To ask the Secretary of State for International Development how many (a) questionnaires, (b) statistical inquiries and (c) investigations have been carried out wholly or partly at public expense on behalf of or by his Department in each year since 1997; and what the (i) nature, (ii) purpose and (iii) cost was in each case. (83175)

DFID contributes funding (either in whole or in part) to surveys, investigations and research undertaken in developing countries or on development issues. These activities cover a wide range of topics and may be national or local, conducted by the state National Statistics Institute, research institutes or by NGOs. It is not possible within proportionate cost to identify all the surveys that DFID has funded over the period in question.