§ 42. Mr. Donald Stewartasked the Minister of State for Overseas Development if she will seek to deduct funds owing to United Kingdom nationals from financial assistance to Zambia, either by means of an existing Act or by any other method.
§ 44. Mr. Luceasked the Minister of Overseas Development whether, in conjunction with the provision of aid to Zambia, there is an understanding that arrears of remittances to British subjects who have served in Zambia will be paid off.
§ The Minister of State for Overseas Development (Mrs. Judith Hart)I apologise if this answer is a shade longer than usual, Mr. Speaker.
British aid to Zambia is designed to help Zambia's foreign exchange resources by enabling her to pay for essential British imports. These and similar measures by other donors and the International Monetary Fund will make it easier for Zambia to release foreign exchange for remittances to British subjects. The Zambian Government have assured us that part of the foreign exchange made available by the advance payment for copper purchases will be used for this purpose, and I understand that the greater part of the recent International Monetary Fund credits has been used to clear remittance arrears to British firms and individuals. It is not possible to deduct the money owed to United Kingdom nationals, from British aid loans to Zambia, because the money has been voted by Parliament to assist Zambia's economic and social development and cannot be used for other purposes.
§ Mr. StewartIs the Minister aware that my constituent, a nurse who was in Zambia, is now confined to her wheelchair for the rest of her life and is expected to wait for up to eight years for full payment of the compensation awarded to her against the nationalised insurance industry in Zambia? Is she aware that similar cases have been made known to me from throughout the United Kingdom? In view of the Minister's statement on assistance to Zambia, will she take up the matter with the Zambian Embassy here to ensure that it makes prompt payments of these outstanding debts?
§ Mrs. HartI am aware of and have great sympathy with the right hon. Gentleman's constituent. I am happy to report that £25,000 of what she is due has already been remitted and that a further amount of nearly £4,000 has been authorised for payment in view of the especially compassionate nature of this case. The rest—the minimum of the amount—will be remitted at the rate of approximately £1,100 annually. I do everything that I can to persuade the Zambian authorities. In the end, the best hope that we have of getting money to British citizens so affected is by giving 25 the assistance to Zambia that we are giving.
§ Mr. LuceDoes the Minister agree that her first duty is to seek to ease the financial hardship of the many thousands of British subjects who contributed their skills to Zambia in the past and who face long delays in obtaining their remittances? I welcome the fact that there is at least an implied understanding between Britain and Zambia and that in the provision of economic assistance to the Zambians the Government will seek to speed up the release of frozen assets. Nevertheless, does the Minister accept that the situation remains serious and that delays are extremely long? Will she give top urgency to holding discussions with the Zambian Government about speeding up the matter?
§ Mrs. HartWe shall certainly do that. The hon. Gentleman may be in no doubt about that. The difficulty is that the only way that the Zambians can do it is on the basis of the free foreign exchange that we provide to them through our aid. We are limited. Both the hon. Gentleman and the right hon. Gentleman will appreciate that we are bound by the Overseas Aid Act which provides aid money through the authority of Parliament for the purpose of promoting the development or maintaining the economy of a country or territory outside the United Kingdom, or the welfare of its people. Some constituents, who have been writing to some hon. Members, have not understood that, and that is understandable. There is nothing that we can do under the Overseas Aid Act to use aid money directly to assist people here. However, we hope that the Zambian Government will use the foreign exchange provided to them through our aid to speed up the payments for some of the considerable cases of hardship that arise.
§ Mr. LeeDoes my right hon. Friend agree that however sad some of these cases may be—especially the case quoted by the right hon. Gentleman—the Zambian Government are generally sympathetic and sensitive to these matters? Does she agree that everything possible should be done to sustain and nurture the friendship with the Government of 26 Zambia, one of our best friends in Southern Africa?
§ Mrs. HartI entirely agree with my hon. Friend. This is exactly the point that I seek to make. The more we can provide assistance to Zambia in this critical economic situation that they face the more the Zambians are likely to be able to provide the compensation—the money —that a number of British citizens feel is due to them.
§ Mr. WigginOne of my constituents has a claim against the now defunct East African Harbours Board. It is an acknowledged claim, which the Governments concerned refused to pay. In the interests of ensuring that British nationals go to these countries to help and assist—as indeed it is our contribution so to do—can the Government do nothing about these logical claims that are acknowledged?
§ Mrs. HartNo, we cannot do so with those claims. We are making a great many efforts—some of which have been partly successful—to restore the relationship within the East African community, which broke up several years ago. That caused many difficulties for many people. However, we cannot pay anything to these people out of aid funds. We can try to ease and restore some relationships. However, one of the members of the East African community is Uganda. It is very difficult. Nor would I wish to persuade either Tanzania or Kenya to enter into the kind of relationships with Uganda that might resolve all the situations.
§ Mr. Ioan EvansAlthough sympathising with the individuals affected by the decisions taken by the Government of Zambia, will my right hon. Friend be sympathetic to the Zambian Government because of the financial difficulties they are in as a result of maintaining sanctions against the illegal regime in Rhodesia, which we want to put right?
§ Mrs. HartThat is why we have taken exceptional measures to assist the Government of Zambia. There has been the £20 million copper purchase and the £20 million loan programme arrangements. We are entering into project assistance to Zambia. There is no doubt that the Zambian economy needs every help that we can give it.