training, distribution of hygiene kits	289,000
GOAL	2,000 tarps from Lahore	10,000
ACTED	Shelter, toolkits and latrines	300,000
Action Against Hunger	Water and Sanitation	337,123
Internews	Communication, support to journalist training, radio distribution	300,000
Tearfund	Shelter	498,964
Merlin	To set up two field trauma units in the Panj Kot valley. Support to four Primary Health Centres and health outreach via mobile units.	800,000
Australian Aid International	Health	199,424
UN Agencies
World Health Organisation (WHO)	Shipment of health and trauma kits to Pakistan (covering 40,000 people for 3 months) and programme surveillance and response teams. 1 staff secondment 3 months.	670,000
Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA)	HIC module plus vehicle; other in-kind support (vehicles, staff secondments).	(7)350,000
OCHA	Co-ordination and additional support to the HIC	750,000
United Nations Humanitarian Air Service (UNHAS)	Support for helicopters, one refueler	2,258,250
United Nations Joint Logistics Centre (UNJLC)	Staff secondments	50,000
World Food Programme (WFP)	Logistics support	800,000
WFP	EMOP food support	650,000
United Nations Department for Safety and Security (UNDSS)	Four vehicles to support UNDSS and relief worker safety and security	(7)150,000
International Organisation for Migration (IOM)	Shelter packages including tents, stoves and cooking equipment, including 2 staff secondments	830,000
United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF)	Water and Sanitation, staff secondment	1,080,000
Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR)	Camp Management, staff secondments	1,250,000
Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement
International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC)	Helicopters, winter clothing, tents and food in Pakistan administered Kashmir; one refueler.	2,078,250
Federation	Relief supplies for NWFP Pakistan	1,500,000

⁽⁷⁾In kind.
⁽⁸⁾Including £115,000 in kind.



 
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All of our humanitarian assistance support through the above organisations is through grants. It does not involve loans. DFID is also providing a range of direct actions, including helicopter provision and other support for the United Nations and the funding of 78 flights for agencies of the Disasters Emergency Committee. Full details of DFID's response actions can be seen in the regular DFID Situation Reports, available at www.dfid.gov.uk.

In addition to our humanitarian response, we are contributing £70 million over three years for the reconstruction effort. This money will be provided to support Government of Pakistan programmes. The details of how this payment will be made and audited are being finalised.

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