§ Lord Aveburyasked Her Majesty's Government:
What is the cost of overseas British military and police training programmes respectively in the year 1995–96; and why are the police programmes regularly monitored when there has been no systematic assessment of the military programmes in spite of the fact 76 countries benefit from this form of assistance.
§ The Minister of State, Foreign and Commonwealth Office (Baroness Chalker of Wallasey)The estimated cost of the ECO's military training assistance scheme (UKMTAS) in the 1995/96 financial year is around £13.5 million. This includes a budget of £0.5 million for police training. The total cost of overseas police training is not available.
The UKMTAS programme is constantly monitored to ensure that value for money and the FCO's overall objectives, which include the promotion of human rights, are being achieved. Although there is no systematic assessment of human rights aspects, professionalism and respect for human rights form an integral part of the monitoring of UK military training programmes.