Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, pursuant to the Answer of 4 December 2020 to Question 122716, whether the £20 million to the EU programme Support the Palestinian Authority will be reallocated to programmes in the Occupied Palestinian Territories.

The UK has been supporting the Palestinian Authority's health and education sectors through the EU PEGASE mechanism. Salary payments have been transferred to a dedicated bank account and are then paid to carefully vetted individuals. Each payment is independently audited to ensure it has been received by the intended recipient. At the end of the transition period, the UK will be able to continue to access the PEGASE mechanism as this is available for use by both EU and non-EU member states.

As announced by the Foreign Secretary on 26 November, to maximise the Government's strategic focus in the use of ODA this year, he is leading a short cross-government process to review, appraise and finalise all of the UK's ODA allocations for 2021, the outcomes of which have not been concluded.