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21 Jan 2008 : Column 1538W—continued
Africa: International Assistance
Lyn Brown: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development whether the political unrest in Kenya has had any impact upon his Department’s funded projects in (a) the Democratic Republic of Congo, (b) Burundi, (c) Uganda and (d) Sudan. [179488]
Mr. Thomas: The political unrest in Kenya has currently had no direct impact on DFID funded programmes in the Democratic Republic of Congo, Burundi, Uganda or the Sudan. However, we continue to monitor the situation closely given the potential impact—in particular on fuel supplies and prices.
Departmental Data Protection
Mrs. Villiers: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development whether personal data for which his Department is responsible is (a) stored and (b) processed overseas; and if he will make a statement. [176017]
Mr. Thomas: DFID has a number of small databases which are maintained for internal operational purposes in its overseas offices, including some which contain personal data relating to DFID staff. No personal data for which DFID is responsible is either stored or processed overseas outside DFID offices.
Mrs. Villiers: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what obligations his Department and its agencies place on contractors in relation to the audit of personal data and IT equipment. [176466]
Mr. Douglas Alexander:
Contracts awarded by DFID include standard terms and conditions which place obligations on contractors in relation to confidentiality of information, security of equipment and auditing requirements. These clauses specify contractors must have prior written consent from
DFID to disclose any confidential information obtained during or arising from the contract, that DFID and the National Audit Office have unrestricted access to their accounts, files and records and that the Official Secrets Acts apply to them. For higher value IT contracts, DFID has built in additional data protection clauses, which require the contractor to comply with the Data Protection Acts.
Mrs. Villiers: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what audits his Department has carried out in relation to personal data and IT equipment in each of the last 10 years. [176474]
Mr. Thomas: Within the last 10 years, DFID has carried out the following specific audits relating to personal data and IT equipment:
| Audit | |
In addition, DFID's Internal Audit Department reviews the local operation of controls over IT assets and data management as part of a rolling programme of administrative audits across DFID's overseas offices.
The National Audit Office also reviews controls over information assets to the extent necessary for its audit of DFID's financial statements.
EU External Trade
Mr. Clifton-Brown: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what steps he is taking to ensure that the European Commission observes World Trade Organisation rules on (a) most favoured nation and (b) Singapore terms clauses within European partnership agreement negotiations. [R] [179731]
Mr. Thomas: The recently agreed Economic Partnership Agreements (EPAs) between the EU and African, Caribbean and Pacific countries are compatible with the World Trade Organisation (WTO) rules on Free Trade Areas in Article XXIV of the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade. There are no WTO rules on Investment, Competition, Transparency in Government Procurement and Trade Facilitation (otherwise known as the Singapore Issues) or on most favoured nation clauses in free trade agreements.
Palestinians: EU Aid
Richard Burden: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development if he will place in the Library the final statement of the International Donors Conference for the Palestinian State held in Paris on 17 December 2007. [178367]
Mr. Malik: A copy of the statement will be placed in the Library. It is also available at:
Tanzania: Overseas Aid
Mr. Gale: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development how much the UK Government paid in aid to Tanzania in each of the last five years; what proportion of that aid was paid directly to the government of Tanzania; what proportion of the aid was project-specific; what projects were funded by UK aid; and if he will make a statement. [178321]
Mr. Douglas Alexander [holding answer 21 January 2008]: Details of the UK’s bilateral assistance and imputed multilateral assistance to Tanzania over the last five years are laid out in the following tables.
The majority of the UK’s bilateral assistance to Tanzania is provided direct to the Government of Tanzania in the form of Poverty Reduction Budget Support (PRBS). We provide significant levels of PRBS as Tanzania meets the requirements of the UK’s Conditionally Policy, namely, a commitment to poverty reduction, a respect for human rights and a credible reform programme in place, including of public financial management. The UK regularly monitors Tanzania’s continued adherence to this policy, including throughout the year with the 13 other budget support donors and also using a range of diagnostic tools (for example, the World Bank’s Public Expenditure and Financial Accountability indicators) and independent surveys of corruption. We also use international and local data on poverty reduction to assess the progress the Government of Tanzania are making in improving the lives of their people.
In addition to PRBS, the UK provides significant support to the Government of Tanzania’s efforts to reform, improve public financial management and tackle corruption. For example, the UK has just agreed to provide £20 million over the next four years to support the Government’s public service reforms and build their capacity to deliver basic services to the poor.
In addition to our support direct to Government, the UK provides significant project and programme support to strengthening accountability and deepening democracy in Tanzania, including through support for
civil society, the media and Parliament. Levels of scrutiny within Tanzania have significantly increased in the last two years. Alongside this, the UK supports the
private sector to deliver the continued economic growth Tanzania needs to lift itself out of poverty in the long-term.
| Table 1: UK total bilateral gross public expenditure (GPEX) on development 2002-03 to 2006-07 | |||||
| Total UK bilateral GPEX to Tanzania ( £000 ) | Proportion going directly to Government of Tanzania (percentage) | Proportion delivered as DFID poverty reduction budget support (percentage) | Other DFID programme and project specific (percentage) | Aid from other UK official sources (percentage) | |
| Note: Rows may not sum due to rounding. | |||||
I have placed a table in the Library detailing the UK’s bilateral projects in Tanzania over the last five years.
| Table 2: Imputed UK share of multilateral official development assistance (ODA) 2001-05 | |
| Tanzania (£000) | |
Trade Unions
Mr. Hoban: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what meetings he has had with trade unions officials since 1 July 2007; on what dates; and with which trade unions. [179860]
Mr. Douglas Alexander: Ministers meet many people as part of the process of policy development. It is not normal practice to disclose details of such meetings.
Zimbabwe: Migration
Mr. Clifton-Brown: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development pursuant to the answer of 18 December 2007, Official Report, column 1234W, on Zimbabwe: asylum, what assistance is being provided to (a) Zambia, (b) Mozambique and (c) Botswana to assist in dealing with immigrants from Zimbabwe. [179076]
Mr. Thomas: The information is as follows.
The International Organisation for Migration (IOM) has recently undertaken a rapid assessment of the patterns and impact of Zimbabwean migrants at the Chirundu border post. Depending on the results of the survey, DFID Zambia will consider funding an IOM support centre at the border post to provide humanitarian assistance to irregular migrants and other vulnerable groups in the area.
I refer the hon. Member to my answer of 30 October 2007, Official Report, column 1063W. As yet there has been no authoritative assessment on the numbers of Zimbabwean immigrants in Mozambique. Cross border movements continue and IOM, Save the Children and UNICEF are monitoring the situation. UNHCR stands ready to help anyone that registers as a refugee, but as yet no one has. DFID Mozambique also stands ready to assist and is currently assessing the needs of those worst affected by the floods in the areas bordering Zimbabwe.
IOM is constructing a reception centre on the border to provide humanitarian assistance to Zimbabweans deported from Botswana. In line with the centre at Beitbridge in South Africa, referred to in my answer of 18 December 2007, Official Report, column 1234W, the centre will provide a meal, medical check up, transport home and information on safe migration.
Scotland
Departmental Ministerial Policy Advisors
Mr. Hoban: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland whether any of his Department’s special advisers also work for organisations outside his Department. [178472]
David Cairns: Special advisers are appointed under terms and conditions set out in the “Model Contract” and “Code of Conduct for Special Advisers”, copies of which are in the Library of the House.
Devolution
Mr. Carmichael: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland whether he has any plans (a) to review the Scotland Act 1998 and (b) for further devolution of powers to the Scottish Parliament. [179953]
David Cairns: The Scotland Act 1998 is working well to secure the benefits of devolution within the United Kingdom for Scotland. Flexibility has always been contained in the Scotland Act and the Government will continue to be willing to adjust the settlement, using the powers contained within the Scotland Act, in whatever way is appropriate in the interests of good government. We will only make changes that strengthen the stability of the Union.
Fuels: Prices
Mr. Carmichael: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland what recent discussions he has had with HM Treasury colleagues on fuel costs in rural Scotland; and if he will make a statement. [179951]
David Cairns: My right hon. Friend and I have regular discussions with our Treasury colleagues on a range of issues.
Railways
Mr. Carmichael: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland what recent discussions he has had with the Scottish Executive on the development of high speed rail to Scotland; and if he will make a statement. [179952]
David Cairns: The Secretary of State has had no recent discussions with the Scottish Executive on the development of high speed rail to Scotland.
The Department for Transport White Paper “Delivering a Sustainable Railway” published on 24 July 2007 set out that the Government’s strategy to improve the quality of inter-urban rail services is to make the best use of existing networks by lengthening existing trains, increasing service frequencies and tackling key congestion pinch points. Consequently, the Government see no case for supporting a high-speed rail line at this stage.
Duchy of Lancaster
Departmental Email
Mr. Jenkins: To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster if he will take steps to reduce the number of hard copies of e-mails printed by officials in his Department. [179470]
Phil Hope: Cabinet Office is continuing to undertake a number of measures to mitigate the unnecessary printing of e-mails.
The Department has adopted an electronic records management system. This system will eliminate the need to print documents for filing, significantly reducing the number of e-mails which are printed. The roll-out of the system is estimated to be complete by March 2008. Staff are encouraged to include a message on all electronic correspondence discouraging the recipient from printing the e-mail unless absolutely necessary.
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