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10 Jan 2006 : Column 484W—continued
Palestine
Mr. Andrew Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what steps he has taken to ensure that (a) UK and (b) EU assistance to agencies working in Palestinian territories complies with International Court of Justice injunctions in relation to the wall constructed by Israel. [39322]
Hilary Benn:
The International Court of Justice's (ICJ) Advisory Opinion of 9 July 2004 recognised two legal obligations for states operating in the occupied Palestinian territories: not to recognise the illegal situation resulting from the construction of the barrier; and not to render aid or assistance in maintaining the
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situation created by such construction. In addition, states who are parties to the fourth Geneva convention are required to ensure Israel's compliance with international humanitarian law as embodied in that convention. The UK Government continue to urge Israel to route the barrier away from occupied territory. UK and EU assistance complies with the ICJ legal obligations.
Lynne Featherstone: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what steps the Government take to ensure that aid to the Palestinian Authority is used for legitimate and accountable purposes; and if he will make a statement. [40814]
Hilary Benn: The Government are committed to ensuring that all UK development assistance is properly accounted for, used for the intended purposes and represents value for money.
Since 2004, all DFID financial support to the Palestinian Authority (PA) budget has been provided through a Reform Trust Fund managed by the World Bank. Funding is conditional on the achievement of benchmarks for reform, progress against which is carefully monitored. These conditions have helped the Palestinian Authority improve its financial control and management.
Other forms of DFID assistance for Palestinians are channelled through organisations whose accounts are independently audited.
Renewable Energy
Mr. Ancram: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development how many renewable energy projects his Department has undertaken since 1997; in what year each was undertaken; in what location; and what the (a) nature and (b) cost was of each project. [38224]
Mr. Thomas
[holding answer 19 December 2005]: DFID has funded 22 energy projects since 1997 through our knowledge and research (KaR) programme. These
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had a total value of just under £3.4 million giving an average project value of £154,000. These projects covered a wide range of technologies including wind, small hydropower, solar photovoltaic and biomass. The following table shows a breakdown by year, location, nature of project and cost.
The projects typically covered a period of two or three years. Some involved the development and improvement of technologies while others studied the institutional and financial issues surrounding the greater deployment of renewable energy sources in developing countries. Most of the projects were carried out in developing countries, working with local organisations and community groups.
In addition, DFID funded the installation of three wind turbines to generate electricity on the island of St. Helena, completed in 1999. This was part of a wider (electricity) generation and load management project carried out at a capital cost of approximately £625,000.
Our overriding interest in energy is to improve access in developing countries to affordable and reliable energy services, especially to the poor and in support of pro-poor growth and social development. We are encouraging the World Bank, through our support to the energy sector management assistance programme (ESMAP), to give greater attention to renewable energy as part of their efforts to improve access to energy. The World Bank is scaling up its financial support for renewable energy and energy efficiency and has recently announced a rise to $748 million for the year to June 2005, compared to $339 million the previous year. This exceeds the commitment they made in 2004 to increase by 20 percent. per annum their renewable energy and energy efficiency investments over the next five years. We very much welcome this increased focus by the World Bank on clean energy investments.
We continue to work with various UK-based and international organisations and partnerships working towards the greater use of renewable energy as part of the effort to improve access to energy services.
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MINISTER FOR WOMEN
Equal Pay
Miss McIntosh: To ask the Minister for Women and Equality what the difference in pay was between (a) full-time and (b) part-time male and female workers in each year since 2001. [26801]
Meg Munn:
The table shows the difference in pay between male and female full-time and part-time workers in the UK in each year since 2001. These figures are from the Annual Survey of Hours and Earnings from the Office for National Statistics.
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The difference in pay between male and female part-time workers is less reliable than for full-time workers and there is more uncertainty in the trend over years for part-time workers. This is due to:
the number of male part-time workers being about 25 per cent. of the number of female part-time workers which results in lower sample sizes for male part-time workers.
(10) Difference between female and male median hourly earnings as a percentage of male median hourly earnings.
(11) Due to changes in survey methodology, estimates for years 2001 to 2003 are not entirely consistent with estimates for 2004 and 2005. Estimates are available on both the old and new basis for 2004. For 2004 the percentage difference for full-time workers is 14.1 per cent. when calculated on the 2001–03 basis, compared with the figure of 14.5 per cent. shown in the table, a change of 0.4 per cent.
TRANSPORT
Bus Travel
Stephen Hammond: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how many bus passenger journeys there were in (a) 2000–01 and (b) 2004–05. [40841]
Ms Buck: There were 4,319 million bus journeys undertaken within Great Britain in 2000–01. The equivalent number in 2004–05 was 4,609 million.
Channel Tunnel Rail Link
Mrs. Dunwoody: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport pursuant to the answer of 24 November 2005, Official Report, column 2220W, on rail subsidies, whether the Government plans to make further grants available to London and Continental Railways Limited for the completion of the Channel Tunnel Rail Link construction of section 2. [39385]
Derek Twigg: In accordance with the 1996 Development Agreement, Government have continued to contribute towards the construction cost of the Channel Tunnel Rail Link by way of grants (£109 million in 2001, £444 million in 2002, £342 million in 2003 and £1,097 million in 2005), and is due to contribute a further £1,149 million before the completion of construction of section 2 in 2007.
In addition, from March 2005, Government have made a grant of up to £402 million available to London and Continental Railways Limited (LCR) to construct Temple Mills Depot. This asset will eventually transfer to LCR in exchange for Waterloo International Station and North Pole Depot.
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