East Jerusalem: Access to Emergency Care

Lord Collins of Highbury Excerpts

Tuesday 28th March 2017 Lords Chamber

[Lord Bates]

We tend to raise these issues whenever we meet officials. My colleague Rory Stewart was in the Occupied Territories last weekend. It is a constant issue that we raise with them. We think there are legitimate concerns about the use of some materials, but we believe that there is a way forward on this to make sure that innocent people do not suffer.

[Lord Collins of Highbury (Lab)]

My Lords, DfID provides substantial budget support to the Palestinian Authority. Picking up the point made by the right reverend Prelate, when giving that budget support, how much pressure does DfID put on the Palestinian Authority to ensure that money is spent properly on medical care and hospitals?

[Lord Bates]

The noble Lord makes a valid point. The Secretary of State has taken a leading role in this by changing the way in which we do that. The £25 million that we provide to the Palestinian Authority now needs to go to vetted individuals for specific programmes that have been announced. We work with our EU partners through the PEGASE arrangement to ensure that it ends up in the right hands, but more could be done, and I am happy to undertake to make those representations to ensure that it happens.