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27 Jan 2010 : Column 891W—continued
Departmental Disclosure of Information
David Davis: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development which non-departmental public bodies for which his Department is responsible sell information on a commercial basis to (a) companies or individuals in the private sector and (b) other organisations. [313228]
Mr. Michael Foster: The Department for International Development (DFID) is responsible for one non-departmental public body, the Commonwealth Scholarship Commission (CSC). The CSC does not sell any information on a commercial basis to companies, individuals or other organisations.
Departmental Manpower
Mr. Philip Hammond: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development how many layers of management reporting from the most senior to the most junior there are in his Department; how many officials are employed in each such layer; and how much was spent on salaries and associated employment costs of staff at each such layer in the latest year for which information is available. [312832]
Mr. Michael Foster: The Department for International Development (DFID) has a senior civil service (SCS) structure consisting of four separate management grades. Below the SCS there are a further eight grades. The following table shows the total number of staff at each grade and their associated employment costs for the 2008-09 financial year.
| DFID grade | Traditional civil service grade | Number of staff( 1) | Employment cost( 2) (£000) |
| (1) Staff numbers are on a headcount basis and include all DFID home civil service staff. (2 )Employment cost consists of base salaries, overtime, performance related pay and includes the employer's share of NI and pension contributions. (3) Cost withheld on confidentiality grounds as numbers in the grade are fewer than five. (4) Staff in these grades do not have line management responsibilities. | |||
Developing Countries: Educational Visits
Mr. Lancaster: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development how much funding for school children to visit developing countries his Department allocated to pupils who attended National Challenge schools in (a) 2008-09 and (b) 2009-10; and if he will make a statement. [312735]
Mr. Michael Foster: The following table shows how much funding for school children to visit developing countries the Department for International Development (DFID) provided to National Challenge schools in 2008-09 and 2009-10.
| DFID funding for children to visit developing countries who attend National Challenge schools ( a pproximate figures) | |
| £ | |
In 2009-10, fewer National Challenge schools applied for Global Curriculum Project grants compared to 2008-9. There were no unsuccessful applications from National Challenge schools in either 2008-09 or 2009-10.
This funding was provided through the Global School Partnerships programme implemented by the British Council.
Haiti: Overseas Aid
Mr. Dai Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what aid the Government have provided to Haiti in each year since 1997; for what purposes; and with which non-governmental organisations his Department has worked in Haiti over this period. [312692]
Mr. Michael Foster: The Department for International Development's (DFID's) aid expenditure is published annually in "Statistics on International Development", which is available in the House Library and at:
The relevant figures for Haiti are reproduced in the following table.
| £ | ||
| UK Financial year | Total UK bilateral aid | Total UK imputed multilateral aid |
| (1) Not yet available. (2) These figures are provisional and only include spend up to 12 January 2010. | ||
In addition to these annual figures the UK has pledged £20 million in emergency assistance since the earthquake of 12 January 2010.
The majority of the UK's support to Haiti has been through multilateral channels, such as the United Nations (UN) agencies, the European Commission (EC) and World Bank. DFID does not have a regular bilateral programme for medium and long term development in Haiti. However bilateral aid has been provided for humanitarian purposes and debt relief.
Since 1997 DFID has supported work in Haiti by the following non-governmental organisations: Fonkoze, Oxfam, Handicap International, Action against Hunger, ActionAid, Catholic Aid for Overseas Development (CAFOD), CARE International, Christian Aid, Ethical Training Initiative, HelpAge International, International HIV/AIDS Alliance, Panos, Progressio and Transparency International.
Mr. Dai Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development how much emergency aid has been provided to Haiti by the EU since the recent earthquake; and what discussions he has had at EU level on provision of aid. [312693]
Mr. Michael Foster: On 18 January I attended a meeting of EU Ministers responsible for development and humanitarian aid in Brussels to discuss the support that the EU would provide to Haiti in the short, medium and long term. At the meeting, the European Commission pledged €30 million for emergency assistance, along with €100 million for early rehabilitation. It was also indicated that some €200 million more will be available for longer term reconstruction. These contributions are in addition to the €92 million pledged by individual EU countries at the same meeting.
Since the earthquake struck on 12 January, the Secretary of State for International Development has been in regular contact with the European Union High Representative Cathy Ashton, together with other European Ministers.
Morocco: Overseas Aid
Daniel Kawczynski: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development how much aid his Department allocated to Morocco in (a) 2005, (b) 2006, (c) 2007, (d) 2008 and (e) 2009. [312913]
Mr. Michael Foster: The Department for International Development (DFID) does not have a bilateral programme in Morocco. In 2005-06 DFID spent £1 million on humanitarian assistance. No other bilateral aid has been allocated to Morocco between 2005 and 2009.
Details of DFID's aid expenditure in developing countries are published in Statistics on International Development, which is available in the Library or online at:
Overseas Aid
Miss McIntosh: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what recent representations he has received on the policy of results-based aid; and if he will make a statement. [312918]
Mr. Thomas: I refer the hon. Member to the oral answer provided on 20 January 2010, Official Report, column 287-8, on results-based aid.
Sudan: Elections
Mr. Drew: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what funding his Department has made available to the government of (a) Sudan and (b) Southern Sudan to assist preparations for the forthcoming (i) elections and (ii) referendum. [312616]
Mr. Thomas: The Department for International Development (DFID) does not provide any funds directly to the Government of Sudan or the Government of Southern Sudan.
However, we have supported preparations for the election since 2007 through alternative means. DFID has spent £2.95 million providing training to the media and domestic observation groups as well as technical assistance on civic education and conflict management. We have also contributed £1.5 million to the Elections Basket Fund, managed by UN Development programme (UNDP). This fund provides support to all aspects of the electoral process, and continues the focus on civic and voter education and conflict prevention. On 6 January 2010, the UK announced a further £8.05 million contribution to the Elections Basket Fund, bringing our total contribution to support elections in Sudan to £12.5 million.
The UK is looking into kind of what assistance we can provide to support the referendum due to take place in 2010. We continue to discuss the nature and co-ordination of this support with the parties in Sudan and all our international partners.
West Africa: Overseas Aid
Daniel Kawczynski: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development if he will increase aid to Morocco, Tunisia and Libya to help these states tackle illegal immigration from Western Africa to Europe. [312849]
Mr. Michael Foster: The Department for International Development (DFID) aims to provide 90 per cent. of funding to low income countries. Given the middle income status of the majority of North African countries they are not the focus for our bilateral aid programmes.
The UK works closely with EU member states and third country partners to tackle illegal immigration into the EU. Illegal immigration is an important issue for the UK and the EU and we continue to work with third country partners on a range of operational activities and agreements, both bilaterally and with our EU partners.
This work takes various forms such as the Assisted Voluntary Return scheme in Libya implemented by the International Organisation for Migration.
Foreign and Commonwealth Office
Caribbean: EU External Trade
Mr. Drew: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what recent progress has been made on individual Caribbean countries signing Economic Partnership Agreements with the EU; and what recent representations he has received on the fairness of such agreements. [309435]
Chris Bryant:
The Economic Partnership Agreement (EPA) between the CARIFORUM States and the European Community (EC) and its member states was signed by 13 CARIFORUM states on 15 October 2008: Antigua and Barbuda, The Commonwealth of the Bahamas, Barbados, Belize, The Commonwealth of Dominica, The Dominican Republic, Grenada, Jamaica, Saint
Christopher and Nevis, Saint Lucia, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, The Republic of Suriname, and the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago. The Republic of Guyana signed on 20 October 2008 and most recently The Republic of Haiti signed on 11 December 2009. With the signature of Haiti, all 15 Caribbean states who chose to negotiate the EPA with the EC have now signed. The Foreign and Commonwealth Office has not received any recent representations on the fairness of this agreement.
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