§ Mr. DalyellTo ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, pursuant to the letter from the Minister for Overseas Development of 28 October, what recommendations resulting from the review of tied aid have been pursued. [10861]
§ Dr. Liam FoxThe report made a number of recommendations. On procedures, to ensure better value for money, the ODA' s procurement procedures have been strengthened; guidelines on local procurement of goods have been revised; a staff training programme is under way; and procedures for local procurement of services are being examined. On the special programme for Africa, we pledged last month up to £250 million of new programme aid. Previous UK pledges have been 75 per cent. untied; we are currently considering the extent of untying this time around. On reporting, improvements to the ODA's management information system are under way to report statistics on aid tying to the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development more accurately. We are actively supporting renewed efforts in the OECD to encourage the greater multilateral untying of development assistance programmes.