Occupied Palestinian Territories (Hansard, 12 May 2004)

§ Tony Baldry
To ask the Secretary of State, Department for International Development pursuant to the statement of 29 April 2004,Official Report, column 372WH, on the Occupied Palestinian Territories, when he expects his Department to publish the country assistance plan for the Occupied Palestinian Territories. [172088]

§ Hilary Benn
Following extensive consultations with a wide range of partners in the UK, Palestine and Israel the Secretary of State has now approved the Country Assistance Plan. We expect formal publication to be in June and a printed copy will be placed in the Library of the House. An electronic version will be available on the DFID website shortly.

§ Tony Baldry
To ask the Secretary of State for International Development pursuant to the statement of 29 April,Official Report, column 372WH, on the Occupied Palestinian Territories, what funding and support the negotiations support unit in the Occupied Palestinian Territories receives from his Department. [172089]

§ Hilary Benn
DFID has committed a total of £9.2 million to support the Palestinian Negotiation Support Unit (NSU). This funding covers the period 1999 to 2006. To date £5.25 million has been disbursed. This provides highly professional legal, policy and communications advice to help Palestinians develop detailed policy positions on complex issues in preparation for and during, permanent status negotiations. NSU's professionalism is widely praised, including by Israeli and US negotiators. We believe that the NSU's work represents an effective use of taxpayer's money.

§ Tony Baldry
To ask the Secretary of State for International Development pursuant to the statement of 29 April,Official Report, column 372WH, on the Occupied Palestinian Territories, what funding and support the Palestinian civil police (a) has received and (b) is planned to receive from his Department; and how many people have been recruited to the civil police force as a result. [172090]

§ Hilary Benn
In 2003 DFID provided £700,000 for police vehicles to help increase the efficiency and visible presence of the Palestinian Civil Police. A DFID funded Police Adviser is currently working with the Palestinian Police and Ministry of Interior to assess the type of assistance that would most effectively help to build capacity within the Civil Police. This assistance is likely 371W to be in the form of technical assistance, training and equipment. It is too early to say what impact this will have on police recruitment.