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6 Oct 2008 : Column 108W—continued
Departmental Public Relations
James Duddridge: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development how much his Department spent on each of the external public relations and marketing companies included in the Central Office of Information’s Public Relations Framework in each of the last 36 months. [222110]
Gillian Merron: The information is as follows:
(a) The Department for International Development (DFID) has issued two contracts using the Central Office of Information’s Public Relations Framework in the last 36 months:
1. In financial year 2005-06, DFID used Weber Shandwick Worldwide to provide support and deliver public relations support (in the UK and Asia, specifically India, Pakistan, Bangladesh and Nepal) to the Asia 2015 conference at a cost of £173,547.71 + VAT. The Asia 2015 conference, held in London on 6-7 March 2006 brought together key decision-makers from Asia and across the world to learn from Asia’s success, and to identify future challenges and solutions.
2. In financial year 2007-08, DFID used Munro and Forster Communications Ltd. to develop and deliver public relations support for its caring consumer campaign at a cost of £84,961.59 +VAT.
(b) DFID does not have agencies.
Departmental Responsibilities
Mr. Hoban: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development which projects his Department has commissioned from (a) think tanks and (b) charities in each of the last two years for which figures are available; what the aim of each project was; which think tank or charity was commissioned; and how much was paid. [221614]
Gillian Merron:
The Department for International Development (DFID) does not have a working definition of ‘think tank’. DFID provides funding to a number of organisations which may be involved in relevant activities, such as policy analysis and research. For example,
DFID has a Programme Partnership Agreement with the Overseas Development Institute (ODI) for £3.4 million over 2008-11.
DFID also works with a number of other organisations, in the UK and in partner countries, involved in similar work but collation of a full list of relevant projects would incur disproportionate cost.
DFID provides funding to UK charitable civil society organisations (CSOs) in four ways:
Programme Partnership Agreements provide long-term, predictable funding to UK CSOs working in development;
Humanitarian assistance is provided to CSOs to provide relief in emergency situations;
The Civil Society Challenge Fund is open to CSOs working in development to bid for project specific funding of up to £500,000. Details on individual projects are available online at www.dfid.gov.uk;
Country programmes and central DFID departments may provide funding to, or procure the services of, CSOs working in developing countries to carry out development activities.
Summary figures on DFID funding to UK CSOs are provided in the following table. More detailed data, by organisation, is available in the DFID publications ‘Statistics on International Development 2007’ and ‘Statistics on International Development 2008’. These publications are available online at
| DFID expenditure through UK CSOs 2006-07 and 2007-08 | ||
| £000 | ||
| Type of funding | 2006-07 | 2007-08 |
Departmental Retirement
Mr. Marsden: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development whether his Department has a mandatory retirement age; and how many employees were asked to retire on reaching 65 years of age in each year since 2000. [218207]
Mr. Malik: The Department for International Development (DFID) does not have a mandatory retirement age. It continues to observe the national default retirement age of 65.
With the implementation of the Employment Equality (Age) Regulations in October 2006, we introduced the Right to Request to Work Beyond Age 65 procedure. No requests have been denied under this procedure.
Since 2000, eight staff have retired at age 65 or above through personal choice.
Developing Countries: Natural Disasters
Malcolm Bruce: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what steps he is taking to encourage the implementation of early warning systems for natural disasters in developing countries. [222480]
Mr. Thomas: The UK believes that the most effective early warning systems are those which are owned by national governments and involve vulnerable communities, rather than focusing only on developing high-tech equipment. Examples of Department for International Development (DFID) support include:
£1.5 million to the United Nations Secretariat of the International Strategy for Disaster Reduction (UN/ISDR) to support an Indian Ocean Tsunami Early Warning System (IOTWS).
£2.15 million to an International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC) disaster risk reduction programme which involved a component on early warning systems.
£7.5 million to Bangladesh (since 2004) to improve its early warning systems through a Comprehensive Disaster Management Programme. This programme, among other things, has established a Disaster Management Information Centre which in the coming period is expected to develop one nation-wide community early warning system, and implement training and simulation exercises with key technical and operational partners.
Developing Countries: Water
Mrs. Curtis-Thomas: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what (a) projects and (b) research are being undertaken by his Department in its European co-ordinator role for water and sanitation research for developing countries. [220521]
Mr. Thomas: The Department for International Development (DFID) co-ordinates the four-year EU-funded project European Union Water Initiative European Research Area Network, EUWI ERANET and is working with its 15 European partners to:
1. Collate and synthesise information on European funded research programmes in developing countries. This aims to support collaboration between existing initiatives and projects.
2. Review research management practice, and develop guidance on good research management. This aims to improve the effectiveness of future programmes and activities.
3. Identify thematic priorities as a basis to develop future activities, jointly agreed and funded by the European partners. Planning work for future activities is currently being carried out.
Disabled
John Barrett: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what steps his Department is taking to ensure that the inclusion of disabled people is a key issue in each of its programme evaluations and reviews. [224468]
Mr. Douglas Alexander: The Department for International Development (DFID) is responsible for undertaking a wide variety of reviews and evaluations of the work that we support throughout the developing world. This includes, for example, project reviews, country programme reviews and evaluations of DFID’s partnerships, such as with United Nations agencies.
DFID’s Evaluation Department is currently managing a stocktake of DFID’s Social Exclusion policy, which will look into (among other things) how disability is addressed throughout our programmes, including through reviews and evaluations. We are also currently developing a cross-DFID policy on evaluation which will set principles, norms and standards for evaluations and reviews. There will be a public consultation on the draft policy document
at the end of this year. In this context, we would welcome public views on how to tackle complex issues such as addressing the inclusion of disabled people on a more systematic basis in our reviews and evaluations.
Economic and Monetary Union
Mr. Maude: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development on what date the euro changeover plan of his Department was last updated; and if he will place in the Library a copy of the most recent version. [215689]
Mr. Malik:
The Department for International Development's (DFID) Euro Programme Initiation
Document (PID) is dated May 2005. The most recent review was in May 2007. A copy will be placed in the Library.
EDF Energy
Mr. Hoban: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what contracts his Department has with EDF; and how much his Department paid to EDF in each of the last 10 years, broken down by the purpose of the payment. [221846]
Mr. Malik: The Department for International Development (DFID) has had three contracts with EDF for the supply of electricity. The payments made on those contracts are as follows:
| £ | ||||
| Financial year | London HQ 1 Palace Street | London Annexe 20 Victoria Street | East Kilbride HQ Abercrombie House | Total |
Environment Protection: Overseas Aid
Mrs. Curtis-Thomas: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what bodies will receive funding from the £24 million allocated to eliminate illegal logging; what proportion each will receive; and what steps will be taken to eliminate such logging. [224140]
Mr. Thomas: The bulk of the £24 million—£19 million—is the UK's contribution to implementation of Voluntary Partnership Agreements under the EU's Forest Law Enforcement Governance and Trade (FLEGT) Action Plan. These agreements will support improved forest governance in timber producing countries and implement a licensing scheme to ensure that their timber trade with the EU is legal. £12 million is for West and Central African countries and £7 million for Asian countries. Funds will go to both Government agencies and civil society organisations in these countries with allocation in each varying according to their specific programmes. The remaining £5 million is for international supporting actions, including policy research and support to civil society (approximately £1.326 million allocated to date), involvement of the private sector (£901,000 allocated to date), work with major non-EU timber importing countries (£233,000 allocated to date), and general programme coordination (£558,000 allocated to date). Further information is available on the Department for International Development website at:
Mrs. Curtis-Thomas: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what programmes will be funded by the £5 million committed to harmonise and strengthen international efforts for the creation of a favourable business climate in major timber producing countries. [224141]
Mr. Thomas: Grants to date for the private sector work have totalled approximately £901,000. These have included a grant to the UK Timber Trade Federation to work with its own members and with sister associations in the UK and other countries to adopt policies and practices that favour trade in legal and sustainable timber; support to WWF's Global Forest Trade Network to link businesses working to produce legal and sustainable timber in China and Ghana; and support for implementation of the UK's public timber procurement policy.
Grants and contracts for policy research, communications and advocacy work have totalled approximately £1.326 million to date. This has included meetings and research conducted by Chatham House; development of briefing notes to explain the EU Forest Law Enforcement, Governance and Trade Action Plan; support for production of short films and booklets about the problem of illegal logging and solutions to it; support for a civil society network between countries negotiating voluntary partnership agreements with the EU; and contribution to the European Forestry Institute to support the European Commission in negotiating and implementing voluntary partnership agreements.
Grants for work with major timber importing countries have totalled £233,000 to date. This has included support to the GLOBE Dialogue on Illegal logging associated with Japan's G8 Summit and initiation of work with India. It has also included government-to-government dialogue with the United States, Japan, China and other EU member states.
Commitments to date on programme coordination has totalled approximately £558,000. This has included fees for a programme facilitator, and annual independent programme monitoring.
Ethiopia: Overseas Aid
Harry Cohen: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what the reasons are for the amount of development aid and assistance allocated to (a) Ethiopia and (b) Eritrea in (i) 2006-07, (ii) 2007-08 and (iii) 2008-09. [222664]
Gillian Merron: UK Aid to Ethiopia was: £90.5 million in 2006-07 and £139.5 million in 2007-08 and is budgeted to be £140 million in 2008-09. These allocations have been made in recognition of the needs of the large poor population and the Government of Ethiopia’s commitment to poverty reduction, strong financial management capacity and programmes to improve capacity. The UK Government have been able to establish a strong development partnership that is delivering real impact in terms of better service delivery and poverty reduction.
UK Aid to Eritrea was £3.49 million in 2006-07 and £3.37 million in 2007-08 and is budgeted to be £2.1 million in 2008-09. UK Government assistance is limited to a humanitarian programme, which is channelled through international relief agencies. The UK Government do not have a development programme in Eritrea because it has not been possible to establish a development partnership with the Eritrean Government.
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