§ Mr. BercowTo ask the Secretary of State for International Development what recent assessment she has made of the value for money achieved by the Project Management Agency Support for Regional Trade Negotiating Machinery in the Caribbean region. [49158]
§ Clare ShortMy department undertook a review of its support to the Regional Negotiating Machinery in March 2001. In consequence from June 2001 we improved the management arrangements and now support the Regional Negotiating Machinery directly.
§ Mr. BercowTo ask the Secretary of State for International Development (1) what recent assessment she has made of the value for money achieved by the Transmission Institutional Strengthening Project in India; [49202]
845W(2) what recent assessment she has made of the value for money achieved by the Power Sector Reform Institutional Strengthening Distribution Project in India; [49185]
(3) what recent assessment she has made of the value for money achieved by the Andhra Pradesh Power Sector Reform Institutional Strengthening Project in India. [49177]
§ Clare ShortPower sector reform is a key development challenge for India. In many states, power subsidies take a large proportion of the government budget, squeezing out expenditure on anti-poverty programmes. A high quality power supply is also critical for economic growth.
DFID is supporting the reform and restructuring of the power sector in three states, Anclhra Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh and Orissa. Power sector reform is highly complex and also new to India, and assistance has been requested from DFID and other donors to help design and carry forward the structural changes needed to reform the sector and place it on a proper commercial footing.
In all three states, DFID is making available assistance, including experts with international experience of successfully carrying out similar work, following competitive tendering processes to ensure maximum value for money. Most of the support so far has been provided by Indian experts, even when international companies have been engaged. Expatriate inputs are limited to specialist areas where international experience is of greatest benefit and local expertise is not available. These are long term projects, designed to respond flexibly to local needs. They are reviewed regularly, including market comparisons to ensure that value for money is maintained.
In Andhra Pradesh, considerable progress has been made in helping the state government achieve its objectives on power reform, but the process has been more difficult and has taken longer than originally envisaged.
In Orissa, DFID assistance to the state grid company finished when the company was privatised. We continue to support the Orissa Electricity Regulatory Commission and also the Orissa Transmission Company. Both of these programmes are making good progress.
In Madhya Pradesh, DFID has been asked to provide assistance with power sector reform and competitive tendering process is underway to identify suitable expertise.
§ Mr. BercowTo ask the Secretary of State for International Development what recent assessment she has made of the value for money achieved by the Support for Improving Corporate Services and Management in the Rwanda Revenue Authority Project. [49201]
§ Clare ShortSince 1997 my Department has committed almost £11 million in support of the Rwanda Revenue Project. This particular project began in September 1999 and finished in March 2002, with a budget of £2.3 million.
In April 2000, DFID concluded that management capacity problems in the RRA were more severe than at first thought and DFID inputs were increased accordingly.
846W By the end of the project, we had succeeded in reforming the corporate services and management of the RRA. Proper financial organisation had been put in place; and information technology strategy had been developed and implemented; training in internal audit procedures had been completed; the RRA were acting on the recommendations made in an organisation and staffing review; and the RRA had a corporate plan in place, against which they were measuring their own performance.
Our assessment is that this project has achieved good value for money. The management reforms are significant and have contributed to a major improvement in revenue collection More still needs to be done at senior and middle management level, but the basic corporate structures are now in place.
§ Mr. BercowTo ask the Secretary of State for International Development what recent assessment she has made of the value for money achieved by the Rural Access Programme in Nepal. [49163]
§ Clare ShortThe Rural Access Programme in Nepal is an ambitious programme of rural transport infrastructure and related activities aimed at eliminating rural poverty. It is being implemented over a six year period that has only just started. It is therefore too early to judge the value for money achievements of the whole programme at this time.
An inception review of the programme was completed in April. This review took into account the current conflict situation in Nepal and the impact on programme implementation; how more immediate impact can be achieved for communities affected by conflict; and the approach to the provision of technical assistance.
The outcome of this review is that there will be improved modalities for working in conflict affected areas and on conflict issues. This will include working with organisation with an established local presence and by strengthening and empowering existing groups and adopting working methods that bridge the divides giving rise to the current conflict. Also, there will be a reduction in the numbers of international consultants without compromising quality and supervision, through a more rapid localisation of key positions in the technical assistance team.
§ Mr. BercowTo ask the Secretary of State for International Development what recent assessment she has made of the value for money achieved by the Technical Co-operation Training-Nigeria, Cameroon and the Gambia Project. [49171]
§ Clare ShortThe Technical Co-operation Training Programmes (TCTP) for these three countries came under DFID's global TCTP, which provided a centrally administered mechanism for giving training awards to overseas candidates linked to our individual country programmes. The programmes in these countries have now ended. Value for money considerations were taken into account when the contract for running the global programme was awarded to the managing agent. The impact of the training in terms of contribution to individual project objectives in Nigeria, Cameroon and the Gambia was assessed as part of our regular project monitoring procedures.
847W
§ Mr. BercowTo ask the Secretary of State for International Development what recent assessment she has made of the value for money achieved by the Improving Rural Livelihood in North and East Uganda project. [49187]
§ Clare ShortAn independent project review of DFID's support to the Improving Rural Livelihood in North and East Uganda project was undertaken in May 2001. It reported that, overall, the project outputs were likely to be largely achieved. In particular, the capacity for client-oriented research, technology transfer, and the development of technology approaches and systems have improved. A further review will be conducted in June 2002.
§ Mr. BercowTo ask the Secretary of State for International Development what recent assessment she has made of the value for money achieved by the Support for Improving Tax Administration in the Rwanda Authority project. [49193]
§ Clare ShortSince 1997 my Department has committed almost £11 million in support of the Rwanda Revenue project. The specific project referred to in the question began in September 1999 and finished in August 2001, with a budget of over £2 million.
An improvement in revenue collection became clear from late 2000. During the last year of the project the VAT department exceeded its revenue targets, the RRA modernised its tax and customs departments and revenue collections were also on target. It is our assessment that this project has achieved good value for money, initially through rebuilding the capacity of the Rwanda Revenue Authority (RRA) which had been shattered by the genocide, and then through significant improvements in revenue collection.
The Rwandan Minister of Finance has described the project as DFID's most important support to Rwanda. However, more work remains to be done if the RRA's improved performance is to be sustained. DFID has therefore extended its support to the RRA through a new project, which runs from October 2001 to December 2003.
§ Mr. BercowTo ask the Secretary of State for International Development what recent assessment she has made of the value for money achieved by the Technical Assistance for Public Enterprise Reform in Orissa project in India. [49195]
§ Clare ShortTechnical Assistance for Public Enterprise Reform in Orissa is a component of the Orissa Public Sector Reforms project, the purpose of which is to help the Government of Orissa allocate increased resources to the needs of the poor and improve the effectiveness of its resource use in order to reduce poverty. The assistance has been provided by international consultants selected following a competitive tendering process; Indian experts are also involved. An independent evaluation of the project was conducted in November 2001. It included both value for money considerations and technical review. It concluded that the project had progressed well and was providing value for money.
848W
§ Mr. BercowTo ask the Secretary of State for International Development what recent assessment she has made of the value for money achieved by the Technical Assistance for the Introduction of Value Added Tax in Andhra Pradesh Project in India. [49199]
§ Clare ShortIntroduction of VAT is a complex and difficult process and DFID was asked for technical assistance to help the Government of Andhra Pradesh ensure that they were ready to implement the new system by the original target date of April 2002.
International consultants have been utilised in designing the process in areas where local expertise was not available. They were selected through a competitive tendering exercise to ensure maximum value for money. Much of the assistance has been provided by Indian experts.
DFID has regularly monitored the project. The last annual review in December 2001 concluded that the project was completely on track, resulting in Andhra Pradesh being one of the few states in India ready for the target date. The Government of India has since decided to delay VAT implementation to April 2003 as many states were not ready.
§ Mr. BercowTo ask the Secretary of State for International Development what recent assessment she has made of the value for money achieved by the Western India Rainfed Farming Project Phase II. [49159]
§ Clare ShortPhase 1 of the Western India Rainfed Farming project gave an economic rate of return of about 40 per cent. and had a substantial impact in reducing the poverty of over 50,000 poor tribal people. Phase II, which began in 1999, is expanding the coverage to over 500,000 people.
The 2002 annual review of Phase II found that the project is well on the way to achieving its objectives, and is having a significant impact on the lives of the poor in the project area. An independent mid-term evaluation is planned for 2003. This will look further at a number of issues, including those relating to value for money.
§ Mr. BercowTo ask the Secretary of State for International Development what recent assessment she has made of the value for money achieved by the Russian President's Management Training Initiative: Main Phase. [49179]
§ Clare ShortDFID awarded a three-year contract for the management of the Russian President's Management Training Initiative (Main Phase) to the British Council under a waiver of competition in March 1999. The waiver was granted at that time, as the British Council was the only UK company with the necessary expertise to undertake this work. In order to ensure the key consideration of value for money, a Project Compliance Investigation was undertaken prior to contracting which confirmed that the British Council costs offered value for money. A comprehensive review of the performance of the project was undertaken by DFID's Eastern Europe and Central Asia Department in June 2001. The review team concluded that the project has been going well and its purpose "to achieve improvements in the performance of 540 enterprise managers" was likely to be completely or largely achieved and still offered value for money.
849W
§ Mr. BercowTo ask the Secretary of State for International Development what recent assessment she has made of the value for money achieved by the Provision of Technical Co-operation Training Services Project in Kenya. [49165]
§ Clare ShortThere is no Provision of Technical Co-operation Training Services Project in Kenya. Training is included as a component in many projects funded by my Department in Kenya. Its value for money is routinely assessed as part of DFID's monitoring and evaluation of each project.
§ Mr. BercowTo ask the Secretary of State for International Development what recent assessment she has made of the value for money achieved by the Smallholder Dairy Project Phase II in Kenya. [49161]
§ Clare ShortThe last assessment of the Smallholder Dairy Project Phase II was made in March 2002. Its preliminary findings were that the project is on target to achieve its goal of giving poor dairy farmers improved access to goods, services and markets; and other farmers access to agricultural knowledge services.
§ Mr. BercowTo ask the Secretary of State for International Development what recent assessment she has made of the value for money achieved by the Bulgaria: Solid Waste Management Project. [49167]
§ Clare ShortThis project was formally reviewed in June 2001 and has been monitored on a regular basis since then. It is an institutional building project at municipal level to improve the management and delivery of municipal services. DFID assessments have been very positive and have shown that the project has provided value for money in terms of (i) its impact on the two focus municipalities of Kardjali and Lom to help strengthen their management capacity to deal with municipal planning, and budgeting and also a wider impact of strengthening links between central Government and the municipal authorities and (ii) successfully providing the Kardjali authorities with technical assistance and expertise in support of the development of a multi-million euro ISPA (Instrument for Structural Policies for Pre-accession) project which is expected to be approved by the EC and its IFI partners in the near future.
§ Mr. BercowTo ask the Secretary of State for International Development what recent assessment she has made of the value for money achieved by the Privatisation and Capital Market Development Project in Bosnia. [49169]
§ Clare ShortThe project ended in March. We are arranging a final review.
The project was last reviewed in October 2001. This was one of a series of regular reviews arranged to monitor progress on the project and to agree modifications to it as appropriate. The project's original objectives of supporting capital markets development were affected by the failure of the entities to proceed with large company and mass privatisation. We have also attempted to fill gaps in assistance caused by the failure of other donors to provide agreed inputs.
This was a complex project operating in difficult circumstances. We shall make a judgment on its overall value for money in the light of the planned review.
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§ Mr. BercowTo ask the Secretary of State for International Development what recent assessment she has made of the value for money achieved by the Caribbean Overseas Territories Government Accounting Reform Project in Anguilla. [49203]
§ Clare ShortThe project aims to modernise financial and accounting policies, systems and procedures in support of better management of Government business and improved accountability, transparency and effectiveness of Government activity. In Anguilla, up-to-date financial accounting systems were successfully commissioned in the Treasury Department and the Ministry of Finance in January 2001; and we are considering further possible support to provide on-line access for other Anguillan Government Departments. The real test of project success will be the extent to which the information and data that it provides is used effectively. It is too early properly to assess this, but we shall be monitoring progress carefully.
§ Mr. BercowTo ask the Secretary of State for International Development what recent assessment she has made of the value for money achieved by the Technical Co-operation Training Programme, 1999–2000 and 2001-–02 in Jamaica. [49157]
§ Clare ShortThe Technical Co-operation Training Scheme for Jamaica came under DFID's global TCTP, which provided a centrally administered mechanism for giving training awards to overseas candidates linked to our individual country programmes. The programme in Jamaica ended in 1998. Value for money considerations were taken into account when the contract for running the global programme was awarded to the managing agent. The impact of the training in terms of contribution to individual project objectives in Jamaica was assessed as part of our regular project monitoring procedures.
§ Mr. BercowTo ask the Secretary of State for International Development what recent assessment she has made of the value for money achieved by the Adult Morbidity and Mortality Project Phase II in Tanzania. [49175]
§ Clare ShortThe Adult Morbidity and Mortality Project (Phase 2) provides quality health and poverty data from four selected districts, which is used to inform national public policies. In Tanzania, like many low income countries, vital registration systems are barely used, and large scale surveys can only be undertaken every five years or so. An independent review in August 2001 confirmed the viability and cost-effectiveness of the model.
§ Mr. BercowTo ask the Secretary of State for International Development what recent assessment she has made of the value for money achieved by the Jamaica Performance Improvement Project. [49208]
§ Clare ShortAs with all DFID funded initiatives, the Jamaica Performance Improvement Project is subject to regular review. The next review is scheduled to take place in May 2002.
The project has been recently extended and in order to ensure value for money we have put out components to competitive tender whenever it is practical to do so.