HC Deb 17 September 2004 vol 424 cc1777-9W
Alan Simpson

To ask the Secretary of State for International Development if he will list water services(a) delivery and (b) consultancy projects his Department has supported in each of the last five financial years; what levels of financial support were given in respect of each project; and which UK based companies were recipients of funding. [189348]

Mr. Gareth Thomas

The information requested is not readily available without extensive research being carried out for which the time and expenditure would incur a disproportionate cost.

2003–04
£million
Net Resource Provision (voted) Net Resource Outturn Under (-)/Over (+) spend
RfR1: Eliminating Poverty in Poorer Countries 3,015 2,914 -101
RfR1: Other Adjustment — -85 -85
RfR2: Conflict Pools 49 45 -4
Total 3,064 2,959 -190

DFID also provided development assistance through our contribution to the EC. This totalled £865 million in 2003 04. The official outturn will not be available until 2006.

2003—04
£million
Net Resource Programme Budget Net Resource Programme Outturn Under (-)/Over(+) spend
Reducing Poverty in sub-Saharan Africa 680 639 -41
Reducing Poverty in Asia 514 592 +78
Reducing Poverty in the Rest of the World 425 429 +4
Improve Efficiency of Multilateral Aid 780 676 -104
Developing Innovative Approaches to Development 229 225 -4
Programmes Contributing to Multiple Objectives 73 89 +16
Others 2 -21 -23
Total 2,704 2,630 -74

of the cost of fraud to his Department in each year since 1997, broken down by (a) UK locations and (b) overseas offices. [188329]

Mr. Gareth Thomas

The estimated cost of fraud to DFID each year since 1997, including the number of cases, is illustrated in the following table. While many of the cases are relatively small in financial terms (the total loss due to fraud in recent years is 0.006 percent of DFID's total spending) the Department remain committed to minimising such losses. This year DFID has reviewed and updated its policy and response to fraud, with advice from anti-fraud specialists.

Tom Brake

To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what(a) overspend and (b) underspend has been identified for (i) programmes, (ii) initiatives, (iii) overseas projects and (iv) Department-wide projects funded by his Department in the last financial year. [189190]

Mr. Gareth Thomas

DFID's resource budget covers all DFID expenditure on development assistance. The outturn against the operating budget in 2003—04 is set out in the following table. This includes spending on programmes, projects and other initiatives. Separate figures are given for the Africa and Global Conflict pools:

The following table shows resource outturn by Departmental Objective. This compares gross resource outturn against programme budgets. It excludes administration costs and other costs (for example, Capital Charges).

Conflict Pools 2003—04
£million
Resource

Budget

 Resource

Outturn

 Under (-)/Over (+) spend
Africa 22 19 -3
Global 27 26 -1
Total 49 45 -4

DFID also invests in capital projects for its own administration, for example, on accommodation and Information Technology projects. Spend against the Administration Capital budget in 2003—04 was as follows:

2003–04
£million
Admin Capital

Budget

 Admin Capital

Outturn

 Under (-)/Over (+) spend
Central Departments 32 30 -2