Ministerial Corrections

Wednesday 12th January 2011 Ministerial Corrections

Wednesday 12 January 2011

International Development

Wednesday 12th January 2011 Ministerial Corrections

Yemen: Overseas Aid

[Jim Shannon]

To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what (a) funds and (b) other resources his Department has allocated to Yemen in the last 12 months.

[Official Report, 15 December 2010, Vol. 520, c. 776W.]

Letter of correction from Mr Alan Duncan:

An error has been identified in the written answer given to the hon. Member for Strangford (Jim Shannon) on 15 December 2010. The full answer given was as follows:

[Mr Duncan]

The Department for International Development has allocated £50 million of programme funding for development projects in Yemen for this financial year 2010-11. In financial year 2009-10 a total of £27 million was disbursed, as reported in “Statistics for International Development”, available on DFID's website.

There are ten international staff and six local staff working full-time on the Yemen programme.

The correct answer should have been:

[Mr Duncan]

The Department for International Development has allocated £50 million of programme funding for development projects in Yemen for this financial year 2010-11. In financial year 2009-10 a total of £29.8 million was disbursed, as reported in “Statistics for International Development”, available on DFID's website.

There are 10 international staff and six local staff working full-time on the Yemen programme.

Work and Pensions

Wednesday 12th January 2011 Ministerial Corrections

Jobseekers Allowance

The following is the answer given by the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions (Mr Duncan Smith) relating to a question from the hon. Member for Westminster North (Ms Buck) during Work and Pensions Question Time on 10 January 2011.

[Ms Karen Buck (Westminster North) (Lab)]

Does the Secretary of State accept the Office for Budget Responsibility figures, revealed to my right hon. Friend the Member for Paisley and Renfrewshire South (Mr Alexander), that an extra two thirds of a billion pounds will be spent on housing benefit as a result of rising unemployment over the next four years?

[Mr Duncan Smith]

The OBR is independent and the Government of course accept what it publishes as independent figures. We go by what the OBR’s figures say. As the hon. Lady knows, we inherited a financial mess left by the previous Government. What we are doing is to make sure that we reduce the ballooning cost of, for example, housing benefit that she left behind—a bill that doubled in the past five years.

[Official Report, 10 January 2011, Vol. 521, c. 9.]

Letter of correction from Mr Iain Duncan Smith:

An error has been identified in the oral answer given on 10 January 2011.

The correct answer should have been:

[Mr Duncan Smith]

The OBR is independent and the Government of course accept what it publishes as independent figures. We go by what the OBR's figures say. As the hon. Lady knows, we inherited a financial mess left by the previous Government. What we are doing is to make sure that we reduce the ballooning cost of, for example, housing benefit that she left behind—a bill that doubled in the past ten years.