Book Description

This report on the activities of the International Development Committee 1997-2000 is part of a series of such reports made by all departmental committees at the request of the Liaison Committee. The report concludes that a co-operative and productive relationship has been established with the Department for International Development (DFID). The Committee has been impressed by the repeated praise for the work and initiatives of the Department that they hear both in this country and overseas. The Committee sees DFID as having been transformed in this Parliament from an aid agency to a development agency, with a mandate to press for a developmental perspective across Whitehall. The Committee has also attempted to pursue cross-cutting issues and has thus engaged with a number of government departments in addition to DFID. The report comments that there is room for improvement in the timeliness of Government responses to Committee reports. The Committee has been concerned about the timeliness of the Government's Annual Reports on Strategic Export Controls. The Committee has complained to the Parliamentary Ombudsman under the Code of Practice to Official Information having been refused access to information concerning the Ilusu Dam. This is the first time a select committee has complained to the Parliamentary Ombudsman about the lack of access to government papers.