| Previous Section | Index | Home Page |
15 Dec 2008 : Column 344W—continued
DFID plans to provide the following funding over the next three financial years to Commonwealth Scholarships:
| £ | |
Departmental Accountancy
Mr. Andrew Mitchell: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development if he will place in the Library a copy of his Department’s (a) chart of accounts and (b) resource accounts codes and usage descriptions together with the amount of expenditure for each account code for (i) 2006-07 and (ii) 2007-08. [241115]
Mr. Douglas Alexander: I refer the hon. Member to the answer given on 20 November 2008, Official Report, column 755-6W to the hon. Member for Ilford, North (Mr. Scott).
Departmental Air Travel
Mr. Andrew Mitchell: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development how many business class, work-related flights taken by members of his Department's staff through the flexible travel scheme were (a) eligible for downgrade to economy class and (b) downgraded to economy class in (i) 2006-07 and (ii) 2007-08. [241216]
Mr. Douglas Alexander: This information can be provided only at disproportionate cost.
Departmental Catering
Mr. Scott: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development how much was spent on the staff restaurant subsidy at his Department in each of the last three years. [241116]
Mr. Douglas Alexander: The subsidy for the last three years is as follows:
| £ | |
Departmental Databases
Mr. Andrew Mitchell: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development if he will place in the Library an electronic copy of his Department's Performance Reporting Information System for management databases. [242757]
Mr. Douglas Alexander: The Department for International Development's (DFID) Performance Reporting Information System for Management is a multi-tiered database system with interdependencies on other internal DFID systems. It is therefore too complex to be made available as an electronic copy in the Library.
Departmental Disabled Staff
Mr. Harper: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what conclusions his Department has reached in fulfilment of its duty under section 3.111 of the statutory code of practice of the disability equality duty. [240981]
Mr. Michael Foster: The Department for International Development (DFID) published its Disability Equality Scheme on 4 December 2006. The scheme includes an action plan to turn commitments into practice. The scheme and action plan is helping DFID promote equality for disabled people as an employer, a service provider and an organisation that can use its influence within the wider field of international development.
DFID holds the Jobcentre Plus ‘Two Ticks’ disability symbol which promotes the recruitment and retention of people with disabilities. We also have in place a Disability Champion and a strengthened Disability Forum Network. Priority has been given to delivering consistent messages across DFID to raise greater awareness among managers and staff of disability issues. As a result staff are beginning to feel comfortable about declaring their disability, with a 10 per cent. rise in self-declaration over the last 18 months.
Overall DFID has made significant progress in promoting disability equality in the past year. DFID recognises a need to do more. A central diversity team will continue to monitor progress against the action plan and report on progress in DFID’s 2008-09 Annual Diversity Report, to be published in March 2009. DFID will review its Disability Equality Scheme once the Single Equality Bill becomes an Act.
DFID’s Disability Equality Scheme can be found at
Departmental Higher Education
Mr. Hoban: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development how many staff in his Department undertook courses funded by the Department for (a) undergraduate degrees, (b) postgraduate degrees or diplomas, (c) Masters degrees, (d) MBA degrees and (e) PhD degrees in the last 12 months, broken down by pay band. [242134]
Mr. Michael Foster: Reporting the number staff in the Department for International Development (DFID) who undertook the funded courses (a) undergraduate degrees, (b) postgraduate degrees or diplomas, (c) masters degrees, (d) MBA degrees and (e) PhD degrees in the last 12 months, broken down by pay band, could be provided only at disproportionate cost.
Approximately 100 sub-departments and overseas offices within DFID are responsible for arranging and financing further and higher education. Information on the number and grades of staff undertaking such courses is not held centrally.
Departmental Internet
Mr. Stephen O'Brien: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development with reference to the Answer of 4 November 2008, Official Report, columns 336-37W, on Government departments: information and communications technology, which IP addresses are used by (a) his Department and (b) computers in the offices of its (i) Ministers, (ii) communications officials and (iii) special advisers. [241955]
Mr. Michael Foster: To help defend against electronic attack, it is standard good information security practice for corporate IT systems not to publish internal IP addresses. When accessing internet websites, the IP addresses of all of the computers on the Department for International Development’s (DFID) internal office IT system are hidden behind the following IP addresses which are publicly available—195.92.40.49 and 62.25.106.209. These IP addresses are shared with other Government Departments that use the Government secure intranet.
Departmental Marketing
Mr. Philip Hammond: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development how many staff in his Department are responsible for brand management and marketing; and what the cost of employing such staff was in 2007-08. [240387]
Mr. Michael Foster: The Department for International Development (DFID) employs eight full-time equivalent staff who are responsible for a wide range of marketing and communication activities. The cost of employing these staff in financial year 2007-08 was £378,645.
Departmental Procurement
Mr. Clifton-Brown: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what proportion of his Department's contracts went to UK companies in the latest period for which figures are available. [241906]
Mr. Douglas Alexander: The information requested could not be provided without incurring disproportionate cost.
Departmental Public Expenditure
Mr. Andrew Mitchell: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what projects his Department has funded at or above the value of £100,000 for each of the last three years. [241263]
Mr. Douglas Alexander: Data on Department for International Development (DFID) projects are available through two international portals: the AiDA Development Gateway and the OECD Development Assistance Committee’s Creditor Reporting System (CRS). Each portal can be assessed through the following links:
There are plans to publish more detailed information about individual DFID projects in a database on the DFID website during 2009.
Departmental Training
Mr. Andrew Mitchell: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what the (a) cost, (b) location, (c) duration, (d) purpose, (e) number of attendees and (f) date was of each of his Department's staff retreats in each of the last three years. [241114]
Mr. Douglas Alexander: I refer the hon. Member to the answer given to the hon. Member for Ilford, North (Mr. Scott) on 21 October 2008, Official Report, column 199W.
Kashmir: Overseas Aid
Mr. David Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what recent discussions he has had with the British Red Cross on the provision of humanitarian aid to Indian-administered Kashmir. [242450]
Mr. Michael Foster: The Department for International Development has regular dialogue with the British Red Cross and the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) on key humanitarian emergencies around the World.
During Gareth Thomas’s meeting with Jakob Kellenberger, President of the ICRC, on 7 September 2008 there was no reference to the access of humanitarian aid to Indian-administered Kashmir. Official dialogue with the British Red Cross have focused on their programmes with partner national societies and have not involved discussion on Kashmir.
Overseas Aid
Mr. Clifton-Brown: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what safeguards his Department has put in place to make sure that where direct budgetary aid is given (a) the money is correctly spent and (b) it does not lead to the substitution of other Government expenditure which has not been approved. [241907]
Mr. Michael Foster: Budget support is only used where the recipient government is committed to reducing poverty, upholding human rights and other international obligations and strengthening public financial management, promoting good governance and transparency, fighting corruption.
We protect our funds in three ways:
We assess the risks carefully and have our assessment checked by external experts.
We ensure that governments have a credible reform programme to improve their systems; and provide technical support to help them.
We use safeguards to prevent misuse of funds; e.g. procurement approval by someone outside of the national systems, additional audits of particular sectors or tracking money from the Ministry of Finance to make sure it gets to the right places.
We monitor government budgets and expenditure carefully every year to make sure that money is spent according to their plans and priorities. We look at the whole budget and all areas of expenditure. We look not just at the amounts governments spend but also the proportion of their budgets—for example we look at whether health and education is going up, not just in absolute terms but as a percentage of total government expenditure. If governments go off-track with their spending plans we raise these issues at the highest levels. If necessary we reduce or suspend support or deliver it in a different way.
Mr. Clifton-Brown: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what percentage of his Department's projects are re-visited after completion but during the expected life of the project to ensure they are still functioning and maintained properly. [241910]
Mr. Douglas Alexander: All of the Department for International Development's (DFID) projects over £1 million are required to have a logical framework, detailing objectives and expected outcomes. A formal assessment of progress against the logical framework is carried out annually. At the close of a project, a project completion report assesses achievement against this framework and identifies lessons learned to improve future effectiveness and value for money.
DFID does not set a specific percentage for coverage of post-completion assessments, but post-completion impact and sustainability of major individual projects is assessed when undertaking country programme evaluations (CPE), thematic and policy evaluations, with up to 25 reports produced annually. CPEs are timed to influence future country/regional plans and approaches to results management; they are carried out by independent consultants who have a final say on content. Follow up to evaluation recommendations are tracked and reported on annually to the Independent Advisory Committee on Development Impact (IACDI), who regulates DFID's evaluation work programme to assure quality and independence.
Somalia: Overseas Aid
Mr. Hague: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development with reference to the Answer of 19 November 2008, Official Report, column 655W, on Gulf of Aden: piracy, if he will provide a breakdown of the £25 million allocated by his Department to support efforts to tackle the instability in Somalia which creates the conditions allowing piratical activity to flourish. [240674]
Mr. Douglas Alexander: The Department for International Development (DFID) has allocated £30 million to Somalia this financial year to address poverty and humanitarian needs which underlie the instability in Somalia. The £25 million referred to by the Foreign Secretary has since been supplemented.
So far this financial year DFID Somalia has disbursed its allocation as follows:
£2,792,000 on governance, including support for the successful completion of voter registration in three districts to date in preparation for the 2009 Somaliland presidential elections;
£1,568,000 on education, including helping to increase enrolment in Somaliland from 40,000 to 70,000 through the distribution of school textbooks and the provision of alternative education programmes;
£1,235,000 on health, including combating malaria in Somaliland through the distribution of 120,000 bed nets, and improving health care in Gedo region of South Central Somalia through the rehabilitation of three district hospitals;
£1,021,000 on livelihoods, including training of 180 female entrepreneurs;
£10,098,000 on humanitarian assistance, including food support to the equivalent of 83,000 individuals over the last four years.
A further £500,000 from the Africa Conflict Prevention Pool has been spent in helping the parties implementing the Djibouti Peace Agreement.
Southern Africa: Cholera
Mr. Keith Simpson: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what recent assessment he has made of the extent of the spread to (a) Botswana and (b) South Africa of the cholera outbreak in Zimbabwe; and how many people are estimated to be affected by the disease in each of these countries. [242804]
Mr. Douglas Alexander: According to the World Health Organisation figures, as of 8 December only two cholera cases have so far been reported in Botswana. In South Africa, more than 500 Zimbabweans with cholera have been treated, with 10 deaths reported.
St Helena
Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what steps his Department is taking to attract investment to St Helena. [240877]
Mr. Michael Foster: I refer the hon. Member to the written statement made on 8 December 2008, Official Report, column 40WS.
| Next Section | Index | Home Page |