Written question asked by Harry Cohen (Labour) on Monday, 4 July 2005, in the House of Commons. It was due for an answer on Wednesday, 6 July 2005. It was answered by Kim Howells (Labour) on Monday, 18 July 2005 on behalf of the Foreign and Commonwealth Office.

United Nations Compensation Commission

Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what the outcome of the United Nations Compensation Commission (UNCC) meeting on 28 to 30 June was; whether it resolved all outstanding claims; what reparation payments have been made to date; what the total of reparations will be once all outstanding claims are met; what the timescale for outstanding claims is; what costs to date the UNCC has charged to reparations; what the estimated total cost of the UNCC itself charged to reparations upon the completion of all claim payments is; how much interest included within original claims has been paid to date; what the estimated interest on total claims for reparation payments is; what position the UK Government's representative at the UNCC took on matters before this meeting; and if he will make a statement.

Answer: All outstanding claims have now been resolved by the United Nations Compensation Commission (UNCC).A total of approximately US$52.5 billion has been awarded in respect of approximately 1.5 million eligible claims. Approximately US$19.2 billion has been paid so far to Governments for distribution to claimants.Current revenues received by the Fund are approximately US$1 billion per year. The next round of payments is expected this month when US$200 million will be made available for payment. It is likely that all individual claims will be paid by 2007, or earlier under the current payment mechanism.The Secretariat of the UNCC state that since 1991 total administrative costs up to May 2005 were US$362.6 million.The Governing Council at their meeting in March 2005 took the decision not to take any further action on the issue of interest. This effectively means that interest will not be paid by the UNCC to claimants on top of their principal awards. This decision was reached by consensus after careful consideration. The decision affects all claimants in the same way.The UK continues to support the UNCC.

Secondary information