Written questions by Patel.

Whether (a) value for money assessments and (b) comparative value for money assessments for alternative proposals will be material planning considerations when determining applications covered by the proposed National Policy Statement for Renewable Energy Infrastructure.

Draft updated National Policy Statements were published for consultation and laid before Parliament earlier this year. There are no proposed changes in regard to value for money assessments. Development proposals enter the planning system at different times (at the discretion of developers), and require decisions on development consent orders to be made within statutory timeframes accordingly. The planning system does not compare projects; each decision is based on the merits of each proposal.

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 he has had recent discussions with Prime Minister Ramgoolam of Mauritius on the UK’s (a) right to unilaterally extend and (b) authority to exercise sovereign rights over Diego Garcia for the duration of the lease.

We have been clear and consistent regarding the duration of the treaty. The treaty will last for an initial 99 years and may be extended for a further 40 years (and beyond) by agreement between the UK and Mauritius.Even if no agreement is reached, the UK will have the right to first refusal on the use of Diego Garcia which, if exercised, would prevent the use of the base by any other party.Under the terms of the agreement, the UK will exercise all rights and authorities which are required for the long-term, secure and effective operation of the base.

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The Government believes the UN Special Committee on Decolonisation is outdated and no longer has a relevant role to play with respect to the UK Overseas Territories.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, pursuant to the Answer of 15 July 2025 to Question 64734 on Diego Garcia: Military Bases, if he will place a copy in the House of Commons Library of the terms of the lease extension clauses that were agreed at the time that he made his statement to the House of Commons on 7 October 2024; and if he will publish an explanatory note for the changes made in the version of the Treaty signed on 22 May 2025.

We have been clear and consistent regarding the duration of the treaty. The treaty will last for an initial 99 years and may be extended for a further 40 years (and beyond) by agreement between the UK and Mauritius.Even if no agreement is reached, the UK will have the right to first refusal on the use of Diego Garcia which, if exercised, would prevent the use of the base by any other party.

Whether (a) value for money assessments of and (b) comparative value for money assessments of alternative projects proposed through the Development Consent Order process will be material planning considerations when determining applications covered by the proposed National Policy Statement for Renewable Energy Infrastructure.

Draft updated National Policy Statements were published for consultation and laid before Parliament earlier this year. There are no proposed changes in regard to value for money assessments. Development proposals enter the planning system at different times (at the discretion of developers), and require decisions on development consent orders to be made within statutory timeframes accordingly. The planning system does not compare projects; each decision is based on the merits of each proposal.

Commonwealth and Development Affairs, if he will make an estimate of the cost to the Exchequer of providing (a) technical expertise to manage the Chagos Archipelago Marine Protected Area, (b) the provision of (i) training and (ii) institutional partnerships to (A) increase Mauritian maritime security capability and (B) protect fisheries, and (c) patrolling capability across the Chagos Archipelago.

Decisions on support and provision of training, technical expertise, and institutional partnerships on Maritime Security will be taken as part of the implementation of the Diego Garcia Base Deal with Mauritius. We will not be providing a running commentary on these implementation talks.

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 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, pursuant to the Answer of 2 July 2025 to Question 62582 on Chagos Islands: Sovereignty, what the annual payments were in dollars previously proposed; what the exchange rate was that the overall costs were estimated in; and and what estimate he has made of the net present value of those payments.

As per the answer to Question 62582, transferring the finance package into Sterling had no impact on overall cost but did reduce future foreign exchange rate risks for the UK.

Commonwealth and Development Affairs, pursuant to the Answer of 15 July 2025 to Question 64731 on Chagos Islands: Sovereignty, if he will list the full rights and authorities the UK (a) is authorised to exercise in respect of Diego Garcia under the terms of the UK-Mauritius Treaty agreed on 22 May 2025 and (b) was authorised to exercise in respect of Diego Garcia in the proposals at the time of his statement to the House on 7 October 2024.

I refer the Rt Hon Member to the answer given to her previous question, 56761, on changes to the Treaty.

What estimate he has made of the potential contribution of the Norwich to Tilbury Great Grid upgrade to his target for low carbon generation of electricity by 2030; and when he expects this infrastructure will be operational.

National Grid have now submitted their Development Consent Order application to the Planning Inspectorate for consideration. The Government does not comment on the merits of live planning applications, which, subject to the Planning Inspectorate’s decision to accept the application for examination, will be subject to rigorous, independent assessment and advice by the Examining Authority – to inform the Secretary of State’s final decision. The project currently has an earliest in-service date 2031, and NESO’s independent advice on 2030 Clean Power demonstrates that failing to bring this forward to 2030 will reduce clean power on the GB grid by 1% and could increase constraint costs by £2.8bn p.a.

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 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 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 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.

Pursuant to the Answer of 14 July 2025 to Question UIN 66153 on Housing: Construction, if she will publish (a) the evidence, (b) criteria and (c) methodology used to assess the A12 widening scheme; and the scoring outcome of the A12 widening scheme against that criteria.

As set out in the answer of 14 July 2025 to Question UIN 66153, this Government inherited a series of commitments that could not be afforded and the decision not to progress the A12 (Chelmsford to A120) Widening Scheme was based on evidence assessed against a wide range of criteria including housing growth impacts and in line with the HM Treasury Green Book and the Department’s Transport Analysis Guidance. As examples of evidence, the Rt Hon Member for Witham has advocated for the A12 Widening Scheme in the House and in correspondence over many years and detailed information about the Scheme was published on the Planning Inspectorate’s website, available here: https://national-infrastructure-consenting.planninginspectorate.gov.uk/projects/TR010060.