HC Deb 16 May 1988 vol 133 cc677-9
Ms. Mowlam

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what proportion of gross national product was provided as official development assistance in 1987; and if he will make a statement about his policy on progress towards attaining the United Nations 0.7 per cent. of gross national product target in 1988–89.

Miss Joan Lestor

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what proportion of gross national product was provided as official development assistance in 1987; and if he will make a statement about the Government's policy on progress towards attaining the United Nations 0.7 per cent. of gross national product target in 1988–89.

The Minister for Overseas Development (Mr. Chris Patten)

We do not yet have the figure for 1987.

As to the attainment of the 0.7 per cent. United Nations target, I can only say that, like previous Administrations, the Government are not able to set a date for achieving this. But, as the House will know, the aid programme is now growing in real terms and its quality is high.

Ms. Mowlam

Can the Minister explain how he knows that the aid programme is now growing in real terms if, as he told us at the beginning of his answer, the figures are not available? Can he tell us why there is that delay? Surely he has the figures for the aid budget and for the GNP, and surely he can add the two together. Does the Minister have something to hide?

Mr. Patten

First, I am afraid that, in her engaging supplementary question, the hon. Lady was making confusion. We know the public expenditure figures, which have already been published. They show that our overseas aid programme is growing in real terms. To establish what proportion of GNP was represented by aid last year we have to take, first, the growth figures for last year and, secondly, the figures for official development assistance, which we announce to the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development. We shall do that, as usual, at the beginning of June. Because of the record growth rate last year, I would expect that the percentage figure for this year to be lower, even though the aid programme is growing in real terms.

Miss Lestor

May I equally engage the Minister in further deliberation on this matter? First, the figures were published in April and early May in the past. I am a little perturbed about the delay in publication. Is it because the revised figure that he gave last week in answer to a question from my hon. Friend the Member for Monklands, West (Mr. Clarke) showed that the proportion given previously for last year had fallen rather than risen? Secondly, as the Minister has already announced the figures for the SADCC countries for 1987, is it not unbelievable that he is unable to do the arithmetic to which he has already referred and give us the figure that we are all seeking, so that we can begin to see what progress, if any, we are making towards the United Nations' target?

Mr. Patten

I think I am right in saying that the hon. Lady is confusing the 1986 figure to which my hon. Friend referred in a reply to the House last week and the 1987 figure, which, as has been customary, will be provided for the OECD in early summer—in this case, in early June. I repeat what I said earlier to the hon. Member for Redcar (Ms. Mowlam)—perhaps the hon. Lady did not hear what I said—that I expect the figure to be lower for 1987 because the economic growth rate was 4.5 per cent. I imagine—this is one of the perverse consequences of using the percentage of GNP—that if the Labour party were in Government the economic growth rate would be lower and therefore, without changing our aid programme, the proportion of GNP taken by aid would be higher.

Mr. Lester

Does my hon. Friend, as one who, by voice and vote, has continued to press for an increase in the overseas development budget, agree that when it comes to our principal policy of aiding the poorest people in the poorest countries, what is important is not always cash resources, but human resources—people who will work in those areas to achieve the change that we desire?

Mr. Patten

My hon. Friend is right. That is why I am pleased that we have made yet a further increase in the grant for the Voluntary Service Overseas and other organisations which send young and not so young volunteers to work in other countries. I should also draw attention to the fact that the last review by the OECD commended the quality of the British aid programme, and particularly the fact that we provide more aid to poorer countries than do most other OECD members.

Mr. Wells

Surely it is more important to target our aid so that it increases the value given to each country than to chase after a mythical United Nations figure of 0.7 per cent. Is it not the quality of the aid projects and what they achieve that is important, rather than a simple statistic? Is it not time to think of reversing the decline over the past 15 years in real terms of our aid programme in the Caribbean?

Mr. Patten

I wondered where that question was going to finish up, and I was not surprised when it was the Caribbean. It is extremely important that we have a good quality aid programme in the Caribbean. It is also important to provide Caribbean countries with the trade opportunities that they need—for example, for bananas and sugar. I was arguing that in a meeting between the ACP and EEC countries only last week. As to targets, my hon. Friend knows that we shall have exceeded the UN target for official and private flows in every year except one since 1979. Our total private investment in developing countries is almost as great as that of the rest of the European Community put together.

Ms. Armstrong

Is the Minister aware that this week marks Christian Aid week, when millions of British people will be reaffirming their commitment to development and growth in the developing world? Is he further aware that many are looking to the Government to exhibit a similar commitment to increasing opportunities in the Third world? Will the Government make an announcement this week which will support and encourage this voluntary giving?

Mr. Patten

I am happy to tell those people that this year the British Government will be spending £70 million more through our aid programme than last year and that in 1990–91 we shall be spending £115 million more than we are this year. I also refer those people to the extremely important initiatives that we have taken in the context of African debt.