Written questions by Patel.

Commonwealth and Development Affairs, whether he has had recent discussions with his Mauritian counterpart on the potential impact of Section 76B of the Mauritian criminal code on Chagossians.

I refer the Rt Hon Member to the Explanatory Memorandum for Mauritius's Criminal Code (Amendment) Bill 2021 (https://mauritiusassembly.govmu.org/mauritiusassembly/wp-content/uploads/2023/03/bill1621.pdf) .It is clear that legislation applies only to persons acting under the authority or instructions of a foreign state in the production, distribution, supply or marketing of any coin, stamp, official map or official document.

Commonwealth and Development Affairs, pursuant to the Answers of 8 July 2025 to Questions 64030 on Gibraltar: Sovereignty and 64027 on UN Special Committee on Decolonisation, if he will make it his policy to (a) reform and (b) abolish the UN Special Committee on Decolonisation.

The Government believes the UN Special Committee on Decolonisation is outdated and no longer has a relevant role to play with respect to the UK Overseas Territories. For those Territories who wish it, the UK will continue to support requests for the removal of the Territory from the United Nations list of non-self-governing Territories and to support the right of the people of the Overseas Territories to address the UN Special Committee on Decolonisation directly.

Commonwealth and Development Affairs, whether he has had discussions with Prime Minister Ramgoolam of Mauritius proposals to issue (a) fisheries and (b) trawler licences for the Chagos Archipelago.

The UK Government continues to engage with Mauritius on the parameters, and support the establishment of, the proposed Mauritian Marine Protected Area. The terms of this support and assistance will be agreed in a separate process which is already underway.

Commonwealth and Development Affairs, whether the government of Mauritius has requested a visit to (a) Diego Garcia, (b) Peros Banhos and (c) other islands on the Chagos Archipelago in 2025.

Any visits to Diego Garcia or the other islands in the Chagos Archipelago, including Peros Banhos, by the Mauritian government will be considered on a case-by-case basis until the Treaty enters into force, ensuring at all times the protection of the military base on Diego Garcia.

Commonwealth and Development Affairs, whether he has made representations to his Mauritian counterpart on the potential merits of UK representation on the board of the Chagossian Trust Fund for British Chagossians.

We have committed to capitalise a Trust Fund for the benefit of Chagossians, and are engaging with Mauritius on the design and parameters of the Fund, including potential UK representation on its Board. The Government has committed to update the House on the operation of the Trust Fund before ratification of the Treaty.

Commonwealth and Development Affairs, how much funding his Department has provided to the British Indian Ocean Territory in (a) each of the last five years and (b) the 2025-26 financial year; and how much funding he plans to provide for the administration of Diego Garcia in each of the next five years.

The British Indian Ocean Territory Administration publishes an Appropriation Ordinance at the beginning of each financial year. This outlines annual budgets, primarily funded by the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO), and can be found on their website.Future funding plans remain subject to future internal business planning processes. The FCDO is committed to providing overseas territories with sufficient funding to ensure smooth running of the territories.After entry into force of the Treaty, the UK Government will continue to ensure that the Base has the necessary funding to be able to function as it has done well into the next century.

Commonwealth and Development Affairs, whether (a) Ministers and (b) officials in his Department have met Inter-Mediate since July 2024.

Details of the external meetings held by ministers in the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office are routinely published in the Department's quarterly transparency disclosures.

Commonwealth and Development Affairs, whether he plans to have discussions with his Chinese counterpart on dissuading that country to collaborate with Iran on matters that are counter to UK security interests.

The Foreign Secretary recently met Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi at the Association of Southeast Asian Nations Summit to discuss international security issues, including Iran. As P5 members of the United Nations Security Council, we must continue to engage China and all other relevant stakeholders as we try to find a diplomatic path to ensure Iran can never develop a nuclear weapon.

Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what lessons his Department has learnt from countering malicious Iranian cyber activity; and what discussions he has had with his (a) Middle Eastern and (b) international counterparts on this matter.

The National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC) assesses that Iran-based threat actors remain aggressive in cyberspace and continue to achieve their objectives through less sophisticated cyber techniques (including prolific use of spear-phishing), but also targeting industrial control systems.The NCSC continues to work closely with government, industry and international partners to understand and mitigate the cyber threat from Iran. This includes the activities of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps. In September 2024, the UK and the US jointly issued a Technical Advisory focusing on attackers working on behalf of Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps use social engineering to gain access to victims' online accounts. This Advisory provided network defenders with information to help mitigate these threats.Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office ministers and officials raise the UK's concerns about the cyber threat regularly with their international counterparts, including the activities of particular states where appropriate. The UK works with international partners to ensure the perpetrators of malicious cyber activity are held to account, and will continue to expose and take action against such groups to make it clear that irresponsible behaviour in cyberspace will have serious consequences.

Commonwealth and Development Affairs, with reference to the Intelligence and Security Committee's report entitled Iran, published on 10 July 2025, what recent discussions he has had with the Secretary of State for Education on steps to help counter threats from Iran to compromise UK academic institutions.

The Government thanks the Intelligence and Security Committee (ISC) for its independent report on Iran. The Government will respond fully to the recommendations and conclusions in the report, in due course.

Commonwealth and Development Affairs, with reference to the Intelligence and Security Committee’s report entitled Iran, published on 10 July 2025, what discussions he has had with Cabinet colleagues on whether the Government plans to change its Counter State Threats Strategy to address the concerns in paragraph 12; what discussions he has had with Cabinet colleagues on the steps the Government plans to take to support the intelligence community in improving its understanding of the Iranian threats listed in paragraph 15; what steps his Department is taking to help support Israel to defend itself against Iranian threats; and what discussions he has had with Cabinet colleagues on steps to counter the risk of an increased threat from the Iranian Intelligence Services to the Government as set out in paragraph 106.

The Government thanks the Intelligence and Security Committee (ISC) for its independent report on Iran. The Government will respond fully to the recommendations and conclusions in the report, in due course.

Commonwealth and Development Affairs, with reference to paragraph 442 of the Intelligence and Security Committee's report entitled Iran, published on 10 July 2025, what steps he is taking to update the Government's strategic approach to Iran.

The Government thanks the Intelligence and Security Committee (ISC) for its independent report on Iran. The Government will respond fully to the recommendations and conclusions in the report, in due course.

Commonwealth and Development Affairs, whether he made an assessment of the potential merits of undertaking a public consultation with the Chagossian community prior to the (a) announcement of the agreement with Mauritius over the future sovereignty of the British Indian Ocean Territory and (b) signing of the UK-Mauritius Treaty on 22 May 2025.

The negotiations were between the UK and Mauritius with our priority being to secure the full operation of the base on Diego Garcia. The UK Government regularly engages Chagossian groups and representatives at both official and Ministerial levels on a range of issues and will continue to do so.

Commonwealth and Development Affairs, whether he plans to place China on the enhanced tier of the Foreign Influence Registration Scheme.

I refer the Rt. Hon. Member to my response given to question 36632.

Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what discussions he has had with his international counterparts on continuing to fund the organisations tracking Ukrainian children abducted by Russia.

The UK-led multi-donor Partnership Fund for a Resilient Ukraine (PFRU) is providing more than £5.7 million of funding for support to the return and reintegration of children - of which the UK contributes a third. Through this fund, we have supported Bring Kids Back, Save Ukraine, and other leading child protection civil society organisations.In addition, the UK is an active member of the International Coalition for the Return of Children, whose work includes supporting initiatives to identify, locate, and return children to their families.

Commonwealth and Development Affairs, with reference to Article 5 of the UK-Mauritius Treaty ,when he expects the Mauritian Government to establish a Marine Protected Area in the Chagos Archipelago.

I refer the Rt Hon Member to the reply given to her question 59325.

Commonwealth and Development Affairs, whether he has had discussions with (a) international partners and (b) representatives from the Yale Humanitarian Research Lab Ukraine Conflict Observatory on the future funding of the Yale Humanitarian Research Lab Ukraine Conflict Observatory to support its work on tracking Ukrainian children abducted by Russia.

The UK is an active member of the International Coalition for the Return of Children, whose work includes supporting initiatives to identify, locate, and return children to their families. On the issue of tracking Ukrainian children abducted by Russia, we are working closely with the Government of Ukraine to identify which Open-Source Intelligence providers will best meet their needs to provide this data going forward.

Commonwealth and Development Affairs, with which organisations he has held discussions on the development of the China Audit.

The Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office China Audit team proactively engaged a wide range of stakeholders to ensure that the full range of interests arising from the UK's relationship with China was represented; this included Parliament, business, the academic sector, civil society and the devolved governments.

Commonwealth and Development Affairs, how much of the £290 million FCDO transformation fund announced in the National Security Strategy will be directed towards countering potential threats posed by China.

National Security is the first duty of government. As the National Security Strategy said on China, we will increase our China capabilities across the national security system to strengthen our ability to engage, as well as to enhance our resilience and readiness.

Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what discussions he has had with the International Atomic Energy Agency on Iran’s nuclear programme since June 2025; and what assessment he has made of the potential impact of strikes from Israel and the US on Iran’s nuclear facilities.

The Foreign, Commonwealth, and Development Office continues to have regular dialogue with the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) at all levels, including via our Permanent Mission in Vienna and the Foreign Secretary. The Foreign Secretary last spoke to Director General Grossi on 26 June. We have taken every opportunity, including a public E3 statement on 30 June, to reiterate our support for the Director General and the IAEA's mandate in Iran, urging the Iranians to abide by their legal commitments under the Non-Proliferation Treaty. The IAEA has as yet not been able to report on the state of Iran's nuclear programme following US and Israeli strikes and I will not comment on intelligence matters in this response.