HL Deb 26 February 2004 vol 658 cc331-2

11.6 a.m.

Baroness Northover asked Her Majesty's Government:

What progress has been made in the work of the International Advisory and Monitoring Board which was established to oversee the spending of Iraqi revenues by the Coalition Provisional Authority.

Baroness Crawley

My Lords, at their third meeting on 12 and 13 February, the members of the International Advisory and Monitoring Board agreed the statement of work for the independent external auditors to provide an audit of the export sales of Iraqi oil and the operations of the Development Fund for Iraq. The tender process for that appointment closed on 18 February, and we expect an announcement to be made shortly on the appointment.

Baroness Northover

My Lords, I thank the Minister for that reply, which is more encouraging than it might have been. However, the board was set up by UN Security Council Resolution 1483 on 22 May last year to audit the money used by the CPA from the sale of Iraqi oil. Is it true that almost 3 billion dollars of that money has already been spent by the CPA without international audit? When is the CPA going to nominate accountants and agree procedures with the board, or does it not intend to do so? What is the UK doing to persuade its US allies that it is better to work with the international community than to try to circumvent it?

Baroness Crawley

My Lords, I am very glad that the noble Baroness is slightly encouraged by my original Answer. As for her concerns about the delay, she will know, as she is following these matters, that the members of the IAMB have worked hard with the Coalition Provisional Authority to agree terms of reference and a statement of work for the IAMB and its independent auditors in difficult circumstances. We know, for instance, that the bombing of the UN offices in Baghdad last summer has meant that the parties have not been able to meet in Iraq for several months. However, I agree that it has taken longer than expected to reach this stage, but now we look forward to the appointment of auditors and for the IAMB to he getting on with its work.

Lord Howell of Guildford

My Lords, would the noble Baroness care to confirm that the projections for this year for oil revenues for Iraq are said to be 20 billion dollars, that output is about to rise to 2.5 million barrels a day and that the whole project is six months ahead of target? Not all the news from Iraq is as bad as it is cracked up to be or as we are told in the newspapers.

Baroness Crawley

My Lords, I very much agree with the noble Lord, Lord Howell of Guildford, that the news is getting more positive every day. One positive thing that is happening is that all information about oil revenue and the management, for instance, of the Iraqi development fund is now available and is in the public domain; it is in our Library and on websites.

Lord Sewel

My Lords, given the somewhat emergent nature of public institutions and authorities in Iraq, will the Minister explain to us how we monitor public finance spend in Iraq?

Baroness Crawley

My Lords, I thank my noble friend for that question. The coalition has introduced a system of complete transparency while it has been monitoring public spending in Iraq. For instance, the budget documents for 2003 and 2004 have been made public, which is a significant shift away from the treatment of the budget as a secret document under the former regime. That budget is available on our website.