Asked by: Mike Kane (Labour - Wythenshawe and Sale East)
Question to the Department for International Development:
To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, if she will prioritise funding to multilateral agencies that focus their aid programmes and investments in Least Developed Countries.
Answered by Desmond Swayne
We prioritise funding to multilateral agencies depending on how well they meet UK and international development objectives. The agencies that we fund are currently being assessed by our Multilateral Aid Review which will report in the spring.
Asked by: Mike Kane (Labour - Wythenshawe and Sale East)
Question to the Department for International Development:
To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what discussions she has had with Foreign Office Ministers on the implementation by UK Overseas Territories of public registers of beneficial ownership.
Answered by Desmond Swayne
The UK continues to lead the way on beneficial ownership disclosure and to encourage others to do the same. We are having discussions at both Ministerial and official level with the Overseas Territories to emphasise the importance of this agenda. Any system should meet the following criteria: UK and domestic law enforcement and tax authorities must be able to access company beneficial ownership information without restriction, subject to relevant safeguards; these competent authorities should be able to quickly identify all companies that a particular beneficial owner has a stake in, without needing to submit multiple and repeated requests; and companies or their beneficial owners must not be alerted to the fact that an investigation is under way.
Asked by: Mike Kane (Labour - Wythenshawe and Sale East)
Question to the Department for International Development:
To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what discussions she has had with HM Treasury Ministers on the implementation by UK Overseas Territories of public registers of beneficial ownership.
Answered by Desmond Swayne
The UK continues to lead the way on beneficial ownership disclosure and to encourage others to do the same. We are having discussions at both Ministerial and official level with the Overseas Territories to emphasise the importance of this agenda. Any system should meet the following criteria: UK and domestic law enforcement and tax authorities must be able to access company beneficial ownership information without restriction, subject to relevant safeguards; these competent authorities should be able to quickly identify all companies that a particular beneficial owner has a stake in, without needing to submit multiple and repeated requests; and companies or their beneficial owners must not be alerted to the fact that an investigation is under way.
Asked by: Mike Kane (Labour - Wythenshawe and Sale East)
Question to the Department for International Development:
To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what steps her Department is taking to ensure its programme of work contributes to Goal 10 of the Sustainable Development Goals on reduced inequalities.
Answered by Desmond Swayne
The UK welcomes, and is committed to championing, the Global Goals. Through our commitment to global development, and by honouring our 0.7% aid commitments, we will play a key role in helping countries to achieve these goals – especially on eradicating extreme poverty, hunger and disease. The UK has played a key role in creating a set of goals that are universal and inclusive, and underpinned by a commitment to leave no one behind.
Given the focus of DFID’s work and interventions on those living in extreme poverty, DFID programmes contribute to reducing within country inequality. The new UK Aid strategy commits the government to being a world leader in implementing the Leave No One Behind Promise agreed by the Prime Minister and other world leaders in September 2015. To deliver the new strategy, the government will focus on the most vulnerable and disadvantaged, the most excluded, those caught in crises, and those most at risk of violence and discrimination.
Asked by: Mike Kane (Labour - Wythenshawe and Sale East)
Question to the Department for International Development:
To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what assessment she has made of the potential benefits to developing countries of the implementation of public registers of beneficial ownership by UK Overseas Territories with financial centres.
Answered by Desmond Swayne
The UK continues to lead the way on beneficial ownership disclosure and to encourage others to do the same. We are having discussions at both Ministerial and official level with the Overseas Territories to emphasise the importance of this agenda. Any system should meet the following criteria: UK and domestic law enforcement and tax authorities must be able to access company beneficial ownership information without restriction, subject to relevant safeguards; these competent authorities should be able to quickly identify all companies that a particular beneficial owner has a stake in, without needing to submit multiple and repeated requests; and companies or their beneficial owners must not be alerted to the fact that an investigation is under way.
Asked by: Mike Kane (Labour - Wythenshawe and Sale East)
Question to the Department for International Development:
To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, how many (a) locally engaged and (b) UK-based staff her Department has employed in each country with a DfID office in each year since 2010.
Answered by Desmond Swayne
The numbers of Staff Appointed in Country (SAIC) and Home Civil Service (HCS) based in DFID country offices in each year since 2010 are shown in the tables below. The figures are given for March of that year.
2010 | 2011 | 2012 | 2013 | 2014 | ||||||
Location | HCS | SAIC | HCS | SAIC | HCS | SAIC | HCS | SAIC | HCS | SAIC |
Afghanistan | 32 | 19 | 41 | 28 | 37 | 34 | 45 | 35 | 40 | 34 |
Bangladesh | 19 | 62 | 12 | 64 | 20 | 65 | 16 | 77 | 19 | 74 |
Bosnia and Herzegovina | 0 | 4 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
Burma | 6 | 4 | 5 | 5 | 6 | 5 | 8 | 11 | 10 | 18 |
Burundi | 3 | 3 | 3 | 4 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
Cambodia | 6 | 8 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
Caribbean | 9 | 10 | 8 | 9 | 8 | 10 | 12 | 11 | 12 | 9 |
China* | 7 | 18 | 4 | 12 | 4 | 10 | 4 | 10 | 4 | 10 |
Democratic Republic Of Congo | 14 | 30 | 18 | 30 | 21 | 36 | 24 | 40 | 29 | 46 |
Ethiopia | 18 | 36 | 16 | 42 | 23 | 47 | 26 | 60 | 19 | 75 |
Gambia | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
Ghana | 9 | 25 | 12 | 23 | 14 | 27 | 13 | 33 | 11 | 34 |
India | 19 | 86 | 17 | 81 | 20 | 86 | 18 | 86 | 17 | 90 |
Indonesia** | 3 | 8 | 4 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
Iraq | 5 | 1 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
Kenya*** | 17 | 37 | 22 | 38 | 33 | 42 | 36 | 50 | 38 | 52 |
Kosovo | 2 | 13 | 2 | 11 | 1 | 10 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
Kyrgyzstan | 2 | 6 | 2 | 6 | 0 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
Lesotho | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
Liberia**** | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
Malawi | 10 | 30 | 9 | 26 | 12 | 32 | 10 | 37 | 10 | 40 |
Moldova | 0 | 4 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
Mozambique | 9 | 22 | 8 | 26 | 9 | 29 | 9 | 25 | 13 | 25 |
Nepal | 14 | 35 | 13 | 37 | 17 | 40 | 16 | 42 | 13 | 43 |
Nigeria | 24 | 50 | 23 | 58 | 33 | 68 | 35 | 71 | 36 | 77 |
OPTs | 9 | 6 | 7 | 7 | 9 | 9 | 10 | 12 | 6 | 12 |
Overseas Territories | 6 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 5 | 1 | 5 | 2 | 2 | 1 |
Pakistan | 20 | 37 | 28 | 37 | 31 | 55 | 33 | 59 | 41 | 59 |
Rwanda | 12 | 15 | 11 | 17 | 9 | 27 | 12 | 30 | 15 | 29 |
Serbia | 0 | 5 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
Sierra Leone | 11 | 19 | 9 | 22 | 13 | 21 | 16 | 29 | 17 | 31 |
South Africa | 12 | 21 | 10 | 21 | 17 | 19 | 21 | 17 | 22 | 20 |
South Sudan | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 17 | 15 | 20 | 18 | 6 | 20 |
Sudan | 14 | 10 | 16 | 23 | 12 | 13 | 13 | 13 | 13 | 16 |
Tajikistan | 2 | 7 | 2 | 7 | 1 | 7 | 4 | 7 | 4 | 7 |
Tanzania | 13 | 20 | 14 | 19 | 19 | 23 | 21 | 29 | 24 | 32 |
Uganda | 11 | 23 | 10 | 24 | 11 | 28 | 9 | 33 | 23 | 35 |
Vietnam | 5 | 18 | 5 | 19 | 5 | 19 | 3 | 19 | 3 | 16 |
Yemen | 4 | 4 | 4 | 3 | 2 | 4 | 3 | 3 | 2 | 3 |
Zambia | 10 | 22 | 13 | 19 | 15 | 23 | 16 | 29 | 16 | 32 |
Zimbabwe | 9 | 21 | 9 | 21 | 12 | 19 | 13 | 19 | 15 | 18 |
*Our office in China works with the Chinese government to help reduce poverty in other developing countries. In March 2011 DFID closed its bilateral aid programme to China.
** In March 2011, DFID closed its poverty reduction programme and the DFID country office in Indonesia.
*** DFID Somalia was run out of the DFID Kenya office until April 2014
**** DFID’s programmes in Liberia are run from the Sierra Leone office.
Asked by: Mike Kane (Labour - Wythenshawe and Sale East)
Question to the Department for International Development:
To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, at what intervals her Department plans to fund Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance between 2016 and 2020; what threshold will have to be met by other donors to ensure that her Department's funding to that organisation can be released; and at what intervals her Department plans to assess whether that threshold has been met.
Answered by Desmond Swayne
The UK remains a strong and active supporter of Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance. The UK recently pledged up to £1 billion to Gavi for 2016 to 2020. The full UK contribution to Gavi will save a child’s life every two minutes. This funding will be disbursed in tranches on an annual basis. The full UK funding will be released so long as the total amount committed by donors meets Gavi’s replenishment target of $7.5 billion. Whether this threshold has been met will be assessed by DFID officials continually over the period 2016 – 2020.
Asked by: Mike Kane (Labour - Wythenshawe and Sale East)
Question to the Department for International Development:
To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, how many contracts her Department has awarded to (a) small and medium-sized enterprises and (b) mid-sized businesses in each year since 2010.
Answered by Justine Greening
Since 2011, DFID has recorded the amount of small and medium-sized enterprises in centrally managed contracts. We do not categorise suppliers by ‘mid-sized business’.
The department awarded the following amount of centrally managed contracts with SME’s during the periods 2011, 2012, 2013, and 2014 (up until end of September).
Year | Number of centrally managed contracts awarded by DFID categorised as SME |
2011 | 49 |
2012 | 47 |
2013 | 104 |
2014 to end September | 54 |