§ Mr. Menzies CampbellTo ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what categories, activities and equipment are funded from the counter-terrorism assistance budget of(a) his Department and (b) the Global Opportunities Fund. [118261]
§ Mr. StrawI announced on 8 May 2003 that the Foreign and Commonwealth Office had established the Global Opportunities Fund. The Counter-Terrorism Programme, which replaces the previous FCO Counter-Terrorism Assistance budget, was one of the first five programmes to be launched.
Over the last 14 months, funds from these budgets have been used to deliver specific counter-terrorism training to over 70 countries on five different continents. To date, no equipment has been supplied under the counter-terrorism programmes, but assistance has been delivered covering the drafting of counter-terrorism legislation, efforts to combat the financing of terrorism, aviation security, crisis management, bomb disposal and police investigation and forensic skills.
Counter-terrorism assistance from the GOF will rise to £4 million this financial year and continue to rise over the next two years.