§ John BarrettTo ask the Secretary of State for International Development what discussions she has had with the(a) Serious Fraud Office, (b) National Criminal Intelligence Service and (c) Financial Services Authority regarding a sharing of expertise in the development of institutions to tackle corruption and money laundering within developing countries. [75075]
§ Clare ShortMy Department is funding a dedicated post within the National Criminal Intelligence Service (NCIS) to provide technical assistance to developing countries, and countries in transition, for strengthening financial intelligence systems to combat money laundering. The post became operational in September 2002 and will be supported initially for three years. One responsibility of the post will be to develop training materials appropriate for use in developing countries.
DFID is also providing the necessary funds to enable NCIS to serve as the Secretariat for the Egmont Group, the international network of Financial Intelligence Units (FIUs). This support is for two years and commenced in October 2001. The Egmont Group plays a critical role in developing international collaboration in financial intelligence related to money laundering, including helping to establish new FIUs.
In May 2002, DFID organised a conference for representatives from 14 developing countries to provide advice on how they can seek assistance from the United Kingdom in investigating, freezing and confiscating assets of criminal origin that are believed to be located in this country. The Serious Fraud Office contributed significantly to this event.
§ John BarrettTo ask the Secretary of State for International Development what progress is being made towards the creation of a universal representative set of indicators for the determination of good governance in developing countries. [75071]
§ Clare ShortThere is no universally agreed set of governance indicators. The Government is promoting the use of governance indicators where that will serve the objective of improving the quality of government in developing countries. We have supported the development of the governance assessments that will form part of the peer reviews of African countries in the New Partnership for Africa's Development (NEPAD). We have urged developing countries to improve the quality of their public expenditure and financial management, most recently at the annual meetings of the Washington institutions, and proposed the wider use of expenditure tracking indicators to measure their progress. These objectives and indicators are included in DFID's Service Delivery Agreement of its Public Service Agreement.