§ Lord Aveburyasked Her Majesty's Government:
Why the report on the financial procedures of the United Nations Centre for Human Rights, commissioned from Price Waterhouse, is not available for public scrutiny; whether any changes have been adopted as a result of recommendations by the consultants and, if so, what; and whether they will give a summary of the main items of expenditure of the centre in the current financial year, together with the budgets for these items in the year 1997–98.
§ The Minister of State, Foreign and Commonwealth Office (Baroness Chalker of Wallasey)Price Waterhouse has been assisting the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights since 1995 in the restructuring of the centre, providing internal advice on staffing, budgeting and other administrative issues. The High Commissioner reported on progress in his memorandum of 10th September 1996, a copy of which has been placed in the Library of the House, together with the centre's estimated (not final) budget for the biennium 1996–97 (UN document A/50/6/Rev 1). The budget for 1998–99 is still in preparation.