§ Mr. ShoreTo ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what proportion of the grants made by Her Majesty's Government to Bangladesh through the Bangladesh aid consortium since 1972 was devoted to programmes designed(a) to protect coastal areas from cyclone damage and (b) to prevent flooding within Bangladesh.
§ Mrs. Chalker[holding answer 5 July 1991]: The Bangladesh aid group is a forum for discussion of 261W Bangladesh's development policies and financing requirements, at which donors indicate their aid intentions. It is not a mechanism for channelling aid, which is provided on a bilateral basis.
British aid statistics do not separately identify the amounts spent over past years on cyclone or flood protection. Since the 1989 Bangladesh flood conference we have committed £4.5 million towards the cost of studies identified as part of the flood action plan. Under that plan work on cyclone protection is also being undertaken with finance from the European Community.