§ Mr. Jim CunninghamTo ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what assessment he has made for the proportion of overseas aid which actually goes to the poor of the countries that it is intended to help.
§ Mr. Lennox-BoydIn 1992–93, 80 per cent. of the British bilateral aid allocatable by income group went to the poorest countries in the world. All of our aid effort is intended, either directly or indirectly, to help poor people in the recipient countries.
§ Mr. Jim CunninghamTo ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what representa-tions he has received on the extent to which aid is spent by Governments on projects and bureaucracy rather than on people in need.
§ Mr. Lennox-BoydThe overall purpose of the aid programme is to promote sustainable economic and social development in other countries and the welfare of their people. The Government finance a range of projects and programmes in support of this. Some are carried out through non-governmental organisations and the private sector. Many are carried out through Governments. In all cases, we assess the likely effectiveness of the institutions concerned in advance of the project and monitor this during the project's execution.