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20 Jun 2008 : Column 1264W—continued
Teachers: Pay
Mr. Fallon: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families what proportion of teachers qualified for performance-related pay in each year since it was introduced. [212749]
Jim Knight: The award of performance related pay is a matter for schools to determine locally and in the interests of reducing burdens on schools we do not require the reporting of individual discretionary payments. This information is not collected centrally.
International Development
Africa: Abortions
Mrs. Curtis-Thomas: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development how much he has allocated to tackling unsafe abortions in Africa; and on what projects this funding is being committed. [211825]
Mr. Thomas: The Department for International Development's (DFID) main allocation to tackling unsafe abortions in Africa is £7.5 million through the ‘Safe Abortion Action Fund’, administered by the International Planned Parenthood Foundation (IPPF) and Ipas. This investment aims to strengthen regional organisations and networks that advocate for safe abortion; support advocacy and production of policy relevant research; have an impact at country level and regional level on policy change and service delivery; and increase utilisation of quality safe abortion and post-abortion services.
DFID also provides significant resources via government budgets in Africa to strengthen countries’ health systems including sexual and reproductive health services (e.g. in 2006-07, £257.6 million to general budget support and £21.2 million direct to government health budgets).
DFID also supports African countries to improve access to sexual and reproductive health services and supplies, and sex education. For example, DFID has committed £100 million over five years to United Nations Fund for Population Activities (UNFPA) to improve access to family planning and reproductive health supplies. In Ethiopia, DFID had distributed 1.3 million condoms by the end of August 2007. DFID is also funding a £35 million programme with the Population Council called ‘transitions to adulthood’, which is helping nine developing countries—including South Africa, Uganda and Kenya—to develop better curricula for gender education, including sex education.
Africa: Economic Growth
Mrs. Curtis-Thomas: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what the role of higher economic growth rates is in meeting the millennium development goals in Africa; and what recent steps he has taken to support the rate of economic growth in Africa. [211812]
Mr. Douglas Alexander: Economic growth is essential for the achievement of the millennium development goals (MDGs). MDG 1, by definition, requires growth in the incomes of the poor. Sustainable achievement of the other MDGs requires African countries to generate the resources, through economic growth, to provide schools, hospitals, roads, sanitation and safe drinking water to their people.
Better infrastructure is a key constraint to faster growth in Africa. The Infrastructure Consortium for Africa is facilitating more effective infrastructure investment and there has been a 20 per cent. increase in investment since 2005. DFID increased its support to the Consortium secretariat in 2007. The Emerging Africa Infrastructure Facility (EAIF), which is supported by DFID, facilitates and leverages private sector financing. As of December 2007 the facility had loan commitments totalling $384.5 million (£192 million) in 15 projects. EAIF projects have led to private sector commitments of more than $4 billion (£2 billion). The government of Rwanda has asked DFID to help it with ‘Growth Analytics’, to prioritise actions to help get higher growth rates. This promising work has led other African countries to seek DFID's advice.
Further examples can be found in DFID's Annual Report, available at
Mrs. Curtis-Thomas: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what the average rate of economic growth was in sub-Saharan Africa in the last three years; and what estimate he has made of the contribution of the UK to such economic development. [211818]
Mr. Douglas Alexander:
Economic growth in sub-Saharan Africa over the course of 2005-2007 averaged 6.3 per cent. per annum. The same figure for 1997-2002 was 4 per cent. This is encouraging, but growth is still below the 7 per cent. rate which is thought necessary to
achieve the millennium development goals and there are concerns about the sustainability of growth in Africa.
UK aid is supporting economic development in a number of ways. For example, the Department for International Development (DFID) played a key role in the establishment and successful launch of the Investment Climate Facility (ICF) in 2006 to help strengthen Africa's business environment. Since then, ICF-funded projects have started in Rwanda, the East African Community, Lesotho, Liberia and Tanzania.
Better economic infrastructure (energy, transport, communications and water resources) is essential for faster growth. The Infrastructure Consortium for Africa is facilitating more effective infrastructure investment and there has been a substantial increase in investment since 2005. DFID increased its support to the Consortium secretariat in 2007. Further examples can be found in DFID's Annual Report, available at
Africa: Maternal Mortality
Mrs. Curtis-Thomas: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what plans he has to reduce maternal mortality rates in Africa. [211824]
Mr. Douglas Alexander: Reducing maternal mortality in Africa is a UK Government priority. The Department for International Development (DFID) will continue to support partner governments to improve access to sexual and reproductive health services and commodities through DFID-funded country programmes, through regional and global advocacy, and through funding global and regional research, in line with the African Union Maputo Plan of Action on Maternal health and the DFID strategy ‘Reducing maternal deaths: evidence and action’.
Better health systems and services are essential to reducing maternal mortality. DFID will spend £6 billion by 2015 for these purposes, a significant proportion in Africa.
DFID has committed £100 million over five years to United Nations Fund for Population Activities (UNFPA) to improve access to family planning and reproductive health supplies. Africa will be a major recipient. At a country level in Africa, DFID is currently funding a range of health programmes that will help reduce maternal mortality, including a £100 million commitment in Malawi (over six years) £140 million commitment in Nigeria (over six years), a £24 million commitment in Zimbabwe (over four years), and £50 million commitment in Sierra Leone (over 10 years). Substantial funding is also provided through general budget support in some countries, as in Tanzania, where 11 per cent. of DFID's £105 million expenditure through this channel was used to finance the health sector.
African Enterprise Challenge Fund
Mrs. Curtis-Thomas: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what support his Department has provided to the African Enterprise Challenge Fund; and what assessment he has made of its impact on the region. [211795]
Mr. Douglas Alexander: The Department for International Development (DFID) is providing £10 million over three years to the Alliance for a Green Revolution in Africa for the Africa Enterprise Challenge Fund. The fund became operational early June 2008 following the recruitment of a fund manager. It is, therefore, too early to assess its impact.
Departmental Sick Pay
Mr. Hoban: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development how much sick pay to staff in his Department cost in the last five years for which figures are available. [212003]
Mr. Douglas Alexander: Without incurring disproportionate cost it is not possible to provide an accurate figure for the cost of sickness pay.
Departmental Trade Unions
Bob Spink: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development which trades unions represent members of staff in his Department. [212479]
Mr. Douglas Alexander: The Department for International Development (DFID) recognises two trade unions as representatives of our UK based staff—the Public and Commercial Services Union (PCS) and the Association of First Division Civil Servants (FDA).
Developing Countries: Overseas Aid
Mrs. Curtis-Thomas: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development how funds released by the revocation or reduction of aid allocations to overseas governments are treated. [211701]
Mr. Douglas Alexander: Any funds not disbursed to overseas governments are reallocated to other programmes.
Mrs. Curtis-Thomas: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development how and when his Department announces allocations of UK development aid. [211702]
Mr. Douglas Alexander: The allocation of UK development assistance is announced and published by HM Treasury at the settlement of the comprehensive spending review. This information was last published in October 2007 and is currently available on the HM Treasury website.
DFID publishes more detailed information about annual aid allocations in the departmental annual report which is published in May of each year.
Independent Advisory Committee on Development Impact
Mrs. Curtis-Thomas: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what the purpose of the Independent Advisory Committee on Development Impact is; and what its terms of reference are. [211721]
Mr. Thomas: The Committee has been established in order to strengthen and assure the independence of the evaluation function in DFID and the use of evaluation results to enhance delivery and impact of UK development assistance.
The terms of reference can be found here:
Mozambique: Children
Mrs. Curtis-Thomas: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development which organisations his Department is working with in Mozambique to provide support for pregnant women and children under five years old. [211804]
Mr. Douglas Alexander: The Department for International Development (DFID) works closely with the Government of Mozambique to support the health of mothers and children under the age of five. DFID as the focal donor for the health sector in Mozambique co-ordinates the support of 26 agencies (including DFID) who provide funding to the health sector. These partners are the World Bank, World Health Organisation, USAID, UNICEF, UNFPA, UNAIDS, Global Fund for Aids TB and Malaria (GFATM), the Clinton Foundation, President’s Emergency Plan for Aids Relief (PEPFAR), the Global Alliance for Vaccines and Immunisation (GAVI), Swiss Development Co-operation, Norway, Netherlands, Japan, Italy, Ireland, France, Finland, Flanders, the EC, Denmark, Canada, Spain and Catalunia.
In addition, DFID provides project support through the Malaria Consortium to support the Government of Mozambique to achieve its target of having 95 per cent. of pregnant women and children under the age of five sleeping under a treated mosquito net in the three northern provinces. The DFID programme runs from 2005 to 2010 with a budget of £8.5 million and is being implemented by Malaria Consortium in five provinces.
In the health sector UK development assistance has enabled the Government to meet its 2007 target of an extra 35,000 women giving birth in a clinic, and ensured that 64 per cent. of children under one were fully immunized against five priority vaccine-preventable diseases.
Nepal: Overseas Aid
Mrs. Curtis-Thomas: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what assessment he has made of his Department’s contribution to poverty reduction in Nepal; and what programmes exist to sustain economic growth in Nepal. [211730]
Mr. Douglas Alexander:
Recent poverty reduction in Nepal has been impressive. Despite the conflict it reduced from 42 per cent. in 1995-96 to 31 per cent. in 2003-04, the latest year for which data are available. A key driver of poverty reduction, according to the World Bank, was better rural infrastructure, in which DFID has invested £42 million since 2000 to build 1,500 km of rural roads and 2,200 bridges. We will invest a further £28 million in rural infrastructure over the next three years. DFID has supported poverty reduction and inclusive economic growth in other ways. In the last five years we have invested £20 million in education and
£50 million in health, contributing to a 5 percentage point increase in school enrolments and a halving of child mortality over the last decade. DFID has invested £12 million over the last five years in rural livelihoods programmes which have benefited 550,000 people and lifted 130 thousand people out of poverty. DFID’s investment of £19 million over 10 years in community forestry will help almost one fifth of the population of Nepal to make a better and more sustainable living from forest resources.
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