HC Deb 15 February 1999 vol 325 cc427-8W
Mr. Don Foster

To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, pursuant to her answer of 14 December 1998,Official Report, column 343, if she will list the expenditure not included in her answer incurred by (a) her agencies and non-departmental public bodies and (b) the Central Office of Information for relevant work carried out for her Department. [71005]

Clare Short

The answers are as follows:

  1. (a) Since May 1997 the Commonwealth Scholarship Commission has spent around £1,000 advertising overseas awards tenable for British students. In 1997 and 1998, the Commonwealth Development Corporation spent around £340,000 on corporate advertising and staff recruitment.
  2. (b) None.

Mr. Don Foster

To ask the Secretary of State for International Development if she will list the expenditure incurred by her Department, agencies and non-departmental public bodies on(a) the setting up and (b) the operation of web sites, indicating the cases in which the expenditure has been above that budgeted; and if she will list for each web site (i) the topics covered, (ii) the current average number of hits per month and (iii) the estimated expenditure on each web site for each of the next three years. [70969]

Clare Short

DFID has a website which was set up at a cost of £10,000; maintenance of the site costs £10,000 per annum and development costs in the first year of operation—1998/99—are £3,500. The site coversWho we are", including basic data on the departmental structure, aims and personalities, links with other development related websites. Working with us", including recruitment, projects in the pipeline, development awareness information, research programmes and details of funding schemes. A closer look", including strategy papers, publications, project evaluation reports. News Centre", including briefings; press releases, speeches, statements, public opinion research, and new items on the website.

The average number of page hits each month is 124,000.

Maintenance and development costs over the next 3 years are not planned to increase substantially over current levels. Costs so far have been within budget provision.

The only other relevant body with its own website is the Commonwealth Development Corporation (CDC).

The cost of setting up the CDC website was £11,500.

The topics covered are: Expertise: a summary of CDC's functions and methods Investment terms: summary of investment terms together with instructions on how to make an investment proposal. CDC Worldwide: summary of worldwide operations and world map. Press Releases: access to all the press releases issued in the last twelve months. Links: links to various sites, including the DFID web page, international financial institutions and various other organisations. Annual Report: the full contents of the 1997 Annual Report.

The CDC does not maintain an accurate register of hits. Due to planned overhaul, estimated expenditure for the next three years is:

  1. 1999: £30,000
  2. 2000: £10,000
  3. 2001: £10,000.

Mr. Don Foster

To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, pursuant to her answer of 14 December 1998,Official Report, column 343, if she will list the expenditure not included in her answer incurred (a) by task forces and review bodies, (b) by focus groups, (c) on market research and (d) for publications and publicity; and if she will list the bodies which incurred the expenditure. [710061]

Clare Short

The Department for International Development has no formal(a) task forces and review bodies or (b) focus groups, and since May 1997 has incurred no expenditure on (c) market research beyond the research included in my answer of 14 December 1998, Official Report, column 343.

Since May 1997, the Department for International Development has (d) spent around £1 million on publications and publicity.