The Report
of the Iraq Inquiry
318.
A draft
Cabinet Office paper entitled ‘Funding for Iraq 2005/06’ was
circulated with
the record
of the 3 June meeting of the ISG.187
The draft
paper stated that:
“The UK now
has a realistic prospect of reducing troop numbers over the
next
nine months
– and should benefit from a reduction in costs in Iraq as a
result.
Both to
ensure Iraqi capacity and consent during this process, and to meet
Iraq’s
development
needs, reconstruction on the ground needs to continue …
However,
[the UK’s]
resources for Iraq are already overstretched. Ministers will
therefore need
either to
agree a strict prioritisation of assistance, or consider whether
additional
funds
should be made available.”
319.
The Cabinet
Office draft paper set out the funding currently available for
Iraq
for 2005/06:
•
DFID had
£65m available and had commitments of £86.6m.
•
The GCPP
had £23.3m available (an accurate figure for commitments was
not
yet
available).
•
The MOD
forecast “military operational” costs of £927m (a figure for QIPs
was
not yet
available).
320.
An Annex to
the draft paper advised that DFID would need to manage
its
programme
very carefully in order to come within the £65m budget. Some
(unspecified)
spending
could be delayed, and DFID was urgently seeking co-financing for
projects
from other
donors, including the World Bank. An improvement in the security
situation
would help:
£28m of the £86.6m was expected to be spent on security and life
support.
321.
Of the £86.6m
committed to existing high-priority activities:
•
£63.8m (74
percent ) was committed to projects in southern Iraq.
•
£14.6m (17
percent) was committed to projects supporting central
Government.
•
£7.2m (8
percent) was committed to projects supporting political
participation
(“elections,
media, support to civil society groups”).
•
£1m was
committed to multilateral organisations.
322.
Ms Aldred told
the 10 June meeting of the Iraq Senior Officials Group (ISOG)
that
Ministers
needed to consider funding for Iraq “in the round”, and alongside
funding for
Afghanistan.188
A Treasury
official agreed, and said that any submission to Ministers
on
funding
needed to make the link between activity and the UK’s
objectives.
323.
The ISOG
agreed that officials would finalise the draft paper “to coincide
with” the
14 July
meeting of DOP.
187
Minute
Cabinet Office [junior official] to Sheinwald, 7 June 2005, ‘Iraq:
Strategy Group’ attaching draft
Paper,
[undated], ‘Funding for Iraq 2005/06’.
188
Letter
Cabinet Office [junior official] to Asquith, 13 June 2005, ‘Iraq:
Senior Officials’.
250