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26 Jun 2006 : Column 6W—continued
Iraq
Susan Kramer: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development how much UK aid was provided (a) bilaterally and (b) multilaterally to Iraq in (i) 2003, (ii) 2004 and (iii) 2005. [79804]
Hilary Benn: The UK Government have pledged a total of £544 million for humanitarian and reconstruction assistance in Iraq from 2003 to 2006. This includes contributions from DFID, the Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO), the Ministry of Defence (MOD), the Global Conflict Prevention Pool (GCPP) and the UK's share of EC funding. The UK has disbursed over £533 million.
DFID has disbursed £354 million on humanitarian and reconstruction assistance to Iraq since March 2003. We have also provided 19 per cent. of European Community (EC) development funding: EC assistance
to Iraq totalled €518.5 million for 2003 to 2005, and a further €200 million has been approved for 2006.
DFID spending can be broken down as follows:
| Total bilateral gross public expenditure (£m) | Total DFID bilateral programme (£m) | Imputed multilateral shares DFID multilateral (£m) | Contributions to multilateral agencies | |
| (1) Still to be verified. Note: Statistics for 2005 are, as yet, unavailable. | ||||
The Global Conflict Prevention Pool (GCPP), funded jointly by DFID, the FCO and MOD, has disbursed £38 million on Iraq since 2003. In addition, the FCO has spent £38 million on reconstruction activities in Iraq, and the MOD has spent £35 million on Quick Impact Projects.
Millennium Development Goal
Mr. Soames: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development if he will take steps to seek agreement to a specific millennium development goal which focuses on disability. [78425]
Mr. Thomas [holding answer 19 June 2006]: The Government believe that disabled people must be included in efforts to reduce poverty and achieve the internationally agreed millennium development goals (MDGs). We recognise that the needs of disabled people must be addressed across all the MDGs to ensure their achievement in an inclusive manner.
The Department for International Development's (DFID) approach to disability is set out in an Issues Paper—“Disability, Poverty and Development”—published in 2000; copies of which have been deposited in the Libraries of the House. DFID seeks to take account of disability issues across all its activities, as well as supporting a specific range of activities to empower disabled people. In September 2005, DFID also published a policy paper on social exclusion, entitled “Reducing Poverty by Tackling Social Exclusion”; again, copies of this document have been deposited in the Libraries of the House. This sets out actions that DFID is taking, or plans to take, to tackle the social exclusion faced by many poor people, including disabled people, to make a real difference to their lives.
The Government are actively supporting the drafting of a United Nations International Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities. The purpose of the convention is to enable disabled people across the world to have the same access to human rights protection as non-disabled people. If the convention is adopted, it will enable Governments to be called to account for their record on protecting disabled people from human rights abuses and help raise the profile of disability issues worldwide.
DFID also seeks to work with our international partners—including UN agencies, the World Bank and partner Governments—to gain further support for tackling issues of disability and other forms of social exclusion. However, we do not believe this requires the creation of a new MDG and furthermore, it could also detract from efforts to mainstream disability issues across all the MDGs.
Water and Sanitation
Mark Simmonds: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what percentage of his Department's budget was spent on water and sanitation in each of the last five financial years; and if he will make a statement. [79278]
Hilary Benn: The following table gives figures on water and sanitation bilateral expenditure as a percentage of DFID bilateral aid (excludes poverty reduction budget support):
| Percentage | |
All DFID's bilateral expenditure is allocated to specific Input Sector Codes, and these figures are based on this information. However, as water and sanitation initiatives are so cross-cutting, this approach is not sensitive enough to identify all expenditure in this area. DFID has therefore done further research to produce a more detailed analysis of its water and sanitation expenditure. DFID does not allocate its multilateral aid by sector, but we have taken steps to estimate this for water and sanitation. Based on these figures, DFID's total expenditure on water and sanitation was £221 million in 2003-04, an increase from £147 million in 2002-03.
In response to the current situation where most of sub-Saharan Africa is off-track to meet the water and sanitation MDG targets, I have committed to double spending on water supply and sanitation sectors in Africa from £47.5 million in 2004-05 to £95 million in 2007-08. We anticipate that meeting the commitment will require an increase in expenditure through all funding mechanisms, including our own bilateral programmes, but also through encouraging others such as the World Bank and the EU to do more in water and sanitation.
A copy of the report entitled “Financial Support to the Water Sector 2002-04”, has been placed in the Libraries of both Houses in response to previous similar questions.
Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
Abattoirs
Mr. Ellwood: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs how many abattoirs in Dorset (a) there are and (b) there were in 1997. [75846]
Barry Gardiner: There are five abattoirs currently operating in Dorset. The Department has no figure available for the number of abattoirs operating in 1997, although the national picture shows that a reduction and some consolidation has occurred over this period.
Amazon Deforestation
Gregory Barker: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs if he will make a statement on illegal logging in the Amazon rain forest. [78933]
Barry Gardiner: We recognise that deforestation is a serious problem in the Amazon. Our efforts to tackle illegal logging rely on close co-operation between a number of Government Departments including DFID, FCO and DEFRA.
Estimates from the intergovernmental panel on climate change (IPCC) suggest that deforestation (including logging in rain forests) is currently responsible for about 20 per cent. of anthropogenic greenhouse gas emissions. Our policy is that emissions reductions from reduced deforestation should be part of developing countries’ participation in international climate change agreements and we are participating actively in negotiations and associated technical discussions that can help to bring it about.
The British Government have initiated a high-level dialogue on sustainable development with the Brazilian Government and national stakeholders to promote action on commonly identified sustainable development challenges—including natural resource protection.
DEFRA, through its work on the convention on biological diversity (CBD) and other fora, is committed to international efforts for the conservation and sustainable use of forest biodiversity. Through the Darwin Initiative, it has committed more than £5 million to collaborative
forestry projects, drawing on UK expertise to help developing countries design and implement conservation measures.
We are also working within the G8 and the EU to recognise our role as consumers by expressing our wish to buy forest products only from responsibly managed forests.
Bankrupt Farmers
Mr. Graham Stuart: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what estimate he has made of the number of farmers who went bankrupt in (a) England, (b) Yorkshire and the Humber and (c) Beverley and Holderness in each of the last five years; and if he will make a statement. [77599]
Barry Gardiner: The Department does not hold this information.
Beef Exports
Daniel Kawczynski: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs how long he expects it to take for British beef exports to reach their 1996 levels. [76178]
Barry Gardiner: The Meat and Livestock Commission (MLC) estimates that in 2006 UK exports could be about 40,000 tonnes divided equally between prime beef and cow beef. There is also strong interest in exporting pedigree breeding stock and other cattle (including calves).
However, it will of course take time to regain lost markets and to approach previous record export levels, which amounted to nearly £600 million for beef exports and £78 million for cattle in 1995.
Biodiversity
Mrs. Moon: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what steps his Department plans to take to monitor the extent to which public bodies which report to him comply, from October, with their duty to conserve biodiversity in exercising their functions, under section 40 of the Natural Environment and Rural Communities Act 2006. [74403]
Barry Gardiner: Under Section 40 of the Natural Environment and Rural Communities Act 2006, all public bodies have a duty to have regard to the conservation of biodiversity in the exercising of their functions. There is no statutory obligation on Departments to monitor the extent to which public bodies comply with this duty. My Department is working with a wide range of partners to develop guidance for public bodies to support the implementation of this duty and will involve all relevant Departments on the development of guidance.
CAP Reform
Mr. Drew: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what plans he has for further reform of the Common Agricultural Policy, with particular reference to evaluating the advantages of nationalising resources. [76046]
Barry Gardiner: We want a CAP which enables EU farming to be internationally competitive without reliance on subsidy or protectionism, so that it is able to meet the challenges and reap the opportunities of globalisation.
Farming should be rewarded by the market for its output of safe, quality food and by the taxpayer for delivering public benefits (such as environmental protection) which the market cannot deliver. Major steps have been made recently in this direction but the cost of the CAP to consumers and taxpayers is still very high in relation to the public benefits which it delivers.
The UK has long advocated reductions in CAP subsidy levels, the end of export subsidies, greater market access for developing countries, the removal of market distorting measures such as production quotas and greater transfer of CAP funding to schemes which bring environmental benefits.
Whatever reforms are agreed to the CAP on the budgetary side, it is important that EU agriculture operates within a common policy framework which does not lead to trade distortion between member states. What we have called for is a review to see how the CAP can be reformed to deliver better value for EU citizens, reduce inefficiencies and remaining trade distortion and achieve a more competitive farm industry.
Climate Change
Mark Lazarowicz: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what contribution the UK Government are making to the development of EU policy on tackling climate change. [79332]
Ian Pearson: During its presidency of the EU the UK put climate change high on the agenda, raising its status as a key EU issue in contacts with other countries and driving forward international negotiations. Momentum built up during our presidency ensures we are able to continue working closely with our EU partners to secure agreement on further action in the EU on climate change. We are working closely with the Commission and member states on the review of the EU Emissions Trading Scheme, which will help strengthen the scheme post-2012. We are participating fully in the process to develop a second European Climate Change Programme, designed to deliver ambitious cuts in emissions in the medium and long-term. And we are helping to steer the development of the EU's energy strategy to ensure that it takes into account climate change concerns.
The UK is also pressing the Commission to include aviation in the Emissions Trading Scheme from 2008 or as soon as possible thereafter. The Council of Ministers has indicated its support for this and we expect the Commission to present a legislative proposal by the end of 2006.
Correspondence
Ben Chapman: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs pursuant to the answer of 5 June 2006, Official Report, columns 149-150W, on correspondence, how many letters from hon. Members failed to receive an answer in the period referred to. [77045]
Barry Gardiner: The Department has no correspondence outstanding from 2004. Of the 12,051 letters received in 2005 from hon. and right hon. Members (including Members of the House of Lords), 88 (0.7 per cent.) await reply.
Countryside Stewardship Scheme
Norman Baker: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what the total level of funding is for the countryside stewardship scheme; and how much funding (a) has been allocated in each agreement year since the scheme's inception and (b) is planned to be allocated in each future agreement year. [77705]
Barry Gardiner: Details of expenditure on the countryside stewardship scheme is set out as follows.
| £ million | |
| (1) Estimate. | |
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