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Written Answers to Questions
Wednesday 22 March 2006
WALES
Miners' Compensation
6. Mr. Havard: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales what representations he has received on the operation of miners' compensation schemes in Wales. [59252]
Nick Ainger: I Chair regular meetings of the Wales Monitoring Group, which meets to discuss progress and the operation of the miners compensation schemes in Wales. The group last met on 6 February 2006. We are continuing to make good progress in settling claims and to date, over £570 million has been paid to former Welsh miners and their families.
Departmental Finance
Anne Main: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales how many cases of financial irregularities have been recorded in his Department in each of the last five financial years; and if he will make a statement. [57546]
Mr. Hain:
None.
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Departmental Staff
Mr. Llwyd: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales how many jobs in his Department have been relocated to Wales since 2001. [57669]
Mr. Hain: None. The Wales Office is a small Department (which is part of the wider Department for Constitutional Affairs). Staff are split between offices in Cardiff and London. Approximately 30 percent. of Wales Office staff are based in Cardiff.
World Heritage Sites
David Wright: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales which minister in his Department has responsibility for issues relating to world heritage sites. [59103]
Mr. Hain: Lead responsibility for policy on world heritage sites rests with my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport. The Department for Culture, Media and Sport works closely with relevant Government Departments on all issues affecting world heritage sites. Within the Wales Office, I have responsibility for issues concerning world heritage sites.
INTERNATIONAL DEVELOPMENT
Afghanistan/Iraq
Keith Vaz: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what the value of UK development aid to (a) Afghanistan and (b) Iraq was in each of the last four years, broken down by sector. [54761]
Hilary Benn: Since April 2002, DFID's assistance to Iraq, in cash terms to date, has been as follows (in millions):
DFID's current programme in southern Iraq includes:
£20.5 million to build the institutional capacity of the four southern governorates and to support private sector development
£7.4 million for a team of technical specialists to advise local councils, the military and other donors on infrastructure reconstruction
In central Iraq, we have allocated:
£13.25 million to build the capacity of key central government offices, including the Prime Minister's office, to manage government business effectively
£5 million Civil Society Fund to support the development of legitimate and representative Iraqi NGOs
£7.5 million Political Participation Fund, to encourage poor and marginalized sections of Iraqi society to engage in the political process
We also work through the international system, as a member of the donor core group, and as a contributor to the United Nations and World Bank Trust Funds for
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Iraq (£70 million contributed in 2004). DFID is working with the Iraqi Government, multilaterals, and other donors to achieve a more coordinated and Iraqi-led reconstruction and development effort.
The following table shows total bilateral development aid provided to Afghanistan by the UK Government broken down by sector in each of the last four years (in millions):
(1) Actual
(2) Forecast
Further details of both programmes will be found on our website at www.dfid.gov.uk
Congo Brazzaville
Daniel Kawczynski: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development how much foreign aid was given to Congo Brazzaville in (a) 2002, (b) 2003, (c) 2004 and (d) 2005. [52083]
Hilary Benn: The Development Assistance Committee (DAC) donors 1 have given Congo Brazzaville the following levels of aid (net official development assistance):
1 The DAC donors are: Austria, Belgium, Canada, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Italy, Japan, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Norway, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, the UK and the US.
| Calendar year | £ million |
|---|---|
| 2002 | 38.25 |
| 2003 | 42.74 |
| 2004 | 63.28 |
The aid flows for the calendar year 2005 have not been published yet. The figures comprise both bilateral aid given directly by DAC donors and multilateral contributions (given through institutions such as the World Bank, the United Nations and the African Development Bank).
The UK's bilateral aid to Congo Brazzaville was £210,000 in 2002, £2.43 million in 2003 and £2.66 million in 2004. About 80 per cent. of this aid was for debt relief in 2003 and 2004. Funds were also provided for the prevention of sleeping sickness and, in 2003, for the control of an Ebola haemorrhagic fever outbreak.
Democracy Building (Developing World)
Mr. Streeter: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development how much of his Department's total budget for 2005–06 expressed (a) in cash and (b) as a proportion of total spending will be spent on democracy-building in the developing world. [53217]
Hilary Benn: DFID tracks expenditure on programmes which include governance amongst the objectives. This is a broad category covering different aspects of state building and the building blocks for democracy. It includes for example support to improve poor people's participation in the decision making process with government, and building capacity in government to improve its accountability to citizens. DFID's bilateral expenditure on programmes which include governance amongst the objectives is £224 million to date (15 February 2005) in 2005–06 or 12.5 per cent. of total spending of £1.8 billion. The figure includes £12 million to date (15 February 2005), or 0.7 per cent. of total spending of £1.8 billion, on programmes supporting elections and electoral processes. Forecasts for the entire financial year are however, not yet available.
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