Written questions by Hayes.

Commonwealth and Development Affairs, whether her department has undertaken polling of the Chagossian people in respect to the 2025 UK/Mauritius Treaty concerning the Chagos Archipelago.

Accurate polling of Chagossian communities would be challenging given the geographical spread of individuals with Chagossian heritage across the world as well as difficulties in establishing and confirming eligibility to take part. We continue to engage with Chagossian communities, including through meetings of the Chagossian Contact Group, which enables organisations from the UK, Mauritius, Seychelles and France to set out their views directly to the UK Government.

Media and Sport, whether her Department has used artificial intelligence to assist with drafting (a) legislation and (b) policy in the last 12 months.

The drafting of primary and secondary legislation is the responsibility of a large number of officials across government departments. A range of tools are used to assist with this drafting, including AI which is most commonly used to check, critique, and otherwise interrogate drafts. Work is continuously underway to identify ways of improving the efficiency of this work, including collaboration between departments to share ideas and emerging practices.While AI can be used to assist with the drafting of legislation, the production of any draft remains the responsibility of a lead human drafter to meet the high standards expected of Government legislation.Policy teams in DCMS can use approved AI tools to assist with the drafting and synthesis of documents, as well as the analysis of data; however, like other government departments, we have a strong human-led AI approach, meaning that any policy document, analysis or decision made remains the responsibility of a human, and no decision is made based on AI outputs alone, without manual intervention or overarching human accountability. This approach aligns with the UK Government’s AI Playbook, published in 2025, and with DCMS’s wider work to support the secure, appropriate, responsible and well-governed use of AI across the department.

Representing the House of Commons Commission, whether House of Commons officials have used artificial intelligence to assist with drafting legislation in the past 12 months.

Government bills are drafted by the Office of Parliamentary Counsel, which is part of the Cabinet Office, and secondary legislation is generally drafted by the relevant government department.The House of Commons Public Bill Office (PBO) provides support to individual Members in the drafting of private Members’ bills and of amendments to bills. These are specialised tasks and a range of online resources, training and guidance is available to staff in the PBO. This includes access to Microsoft’s Copilot Chat tool, which is available to all parliamentary account holders. No record is kept of whether or when Copilot is used.Where a draft Private Members Bill (PMB) or amendment is produced for a Member, the Member concerned ultimately takes responsibility for it by presenting or tabling it.

Whether his Department has used artificial intelligence to assist with drafting (a) legislation and (b) policy in the past 12 months.

The Ministry of Defence is exploring various applications of AI to enhance corporate services and drive efficiency. Officials may use approved AI tools (such as large language models) to help with drafting policy and legislation, but responsibility for finalising and approving resulting outputs rests with officials.

Whether her Department has used artificial intelligence to assist with drafting (a) legislation and (b) policy in the past 12 months.

AI is not used by the department to draft legislation. Officials use AI tools in combination with a range of evidence, collaboration, challenge and technology to deliver policy drafts. They use their judgement and a variety of data sources to apply a critical lens to their advice and analysis to ensure high quality. Officials use HMT-GPT, the department’s internal AI tool, and Copilot, which are both secure and quality assured for civil service use. Guidance and training for responsible AI usage is provided to staff, making it clear that tools are designed to assist with work, not to replace colleagues in decision making processes.

Commonwealth and Development Affairs, if her department will cease the passage of the Diego Garcia Military Base & BIOT Bill, in respect to the ruling by Justice Lewis that reinstated the Right of Abode for Chagossians on the British Indian Ocean Territory.

I refer the Rt Hon Member to the statement I made to the House on 13 April, and the answers I provided to questions raised in response, except for matters of ongoing litigation, where I am unable to comment at this time.

Whether their Department has used artificial intelligence to assist with drafting (a) legislation and (b) policy in the past 12 months.

DBT has used and continues to use artificial intelligence tools like Copilot and DBT Assist to support colleagues in their work, for example to help produce initial drafts, summaries, or research. The Department’s policy states that ‘human review/approval of AI tool output is mandatory’ and that ‘individuals are accountable for ensuing the accuracy of work where AI tools have been used’.

Whether their Department has used artificial intelligence to assist with drafting (a) legislation and (b) policy in the past 12 months.

It has not proved possible to respond to the Rt Hon Member in the time available before Prorogation

Commonwealth and Development Affairs, if she will list all law firms her department has consulted regarding British Indian Ocean Territory this year.

I refer the Rt Hon Member to the statement I made to the House on 13 April, and the answers I provided to questions raised in response, except for matters of ongoing litigation, where I am unable to comment at this time.

Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what assessment she has made of the potential implications for her policies of the investigation by the United Nations of the proposed deal with Mauritius on the Chagos Islands.

I refer the Rt Hon Member to the statement I made to the House on 13 April, and the answers I provided to questions raised in response, except for matters of ongoing litigation, where I am unable to comment at this time.

What steps he is taking to raise public awareness of bowel cancer in South Holland and the Deepings constituency.

I refer the Hon. Member to the answer I gave to the Hon. Member for Yeovil on 30 March 2026 to Question 122582.

Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what the cost to her Department was of litigation undertaken in the Supreme Court relating to the British Indian Ocean Territory in the last 12 months.

I refer the Rt Hon Member to the statement I made to the House on 13 April, and the answers I provided to questions raised in response, except for matters of ongoing litigation, where I am unable to comment at this time.

Whether their Department has used artificial intelligence to assist with drafting (a) legislation and (b) policy in the past 12 months.

AI is being used for a range of purposes in the Home Office to improve business delivery as part of overall digital improvements in the department. The use of AI tools is supported by departmental guidance and ongoing staff training to ensure responsible, ethical and effective adoption.Officials may use approved AI tools, including Microsoft Copilot to assist in day-to-day activities such as assisting in the creation of emails, documents and presentations; transcribing meetings; summarising information; and performing advanced search, data retrieval and analysis. Where AI tools are used this must be made clear, and officials remain responsible for the content produced.

Commonwealth and Development Affairs, how many (1) legal representatives and (2) officials her Department sent to the Judicial Review in the Supreme Court of the British Indian Ocean Territory on Friday 13 March 2026.

I refer the Rt Hon Member to the statement I made to the House on 13 April, and the answers I provided to questions raised in response, except for matters of ongoing litigation, where I am unable to comment at this time.

Communities and Local Government, whether their Department has used artificial intelligence to assist with drafting (a) legislation and (b) policy in the past 12 months.

The Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government have rolled out Microsoft Copilot across the Department to enhance efficiency and support the work of all staff, including policy professionals. The rollout was accompanied by training and guidance which states that all work produced by AI must be checked with an appropriate level of rigour to ensure trustworthiness, reliability, and to avoid bias. Copilot is used by staff across the department including legislation and policy teams. The department is clear that document authors are fully accountable for policy judgement and conclusions and compliance with departmental, legal, and information governance, irrespective of whether or not AI has been used to assist with drafting.

What the nationalities were of those granted visas under the Homes for Ukraine sponsorship programme.

A range of processing data, including case outcomes on Ukraine visa applications, which can be filtered to the nationality of the applicant, are published here:Entry clearance visa applications and outcomes detailed datasets, year ending December 2025

What proportion of those granted visas under the Homes for Ukraine sponsorship programme were Ukrainian nationals.

A range of processing data, including case outcomes on Ukraine visa applications, which can be filtered to the nationality of the applicant, are published here:Entry clearance visa applications and outcomes detailed datasets, year ending December 2025

Whether their Department has used artificial intelligence to assist with drafting (a) legislation and (b) policy in the past 12 months.

The Ministry of Justice has rolled out general purpose artificial intelligence tools like Microsoft Copilot across the Department to enhance productivity and support the work of all staff, including policy professionals. AI is being used to assist the policy-making process with tasks like brainstorming ideas, clarifying drafting, and searching for publicly available information. The Department encourages officials to always cross-validate the outputs of AI rather than blindly trusting them, applying human judgement and oversight as appropriate.

If he will make an estimate of the potential cost to the public purse of industrial action by resident doctors in (a) 2024 and (b) 2025.

In 2024, the cost of industrial action by resident doctors was approximately £180 million. In 2025, there were three rounds of industrial action, in July, November, and December, each of five days. We have estimated industrial action costs at £50 million per day, so the total estimated cost for 2025 is £750 million.

Innovation and Technology, if her department has used artificial intelligence to assist with drafting (a) legislation and (b) policy in the past 12 months.

The Department uses approved AI tools, such as M365 Copilot, to support officials across the breadth of their work to help drive productivity and efficiency.Ministers have not used AI for the drafting of legislation or policy in the past 12 months.