To ask the Secretary of State for International Development whether staff of his Department based in Burma have free access to visit all projects in Burma which his Department funds. (269182)

Staff from the Department for International Development (DFID) are required to obtain permission from the Burmese authorities before visiting projects outside the city of Rangoon. Permission is usually granted routinely, and we have been able to monitor the progress of our projects effectively.

To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what reports he has received of additional restrictions on access to the delta region of Burma imposed on aid workers in the last six months. (269183)

Access for aid workers to the Irrawaddy Delta region of Burma has remained good for the last six months.

Earlier this month, responsibility for issuing visas to certain aid agency staff working in the Delta was transferred from the Tripartite Core Group (comprising representatives of the Burma Government, the United Nations and the Association of South East Asian Nations) to the Burmese Foreign Affairs Policy Committee and line Ministries. It is too early yet to assess whether this move will have a significant impact on humanitarian access to the Delta. The European Union, and other international donors, have raised the procedural changes with the Burmese authorities and expressed their concern that humanitarian access should not be affected.

To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what assessment his Department has made of (a) levels of poverty in Burma and (b) how aid to that country should be targeted. (269184)

Little reliable data are available on Burma, but it is clear that poverty levels are very high and getting worse. The most recent overview of poverty across most of the country was an assessment of household living conditions which the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) published in June 2007. This assessment found that over a third of the population lived below the poverty line, and 10 per cent. were in extreme poverty. The assessment was not able to cover areas affected by conflict, where poverty levels are likely to be even higher. Since the UNDP assessment, Burma was struck by Cyclone Nargis in May 2008, and the global economic downturn has reduced the income of many households. In addition, many parts of Chin State have experienced severe food shortages as a result of rat infestations; and conflict continues in some other border areas.

In response to this deepening poverty, DFID will expand its aid to Burma by £10 million in each of the financial years 2009-10 and 2010-11. These increases are in addition to those agreed under the comprehensive spending review. We now plan to spend £25 million on Burma in 2009-10 and £28 million in 2010-11. About 60 per cent. of the increase will be allocated to cyclone-related assistance, and about 40 per cent. to DFID's regular programme of humanitarian aid across the whole country.

The additional cyclone-related assistance will be focused on health, basic education and the restoration of people's livelihoods in rural areas. Much of the increase for the regular programme will be used to help fill funding gaps faced by the Three Diseases Fund to combat HIV/AIDS, malaria and tuberculosis. We are at the same time increasing our support to refugees, IDPs and others living in conflict affected areas of Burma. We recently agreed additional funding of up to £280,000 in response to the food shortages in Chin State.

Our assistance will continue to be channelled through the United Nations and national and international non-governmental organisations, in line with the European Union Common Position on Burma.