PARLIAMENTARY WRITTEN QUESTION
Committee on Missing Persons in Cyprus (19 June 2014)

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, how much the Government has paid to the Committee on Missing Persons in Cyprus in each of the last four years; and what assessment he has made of the cost-effectiveness of that committee.

Asked by:
Sir Christopher Chope (Conservative)

In 2010 the Government made a bilateral contribution of US$4,037, and in 2013 the Government provided US$56,797. The Committee on Missing Persons (CMP) has used the UK's most recent contribution to buy a backup generator and DNA matching software. EU funding of the CMP, to which the UK contributes, totalled US$16,289,719 from 2006-2014. We did not provide any bilateral funds in 2011 or 2012.

In addition to this financial support, the Government supports the CMP by allowing it to work from a British-owned site in the Buffer Zone, thus easing their administration costs. The UK also indirectly supports the CMP through lobbying of parties who can facilitate the Committee's work. We hope that our political support and contributions through the EU will continue to help the CMP in their important work.

CMP funds are administered by the United Nations Development Programme according to international accounting standards with independent financial audits undertaken on an annual basis. We have made no specific assessment of the cost effectiveness of the CMP. We nonetheless recognise and welcome the painstaking, sensitive, and technically challenging work undertaken by the bicommunal teams of the CMP.

Answered by:
Sir David Lidington (Conservative)
24 June 2014