Africa: FCO and DfID Expenditure 14:52:00 Lord Hurd of Westwell asked Her Majesty’s Government: How much expenditure they plan in Africa during the current financial year by the Foreign and Commonwealth Office and the Department for International Development respectively. The Minister of State, Foreign and Commonwealth Office (Lord Malloch-Brown) My Lords, excluding the grants in aid made by the Foreign and Commonwealth Office to the British Council and BBC World Service, planned recurrent expenditure in sub-Saharan Africa is broadly similar in its administrative use at £56 million for the FCO and £52.3 million for DfID. Planned capital expenditure is also broadly similar at £7.8 million for the FCO and £7.1 million for DfID. However—and I think this is the point that the noble Lord is seeking—the FCO’s planned strategic and bilateral programme spend is £33.5 million, while DfID’s planned bilateral expenditure on the elimination of poverty is £1.259 billion. Lord Hurd of Westwell My Lords, I am grateful to the noble Lord for that Answer. Is he aware of a growing feeling that we may be in danger of running a two-headed policy in Africa, part of it run with these large figures from DfID for the reduction of poverty and the other half dealing with political stability and good government? Given what we see happening around us, in Kenya and Zimbabwe—disasters primarily as a result of misgovernment—will he give us an assurance that it is our intention, and our policy, to run a single, balanced and coherent policy and not allow the gaining of political information and influence to wither away in reduced budgets? Lord Malloch-Brown My Lords, I very much thank the noble Lord for his question. It will help to ensure that that does not happen, as will the vigorous attention of all your Lordships to ensuring that we have an active foreign policy for Africa and not just a development policy. I reassure him that DfID’s expenditures on poverty reduction also very much cover good governance. There is full recognition that one must go hand in hand with the other. Only where there is accountable, transparent government will you see effective poverty reduction. Let me add that our foreign policy for Africa is no longer just about poor, failing states. There are some rich, quite successful states in Africa that offer us real partnership opportunities in moving ahead. Lord Anderson of Swansea My Lords, within two years it is projected that aid to Africa will be 50 per cent more than the total FCO budget. Yet Kenya, for example, shows that although there is abundance of aid, the politics can be wrong and can mar much of the effect of that aid. Is my noble friend sensitive to the view that the balance between the two departments may not be quite right? Lord Malloch-Brown My Lords, my noble friend asks another of those questions to which I would not presume to have an answer. Obviously diplomacy does not require the huge and heavy project expenditures that poverty reduction requires. Therefore, although these comparisons are important in ensuring that the Foreign Office is properly funded for its critical work in Africa and elsewhere, this is a comparison between apples and oranges. DfID is doing great work meeting the British goal, committed to at Gleneagles, of doubling our assistance to Africa by 2010 in a way that makes a tangible difference, such as more kids in school, better public health and better governance in Africa. Baroness Northover My Lords, does the Minister agree that now is not the time to cut back on aid to Africa? Surely he is right when he says that the FCO and DfID should complement each other. However, does he share my enormous concern from my experience of visiting some of these places that enormous expertise is being lost as the FCO cuts back on staff, particularly those who have a long track record in some of these countries? Given the critical need to have expertise, particularly in developing countries in Africa, the Middle East and the Far East, what is being done to ensure that people with great experience are retained? Lord Malloch-Brown My Lords, the noble Baroness puts her finger on the recognition shared by all current or former Ministers in the Foreign Office that it has huge expertise—language knowledge and cultural knowledge of countries—that does not exist outside. It is a talent pool that we must preserve. We are moving more diplomats from posts in places such as Europe to posts in developing countries. We are making the leadership of those missions—the ambassador and high-commissioner positions—more senior, relative to the old European transatlantic footprint. We are making efforts to do this, but I share the noble Baroness’s concern that we do not lose the human capital of the FCO. Lord Howe of Aberavon My Lords, does the Minister recall that the first speech made by the present Foreign Secretary described the Foreign Office as a “unique global asset”, and that the Foreign Secretary said in his most recent speech that: “The traditional roles of the foreign office are still needed”? Given those premises, is the Minister not a little disturbed by the fact that we have no diplomatic representation whatever in 23 out of 53 African states? Lord Malloch-Brown My Lords, the noble and learned Lord, in his quotations from my right honourable friend the Foreign Secretary, rightly points to the fact that the Foreign Secretary and I, with our other ministerial colleagues, are deeply committed to building an effective Foreign Office. We are pleased that we did a little better in this budget round that we had done in recent years. Although we do not have missions in 23 African states, that means that we are still just ahead of the game, with missions in the majority of African countries. If anything, we are trying to grow our diplomatic footprint in Africa as a reflection of the increased importance that we give to that region. The Lord Bishop of Liverpool My Lords, is the Minister aware that a recent report from the World Health Organisation estimated that 40 per cent of healthcare provision in sub-Saharan Africa is provided by the churches in Africa? Does DfID have a strategy to engage those assets in delivering better healthcare systems for Africa? Lord Malloch-Brown My Lords, having run the UNDP for many years I know extremely well, at a personal level, the extraordinary contribution of churches to service delivery in both health and education at the community level. I have made a point of saying that to friends and colleagues in DfID, and I understand from conversations that it is recognised and that collaboration is growing. However, I fear that I will have to refer the right reverend Prelate to those colleagues for a fuller answer.