Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, pursuant to the answer of 23 November 2020 to Question 117220 on Palestinians: Radicalism, what recent assessment he has made of the implications for his policies of the Palestinian Authority's practice of paying salaries to prisoners convicted of terrorist offences.

No UK aid is used for payments to prisoners or their families. The UK has robust controls against fraud and the diversion of aid to ensure UK aid reaches the intended beneficiaries.

We are clear that the prisoner payments system should be reformed so that it is needs based, transparent and affordable. The UK has and continues to raise the need for reform at the highest levels of the Palestinian Authority, including when the Foreign Secretary visited the Occupied Palestinian Territories in August.