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16 Apr 2007 : Column 97W—continued
Waste Management
Mrs. Spelman: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what guidance (a) his Department and (b) WRAP has issued to local authorities on the use of spy cameras for the purpose of monitoring local residents at municipal rubbish dumps. [130571]
Mr. Bradshaw: I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave on 19 February 2007, Official Report, column 190W.
Water Supply: Orders and Regulations
Tony Baldry: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what estimate he has made of the (a) one-off and (b) recurring cost of implementing the Water Supply (Water Quality) Regulations 2000 to (i) businesses and (ii) the regulators. [125608]
Ian Pearson: The regulatory impact assessment (RIA) for the Water Supply (Water Quality) Regulations 2000, which transposed the requirements of the 1998 EU Drinking Water Directive, was published in December 2000. Copies are available in the Library of the House.
Water companies have borne the administrative costs of implementing these regulations. These were estimated as £485,658, involving £439,962 for contingent or one-off costs and £45,696 for recurring costs. The Drinking Water Inspectorate incurred a one-off cost of £50,000 for establishing data handling systems and a recurring cost of £25,000.
For small and medium sized businesses, the proportion of an average bill that reflects the new requirements of the 2000 regulations ranged from nothing to £7.45 (average bills, weighted according to populations served to give regional averages for bill size).
Water: Bills
Mrs. Spelman: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what the average domestic water and sewerage bill was in England in each year from 1996-97 to 2006-07. [130565]
Ian Pearson: Ofwat is the economic regulator for the water and sewerage industry in England and Wales and sets price limits for each water company at price reviews.
The following table sets out the average household bills for water and sewerage customers in England and Wales since 1996-97 in 2007-08 prices.
| Average household bills for water and sewerage, 2007-08 prices | |
| £ | |
| Note: Bills for 2006-07 and 2007-08 are estimates based on provisional and forecast data respectively provided by each company, for the year ending 31 March. | |
Mrs. Spelman: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what estimate his Department has made of the average (a) water and (b) sewerage bill in (i) 2007-08, (ii) 2008-09 and (iii) 2009-10, in actual prices, following the implementation of Ofwat's Future Water and Sewerage Charges Final Determination plans. [130577]
Ian Pearson: Ofwat is the economic regulator for the water and sewerage industry in England and Wales and sets price limits for each water company at price reviews.
The following table sets out the estimated average household bills for (a) water and (b) sewerage for customers in England and Wales between 2007 and 2010.
| £ | ||
| Water( 1) | Sewerage( 1) | |
| (1) 2007-08 prices | ||
Bills for 2007-08 are based on forecast data provided by each company, for the year ending 31 March. Estimated bills for 2008-09 and 2009-10 are shown in 2007-08 prices and do not take into account the effect of future inflation (measured as RPI in November).
International Development
Afghanistan: Overseas Aid
Mr. Lancaster: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development pursuant to the answer of 8 February 2007, Official Report, column 1070W, on Afghanistan: overseas aid, how many of the 16,000 community development councils have produced community development plans to date. [121637]
Hilary Benn: The Government of Afghanistan's National Solidarity Programme (NSP) reports progress on a monthly basis. As of 28 February 2007, 16,343 Community Development Councils had been elected, and 16,068 community development plans had been completed.
Afghanistan: Schools
Mr. Clifton-Brown: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development how many schools have been built by the (a) Afghanistan government and (b) international community since the London Compact of January 2006; and how many schools he expects to be built by the (i) Afghanistan government and (ii) international community in the next 12 months. [126704]
Hilary Benn: According to the Ministry of Education (MoE) of the Government of Afghanistan (GoA), since January 2006 a total of 1,011 schools have been built or are under construction. The MoE plans to build a further 1,700 schools in the next 12 months, although this figure will not be confirmed until after this year's budget has been approved. The building of these schools is partially financed by support to the GoA from the international community, although disaggregated figures are not currently available.
The latest GoA monitoring report showing progress against the targets in the Afghanistan Compact states that a total of 510 school buildings are currently under construction by MoE and donors. Again, figures disaggregated by the GoA and the international community are not available.
Africa: Health Workers
Norman Baker: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what steps he is taking to address the shortage of health workers in Africa. [131072]
Mr. Thomas: The UK Government recognises that health workers are essential to the delivery of essential health services and achievement of the health related MDGs. DFID therefore invests substantially in health, supporting African Governments to strengthen their health services. DFID uses a variety of mechanisms, including support to international agencies, direct support to Government budgets, working jointly with other donors or through projects. For example, in Malawi, where the shortage of health workers is particularly severe, we provide £100 million support for the health sector of which £55 million is earmarked for the Emergency Human Resources Programme. This programme focuses on improving recruitment and retention through salary increases for health workers, expanding training capacity—doubling the number of nurses and tripling the number of doctors in training—and using international volunteer physicians and nurse tutors while more Malawians are being trained. The programme also supports human resources planning and management capacity in Malawi’s Ministry of Health. In Nigeria and Kenya, DFID provides technical assistance to develop human resources for health plans. A long-term £50 million health reform programme has been agreed in Sierra Leone which will strengthen recruitment, training and retention of key health workers.
DFID engages regionally and globally on policy development and advocacy with key institutions such as WHO, the World Bank and African regional institutions such as the African Union (AU) and the New Partnership for Africa’s Development (NEPAD). DFID has recently committed £1 million to support the formation of the Global Health Workforce Alliance which will play a key advocacy, policy and convening role on human resource for health issues.
Health worker brain drain results from a mix of country push factors that motivate staff to leave, and pull factors that attract workers away. DFID works with the UK Department of Health to develop and implement policies that prevent the targeting of developing countries in the international recruitment of health care professionals including agreeing a list of countries from which the NHS does not actively recruit. In addition, the Department of Health has brokered agreement for this Code to apply to major players in the UK independent healthcare sector.
Mrs. James: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what recent discussions he has had with the International Monetary Fund on support to health services in developing countries in Africa. [131424]
Hilary Benn: The recruitment, training and retention of health workers is essential to improve the delivery of basic health services in Africa. This requires budgets that can support and sustain long term public investment. The advice the IMF gives to African countries on budget issues needs to contribute to strengthening health services.
Concerns have been raised in some African countries about the impact of public sector expenditure ceilings on the retention of health workers. We have been closely monitoring the impact of ceilings and discussing these concerns with the IMF. The IMF has agreed to engage further in discussions at national and global level on the issue of health work forces and how these can be best supported by their programmes. These should recognise the constraints all countries face in deciding on appropriate levels of expenditure, domestic deficits and borrowing and also how higher spending on public services can be supported by higher levels of aid. In discussions with the international financial institutions, DFID continues to urge an approach that supports stability, growth and the best use of higher levels of aid. These discussions include the topic of fiscal space which will be discussed at this year's spring meetings.
Mrs. James: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what steps his Department is taking to improve access to healthcare in developing countries in Africa. [131426]
Hilary Benn: The core of DFID's work in health in developing countries in Africa is to support national partners in their efforts to build effective and accessible health services which are able to prevent, identify and treat the major causes of ill health.
This includes support to address the shortage of health workers, and remove barriers such as user fees that prevent the poor from using services. For example, in Malawi DFID has provided £55 million over six years to fund an innovative Emergency Human Resources Programme to support the training, recruitment and retention of health workers. This will eventually double the number of nurses and treble the number of doctors. In Zambia DFID has committed £14.5 million over five years to support the abolition of user fees in public health facilities.
In 2005-06 DFID provided £183 million(1) in direct support to health sectors in our 16 priority African countries. We are increasingly working in fragile states including those that have recently emerged from conflict such as Sierra Leone and the Democratic Republic of Congo. In last year's International Development White Paper we committed to further increase spending on basic services, including health, to at least half of the UK's direct support to developing countries.
DFID supports access to health care through a range of complementary approaches; through technical assistance and project support; through support for Global Health Funds, our contribution to UN organisation, support for NGOs and, where the environment is right, through direct budget support. We aim to work to complement the efforts of other donors in support of national health plans.
(1) Statistics on International Development 2001-02 to 2005-06.
Africa: HIV Infection
Norman Baker: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what steps he is taking to prevent mother-to-child transmission of AIDS in Africa. [131071]
Mr. Thomas: DFID is increasing its focus on preventing mother to child transmission of HIV. The UK funds prevention of mother to child transmission programmes in Africa through UNICEF and through budget support.
In Zimbabwe, DFID is initiating a £25 million project designed to address maternal and newborn health in a comprehensive way including diagnosing HIV in pregnant women, improved obstetric care, increasing access to drugs and other pre and postnatal health services, nutritional monitoring of mother and baby with treatment for mother, father and child if they have HIV.
In Malawi, where DFID is the major donor in the health sector, with an investment of £100 million over the period 2004-10, a rapid scale up in prevention of mother to child transmission services is taking place with the aim that every pregnant woman visiting a health facility will have access to HIV prevention and treatment services. During 2005, 5,000 of 7,000 HIV positive pregnant women received a complete course of Anti Retro Viral prophylaxis. The aim is also that more HIV positive pregnant women offered help to prevent mother to child transmission are referred for care and support services—currently only one third of women are referred on. The Government, UN and other partners in Malawi are working to overcome the very real constraints associated with cultural beliefs and practices, weak health systems and structures, scarcity of health staff in the country, poverty and stigma.
In addition to core funding to UNICEF, DFID has provided over $1.5 million to an ‘Accelerating Action for Children Affected by HIV and AIDS’ programme. This gives focus to the “4 P’s—Protection, Prevention, Prevention of mother to child transmission and Paediatric AIDS”. The three year programme aims to expand and accelerate action, increase the availability and quality of evidence, improve coherence between the UN and other partners and increase the prominence of children and AIDS across the UN system.
Norman Baker: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what steps he is taking to secure generic versions of (a) Kaletra and (b) Viread for the treatment of people with AIDS in Africa. [131073]
Mr. Thomas:
The United Kingdom (UK) has already pledged to spend £1.5 billion on AIDS programmes between 2005 and 2008: this reflects our commitment to Universal Access. Despite this progress, much still needs to be done. In addition to funding AIDS programmes, we are supporting UNITAID, the new international drug purchasing facility, to fund second-line Antiretrovirals (ARVs), paediatric ARVs and TB and malaria drugs predominantly in low income countries. We hope that UNITAID will contribute to the necessary reductions in the prices of second-line drugs such Viread and Kaletra. The UK is
also helping to strengthen the World Health Organisation (WHO) to accelerate the medicines prequalification process through UNITAID.
In Africa, DFID supports treatment specific programmes; for example, we are providing antiretroviral therapy (ART) in Zambia, Rwanda and also the Democratic Republic of Congo, in programmes that focus on treatment, prevention of mother to child transmission (PMTCT) and post-exposure prophylaxis (PEP). We also support treatment programmes through interventions aimed at strengthening health systems and the provision of technical assistance to Ministries of Health (MOH), for example in Malawi. Decisions on what and how to fund are made in country and are based on partner Government and other donor investments through the presence and engagement of the Global Fund to fights AIDS, TB and Malaria (GFATM), President Bush’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR), the World Bank and other bilateral funds.
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