HL Deb 29 November 2000 vol 619 cc145-6WA
Lord Judd

asked Her Majesty's Government:

What progress they have made in establishing interdepartmental arrangements for work on conflict prevention and conflict resolution throughout the world; and how effective these arrangements are proving. [HL4698]

Baroness Scotland of Asthal

The Government have established two sub-committees of the Ministerial Committee on Defence and Overseas Policy (DOP). One, chaired by the Secretary of State for International Development, will address the Government's priorities and programmes for conflict prevention in sub-Saharan Africa; the other, chaired by the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, will fulfil the same role in relation to the rest of the world.

We are establishing "pooled budgets" for each of these areas, based on the resources government departments currently spend on conflict prevention, plus a contribution from the Treasury. The pools will come into effect at the beginning of the next financial year.

Officials of the Foreign and Commonwealth Office, Ministry of Defence, Department for International Development and the Treasury are continuing discussions on the joint structures for assessing, implementing, monitoring and evaluating programmes and projects to be funded from the pools.

The pooled budgets will also finance peacekeeping and other operations which will be funded at the time of the Main Estimates each year in accordance with collectively agreed forecasts of expenditure.

These new arrangements should enable the United Kingdom Government to make a more effective contribution to international efforts to prevent and resolve conflicts. We will keep Parliament informed as this initiative develops.