Written question asked by Baroness Deech (Crossbench) on Monday, 11 April 2016, in the House of Lords. It was due for an answer on Monday, 25 April 2016. It was answered by Baroness Verma (Conservative) on Monday, 25 April 2016 on behalf of the Department for International Development.

Palestinians: Overseas Aid

Question: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what steps they are taking to ensure that UK aid to Palestine is not given, directly or indirectly, to the families of suicide bombers or to convicted prisoners.

Answer: UK aid to the Palestinian Authority (PA) is subject to rigorous scrutiny, with safeguards in place to ensure its being used for proper development purposes. Our financial assistance to the PA is used to pay the salaries of civil servant and pensioners. Our support is provided through a multi-donor trust fund administered by the World Bank, which carries out close monitoring of PA expenditure. Only named civil servants from a pre-approved EU list are eligible, and the vetting process ensures that our funds do not benefit terrorist groups. The process is subject to independent auditing.

Secondary information

Type: Written question
Reference: HL7413
Session: 2015-16
Related items: Palestinians
Wednesday, 11 May 2016
Written questions
House of Lords; Palestinians: Overseas Aid
Monday, 20 June 2016
Written questions
House of Lords
Subjects: Development aid Families Prisoners Terrorism Palestine
Link: View this Written question on www.parliament.uk