Question to the Department for International Development:

To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what assessment her Department has made on the success of the World Food Programme's use of the Joint Precision Airdrop System (JPADS) for aid air-drops into Deir Ezzor; and what steps her Department has taken to assess the feasibility of the Government using JPADS for aid air-drops into besieged areas of Syria.

The World Food Programme (WFP) has trialled the use of Joint Precision Airdrop System (JPADS) as part of its humanitarian airdrop operations to Deir Ez-Zour. WFP report that the cost of JPADS was roughly 3.5 times higher than non-guided parachutes, and that the average percentage of goods recovered from 27 JPADS airdrops was lower than the average for non-guided parachutes.

The UK does not possess a JPADS capability. We continue to work with partners to explore all viable options for delivering aid into besieged areas in Syria. Aid, delivered by road, by trusted humanitarian partners who can ensure it gets to those who need it most, remains the most effective approach.