Asked by: Anne Main (Conservative - St Albans)
Question to the Department for International Development:
To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, with reference to the National Audit Office report of 9 February 2017, entitled Investigation into the Department's approach to tackling fraud, how much of the two-thirds of the reported fraud loss recovered since 2003 was recovered between (a) 2003 and 2009 and (b) 2010 and 2016.
Answered by Rory Stewart
The value of reported fraud loss recovered between (a) FY2003-2004 and FY2009-2010 was £1,833,832 and (b) FY2010-2011 and FY2016-2017 was £9,300,064.
Year | Value Recovered (£) |
2003-2004 | 1,972 |
2004-2005 | 65,278 |
2005-2006 | 40,535 |
2006-2007 | 981,963 |
2007-2008 | 93,058 |
2008-2009 | 452,385 |
2009-2010 | 198,641 |
2010-2011 | 477,031 |
2011-2012 | 1,986,911 |
2012-2013 | 837,381 |
2013-2014 | 566,991 |
2014-2015 | 1,552,292 |
2015-2016 | 2,235,169 |
2016-2017 | 1,644,289 |
Total | 11,133,896 |
Asked by: Anne Main (Conservative - St Albans)
Question to the Department for International Development:
To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what steps her Department is taking to tackle the fraudulent use of aid disbursed by her Department.
Answered by Rory Stewart
The Department for International Development has robust measures in place to protect, prevent, and detect the fraudulent use of aid. We have controls embedded throughout the programme cycle, from design through mobilisation, delivery and closure; this includes a comprehensive risk management framework which requires risks to be identified prior to any disbursement of aid.
All organisations that receive funding from DFID are required to provide evidence about the use of funds, including audited financial statements which are examined as we monitor programme performance and delivery.
We have a zero tolerance approach to fraud and this applies to all those within the delivery chain who are entrusted with UK taxpayers’ funds. When fraud is identified we respond swiftly and effectively to recover funds wherever possible.
Asked by: Anne Main (Conservative - St Albans)
Question to the Department for International Development:
To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, how much her Department and its agencies and non-departmental public bodies have spent on infraction proceedings in each of the last 10 years.
Answered by Nick Hurd
I refer the my hon. Friend to the answer given by my Rt Hon. Friend the Minister for the cabinet Office today to UIN: 36288
Asked by: Anne Main (Conservative - St Albans)
Question to the Department for International Development:
To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, how many infraction proceedings the EU has initiated against her Department in each of the last 10 years; what the reasons were for each such proceeding being undertaken; and what the outcome was of each such proceeding.
Answered by Desmond Swayne
The information requested is publicly available on the website of the European Commission where the infringement cases for each member state can be found. This includes the infringement and the decision. These records go back to 2002 and can be found here.
http://ec.europa.eu/atwork/applying-eu-law/infringements-proceedings/infringement_decisions/?lang_code=en
Asked by: Anne Main (Conservative - St Albans)
Question to the Department for International Development:
To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what assessment she has made of the implications for her policies of the Clean Clothes Campaign memorandum, published on 28 January 2016; and if she will raise the matters discussed in that memorandum with the Bangladeshi government.
Answered by Desmond Swayne
Ensuring the safety of garment sector workers around the world is of critical importance. Whilst progress has been made since the Rana Plaza factory collapse in 2011, the Clean Clothes Campaign is right to say safety improvements in factories in Bangladesh need to speed up. The second review of the EU-US-Bangladesh Sustainability Compact, conducted in the first week of February, acknowledged the complexities involved in making improvements across the garment sector and highlighted it as a priority area where all involved – brands, factories and the government – need to work together to make progress.
The UK is addressing this sector-wide issue in two ways. Firstly, our programme is improving the institutional capacity of the Department of Inspection for Factories and Establishments to enable this government body to follow up on Corrective Action Plans; there are now 270 inspectors in place (up from around 90 in 2013) who are trained and equipped to do their jobs. We are also active in the 3+5 high-level platform that meets periodically to monitor progress of the Sustainability Compact action plan. Through future 3+5 discussion, we will continue to emphasise the urgency of taking forward remediation in factories.
Asked by: Anne Main (Conservative - St Albans)
Question to the Department for International Development:
To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, how much her Department has allocated to promoting freedom of worship in 2015-16; and how much her Department has spent on assisting religious minorities against persecution in developing countries in each of the last three years.
Answered by Nick Hurd
The UK’s development and humanitarian aid is not targeted at specific groups but at the poorest, regardless of race, religion, creed, or nationality. The UK attaches great importance to ensuring that people of all faiths can participate fully in society and live without fear of abuse or discrimination.DFID works closely with the FCO to raise concerns on freedom of religion with partner governments.DFID does not collect specific data on allocation of funds for promoting freedom of worship.
Asked by: Anne Main (Conservative - St Albans)
Question to the Department for International Development:
To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what steps she is taking to provide assistance to people in Madaya, Syria; and if she will work with allies of the UK, the United Nations and non-governmental organisations to provide humanitarian relief to that region.
Answered by Desmond Swayne
The UK has been at the forefront of the response to the crisis in Syria and the region. We have pledged over £1.1 billion, making us the second largest bilateral donor after the US. We also co-sponsored and lobbied hard for the passage of UN Security Council Resolutions 2165, 2191 and 2258 which call on the parties to allow rapid, safe and unhindered access for humanitarian aid to besieged and hard to reach places. We are working to bring about an inclusive political solution to end the conflict in Syria through our engagement in the International Syria Support Group, with the UN Special Envoy for Syria, and with the Syrian Opposition.
The UK has provided support to the UN and international NGOs (INGOs) since the start of the conflict to deliver aid in hard to reach and besieged areas of Syria, including Madaya.
On 11 January 2016, the UN, the International Committee of the Red Cross and the Syrian Arab Red Crescent confirmed that aid convoys of humanitarian assistance had arrived in the hard to reach towns of Madaya, Foah and Kefraya. Two further convoys have been given permission. The convoy is expected to meet survival needs of the 40,000 persons inside Madaya, and of 20,000 people inside Foah and Kefraya. DFID funding to UN agencies is directly supporting the current convoy with food parcels, nutritional supplements, essential drugs and non-food items including winterisation kits.
The UK worked with partners in the UN Security Council to put humanitarian access in Madaya, and across Syria, on the Security Council’s agenda on Monday 11 January.
In February 2016, the UK will invite world leaders to London for a Conference to support immediate needs and identify longer-term solutions to address the needs of those affected by the crisis.
Asked by: Anne Main (Conservative - St Albans)
Question to the Department for International Development:
To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, how much her Department spent on the Independent Commission for Aid Impact (ICAI) in the last year; how often the ICAI audits the projects of her Department; and under what criteria such audits are carried out.
Answered by Desmond Swayne
The Independent Commission for Aid Impact (ICAI) does not audit DFID projects, this is the responsibility of DFID’s Internal Audit Department. Instead ICAI produces detailed studies covering the impact of any UK Overseas Development Assistance (ODA). The criteria for selecting studies is entirely ICAI’s concern as an independent body. They develop plans based on their criteria including coverage, materiality, interest and risk and also after public consultation. Priorities are agreed with the International Development Committee (IDC).
In 2014/15 ICAI’s expenditure was £3.4m. Since May 2011 ICAI has published 46 reports.
Asked by: Anne Main (Conservative - St Albans)
Question to the Department for International Development:
To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what effect the auditing of her Department's projects by the Independent Commission for Aid Impact has had on the performance of her Department's projects.
Answered by Desmond Swayne
The Independent Commission for Aid Impact (ICAI) does not audit DFID projects. Instead ICAI produces detailed studies covering the impact of any UK Overseas Development Assistance (ODA). DFID takes the work of ICAI very seriously. The specific impact of ICAI’s work varies from report to report but as ICAI noted in their Follow-up report published in June 2015 “Country offices and teams within DFID centrally have both in their approach and in the actions taken, shown in most cases a serious intent to address the issues we have raised”.
Asked by: Anne Main (Conservative - St Albans)
Question to the Department for International Development:
To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, how the reports, evidence and recommendations of the Independent Commission for Aid Impact are scrutinised within her Department.
Answered by Desmond Swayne
DFID takes the work of Independent Commission on Aid Impact (ICAI) very seriously. Each study and follow up activity is overseen by a senior civil servant in DFID. ICAI reports are communicated to all relevant staff and published on DFID’s intranet. The Department then publishes a response, agreed by Ministers, to every ICAI recommendation setting out specific actions it will take. The Department also publishes an annual update on progress against previous recommendations online.
As ICAI noted in their follow-up report published in June 2015, “Country offices and teams within DFID centrally have both in their approach and in the actions taken, shown in most cases a serious intent to address the issues we have raised”.