Bruce calls for additional International Development Minister

4.31.56pm UTC (GMT +0000) Mon 25th Jun 2007

Malcolm Bruce MP as Chair of the International Development Committee, is calling for DFID to be given a third Minister

In his capacity as Chair of the International Development Committee, Malcolm Bruce MP is calling for the Department for International Development to be given a third Minister to properly reflect its rising budget and the number of countries in which it works.

The Gordon MP said:

"DFID is a major spending Department with a budget of over £6 billion which is set to continue to rise. Nearly 100 countries around the world receive DFID funding. Yet DFID has only two Ministers - the Secretary of State and a Parliamentary Under-Secretary. No other major Government Department has so few Ministers and in comparison the FCO has five."

In advance of Gordon Brown nominating new ministers when he becomes Prime Minister, the Committee has written to ask him to increase DFID's complement of Ministers.

The Chairman said: "We believe the scale and importance of DFID's work justifies it having at least three Ministers. We hope Gordon Brown will give development the priority it deserves and make the change we recommend."

ENDS

NOTE:

The International Development Committee is a cross-party Parliamentary Committee which scrutinises the work of the Department for International Development (DfID). Mr Bruce is the Chair. More information on the Committee's work can be found on: http://www.publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm/cmintdev.htm