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28 Mar 2007 : Column 1532W—continued

Guinea

Mr. Love: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what recent assessment he has made of the humanitarian situation in Guinea. [129607]

Hilary Benn: The UK has been concerned by the unrest and political instability in Guinea arising from the general strike earlier this year, and has supported the efforts of ECOWAS and regional leaders in helping mediate during the crisis.

The situation has calmed with the lifting of martial law on 23 February, the ending of the strike, and the appointment of Lansana Kouyate as Prime Minister. We hope that he will soon appoint a new, broadly-based and consensus government which will work to move Guinea forward. But the recent crisis has brought the already devastated economy to a near standstill. It has severely affected the provision of health and other public services and the population's access to them. Food supplies have been disrupted, with the price of staples such as rice, flour, sugar and vegetables, as well as fuel, increasing sharply.

DFID is monitoring the humanitarian situation, and is in contact with international partners and agencies based in Guinea. In response to the crisis and the increased humanitarian risks, we have agreed to provide £350,000 through the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), to be focused on meeting urgent medical and nutritional needs, and to maintain preparedness in case of further civil unrest with humanitarian consequences.

DFID has also recently agreed to provide £270,000 to the World Food programme humanitarian air service for West Africa, which facilitates the movement of humanitarian personnel and urgently needed non-food items between Cote d'Ivoire, Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone. The air service recently demonstrated its importance during the civil unrest in Guinea, allowing agencies to respond and facilitate security evacuations.

India

Mark Simmonds: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development how many departmental staff are located in India; and where they are located. [129950]

Mr. Thomas: DFID India has total 117 staff. Of these, 21 are UK based Home civil servants and 96 are
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staff appointed in country. DFID India has offices in Delhi (Headquarters), Bhubaneshwar (Orissa), Kolkata (West Bengal), and Bhopal (Madhya Pradesh). Of the current total, 107 staff are based in New Delhi, four staff in Bhopal and three each in Kolkata and Bhubaneshwar.

Mark Simmonds: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what recent assessment he has made of India’s progress towards achieving the Millennium Development Goals. [129952]

Mr. Thomas: DFID India regularly assesses progress towards achieving the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) in India. These assessments are based on official Government of India statistics, but take into account concerns over the quality of data and independent assessments where appropriate.

Sources for recent assessments of progress in India include the Government of India’s 11th Five year plan approach paper, the Government of India’s Millennium Development Goals India Country Report, and the United Nations and World Bank database of progress indicators for Millennium Development Goals.

A summary of results is available on the World Bank website at:

Malaria: Drugs

James Duddridge: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what assessment he has made of the effectiveness of the rollout of the new fixed-dose combination drug artesunate and amodiaquine (ASAQ) in tackling malaria in (a) Africa, (b) Asia and (c) Latin America. [129356]

Mr. Thomas: The new fixed-dose combination drug artesunate and amodiaquine (ASAQ) was launched on 1 March 2007 and it is too early to assess the rollout. Although countries can buy the drug now, most will wait until it passes through the World Health Organisation (WHO) pre-qualification process. After this the drug can be procured through international drug purchasing facilities, such as the global fund for AIDS, tuberculosis and malaria.

The drugs for neglected diseases initiative (DNDi) will monitor all aspects of the rollout to ensure that the drug is taken up by countries and delivered to patients. ASAQ has been produced in partnership with the pharmaceutical company Sanofi-Aventis who have extensive distribution networks in Africa. Artemisinin-based combination therapies (ACTs) are recommended by WHO for the treatment of malaria, and ASAQ is an ACT recommended first line treatment in 20 African countries. Because of this and the fact that ASAQ is easier to use and less expensive than existing ACT drugs, DNDi expects quick take up by countries.

ASAQ can only be used where there is no pre-existing resistance to amodiaquine, so it is most relevant for use in sub-Saharan Africa, especially in the 20 countries where it is already recommended for first line treatment. It is less likely to be used in Asia
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(although it may be used in parts of India and Indonesia) and Latin America.

Overseas Aid

Anne Main: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what steps he is taking to promote the independent evaluation of British aid. [130172]

Hilary Benn: UK aid is subject to external scrutiny through independent monitoring (by the IDC), audit (by the NAO) and peer review (by the OECD). DFID’s policies and country programmes are evaluated by external experts and findings are published.

However we can go further. I intend to establish a mechanism to ensure more independent evaluation of DFID’s impact and I will inform the House of my proposals in due course.

Palestinians: EC Aid

Richard Burden: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development how many projects have been cancelled or suspended in the Palestinian authority area since the European Commission's decision of 7 April 2006 to stop funds being transferred to that authority, broken down by type of project; and how the funds being withheld are being treated. [128994]

Hilary Benn: Since the election of the Hamas-led Palestinian authority (PA), ten European Commission (EC) projects have been suspended. These are:

Not all of these projects were suspended as a result of the Hamas-led Government's failure to meet the quartet principles. For example, the Gaza airport project was very unlikely to move forward during 2006, regardless of Palestinian political developments. The EC re-designed some projects in order to achieve the same results without channelling funds through the PA. Funds for other projects remain available for when the EC restarts business with the PA.

The EC re-designed its 2006 programme in order to deliver support to the Palestinian people without channelling funding through the Hamas-led Government. This did not result in significant amounts of funding being blocked or suspended. In fact, the EC spent €348 million in 2006, compared to €277 million in 2005. This included support to: the temporary international mechanism; the Office of the Palestinian president; local and international non-governmental organisations; projects implemented by international organisations (such as the World Bank, and UNESCO); and humanitarian assistance delivered by the European Community
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Humanitarian Office (ECHO) and the United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA).

Richard Burden: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development how much (a) technical assistance, (b) budgetary support and (c) humanitarian assistance to the Palestinian authority has been suspended by the (i) EU and (ii) UK following the election of the Hamas Government. [128995]

Hilary Benn: Following the election of the Hamas-led Government, the European Union (EU) has suspended a number of technical assistance projects. A breakdown of specific projects from all member states is not available. Ten European Commission (EC) projects have been suspended, though some of these might have been suspended regardless of Palestinian political developments. The EC re-designed some projects in order to achieve the same results without channelling funds through the Palestinian authority (PA). No new budget support agreement was put into place (though budget support was not technically suspended). EU (EC and member states) humanitarian assistance commitments were €165 million in 2006, more than double the 2005 figure. Overall, EU assistance increased by 27 per cent. in 2006 to £442 million, including £123 million for Palestinian basic needs through the temporary international mechanism. This compares to £42 million which the EU gave in budget support to the PA in 2005.

DFID has re-oriented its technical assistance to comply with the quartet statement of 30 January. The only UK-led project that has been suspended is a planned project covering hydrometric monitoring to the Palestinian water authority (PWA) worth £431,000. No new budget support agreement was put into place. In 2005-06 (prior to the election of Hamas) DFID provided £10 million in budget support to the PA. DFID humanitarian assistance has remained unaffected. The UK maintained the same level of support (£30 million) in 2006-07 as in 2005-06, and will increase this slightly to £30.6 million for 2007-08.

Education and Skills

Admissions: Greater London

Mr. Dismore: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills if he will rank London education authorities by (a) the (i) number and (ii) percentage of admission appeals lodged relating to secondary transfer and (b) the (A) number and (B) percentage of such appeals that were successful. [118465]

Jim Knight: This information is not collected in the form requested. A table giving details of appeals lodged by parents against non-admission of their children to their preferred school in 2004/05 can be found at

This provides data on all appeals made for any primary or secondary school year group at any point in the school year, including secondary transfer.


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Adoption: Catholic Church

Mr. Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills how many children are being managed by Catholic adoption agencies. [129875]

Beverley Hughes: Information on the number of children who are currently being managed by Catholic adoption agencies is not collected by the Department for Education and Skills (DfES).

After School Clubs

Sarah Teather: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills whether staff and volunteers from outside a school who run breakfast or after-school clubs are required to have undertaken training on how to tackle bullying. [126566]

Jim Knight [holding answer 9 March 2007]: There is no specific requirement for staff and volunteers from outside a school to have training in relation to bullying, although we would expect those who operate extended school schemes to be equipped with the necessary skills to tackle it when it occurs.

Trainee teachers receive training in tackling bullying and there is a wide range of courses available for qualified teachers. We supplement this training with guidance and advice designed to address the specific needs which school staff have in this area, for example, with regards to tackling prejudice-driven bullying. We are also currently revising our over-arching guidance to schools ‘Don’t Suffer in Silence’ to ensure that schools have practical advice on how successfully to address and prevent bullying when it occurs.

Sarah Teather: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills whether schools’ anti-bullying policies are required to cover activities on school property which occur outside regular school hours. [126567]

Jim Knight [holding answer 9 March 2007]: While there is not a specific legal requirement for school anti-bullying policies to cover activities that take place outside of regular school hours, there is a duty on schools to tackle all forms of bullying and so we would expect school policies to be couched in sufficiently broad terms that bullying on school premises outside school hours would be covered. The guidance to accompany the school discipline provisions in the Education and Inspections Act 2006, ‘School Discipline and Pupil Behaviour Policies’, will make clear that the Government believe extended school activities, sports events and breakfast/after-school clubs should be covered by the school behaviour policy and that schools should apply disciplinary penalties for poor behaviour (including bullying) that occurs at such activities.

Work has also been undertaken at local level to deal specifically with bullying in extended schools. In some schools, work funded by Positive Activities for Young People (PAYP) has helped to identify children and young people at risk of being bullied, or of bullying others, and provides positive diversionary activities out of school hours and during school holidays. There is
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also evidence to suggest that the provision of extended services by schools may, in itself, help to counter bullying. In particular, we know that on-site provision of family and community services can have a positive impact on pupil behaviour and attendance generally. Part of the Behaviour Improvement Programme included the development of ‘full service’ extended schools, and the ‘core offer’ of extended services which we want all schools to provide by 2010 includes services of direct relevance to issues around bullying such as parenting support and easy access to a wide range of specialist support services.

Aldridge Foundation

Mr. Hoban: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills whether payments from the public purse have been made to the Aldridge Foundation in the last 12 months. [129328]

Bill Rammell: The Department for Education and Skills has not allocated any public funding for further education or schools to the Aldridge Foundation in the last 12 months.

Bishops Park College

Mr. Gibb: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills pursuant to the answer of 21 February 2007, Official Report, column 1818W, on Bishops Park College, what the (a) staying on rate, (b) number of exclusions, (c) number of teenage pregnancies and (d) level of parental satisfaction were at the College in each year since 2002. [124800]

Jim Knight: The information is as follows.

Building Schools for the Future

Mr. Willetts: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills whether all types of schools can be granted building schools for the future funding. [111585]

Jim Knight: All types of secondary school are eligible for capital investment under building schools for the future, where they need it. This includes: community (including voluntary controlled), voluntary aided and foundation (including trust) schools; academies and city technology colleges; 11-16 and 11-18 secondary schools, and middle-deemed secondary and upper schools; the secondary part of all-through (primary and secondary) schools; sixth form centres established under school regulations; secondary and all-age special schools and pupil referral
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units; non-maintained special schools and music and dance schools where the majority of pupils are publicly funded; and boarding facilities in maintained secondary schools.

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