HC Deb 01 April 2004 vol 419 cc1561-3W
Mr. Nigel Jones

To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what assistance is being made available by(a) the United Kingdom under bilateral arrangements, (b) the European Union,

opinion of the UK adult population, and the second, undertaken by Market and Opinion Research International (MORI), monitors the opinion of schoolchildren. In 1999, we also undertook a readership survey of "Developments" magazine, in order to test its impact and reach. The results of the focus group research and the opinion polls are used to inform, and monitor the impact of, our work on development awareness and education.

The Department for International Development was established in 1997. Information on focus group research and opinion polling undertaken in 1995–96 by the Overseas Development Administration is not held centrally, and could be obtained only at disproportionate cost.

Contracts for focus group and opinion poll research are let in accordance with agreed tendering procedures to ensure value for money. The annual cost of focus group research and opinion polls is detailed in the following table:

(c) the United States of America and (d) aid agencies to develop clean water supplies in sub-Saharan Africa; and if he will make a statement. [164303]

Hilary Benn

The UK is working with the EU Water Initiative finance working group to improve the tracking of aid flows in the water sector. This is because different donors currently use different criteria to calculate support to the water sector or track support within multi sector projects. Figures may also include or exclude related issues such as water resources management or concessional loans. Data on water expenditure are not, therefore, directly comparable. The most recent available data for support to the water sector in sub-Sahara Africa 2001–02 show expenditure asUK = £29million (NAO 2003 report, excludes programme aid) USAID = $12.4 million (based on OECD figures) European Commission = Euro 210.7 million (based on OECD figures) European Member States total = $ 1.2 billion

The UK figure does not include our contributions to the European Commission development funds or other multilateral organisations. UK figures include only direct expenditure on the water sector and not multi-sector projects. EC and US figures include broader resource management projects and concessional loans. DFID's approach to these issues is set out in the Water Action Plan which I presented to the House on 5 April 2004.