asked Her Majesty's Government:

What consultations were carried out with non-governmental groups and public bodies before the United Kingdom's contribution to the International Development Association in December 2007. [HL2509]

Ministers and senior officials from London and the UK Delegation to the World Bank in Washington hold regular meetings with interested non-governmental groups and public bodies to discuss World Bank issues. During 2006 and 2007 some of these meetings covered the 15th replenishment of the International Development Association (IDA 15). We also held additional meetings with non-governmental groups throughout 2007 specifically to discuss the UK's approach to the IDA negotiations.

There was a half-day session between the World Bank, IDA donors and African civil society opinion-formers as part of the second IDA 15 replenishment meeting in Maputo in June 2007. In October the World Bank organised a workshop for UK civil society to consult on its progress report on conditionality. Also in October, the lead negotiators from the UK and other donors met with civil society groups in Washington to discuss the replenishment in the margins of the third replenishment meeting. The draft outcome document of the negotiations was placed on the World Bank's website for public comment. The comments were discussed at the final replenishment meeting in Berlin in December and some were incorporated into the final version.

asked Her Majesty's Government:

Whether the budget for the Department for International Development has increased for each year since 1997. [HL2510]

The Department for International Development (DfID) total expenditure since 1997 is set out in the table below showing both actual expenditure and expenditure in real terms based on 2006-07 prices. Both methods show that DfID expenditure increased in all but one year, 2004-05.

From 2004-05 EC aid to a group of 10 countries that joined the EU in 2004 was no longer attributed to DfID resulting in a decrease in total expenditure for that year.