Fairtrade Foundation: Finance

Malcolm Bruce
To ask the Secretary of State for International Development how much his Department allocated to the Fairtrade Foundation in each of the last five years; how much will be given in 2008-09; and if he will make a statement.

Mr. Thomas
In each of the last five years we have given the following funding to the Fairtrade Foundation:

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|       |£      |
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|2003-04|240,695|
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|2004-05|230,478|
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|2005-06|264,169|
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|2006-07|296,795|
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|2007-08|135,583|
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We are currently discussing future funding with the UK Fairtrade Foundation and its international partner, Fairtrade Labelling Organisations International (FLO). At the request of FLO, we have agreed to give interim funding to the Fairtrade Foundation for the next two years, until a strategic review on its expansion has been completed and a longer-term proposal can be put to donors. Our interim support will be around €1 million over two years. No decision has been made about the size of our longer-term funding, but we remain committed to expanding the fair trade sector.