§ Mr. Hooleyasked the Minister of Overseas Development (1) what is the current level of aid per annum to the Solomon Islands; and what are the main projects involved;
(2) how many technical experts financed by the British aid programme are currently working in the Solomon Islands; and what main categories of expertise are represented;
(3) what new projects for aid to the Solomon Islands are at this moment under consideration.
§ Mr. TomlinsonTotal expenditure on all forms of British aid to the Solomon Islands in 1976 was approximately£9.389 million. Of this£5.13 million was in the form of development grants,£2.404 million in technical co-operation and£618,000 in budgetary aid; the balance was investment by the Commonwealth Development Corporation. Development grants are spent on a wide variety of projects. Amongst the more significant are programmes of coconut planting, beef cattle and fisheries development, forest re-planting, malaria eradication and construction of roads designed to open up areas of high agricultural potential. A project to provide£1 million worth of vehicles and plant was also approved in 1976.
New projects under consideration include several aimed at continuing British support for the agricultural sector, particularly coconut and cattle development, and proposals for developing rural clinics, funding the Agricultural and Industrial Loans Board and continued support of local scholarships and training programmes.
255WAt the end of 1976, 275 British funded technical co-operation personnel were working in the Solomon Islands, comprising 35 wholly funded experts, 229 partly funded staff, and 11 volunteers. Of these, 71 were in the field of public administration, 59 in economic infrastructure, 50 in education, 42 in renewable natural resources, 38 in health, 11 in mining and four in industry and commerce.
§ Mr. Hooleyasked the Minister of Overseas Development whether the Solomon Islands are currently deriving any benefit from the LoméAgreement on the European Development Fund.
§ Mrs. HartAs a dependency, the Solomon Islands is not party to the LoméConvention, but receives similar benefits to those granted to the signatories of the convention by virtue of the terms of part IV of the Treaty of Rome.
Approximately 6 million units of account from the European Development Fund have been made available to the Solomon Islands for commitment to projects between now and 1980. The islands will also have access to European Investment Bank funds. It is also possible that
Percentage increase on previous year 1971 1972 1973 1974 1975 1976 Sterling M3* 14.0 25.0 27.0 10.0 7.0 10.0 Wages and salaries† 10.0 11.7 14.8 20.5 29.2 12.7 Index of average earnings (old series)‡ 11.3 12.9 13.5 17.8 26.6 15.6 Index of retail prices (all items) 9.4 7.1 9.2 16.1 24.2 16.5 Domestic credit expansion (£ million) N.A. 6,680 8,034 6,895 4,455 7,406 * Change of money stock in year, as a percentage of the level at the end of the previous year. †Excludes forces' pay. ‡ Relates to Great Britain, and shows changes in the earnings of about half of all employees in employment.