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PRIVATE BUSINESS
Lever Park Bill
Order for Second Reading read.
To be read a Second time on Tuesday 1 July.
Oral Answers to Questions
INTERNATIONAL DEVELOPMENT
Group Enterprises
1. Mr. Love: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development in what ways her Department has been supporting co-operatives and other forms of group enterprise through overseas aid; and what new initiatives are planned. [3850]
The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for International Development (Mr. George Foulkes): I am sure that my hon. Friend will be pleased to hear that we are actively encouraging the creation of co-operatives, especially to manage a communal resource, share risk, or increase the power of individuals in the market. We are seeking new opportunities to support the co-operative ideal, for example through micro-finance schemes. I recently met the president of the International Co-operative Alliance to discuss how we can learn from experience in other countries.
Mr. Love: I thank the Minister for his helpful reply. I welcome the Government's support for the ethos of co-operation. Does my hon. Friend agree that co-operatives are people-centred organisations that are able to balance the need to make a profit with the social objectives of their members? If he does, will he take the opportunity to reverse the considerable decline in recent years of support for co-operatives by the previous Government? As part of that process, will he enter into dialogue with co-operative organisations both nationally and internationally to help him to achieve the Government's objectives for the third world?
Mr. Foulkes: My hon. Friend is right. Co-ops balance profit-seeking with social goals. As I have said, we met the president of the ICA and I also plan to discuss development with the Co-operative college in Loughborough and with the Plunkett Foundation in Oxford. Co-ops represent a good middle way between centralised state control and free market idolatry, and we shall do all that we can to encourage them.
Mr. Rowe: Is the Minister aware of organisations, such as the Australian-based Maranatha group, which make small loans to small companies? Is he further aware that such loan-making companies have an extraordinary repayment record, which is sometimes as high as 85 or 90 per cent? Will he do everything in his power to encourage that kind of highly cost-effective assistance?
Mr. Foulkes: I am grateful to the hon. Gentleman for his positive encouragement. It is not often that we get that from the Opposition. He gives a good example, and there is also the example of the Grameen bank in Bangladesh, which has had good repayment, especially by women who have been given small loans. That is exactly the kind of thing that we shall encourage, because it will encourage the development of the poorest of the poor.
World Bank
2. Dr. Lynne Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what recent discussions she has had about the operations of the World bank. [3856]
The Secretary of State for International Development (Clare Short): Since 1 May, I have met Mr. James Wolfensohn twice and had useful discussions about how the bank can focus more effectively on poverty eradication.
Dr. Jones: My right hon. Friend has already made it clear that she intends that the elimination of poverty rather than political and economic considerations must be at the heart of our aid programme. I am sure that she realises that that can only be achieved wholly if the World bank has a similar shift in its priorities. I am glad to hear that my right hon. Friend discussed that with Mr. Wolfensohn. Did she also press him on the need for the World bank to be more accountable and transparent, particularly in relation to the publication of the voting records of member nations?
Clare Short: I am grateful to my hon. Friend. She is absolutely right. We want to get everyone in the world and all the major institutions to sign up to the recommended policy of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development's assistance committee that world poverty should be halved by 2015. That is achievable if all the world's major institutions co-operate, and the World bank is the key to that. James Wolfensohn is clearly in favour of greater transparency and I favour the World bank's country plans being openly published in the country, so that everyone who lives there knows what the World bank's strategy is. Open publishing of voting records is a more complex and difficult question because it might stultify the debate. We need more discussion about whether open publishing would be helpful.
Dr. Fox: If the international financial institutions continue to drag their feet over the highly indebted poor countries initiative, will the Government make money available unilaterally to kick start the process?
Clare Short: As the hon. Gentleman knows and as we discussed during our previous Question Time, the British Government--his own and this one--have been firmly in the lead on the HIPC initiative in trying to achieve debt forgiveness, and he will also know that Britain has written off all its bilateral debt to 17 of the poorest countries in Africa. The problems are not with the World bank, but with the International Monetary Fund and with some of the member countries. We are doing everything in our power to apply all sorts of pressure and to mobilise public opinion to achieve much faster progress on the implementation of the HIPC initiative.
Tibet
4. Dr. Tonge: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development if she will make a statement regarding United Kingdom aid to Tibet. [3858]
Mr. Foulkes: We believe that we can best assist the people of Tibet through small-scale projects that respond
directly to the needs of local communities. Since the financial year 1995-96, we have allocated about three quarters of a million pounds through non-governmental organisations to a variety of projects, both in Tibet and for Tibetans living in Sichuan and India.
Dr. Tonge: I thank the Minister for his reply. I am sure that he realises that, over recent years, a million people have died in Tibet and that 60 per cent. of its population are now Chinese. That is due to the actions of the Chinese Government, who have had a very repressive regime in Tibet since 1949. What steps does he intend to take to ensure that aid is not used unwisely by the Chinese occupiers of Tibet? While he is answering that question, perhaps he would like to extend his thoughts to the actions of the Indonesian Government in East Timor, where British aid is still going. They are denying the people of East Timor--
Madam Speaker: Order. One question at a time. The question relates to Tibet. The Minister will answer on Tibet.
Mr. Foulkes: If the hon. Lady wants to table another question on Indonesia, we would be happy to answer that as well.
Our policy on Tibet is also a matter of concern for the Foreign Office, but I assure the hon. Lady that the £750,000 to which I referred earlier goes through non-governmental organisations such as Save the Children Fund, directly to help poor people in Tibet. The Government are concerned about human rights in the whole of China, including Tibet, and we shall continue to raise our concerns directly with the Government of China, both bilaterally and in international forums.
Mr. Wilkinson:
I welcome the amount of money dispersed through NGOs to Tibet, but will Her Majesty's Government address the problem of the non-co-operation of the People's Republic of China with regard to developmental aid from Governments, specifically allocated for Tibet? Is the Minister prepared to put pressure on the Chinese authorities to relax their attitude, which is viewed in the outside world as largely negative with regard to Tibet?
Mr. Foulkes:
We certainly believe that any money that is allocated for Tibet must be spent in Tibet. As I am sure the hon. Gentleman will be aware, the Pa Nam rural development project is being supported by the European Union. Through our membership of the EU's Development Council, we shall be ensuring that that money is spent properly, for the purpose for which it was intended.
Mr. Stevenson:
I recognise the importance of the project to which my hon. Friend has just referred, but I am sure that he will recognise the considerable controversy surrounding it. Will my hon. Friend ensure that, when efforts are made to direct aid to the benefit of the Tibetan people and local projects, some mechanism is established whereby the Tibetan people can be consulted on what is required in their areas?
Mr. Foulkes:
We certainly believe that, in the Chinese provinces and Tibet, the Tibetan people should be consulted about the expenditure of aid money that is allocated by the EU and the UK.
Bilateral Aid
5. Mr. Luff: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what plans she has to increase the proportion of the aid budget spent on bilateral aid. [3859]
Clare Short: As the hon. Gentleman will know, or should know, the previous Government made an agreement that led to 40 per cent. of our expenditure being channelled through the EU. A further 15 per cent. of our expenditure meets our UN and World bank obligations.
Mr. Luff: I am sure that the right hon. Lady will be aware of the warm welcome across the House for the Prime Minister's statement yesterday about the new priority for aid to sub-Saharan Africa, but does she agree that her ability to reprioritise spending within her Department is limited by the high volume of multilateral aid? I accept the figures that she gave in her answer. Does she understand that any effort that she makes to repatriate responsibility for the aid programme from the EU to her Department will be widely welcome around the House?
Clare Short: It does not help to moan about what the previous Government did. Given that the commitment carries through to 1999, it is important that we improve the quality of the EU programme, which at the moment is patchy. Some of it is good and some of it much less good. A report of the development assistance committee of the OECD is quite critical. As part of our presidency of the EU, we have made it clear that improving the quality of EU performance and getting more collaboration between nation states and the EU rather than competition will improve the quality of our development strategy.
Mr. Campbell-Savours: I recognise the distinction between aid and trade provision and tied aid under the bilateral programme, but can we have an assurance that ATP is fully protected?
Clare Short: I made it clear during our previous Question Time--I do not know whether my hon. Friend was present--that we are reviewing the aid and trade provision. There is much evidence that it is neither developmentally nor commercially beneficial. That review is under way, and we shall make an announcement when it is complete.
Mr. Goodlad: I add my personal congratulations and good wishes to the Secretary of State on her appointment.
Can the right hon. Lady confirm or deny reports that it is her intention to end the tying of any bilateral aid to the provision of British goods and services? What studies has she made of the likely effect of such a move on British jobs?
Clare Short:
I thank the right hon. Gentleman for his kind remarks and welcome him to the Opposition Front Bench to serve what is probably the most noble cause that one can serve in politics.
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