Oral Answers to Questions
Julie Hilling Excerpts(12 years, 11 months ago)
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Mr O’Brien
My hon. Friend is right to demonstrate, through the work of the Westminster Foundation for Democracy in Moldova, how important good governance is in alleviating poverty and in creating the conditions that all countries need to have the greatest possible opportunity for wealth creation and security. Of course, we all look forward to the Moldovan Parliament being able to elect a President soon, which will allow the Parliament to focus on the reform agenda that is necessary to bring Moldova closer to the EU. I am happy to pay tribute to the work of the WFD.
Julie Hilling (Bolton West) (Lab)
3. What recent assessment he has made of the work of the global fund on HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis and malaria in developing countries.
The Secretary of State for International Development (Mr Andrew Mitchell)
The multilateral aid review assessed the global fund as providing very good value for money, but also concluded that it could do more to maximise its potential and impact in developing countries. We are working closely with it to ensure that that happens.
Julie Hilling
In view of the current concern about the global fund, will the Secretary of State clarify the UK’s current and future financial commitment to the organisation?
Mr Mitchell
We have made it clear that we are willing, subject to the improvements that we have set out, to spend up to £1 billion by 2015. We are currently spending about £128 million a year on achieving very specific results under the global fund, and I am considering whether additional funding would be warranted. I shall make that decision on the basis of value for money for the British taxpayer.
Oral Answers to Questions
Julie Hilling Excerpts(13 years, 5 months ago)
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Julie Hilling (Bolton West) (Lab)
9. What estimate he has made of the proportion of gross national income to be spent on official development assistance in (a) 2011-12 and (b) 2012-13.
The Secretary of State for International Development (Mr Andrew Mitchell)
British official development assistance as a proportion of gross national income will be 0.56% in 2011 and 2012. The Government are fully committed to delivering 0.7% of GNI as ODA from 2013 and will enshrine that commitment in law, in line with the coalition agreement.
Julie Hilling
The Government have frozen aid for two years and propose to spend money through multinational institutions, which have more expensive bureaucracy. Is it not nonsensical for DFID to cut its admin costs only to spend money through institutions with higher costs?
Mr Mitchell
The hon. Lady is not correct. The way in which we judge multilateral institutions was set out clearly in the multilateral aid review. The whole point of the two big reviews that the coalition Government commissioned on coming to power was to ensure that we deliver best value for money. It is our aim to ensure that for every pound of hard-earned taxpayers’ money that we spend, we get 100p of development results on the ground.
Oral Answers to Questions
Julie Hilling Excerpts(13 years, 10 months ago)
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Catherine McKinnell (Newcastle upon Tyne North) (Lab)
8. What steps his Department is taking to support the work of Governments in developing countries to increase the size of their tax base.
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.
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.]
Oral Answers to Questions
Julie Hilling Excerpts(14 years, 4 months ago)
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Mr Speaker
Order. Far too many private conversations are taking place in the Chamber. It is very discourteous both to the Member asking the question and to the Minister, however strong a voice he or she may have, answering the question. We need a bit of order.
Julie Hilling (Bolton West) (Lab)
9. Whether his Department plans to provide funding for tackling climate change other than by means of official development assistance from 2013.
The Secretary of State for International Development (Mr Andrew Mitchell)
Decisions on UK international climate change finance will be determined through the comprehensive spending review.
Julie Hilling
I find that answer somewhat difficult at the moment. Clearly, we need to know what will happen in terms of any such division: will there be separate funding for climate change, or will all the money come from the international aid budget?
Mr Mitchell
The hon. Lady will know that the fast start funding for climate change, which will come from the development budget—something that was confirmed by the previous Government when they were in office—takes up to 2012, but I hope she will understand that long-term decisions on climate change funding will need to come from the comprehensive spending review, and that work is happening at the moment.