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9 Feb 2009 : Column 1614W—continued
—continuedInternational Development
Agriculture: Research
Tim Farron: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what funding his Department has allocated for agricultural research and development in each of the last five years. [254714]
Mr. Michael Foster: The Department for International Development (DFID) is a major funder of international agricultural research. Details for the last five years are as follows:
| £ million | |
Democratic Republic of Congo: Overseas Aid
Mr. Roger Williams: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what recent assessment he has made of the (a) recent humanitarian situation in the Democratic Republic of Congo and (b) adequacy of the (i) UK's and (ii) international community's long-term aid efforts; and if he will make a statement. [254115]
Mr. Ivan Lewis: The humanitarian situation remains grave with up to 1.3 million displaced in eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) and many conflict affected communities in need of emergency assistance. According to the UN, almost 130,000 people in Province Orientale have been recently displaced by the Lord's Resistance Army (LRA) attacks and almost 300 killed in January as Joint DRC/Ugandan/South Sudan military operations are underway. There are also Joint Rwandan and DRC military operations in North Kivu to tackle the Democratic Liberation Forces of Rwanda (FDLR). Humanitarian access and protection of civilians remain key areas of concern. John Holmes, UN Under-Secretary General and Emergency Relief Co-ordinator will be visiting DRC between 6-10 February to assess the humanitarian response and protection concerns in North Kivu and Province Oriental.
The UK Government are a major donor to DRC and will provide £230 million between 2009-10 and 2010-11. We have developed a development programme which responds to the needs and constraints of the country, balancing meeting short-term needs (e.g. humanitarian assistance) with helping to lay the foundation for long-term development. We have worked closely with the international community to develop a joint donor framework and donor co-ordination is slowly improving. Given the high levels of poverty DRC remains under-funded overall. However, there are currently significant operational constraints to absorbing further aid.
Departmental Overtime
Mr. Andrew Mitchell: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development how much his Department paid to staff in overtime payments in each of the last three financial years. [254028]
Mr. Douglas Alexander: The cost of overtime payments paid to DFID staff in each of the last three financial years is as follows:
| Cost of overtime payments to DFID staff (£) | |
Economic Situation
Grant Shapps: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what recent discussions his Department has had with outside organisations to discuss policy on reducing the effect of the recession on matters within his Department's responsibility. [254059]
Mr. Thomas: Ministers and Officials at the Department for International Development (DFID) have regular engagements with outside organisations including relevant Government Departments on a range of issues relating to the economy.
Equality
Mrs. Curtis-Thomas: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development who in his Department (a) has line management responsibility for the Director General Diversity Champion and (b) is responsible for making diversity plans publicly available. [253736]
Mr. Ivan Lewis: Line management responsibility for the Director General Diversity Champion in the Department for International Development rests with the Permanent Secretary. A diversity team in Human Resources Division is responsible for ensuring that the Department's diversity plans are published on our external website.
India: Irrigation
Tim Farron: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what funding his Department has given to major irrigation projects in the Andhra Pradesh region of India. [254619]
Mr. Michael Foster: The Department for International Development (DFID) has not provided any funding in direct support of major irrigation projects in the state of Andhra Pradesh.
However, DFID has provided £39 million to the Government of Andhra Pradesh for community-based water management through the Andhra Pradesh Rural Livelihoods Project (June 1999 to December 2007). Technical support, worth a further £147,000, has been provided to increase the ability of the Andhra Pradesh state Government irrigation department to effectively manage irrigation systems in the state.
Inland Waterways
Mr. Drew: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development to which UN-sponsored conventions on watercourses the UK (a) is and (b) is not a signatory; and what plans he has to sign such conventions to which the UK is not presently a signatory. [253851]
Mr. Michael Foster: There are two principal UN sponsored conventions that deal with freshwater: the UN Conventions of the Non-Navigational Uses of International Watercourses (1997); and the UN Economic Commission for Europe, Convention on the Protection and Use of Transboundary Watercourses and International Lakes (1992).
The UK has not signed, ratified or acceded to the UN Convention on the Non-Navigational Uses of International Watercourses Convention and has no current plans to do so. To date, 16 countries have signed this convention (out of 35 required for it to enter into force) and there are 15 parties to the convention. DFID is currently working with WWF-UK to review the international architecture that supports water resources management, including the potential role for the convention.
The UK is a signatory to the UN Economic Commission for Europe, Convention on the Protection and Use of Transboundary Watercourses and International Lakes, 1992, but has not ratified it. Ratification would be led by the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA).
Other key conventions that make specific reference to water include the UN Convention to Combat Desertification in Countries Experiencing Serious Drought and/or Desertification, particularly in Africa (UNCCD). The UK signed the UNCCD in 1994 and ratified in 1996.
Malawi: Diplomatic Service
Mr. Andrew Mitchell: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what the entertainment allowance was for his Department's office in Malawi in the last financial year for which figures are available. [254029]
Mr. Ivan Lewis: The Department for International Development's Malawi office forecasted spend on office entertainment was £3,000 for the financial year 2007-08. Of this, £2,384 was spent.
Treasury
Agriculture: Subsidies
Mr. Hayes: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what estimate he has made of the UK's net financial contribution to funding the Common Agricultural Policy in (a) 2008-09 and (b) 2009 to 2011. [256103]
Ian Pearson: The United Kingdom makes its contributions to the EC Budget as a whole and not to individual expenditure areas within it. The Government publish forecasts of UK gross, after taking account of the UK abatement, and net contributions to the EC Budget in their annual European Community Finances White Paper. The 2009 White Paper will be published later this year and will include forecasts for the period 2008-09 to 2010-11.
Apprentices
Mr. Willetts: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer with reference to the Answer of 22 May 2008, Official Report, column 434W, on apprentices, what progress has been made in increasing the number of apprentices in his Department and its agencies; and how many apprentices his Department and its agencies employ. [251925]
Angela Eagle: Since the previous question raised by the hon. Member, HM Treasury and its agencies have had no apprenticeships or advanced apprenticeships in place. Efforts are made to raise awareness of the programmes available and HM Treasury and its agencies will continue to seek to attract potential candidates to apprenticeship schemes including with our outsourced suppliers.
Methods used to promote the advantages of the apprenticeships and trying to recruit to the Government Pathway scheme include circulating literature and holding promotional events with external suppliers. The lack of take-up can be attributed to the highly skilled workforce that is already in place. A recent sample of HM Treasury and Office of Government Commerce colleagues found 98.6 per cent. of respondents were qualified to level 2 or above. This suggests the pool of potential applicants for apprenticeships is relatively small.
Banks: Audit
Mr. Austin Mitchell: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer (1) which banks regulated by the Financial Services Authority received a qualified audit report on their 2007-08 accounts; [254945]
(2) which banks regulated by the Financial Services Authority bought consultancy services from their auditors in the last two years. [255255]
Ian Pearson: The information requested is published in the annual reports of the individual institutions and is available in the public domain.
Banks: Directors
Mr. Gordon Prentice: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will review the law on banking as it relates to (a) the fiduciary duties of directors and (b) the penalties for acting in ways which are negligent or reckless. [250208]
Ian Pearson [holding answer 22 January 2009]: It is important that any shortcomings identified in the management of banks are addressed to ensure proper governance of UK financial institutions.
Recent improvements in practice and supervision include the changes proposed to the FSA’s approved persons regime (CP08/25) that will better allow the FSA to assess the fitness and propriety of directors of parent holding companies that control major UK banks. The fiduciary duties of directors and the consequences of breach of these duties are set out in company law.
Banks: Finance
Mr. Mudie: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer with reference to the Statement of 13 October 2008, Official Report, columns 539-472, on financial markets, which institutions have taken up (a) the Government scheme for new lending between banks and (b) the £37 billion made available for bank recapitalisation; and what assessment he has made of the effect of these arrangements on levels of inter-bank lending. [250661]
Ian Pearson:
RBS Group plc, Lloyds TSB plc and HBOS Group plc have announced the terms on which they are participating in the Government’s recapitalisation
scheme. Details are set out in the Placing and Open Offer Agreements that are available in the Libraries of both Houses of Parliament.
These banks are also eligible to use the Government’s Credit Guarantee Scheme (CGS), under which up to £250 billion of bank lending will be guaranteed. Participating banks have accessed some £100 billion of funding under the CGS so far. A list of participating institutions is published by the Debt Management Office at
Figures for individual banks are confidential. As the Chancellor of the Exchequer noted on 19 January, these guarantees have been successful in helping to bring down the inter-bank lending rate.
Banks: Government Assistance
Mr. Frank Field: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what financial sum the Government has allocated for the (a) Special Liquidity Scheme, (b) Credit Guarantee Scheme, (c) Bank Recapitalisation Plan, (d) Homeowner Mortgage Support Scheme, (e) Working Capital Scheme for SMEs, (f) Enterprise Finance Guarantee, (g) Capital for Enterprise Fund and (h) Banking Plan; how much has been spent on each scheme to date; and whether the funding for each scheme will be provided from (a) borrowing and (b) quantitative easing. [250374]
Ian Pearson [holding answer 22 January 2009]: The breakdown of the allocations is as follows:
(a) At least £200 billion will be made available to banks in exchange for high quality assets. The Bank of England will disclose the final amount in due course.
(b) Up to £250 billion of bank lending will be guaranteed. These are not funds disbursed by the Government—all guarantees provided under the Credit Guarantee Scheme are contingent liabilities. Participating banks have accessed some £100 billion of funding under the CGS so far.
(c) Up to £50 billion has been made available in the Government’s recapitalisation scheme. The Government have invested £19.97 billion in RBS and £16.96 billion in Lloyds TSB/HBOS.
(d) The Government are still working on the final design of the scheme. £3million has provisionally been allocated for costs in 2008-09, with further allocations yet to be finalised. No funds have been spent on the scheme to date.
(e) The WCS scheme is designed to break even but in the event that additional costs arise, we have given BERR additional flexibility to manage its resources effectively. This will ensure that up to £225 million is available should any costs arise. No funds have been spent on the scheme to date.
(f) £130 million has been allocated to the scheme which has started lending to businesses from reprioritisation within the BERR’s departmental expenditure limit (DEL) and access to the HMT Reserve. No funds have been spent on the scheme to date.
(g) Up to £50 million will be made available from within BERR’s departmental expenditure limit. No funds have been spent on the scheme to date.
(h) Up to £50 billion will be made available under the Bank of England asset purchase facility. With respect to the Asset Protection Scheme, the Government will publish further details by the last week of February.
Overall, the liabilities taken on will be backed by financial assets and fees will be charged for guarantees, safeguarding the taxpayers’ interests.
Banks: Loans
Mr. Gordon Prentice: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer on how many occasions since 2000 the accounts of a UK bank have been qualified by the auditors on grounds arising from concerns about loans made to (a) entities and (b) individuals overseas whose ability to repay was questionable. [250207]
Ian Pearson [holding answer 22 January 2009]: The directors of a UK financial institution are required to write down a loan in their accounts when they have doubts about the collectability of a loan (whether made to a domestic or offshore individual or entity).
If the auditor believes directors have understated or inappropriately disclosed the write down it must provide an emphasis of matter (if inadequate) or qualification (if misleading) in its audit report.
Audit reports and the qualifications they contain are published in conjunction with entities financial statements and filed at Companies House. No central database recording this class of audit qualifications is maintained.
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