| Previous Section | Index | Home Page |
5 Jun 2008 : Column 1129W—continued
Afghanistan: Overseas Aid
Mr. Ellwood: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development how much funding was allocated by his Department to Helmand Province in each of the last five years. [207461]
Mr. Douglas Alexander [holding answer 2 June 2008]: The information requested is as follows:
In 2006-07 DFID spent £15.1 million.
In 2007-08 DFID spent £8.1 million.
In 2008-09 DFID intends to spend up to £31.14 million.
There was no Helmand spend prior to these figures.
Burma: Overseas Aid
Mrs. Hodgson: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development how much aid his Department plans to provide to Burma in each year from 2008 until 2011. [207664]
Mr. Douglas Alexander: The Department for International Development (DFID) plans to spend £12 million in Burma in 2008-09, rising to £15 million in 2009-10 and £18 million in 2010-11. This allocation is additional to the £27.5 million we have committed to emergency relief in Burma following Cyclone Nargis.
Burma: Storms
Mrs. Hodgson: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what funding his Department has provided to cross-border groups which have been providing humanitarian assistance in Burma since Cyclone Nargis. [207663]
Mr. Douglas Alexander: The Department for International Development (DFID) has so far pledged £27.5 million towards the humanitarian effort following Cyclone Nargis. This assistance is being channelled through the United Nations, the Red Cross and NGOs with the greatest capacity to operate effectively in the areas of Burma worst hit by the cyclone. We have no plans at present to channel funds through cross-border groups based in neighbouring countries.
Overseas Aid
Mr. Stephen O'Brien: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development which supplier or chain of suppliers is to provide the supply of 20 million bed nets recently announced by the Prime Minister; and on what criteria the supply contract will be awarded. [207617]
Gillian Merron: The responsibility for the procurement of the bed nets rests with individual Department for International Development (DFID) country programmes. They will select the preferred supplier on the basis of DFID’s standard procurement processes, in compliance with the European Union Public Procurement Directives. Contracts will be awarded to those bidders that offer the most economically advantageous tenders to DFID, taking account of technical and commercial considerations.
Mr. Stephen O'Brien: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development (1) what arrangements have been made for the (a) procurement and (b) distribution of the 20 million bed nets recently announced by the Prime Minister; and in how many stages the nets will be delivered; [207634]
(2) pursuant to the announcement of 20 million bed nets by the Prime Minister, what provision has been made for programmes of training in the (a) installation, (b) proofing and (c) use of the nets; and how much has been allocated for such training; [207638]
(3) what mechanisms he has established to assess the effectiveness of the programme to provide 20 million bed nets; [207639]
(4) what steps he plans to take to (a) ensure and (b) monitor the consistency of use of the 20 million bed nets recently announced by the Prime Minister. [207635]
Gillian Merron: The Department for International Development (DFID) will work with a range of partners to ensure the bed nets are distributed and delivered effectively. We will work to support the strengthening of recipient government systems for this purpose.
Detailed arrangements for procurement and delivery, including training, will be made in-country by DFID's country programmes. Installation will be part of the accompanying education package offered as part of the delivery support. The anticipated unit cost includes up to £2 per net to meet the cost of programme administration, distribution and education. The bed nets will be long-lasting insecticide treated (ITNs) and will be procured annually over the period 2008-2010. Purchase of the bed nets will comply with DFID's robust procurement practices.
The level of demand in each country has already been established. DFID will monitor bed net usage
patterns and practices through standard health management information systems and multi-partner demographic and health surveys including household interview and net tracking surveys. A structured evaluation of the programme and the lessons learnt from it will take place in 2011.
Innovation, Universities and Skills
Apprentices
Stephen Williams: To ask the Secretary of State for Innovation, Universities and Skills how many adults he expects to participate in (a) adult Level 2 apprenticeships, (b) adult Level 3 advanced apprenticeships and (c) higher education apprenticeships in each year from 2007-08 to 2010-11. [208111]
Mr. Lammy: The information requested about apprenticeships starts in England is provided in the following table. Information about apprenticeships at level 4 is not separately available. These figures are planning assumptions, and we will endeavour to find resources to meet demand above these levels.
| Projected adult( 1) apprenticeship starts by level | ||||
| 2007/08 | 2008/09 | 2009/10 | 2010/11 | |
| (1) Adult is defined as aged 19 and over. (2) Includes a small number (less than 100) of level 4 (higher education) apprenticeships. Source: Modelling data based on individualised learner record. | ||||
Departmental Pay
Mr. Philip Hammond: To ask the Secretary of State for Innovation, Universities and Skills how much was paid in end-of-year performance bonuses to (a) all staff and (b) staff at senior civil service level in (i) his Department and (ii) its agencies in the 2007-08 financial year; and how many payments were made. [207489]
Mr. Lammy: The Department for Innovation, Universities and Skills (DIUS) was formed as a result of machinery of government changes in June 2007 by transferring staff from the Department for Trade and Industry (DTI) and the Department for Education and Skills (DfES). The staff transferred on their existing contractual terms and conditions of employment. Both Departments previously paid performance related bonuses to reward high performance—where, typically, personal objectives have been consistently exceeded.
Pending the introduction of shared service arrangements, information about payments to all DIUS staff continues to be retained on the HR databases of the Departments from which the staff were transferred. Compiling the bonus information required for reply it would be necessary to search these separate databases and this involves disproportionate cost.
Bonuses for the performance year 2007/08, paid to senior civil servants currently working within DIUS, will have been paid by their former Department and will have been disclosed by those Departments in their response to this question.
As regards the Department's agencies NWML and UKIPO, the end-of-year performance bonuses paid to staff in the 2007-08 financial year were as follows:
1. 1,461 payments were made to staff, totalling £325,500;
2. Seven payments were made to staff at senior civil service level, totalling £19,900.
Food
Mr. Peter Ainsworth: To ask the Secretary of State for Innovation, Universities and Skills how much food waste his Department generated in each of the last five years; and if he will make a statement. [208142]
Mr. Lammy: Catering services, alongside accommodation and facilities management services, are provided to the Department for Innovation, Universities and Skills by the Departments of Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform, and Children, Schools and Families. Answers given on behalf of those Departments will therefore cover this Department as well.
Higher Education: Admissions
Mr. Willetts:
To ask the Secretary of State for Innovation, Universities and Skills what the higher education initial
participation rate for English-domiciled first-time participants in higher education courses in each parliamentary constituency was by (a) sex, (b) age and (c) socioeconomic group in each of the last 10 years. [208354]
Bill Rammell: The Higher Education Initial Participation Rate (HEIPR) is the sum of the HE initial participation rates for individual ages between 17 and 30 inclusive. It covers English-domiciled first time entrants to HE courses, which are expected to last for at least six months, at UK Higher Education Institutions and English, Scottish and Welsh Further Education Colleges, and who remain on their course for at least six months. The latest available figures, including a gender breakdown, are shown in Table 1:
The HEIPR for individual ages from 17 to 30 is shown in Table 2:
| Table 2 : Higher Education Initial Participation Rate by gender and age | ||||||||
| Percentage | ||||||||
| Age | 1999/2000 | 2000/01 | 2001/02 | 2002/03 | 2003/04 | 2004/05 | 2005/06 | 2006/07 |
| Note: The HEIPR is usually published to the nearest integer, but the figures are included to one decimal place to inform comparisons over time. Numbers are quoted to the nearest thousand. Source: “Participation Rates in Higher Education: Academic Years 1999/2000 - 2006/07 (Provisional)”, published by DfES. | ||||||||
| Next Section | Index | Home Page |