Mr. Tom Ellisasked the Minister of Overseas Development what arrangements he has for assessing the best means of giving effective assistance to areas in the world affected by natural disasters.
§ Mr. PrenticeThe Disaster Unit in my Ministry is my principal source of advice on this subject. The unit works closely with the Foreign and Commonwealth Office and other Government Departments and with the United Nations Disaster Relief Office and the Disasters 59W Emergency Committee of the British Voluntary Societies as well as with my own advisers on medical, agricultural, engineering and other related subjects. I am also able to obtain advice on specific questions from the Disaster Research Unit of the University of Bradford and the Environment Review Unit of the International African Institute and I have recently commissioned a study on emergency shelter by the Royal College of Art. I have also used the London Technical Group both to prepare background papers and to look at problems in disaster stricken countries, and I have found its expertise in the area of nutrition particularly useful.