HC Deb 21 May 1992 vol 208 c216W
Mr. Burden

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what representations he has had in respect of the amount of progress made by Britain towards achieving the United Nations target for overseas aid.

Mr. Lennox-Boyd

The funds allocated to aid for the developing countries is often discussed within international organisations. A number of British organisations have made specific representations. The Government have reaffirmed that while they accept the United Nations target and have made provision for aid to developing countries to increase in real terms, we are not in a position to set a timetable for achieving the target.

Mrs. Clwyd

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what percentage of the total budget for the United Kingdom aid programme has been spent for each year since 1979 to date.

Mr. Lennox-Boyd

Outturn of aid for developing countries, including aid administration, as a percentage of cash limit, has been as follows:

Per cent.
1979–80 97.53
1980–81 99.18
1981–82 94.40
1982–83 99.10
1983–84 97.81
1984–85 97.02
1985–86 97.31
1986–87 99.95
1987–88 99.94
1988–89 99.98
1989–90 99.98
1990–91 99.74

These figures exclude non-voted attributions for the United Kingdom share of spending on aid from the European Community budget.