Asked by: Lord Austin of Dudley (Non-affiliated - Life peer)
Question to the Department for International Development:
To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what her policy is on whether the parade held in Ramallah on 8 January 2017 constitutes a breach of her Department's partnership principles by the Palestinian Authority.
Answered by Rory Stewart
HMG is not aware of a parade held in Ramallah on 8 January 2017 that could constitute a breach by the Palestinian Authority of our partnership principles. We are aware of provocative actions by some Palestinians during the so-called ‘Martyr’s Day’ celebrations around that time. Such action makes a culture of peace and mutual respect more difficult to achieve and the UK deplores incitement on both sides of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. HMG has a regular dialogue with the PA in which we reiterate the need to prepare their population for peaceful coexistence. We consider that the track record of President Abbas and Prime Minister Hamdallah shows their commitment to non-violence.
Asked by: Lord Austin of Dudley (Non-affiliated - Life peer)
Question to the Department for International Development:
To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, with reference to her announcement of 16 December 2017 on future UK support to the Occupied Palestinian Territories, whether the Government plans no longer to provide funds to the Palestinian Authority to pay salaries of (a) any Gaza public servants or (b) such servants who are unable to work.
Answered by Rory Stewart
UK aid to the Palestinian Authority now only goes to the salaries of Palestinian Authority health and education public servants in the West Bank all of whom are able to work. No payments are made to Gaza public servants. These changes provide better value for money, with British taxpayers’ money able to deliver more essential services and have a bigger impact on the ground for Palestinians.
Asked by: Lord Austin of Dudley (Non-affiliated - Life peer)
Question to the Department for International Development:
To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what assessment she has made of the implications for her policies of the findings of the Overseas Development Institute report entitled Evaluative review of the Statebuilding Grant and the Palestinian Government Facility - DFID Palestinian programme, published by her Department in November 2015, that increased employment by the Palestinian Authority combined with its policies of paying salaries to convicted terrorists while they are in prison, and holding public sector jobs open for them until they are released from prison, appear to have promoted terrorism in the period from 1998 to 2011.
Answered by Rory Stewart
The ODI report identified important progress that has been made in supporting the fiscal stability of the Palestinian Authority, and made clear that DFID support was instrumental in reducing the chances of economic collapse of the Palestinian economy and violent escalation. The ODI report did not find, conclude or suggest that “paying salaries to convicted terrorists while they are in prison, and holding public sector jobs open for them until they are released from prison, appear[s] to have promoted terrorism in the period from 1998 to 2011” – this is misrepresentation of the research, its analysis and findings. The report made practical suggestions about how DFID could further improve its impact, which were taken into account in the design of the new programme of support to the PA.
Asked by: Lord Austin of Dudley (Non-affiliated - Life peer)
Question to the Department for International Development:
To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, whether PEGASE uses a dedicated bank account to pay salaries to West Bank civil servants.
Answered by Rory Stewart
The PEGASE system uses a dedicated sub-account within the PA’s Single Treasury Account. The UK has a further sub-account to pay the salaries of West Bank health and education public servants. The PA payroll is checked by independent auditors, and UK payments made to all eligible beneficiaries are traced through the verification process.
Asked by: Lord Austin of Dudley (Non-affiliated - Life peer)
Question to the Department for International Development:
To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, which body audits the PEGASE scheme; and which regulatory authority supervises those auditors.
Answered by Rory Stewart
The PEGASE scheme is audited by two firms. Ernst & Young are providing the ex-ante audits. The firm is authorised and regulated by the UK Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA). Mazars, Paris (with their local partner El Wafa) are conducting ex-post audits. Mazars are regulated by Ordre des Experts Comptables – Région Paris Ile de France.
Asked by: Lord Austin of Dudley (Non-affiliated - Life peer)
Question to the Department for International Development:
To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, when her Department will make its next assessment of the Palestinian Authority's compliance with the Partnership Principles set out in the Memorandum of Understanding between the UK and the Palestinian Authority.
Answered by Rory Stewart
The UK is currently undertaking its assessment of the Palestinian Authority’s commitment to the Partnership Principles. These assessments provide robust analysis of countries’ commitments to these principles and are used to inform dialogue between DFID and partner governments.
Asked by: Lord Austin of Dudley (Non-affiliated - Life peer)
Question to the Department for International Development:
To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, pursuant to her press statement of 16 December 2016 on future UK support to the Occupied Palestinian Territories, that she intends to channel payments to the Palestinian Authority directly through the EU's PEGASE mechanism, if she will set out what her policy is on making such payments after the UK leaves the EU.
Answered by Lord Wharton of Yarm
The UK’s ability to use the EU PEGASE mechanism will not be affected when we leave the EU. Non-EU countries are able to channel funding through this mechanism.
Asked by: Lord Austin of Dudley (Non-affiliated - Life peer)
Question to the Department for International Development:
To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, with reference to section 6.5 of the Memorandum of Understanding between her Department and the Palestinian National Authority, whether her Department has been aware of any breach of the commitment of human rights and taken any action in response to a breach of that commitment.
Answered by Rory Stewart
The UK assesses that the Palestinian Authority (PA) is not in breach of its commitment to respecting human rights. The UK promptly raises specific human rights issues with the PA when necessary, both publicly and privately.
Asked by: Lord Austin of Dudley (Non-affiliated - Life peer)
Question to the Department for International Development:
To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, with reference to section 6.5 of the Memorandum of Understanding between her Department and the Palestinian National Authority, whether her Department has been aware of any breach of the commitment on the principle of non-violence and taken any action in response to a breach of that commitment.
Answered by Rory Stewart
The UK deplores incitement on both sides of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. We take the issue very seriously and raise our concerns when incidents occur. The UK’s assessment is that the Palestinian Authority is not in breach of the Memorandum of Understanding and the track record of President Abbas and Prime Minister Hamdallah demonstrates their overall commitment to non-violence and a negotiated two-state solution.
Asked by: Lord Austin of Dudley (Non-affiliated - Life peer)
Question to the Department for International Development:
To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, with reference to section 6.5 of the Memorandum of Understanding between her Department and the Palestinian National Authority, whether the implications of any breach of the commitment on human rights was discussed at the annual partnership talks between her Department and that Authority.
Answered by Rory Stewart
The UK raised the issue of human rights as part of the FCO-led UK-Palestinian strategic talks and in the DFID- Palestinian Authority (PA) annual talks that review the broader DFID-PA Memorandum of Understanding (MoU), with a clear message that we take very seriously any allegations of human rights abuses. The UK assesses that the PA is not in breach of its commitment to respecting human rights.