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18 Dec 2006 : Column 1467W—continued
Retirement Age
Mr. Hancock: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development (1) pursuant to the answer from the Parliamentary Secretary in the Cabinet Office to the hon. Member for Blackpool, South (Mr. Marsden) of 4 December 2006, Official Report, columns 189-90, on the retirement age, what his Department's policy is for the setting of retirement ages for staff below the senior civil service under the Civil Service (Management Functions) Act 1992; [108012]
(2) pursuant to the answer of 4 December 2006, Official Report, columns 189-90, on the retirement age, what his Department's policy is on the application of the national default retirement age to staff below the Senior Civil Service. [109547]
Mr. Thomas: DFID operates, with effect from1 October 2006, a default retirement age of 65 for staff below the senior civil service. We also operate a 'right to request' procedure for staff who want to work beyond 65.
DFID is however keeping its default retirementage under review. If experience and evidence showsthat we are able to remove the default retirementage without negative impact on performance and
workforce planning, we will consider this in advance of the Government's review of the Equality Employment (Age) Regulations in 2011.
Rwanda
John Bercow: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what steps have been taken by his Department to foster civil society groups within Rwanda. [108735]
Hilary Benn: In Rwanda, DFID fosters civil society groups in several different ways. Most importantly, DFID facilitates participation of civil society groups in policy discussion with the Government of Rwanda and the international development community. This is an effective way of increasing civil society’s capacity to hold Government to account. For example, DFID has provided project funding to Voluntary Service Overseas (VSO) to encourage associations of people with disabilities to participate in preparations for Rwanda’s new Poverty Reduction Strategy. We also support capacity building in civil society groups. Recently, for example, DFID has been assisting Norwegian People’s Aid, Action Aid, Trocaire and SNV to assess how far their processes and programmes are successfully supporting gender equality objectives.
Sudan
Mr. Andrew Mitchell: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what proportion of the sum required by the African Union Mission in Sudan for salaries and allowances for its troops in October and November 2006 he expects to be covered by the direct funding supplied by his Department; and how much has been supplied by other donors. [108890]
Hilary Benn: The UK is giving a cash contribution of £13.5 million towards the payment of personnel costs for the African Union Mission in Sudan. This will be used to cover catering costs and payment of allowances and life insurance for AMIS personnel. UK funds will meet these costs for approximately eight to nine weeks. In doing so we will be taking over from the European Commission Africa Peace Facility, whose scheduled funding ended on 20 October 2006.
Mr. Sarwar: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what recent discussionshe has had with non-governmental organisations operating in Darfur. [104705]
Hilary Benn: DFID talks to a wide range of NGOs working in Darfur. I meet regularly with a number of NGOs to discuss the situation in Darfur, as does the Foreign Secretary; most recently the Prime Minister and I met a group. At official level, the joint Foreign Office-DFID Sudan Unit holds regular meetings in London with the Sudan Lobby Group, a group of UK and Sudanese NGOs.
In Sudan itself, DFID staff undertake regular visits to Darfur to visit NGO partners and discuss their work. DFID Sudan also holds quarterly meetings with all NGO partners and ad hoc bilateral meetings with NGOs.
NGOs play an immensely important role in delivery aid to Darfur. DFID supports the work of NGOs through funding and advocacy, to help ensure they can operate effectively in the very difficult conditions of Darfur.
Miss McIntosh: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development how much humanitarian aid was allocated to Darfur in the last 12 months for which figures are available. [107887]
Hilary Benn: In 2005-06, the last year for which figures are available, DFID spent nearly £38 millionon humanitarian assistance to Darfur. This was channelled through NGOs, UN agencies and the International Committee for the Red Cross. This was the second largest bilateral contribution to the relief effort in Darfur after that of the US.
Mr. Clifton-Brown: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what assessment he has made of the comments by the leadership of the UN Mission in the Sudan that humanitarian agencies may have to scale back their operations in north Darfur as a result of the situation in Sudan. [108058]
Hilary Benn: Over the last seven months, fighting in north Darfur has had a severe impact on the ability of humanitarian agencies to access those in need. In some areas, the security situation makes it too dangerous for the UN and NGOs to operate, leaving many people without food aid.
In the last few months, fighting and attacks on humanitarian agencies have led to the evacuation of international staff and the suspension of their operations in a number of locations in north Darfur. The very recent clashes in El-Fasher, the state capital, has further exacerbated the situation, forcing the temporary relocation of 134 international agency staff from a total of around 330. The insecurity has restricted access to camps for displaced people around El-Fasher, and has also limited the ability of agencies to service the few remaining sub-offices they have in other parts of north Darfur.
Where feasible, humanitarian agencies are trying to maintain operations using local staff and volunteers, accessing areas when the security situation allows. The UN agencies and NGOs involved are operating in exceedingly challenging circumstances and at great personal risk, and we commend their continuing efforts to support those in need.
Tetanus
Mark Simmonds: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development how much (a) bilateral and (b) multilateral funding was provided by the UK to tackle tetanus in the developing world in each year since 2001; and if he will make a statement. [104960]
Mr. Thomas:
Tetanus spores enter the body viadeep wounds. In addition to wounds caused by accidents, mothers are susceptible to tetanus infection immediately following childbirth. Similarly, new born babies are at risk of tetanus infection where a non-sterile instrument is used to cut the umbilical cord (for example an un-trained traditional birth attendant
using a piece of bamboo) and where traditional practices involve placing unclean “dressing’s” over the exposed area (such as dried and powdered cow dung used to help dry the cord in parts of South Asia). Without urgent treatment tetanus is fatal, causing an estimated 200,000 newborn child deaths a year.
Tetanus is preventable through good hygiene and vaccination. The tetanus toxoid (TT) injection is part of a package of immunisation given to children under five and to pregnant women. Children have three doses of TT which is typically administered in the same syringe as diphtheria and whooping cough (pertussis), and given at the same time as polio immunisation (drops on the tongue). As in the UK, this is known as ‘DPT and polio’. Because preventing tetanus is an integral part of overall immunisation policy and practice, DFID funding for tetanus immunisation in developing countries is contained within our overall spending on immunisation for children and pregnant women and cannot be separated out.
DFID works to support developing countries efforts to strengthen the health services through which immunisation is provided. In 2005-06 DFID provided £453.1 million as direct support to health. DFID also provided £12.5 million core support to the World Health Organisation (WHO) and £19 million to the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) in 2005-06. Both WHO and UNICEF are key global actors in vaccine preventable diseases.
In addition, DFID supports the work of the Global Alliance for Vaccines and Immunisation (GAVI) to introduce new vaccines (such as hepatitis B and haemophilius influenza) into country immunisation schedules. In some cases these new vaccines are administered in combination with diptheria, pertussis and tetanus (DPT). In these cases, GAVI also supports tetanus immunisation. In some of the world’s poorest countries, GAVI provides support to improve the health systems which deliver immunisation and this support has recently been linked to improvements in the rates of DPT immunisation coverage in these countries. DFID has contributed over £43 million to GAVI since 2000.
The UK is also committed to developing innovative financing mechanisms such as the International Finance Facility for Immunisation (IFFm) which was launched in September 2005. So far this has raised US $1 billion which will be channelled through GAVI, allowing a significant scaling-up of their immunisation work. The UK has committed a total of £1.38 billion for IFFm over the next 20 years.
The European Commission and World Bank are also major recipients of UK multilateral aid. They both provide substantial support to improve health services in developing countries. Budget support and sector specific programmes help finance the implementation of immunisation programmes including those which combat tetanus.
Uganda
Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development how much financial aid was given to Uganda by his Department in 2005-06. [105002]
Hilary Benn: DFID Bilateral Aid to Uganda inthe fiscal year 2005-06 was £72.1 million of which£32 million was in the form of financial aid. The full breakdown of Bilateral Aid is published in Table 12.1 of “Statistics on International Development 2001-02 to 2005-06,” a copy of which is available in the Library.
In addition the UK imputed shares of Multilateral Expenditure to Uganda was £21.7 million in 2004 which is the last year for which data is available.
The term financial aid covers poverty reduction budget support and projects and programmes including sector wide approaches. Bilateral expenditure not included within financial aid includes technical co-operation, grants and other aid in kind, humanitarian assistance and debt relief.
Zimbabwe
Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development how much financial aid his Department gave to Zimbabwe in 2005-06. [104991]
Hilary Benn: DFID bilateral aid to Zimbabwe inthe fiscal year 2005-06 was £34.1 million of which£1.6 million was in the form of other financial aid. This related to the procurement of condoms for HIV prevention, by Crown Agents on behalf of the Zimbabwe National Family Planning Council. No UK funds were provided directly to the government of Zimbabwe.
For statistical reporting purposes, the term financial aid covers poverty reduction budget support and other projects and programmes. A full breakdown of bilateral aid for Zimbabwe is published in table 12.1 of ‘Statistics on International Development 2001-02 to 2005-06’, a copy of which is available in the Library.
John Bercow: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what assessment he has made of the impact of refugee flows from Zimbabwe upon South Africa. [105057]
Hilary Benn: Neither official nor complete figures are available, but credible sources estimate that there up to two million Zimbabweans living in South Africa, perhaps more.
In Zimbabwe, DFID recently contributed £5 million to the work of the International Organisation for Migration (IOM). IOM run a reception centre at Beitbridge which provides humanitarian assistance to Zimbabweans, many of whom are destitute, who are deported from South Africa at the rate of around4,000 per week.
One of the critical challenges facing Africa is how to harness the potential of internal and international migration in the interests of development. DFID is supporting the work of various organisations in southern Africa who are investigating migration and its effects across the SADC region, including in Zimbabwe. The Southern African Migration Project (SAMP) is one of these. SAMP is an international network of organizations founded in 1996 to promote awareness of migration-development linkages in SADC. SAMP conducts applied research on migration and development issues, provides policy advice and
expertise, offers training in migration policy and management, and conducts public education campaigns on migration-related issues. More information about SAMP's work can be found at:
www.queensu.ca/samp
Solicitor-General
Crown Prosecution Service
Bob Spink: To ask the Solicitor-General what projects for minority groups the Crown Prosecution Service financially supported in the last two years; and what funding is planned in 2006-07. [110109]
The Solicitor-General: The Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) has supported a number of projects working with minority groups in the last two years.In 2004-05 the CPS supported the White Ribbons Charity to raise awareness of Domestic Violence and Stonewall’s work on lesbian and gay equality in the work place. This amounted to £1,022 in financial support. In 2005-06, the CPS supported the Runnymede Trust project to prevent racist violence; Stonewall’s work on lesbian and gay equality in the work place; Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender History Month highlighting minority experiences in the criminal justice system; and the Race in the Media Awards project sponsored by the Commission for Racial Equality (CRE). This amounted to £10,817 in financial support.
In the current year, 2006-07, the CPS has financially supported or is supporting RADAR, the disabilities publication; Race in the Media Awards sponsored by the CRE; Stonewall’s work on lesbian and gay equality in the work place; and Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender History Month again highlighting minority experiences in the CJS. This amounts to £6,260 in financial support in 2006-07.
Departmental Statistics
Mrs. Villiers: To ask the Solicitor-General how much the Law Officers’ Departments spent on statistics relating to their work in each of the last five years. [107263]
The Solicitor-General: I am answering this question in relation to all my Departments. There is no definition of the term “statistics relating to the work of the Department” and no centrally held information on either the volume or costs of statistics published each year on this basis.
Estimates for the annual costs of National Statistics are contained in the relevant National Statistics Annual Report and Accounts, which are available on the National Statistics website:
www.statistics.gov.uk/StatBase/Product.asp?vInk=1051
Copies are also available in the House Library for the reference of Members.
The last year these were produced was 2004-05.
Defence
Administration Costs
Mr. Hancock: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what recent estimate he has made of the cost of administration of the (a) agencies and (b) trading funds within his responsibility. [105454]
Derek Twigg: Details of the costs of the MOD’s agencies and trading funds can be found in their annual reports and accounts, copies of which are available in the Library of the House.
Afghanistan
Miss McIntosh: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what recent assessment he has made of the adequacy of military resources available to British troops in Afghanistan; and if he will make a statement. [107885]
Mr. Ingram: The force package we deployed to Afghanistan was designed by the military and endorsed by the chiefs of staff. We continue to keep force levels under constant review to ensure our commanders on the ground have the tools that they need to complete their mission.
Paul Flynn: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many individuals among those killed by British forces in Afghanistan over the past 12 months were (a) militants and (b) civilians. [108650]
Mr. Ingram: I refer the hon. Member to the answer given on 26 October 2006, Official Report, column 2013, to the hon. Member for Islington, North (Jeremy Corbyn).
Agency Personnel: Scotland
Angus Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how much of its personnel budget for the financial year 2005-06 the MoD Police spent in Scotland in (a) monetary terms and (b) as a percentage of the total personnel budget; how much was spent for each category in 2004-05; and if he will make a statement. [107923]
Derek Twigg: The Ministry of Defence Police and Guarding Agency spent the following amounts in Scotland in 2004-05 and 2005-06:
| £ million | Percentage of total personnel budget | |
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