The Report
of the Iraq Inquiry
840.
At the
meeting, Mr Brown said that there had been little progress on
political
reconciliation
but economic reconstruction in Basra was making better progress,
largely
as a result
of the improved security environment.489
841.
According to
Sir John Scarlett’s own account of the meeting,
Mr Brown:
“… spoke
very strongly on the ceasefire in Basra and the dramatic
improvement
in the
security situation. This represented a huge
opportunity.” 490
842.
On the
afternoon of 8 October, Mr Brown told the House of Commons
that the UK
expected to
establish PIC in Basra in the next two months.491
The UK
planned to reduce
the number
of UK troops in southern Iraq from spring 2008 to around
2,500.
843.
Initial
guidance on a new format and process for producing DFID
Country
Assistance
Plans (CAPs) was circulated to DFID officials on 11
October.492
844.
Ms Barbara
Hendrie, DFID Deputy Director Iraq, wrote to DFID Heads
of
Department
on the same day:
“We have
only ever had a ‘rough and ready’ version of an I-CAP [Interim
Country
Assistance
Plan] for the Iraq programme, which is now well out of date.
Minouche
[Dr Shafik]
asked the team this summer to think of producing a ‘very light
touch’
CAP, as the
programme is over £20m. We’ve been in the process of looking
at
the CAP
guidance and trying to adapt it to the Iraq context (not
easy!)” 493
“Hence, the
revisions to the CAP process are very welcome …”
845.
The following
day, Ms Hendrie wrote to a junior DFID official:
“It seems
pretty clear that we’re going to need to do some form of
strategy
document/CAP
… it would be great … for you to hold the pen on
this.” 494
846.
The Inquiry
has seen no indications that work on a new CAP was taken
forward.
847.
DFID told the
Inquiry that the I-CAP produced in February 2004 was
not
superseded
until February 2011, when DFID Iraq published its ‘Operational
Plan
2011‑2012’.495
DFID closed
its Iraq programme in March 2012.
489
Minutes, 8
October 2007, NSID(OD) meeting.
490
Email C, 9
October 2007, ‘Iraq NSID 8 Oct 2007’ attaching ‘NSID Iraq – 8
October 2007’.
491
House of
Commons, Official
Report, 8 October
2007, columns 21-25.
492
Email DFID
[junior official] to DFID Heads of Department, 11 October 2007,
‘For Information: New CAP
Format and
Process’.
493
Email
Hendrie to DFID [junior official], 11 October 2007, ‘Action Monday
15 Oct: New CAP format
and process’.
494
Email
Hendrie to DFID [junior official], 12 October 2007, ‘Action Monday
15 Oct: New CAP format
and process’.
495
Email DFID
[junior official] to Iraq Inquiry [junior official], 12 October
2012, ‘New Queries from the
Inquiry’
attaching Paper DFID, February 201, ‘Operational Plan
2011-2012’.
332