Written questions by Patel.

Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what discussions he has had with his international counterparts on proposals for an ecocide law.

Tackling the climate and nature emergency is a priority for this Government. The UK has strong regulations to protect the environment and contravention of many of these is a criminal offence. At the international level, we are aware of the proposal by Vanuatu to recognise ecocide as an international crime under the Rome Statute, in addition to the environmental protections the Statute already provides during armed conflict. We welcome the leadership shown by Pacific Island States on environmental issues and will consider this proposal in cooperation with all of our international partners.

Commonwealth and Development Affairs, pursuant to the Answer of 17 March 2025 to Question 36633 on China: Audit, when he plans to publish the China Audit; which Departments he has had discussions with on that audit; if he will publish the terms of reference for that audit; and whether that audit will include national security considerations.

The China Audit will conclude shortly. In line with the Government's manifesto commitment, the Audit has involved extensive consultations with hundreds of individuals, organisations, academic institutions, businesses and public bodies, including all central government departments and the Devolved Governments. National security considerations are central to the audit. It will improve the UK's ability to understand and respond to the challenges and opportunities China poses.

Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what estimate he has made of the costs of diplomatic engagement with Mauritius since 5 July 2024.

We are unable to provide an estimate of the overall costs of diplomatic engagement with any single country. Diplomatic engagement takes place through a range of different activities and forums, and may include bilateral in-person engagement, virtual meetings, or visits; activities in multilateral forums or public events; or the operations of UK embassies and High Commissions. It may also include a wide range of timescales, geographic locations, interlocutors, and government departments.

Commonwealth and Development Affairs, pursuant to the Answer of 30 April 2025 to Question 45603 on Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office: Redundancy, what estimate he has made of the annual salary cost savings of the 500 exits.

The Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office has estimated that the Voluntary Exit Scheme could result in annual savings of £35-40 million. The Scheme is still in progress, with exits taking place by the end of this Financial Year. We do not yet know how many staff will accept Voluntary Exit, or the profile of the staff who will leave, which will have an impact on the savings achieved.

Commonwealth and Development Affairs, pursuant to the Answer of 6 May 2025 given to Question 48885 on British Indian Ocean Territory: Development Aid, whether (a) British Chagossians will be represented in the governance structures of the proposed Chagossian Trust Fund and (b) provisions on the proposed Chagossian Trust Fund will be included as binding provisions within the proposed Treaty with Mauritius; and how long the proposed Chagossian Trust Fund will be in operation for.

I refer the Rt Hon Member to the response given to her previous Question 32980 on the details of the Treaty.

Commonwealth and Development Affairs, how much UK funded aid is awaiting entry into Gaza.

UK aid includes both goods and services delivered through UN agencies and international Non-Governmental Organizations. Quantifying how much is awaiting entry into Gaza is difficult, due to the complex operating environment and limited real-time data. On 19 May the UK, France and Canada stated Israel's announcement to allow basic quantity of food into Gaza is inadequate and called for immediate humanitarian aid to enter Gaza. In January 2025, the UK announced £17 million to support the delivery of food, healthcare and shelter via the United Nations Children's Fund, UK-Med and the World Health Organization. Some UK-funded partners are active inside Gaza; others deliver assistance from the West Bank.

Commonwealth and Development Affairs, how many Government officials have been involved in the negotiations with Mauritius over the proposed treaty on the future sovereignty of the British Indian Ocean Territory since 5 July 2024.

It would be difficult to assess how many officials are working on the negotiations, given that we do not record and measure the amount of time spent on any one topic where an official covers a range of matters.

Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what mechanisms are in place for the (a) renewal and (b) changes to the costs of the proposed lease with Mauritius towards the end of the initial 99-year period.

I refer the Rt Hon Member to the response given to her previous Question 39402 on the details of the Treaty.

Commonwealth and Development Affairs, if he will publish his response to the representations his Department has received from Chagossians on the potential resettlement of parts of the Chagos Archipelago under the proposed treaty with Mauritius.

We will engage with Chagossians in the UK, and around the world on the implementation of the agreement at both an official and Ministerial level. We do not provide a running commentary on correspondence that is sent to individuals or organisations by Ministers and officials on this issue.

Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what progress he has made on the (a) capitalisation of the proposed Chagossian Trust Fund, (b) developing the governance arrangements for he proposed Chagossian Trust Fund and (c) presenting details of his total funding commitment to the proposed Chagossian Trust Fund.

I refer the Rt Hon Member to the response given to her previous Parliamentary Question 39402 on the details of the Treaty.

Commonwealth and Development Affairs, how much his Department spent on on (a) business hospitality, (b) grant in aid to arms length bodies, (c) recruitment, (d) transport equipment costs, (e) travel and (f) IT and communications in 2024-25; and how much has been budgeted for the 2025-26 financial year.

The department spend for 2024/25 is still subject to audit and therefore may change. At the time of responding, we estimate the spend to be:ABusiness Hospitality£10.5 millionCRecruitment£1.2 millionDTransport equipment£6.4 millionETravel£84.9 millionFIT and comms£217.1 millionFinal spends and part (b) grant in aid to arms length bodies for 2024/25 will be confirmed in the Annual Report & Accounts (ARA), due to be published in July.The department is still working on budget allocations for 2025/26, therefore cannot respond on those figures yet.

Commonwealth and Development Affairs, whether (a) inflation measures and (b) indexation methodology has been included in the proposed treaty with Mauritius.

I refer the Rt Hon Member to the response given to her previous Question 39402 on the details of the Treaty.

Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what assessment his Department has made of potential challenges to resettling parts of the Chagos Archipelago.

Our agreement will enable Mauritius to develop a programme of resettlement on the islands, other than Diego Garcia. The terms of resettlement will be for Mauritius to determine.

Commonwealth and Development Affairs, with reference to Question v of the letter of 25 March 2025 from the Minister for the Indo-Pacific to the Chair of the International Agreements Committee on Treaty scrutiny, if he will share the initial text of the Treaty with Mauritius with (a) the Foreign Affairs Committee, (b) the International Agreements Committee and (c) other parliamentarians before it is signed.

As we have repeatedly said, once an agreement is reached and the Treaty is signed, the Treaty will be put before both Houses for scrutiny under the CRaG process in the usual way.

Commonwealth and Development Affairs, if he will make an assessment of the potential merits of extending the 21 day scrutiny period for his proposed Treaty with Mauritius over the future sovereignty of the British Indian Ocean Territory.

This issue was the subject of correspondence between the Secretary of State and the Chair of the International Agreements Committee, which was published on the Committee's website: committees.parliament.uk/publications/46222/documents/231382/default/

Commonwealth and Development Affairs, whether he has had discussions with the Home Secretary on the potential merits of placing China in the enhanced tier of the Foreign Influence Registration Scheme.

No decision has been made in relation to specifying China on the enhanced tier of the Foreign Influence Registration Scheme. As the Security Minister confirmed in Parliament on 1 April, countries are considered separately, and decisions are made based on a robust evidence base. It would not be appropriate to speculate on which countries may or may not be specified in the future, but any changes will be announced in Parliament in the usual way.

Communities and Local Government, with reference to the Written Ministerial Statement of 23 April 2025 entitled Further reforms to the Nationally Significant Infrastructure Projects regime, HCWS594, which projects were used to calculate the difference in the average processing time of applications in this Parliament compared to the last Parliament; and what (a) projects in the pipeline were and (b) methodology was used to calculate the estimated reduction in expenditure.

Nationally Significant Infrastructure Projects (NSIP) applications once accepted by the Planning Inspectorate are being processed on average 50 days quicker in this Parliament than in the last. This was calculated using the average time taken by projects processed in the parliamentary term July 2019 to July 2024 compared to projects in this parliament between July 2024 to February 2025. Information on applications for Nationally Significant Infrastructure Projects, and their decisions, can be found on the Planning Inspectorate’s website here. This page includes information on projects already determined, projects due for decision and projects at an earlier stage in the application process. In Written Ministerial Statement of 23 April 2025, the government announced that it will amend the Planning and Infrastructure Bill to remove the statutory requirement to consult as part of the pre-application stage for NSIP applications, bringing requirements in line with all other planning regimes. We estimate that these changes could result in a cost saving of £1bn across the pipeline. This estimate is based on analysis from the National Infrastructure Commission which identified that delays can cost a project around £1.5m per month of delay. Together with evidence from key stakeholders in the NSIP process which shows that these changes could save projects 12 months, we estimate a saving of £18m per project. If you apply £18m in savings to the number of expected projects that would benefit from these changes within this Parliament, it will give a total saving of over £1bn.

Commonwealth and Development Affairs, if he will make an assessment of the potential implications for his policies of reports of China's involvement in support of Russia’s actions in Ukraine.

Any support for Putin's brutal and illegal war against Ukraine is deplorable. We are extremely concerned by these reports. There is a growing body of evidence that Chinese companies are enabling Russia's illegal invasion of Ukraine.The Foreign Secretary has directly urged China's Foreign Minister Wang Yi, on a number of occasions, to take concrete measures to prevent Chinese companies from supporting Russia's military-industrial complex. We continue to call on China to stop providing diplomatic and material support to Russia's war effort.On 24 February, we sanctioned an additional 10 Chinese entities, taking the total number of Chinese entities designated by the UK over supply to Russia to 31. Given the continued flow of components from China to Russia, this Government is now also minded to refuse licences for controlled goods on the Common High Priority list exported for stock to China. Guidance for UK exporters has been updated to this effect.

Commonwealth and Development Affairs, with reference to the oral contribution by the then Minister for Development on 26 February 2025, Official Report, column 873, who the 28 international judges and arbitrators are; and in (a) what context and (b) which institutions those opinions were given.

As well as the International Court of Justice Advisory Opinion in 2019, an Arbitral Tribunal under the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea in 2015 and the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea in 2021 have considered the sovereignty of the Chagos archipelago. None have expressed support for a United Kingdom claim to sovereignty.

Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what representations he has received from his Mauritian counterpart on the proposed treaty since 31 January 2025.

I refer the Rt Hon. Member to the response given to her previous Parliamentary Question 36637, which remains the same.