Oral Answers to Questions

Alan Duncan Excerpts

Wednesday 12th January 2011 Commons Chamber

[Miss Anne McIntosh (Thirsk and Malton) (Con)]

2. What recent assessment he has made of the effectiveness of the delivery of humanitarian aid in Afghanistan; and if he will make a statement.

[The Minister of State, Department for International Development (Mr Alan Duncan)]

In 2010, international humanitarian aid to Afghanistan fed 3.5 million people, helped 100,000 refugees and built 22,000 emergency shelters. DFID provides support to the International Committee of the Red Cross, to assist families affected by conflict and to provide medical care. As for potential problems this year, we are closely monitoring rain and snowfall levels and would work with the international community to respond to any problem caused by water shortages.

[Miss McIntosh]

I congratulate the Department on that achievement. Does humanitarian aid extend to the possibility of finding crops to substitute for poppies, to enable Afghanistan to have a proper income and become completely self-sufficient?

[Mr Duncan]

The answer is yes. DFID’s programmes seek to establish sustainable long-term solutions to poppy growing by promoting access to agricultural credit, releasing uncultivated land for productive use and strengthening access to markets for local producers. We are also trying to encourage farmers to grow different crops with a higher market value, including, for instance, pomegranates.

[Anas Sarwar (Glasgow Central) (Lab)]

The Government announced in the strategic defence review and in the comprehensive spending review that 30% of aid will go to fragile states. What proportion of aid will go to Afghanistan?

[Mr Duncan]

The amounts going to Afghanistan will be significantly increased, but the exact amounts will be announced in due course, when we have completed the multilateral and bilateral review process, which should be announced in the next few months.

[Chi Onwurah (Newcastle upon Tyne Central) (Lab)]

3. What programmes funded by his Department support the education of women in developing countries.

--- Later in debate ---

[Julie Hilling (Bolton West) (Lab)]

11. What efforts his Department has made to support good governance in the field of tax collection in developing countries.

[The Minister of State, Department for International Development (Mr Alan Duncan)]

Any country requires some level of taxation to fund the basic services that it needs. DFID advises and assists Governments in the development of fair, equitable and efficient systems of collecting tax.

[Catherine McKinnell]

The Minister will be aware of the Dodd-Frank Act in the United States, which requires companies registered on Wall street to disclose all payments on a country-by-country basis, including tax payments. Will he meet me and representatives of the Publish What You Pay campaign, including NGOs such as CAFOD and Oxfam, to discuss how we can introduce similar legislation in the UK, thereby improving transparency and access to development?

[Mr Duncan]

It will always be a pleasure to meet the hon. Lady, and I am very happy to do so. The Act requires companies to disclose payments to foreign Governments. We should await the outcome of ongoing work, such as the development of rules on how the Act will operate, before deciding whether UK action is needed.

[Julie Hilling]

The OECD recognises that poor countries are likely to lose more money through tax dodging than they gain in aid. The coalition agreement promised to clamp down on tax avoidance, so will the Minister set out today what action his Government have taken to push for the introduction of country-by-country accounting? It will cost the Government nothing but make a huge difference to people in developing countries.

[Mr Duncan]

The OECD and the International Accounting Standards Board are both doing work related to that issue, and we hope that it will help to identify the best way forward. Action to tackle tax evasion through more transparency and the exchange of information, instigated by the G20 and led by the Global Forum on Transparency and Exchange of Information for Tax Purposes, has already produced good results, such as a big increase in the number of bilateral tax information exchange agreements. [Interruption.]

[Mr Speaker]

Order. There is far too much noise in the Chamber. It is very unfair on Members who want to take part in questions to the Secretary of State for International Development. Let us have a bit of order.

--- Later in debate ---

[Christopher Pincher (Tamworth) (Con)]

12. What recent progress he has made on his review of emergency humanitarian response capability.

[The Minister of State, Department for International Development (Mr Alan Duncan)]

The humanitarian emergency response review is an independent review of the UK Government’s emergency humanitarian assistance, led by Lord Ashdown. The review team will complete its consultations this month and issue its final report by the end of April.

[John Howell]

Given the significance of the review, will the Minister explain its remit?

[Mr Duncan]

The review has a specific focus on rapid onset humanitarian emergencies, which can either be natural disasters or sudden outbreaks of conflict. The urgent international response to disasters is often confused and unco-ordinated. Today is the first anniversary of the devastating earthquake in Haiti, and what happened there will play an essential part in our review. [Interruption.]

[Mr Speaker]

Order. The House must come to order again.

[Mr Duncan]

As I explained, the humanitarian review is primarily focused on rapid onset emergencies, and it has therefore not looked at a protracted crisis such as that of the Sahrawi refugee camps in Algeria. We support them, however, through our 13% share in the budget of the European Community’s humanitarian aid office, which in this financial year has committed €10 million to support Sahrawi refugees.

[Paul Flynn (Newport West) (Lab)]

What percentage of emergency aid does the Minister believe was included in the £52 million that the Vice-President of Afghanistan, Ahmad Zia Massoud, took from his country to his bolthole in Dubai? Is there any point in pouring money into those funds before we end the corruption that is endemic in the Afghanistan Government?

[Mr Duncan]

We do everything to make sure that such moneys are paid only through a trust fund and paid only after proven action with proper receipts. We do everything possible to overcome the challenges posed by corruption in any such country.

[Ms Gisela Stuart (Birmingham, Edgbaston) (Lab)]

The Minister mentioned Haiti. It is clear that some NGOs were not working very effectively together and were actually operating in their own interest. Will the review also consider the better co-ordination of NGOs, both from this country and those under UN supervision?

[Mr Duncan]

Yes, is the answer. However, I repeat that the review’s remit is concentrated and focused on rapid onset humanitarian response—in other words, it is a review of emergency humanitarian response, not of the entire area of all humanitarian action.

The Prime Minister was asked—