Written questions by Patel.

What plans she has for the (a) future and (b) timetable for nationalisation of the Greater Anglia rail franchise; for (i) future investment and (ii) plans for (A) ticket offices and (B) steps free access in Greater Anglia railway station redevelopment; and for (1) overall investment, (2) rail fares, (3) investment in rail infrastructure, and (4) investment in rolling stock in the Greater Anglia region; and what recent estimate she has made of passenger numbers in each Greater Anglia station in each year for the next ten years.

The Department announced in December that South-Western Railway’s services will be the first to transfer into public ownership in May 2025, followed by c2c’s services in July 2025 and Greater Anglia’s in the autumn. The Department will issue an expiry notice to Greater Anglia in due course to confirm the exact transfer date. Public ownership will mean all parts of the railway can pull together for the benefit of passengers, and bringing passenger services into public ownership is the first step in the Government’s wider programme of reform. Through future legislation, we will set out the role Great British Railways will have in fares, ticketing, and other operational aspects of the railway. Fares and ticketing will continue to be the responsibility of train operators until Great British Railways is established. The Access for All programme has delivered step free access at more than 250 stations across Britain. Ministers are carefully considering the best approach to the Access for All programme, including as it relates to Greater Anglia stations. Greater Anglia has taken steps to improve station accessibility with its work on virtual trains and station tours, and a new accessible footbridge will be installed at Stowmarket during 2025. The business planning round for 2025/26 is currently underway and proposals regarding redevelopments and rail infrastructure will be reviewed with decisions made in due course. Greater Anglia invested £1.4 billion in new trains for the Anglia region and these new trains are delivering a real change in customer experience. There has not been a recent estimate of passenger numbers in each of Greater Anglia’s stations in each year for the next ten years.

What discussions she has had with the Chancellor of the Exchequer on future investment in strategic highway infrastructure.

The third Road Investment Strategy (RIS3) for the Strategic Road Network will cover the five-year period from April 2026 to March 2031. We plan to publish RIS3 by the end of 2025. The draft RIS, including the funding envelope, will be published in late spring 2025. An Interim Settlement for National Highways will be in place from April 2025, covering the 2025-26, as announced by the Chancellor of the Exchequer in the 2024 Autumn Budget.

How many (a) people and (b) businesses have positive tax balances with HMRC due to overpayments of tax broken down by tax type; what the total value of those balances are; and (i) how many accounts and (ii) the total balances in those accounts will be held over into future tax years.

HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC) does not hold readily available summary information on taxpayers with positive tax balances. Several regimes require taxpayers to make payments on account or settle tax liabilities ahead of filing returns, and subsequent to filing returns, claims for reliefs or notification of a change in circumstances may further impact amounts repayable to taxpayers. For these reasons the time taken to extract information on positive balances from the various databases and to produce and quality assure the data to answer the questions would be disproportionate on cost grounds.

Commonwealth and Development Affairs, pursuant to the oral contribution of the Minister of State for Europe, North America and Overseas Territories on 5 February 2025, Official Report, col 760, on the future use of the electromagnetic spectrum, what discussions he has had with the International Telecommunications Union on this matter; and by what process the ITU could change the UK’s access.

The government does not routinely disclose private discussions with any organisation, nor disclose legal advice it may have received. International organisations, including UN Specialised Agencies such as the International Telecommunication Union, would be required to apply a binding judgment that the UK was not sovereign over the British Indian Ocean Territory. This would have real-world impacts on the protection and security of the base including our ability to operate the electromagnetic spectrum undisturbed.

Commonwealth and Development Affairs, which ministers across Government have (a) been consulted and (b) taken part in negotiations on the UK-Mauritius Treaty.

The Foreign Secretary continues to hold regular discussions with Ministerial colleagues on issues related to a treaty with Mauritius on the British Indian Ocean Territory and the base on Diego Garcia. The UK Government remains committed to reaching an agreement with Mauritius which is in the best interests of both parties.

Commonwealth and Development Affairs, on what date he took the decision to formally invite the new US Administration to review the proposed treaty between the UK and Mauritius on the British Indian Ocean Territory.

We shared the proposed treaty with the new US Administration upon them taking office.

Commonwealth and Development Affairs, pursuant to the Answer of 17 February 2025 to Question 28492 on the British Indian Ocean Territory: Sovereignty, whether he shared the (a) initial proposed Treaty and (b) revised Treaty following counter proposals received by the Mauritian government with the new US administration.

We shared the proposed treaty with the new US Administration upon them taking office.

Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what discussions he has had with his Mauritian counterpart on maintaining the British Indian Ocean Territory Marine Protected Area; and what representations he has received from his Mauritian counterpart on fishing (a) activities and (b) rights in the territorial waters of the British Indian Ocean Territory (i) now, (ii) in the future and (iii) in the proposed UK-Mauritius Treaty.

The UK and Mauritius are committed to cooperating on combatting environmental threats such as illegal fishing, with a shared objective of protecting of the world's most important marine environments. This will include the establishment of a new Mauritian Marine Protected Area after entry into force of the Agreement.Before the signature and ratification of the Agreement, we have no plans to change the British Indian Ocean Territory marine protected area which is fully compatible with United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea obligations.The British Indian Ocean Territory Administration operates a system of permits to control access to and activities within the Marine Protected Area. We also work closely with the Indian Ocean Tuna Commission to limit illegal fishing.

Commonwealth and Development Affairs, whether Official Development Assistance will be used to fund the (a) trust fund for Chagossians and (b) economic partnership with Mauritius in the proposed UK-Mauritius Treaty.

The treaty with Mauritius will include an economic partnership with Mauritius, of which one component will be the Trust Fund for Mauritius to use in support of Chagossians. Details of the Trust Fund will be published as part of the implementation of the Agreement after signature.

Commonwealth and Development Affairs, when he last had discussions with the Chancellor of the Exchequer on the (a) financial implications and (b) costs of the proposed UK-Mauritius Treaty.

The Foreign Secretary continues to hold regular discussions with Ministerial colleagues, including the Chancellor, on issues related to a treaty with Mauritius on the British Indian Ocean Territory and the base on Diego Garcia. The UK Government remains committed to reaching an agreement with Mauritius which is in the best interests of both parties.

Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what discussions (a) he, (b) his ministers and (c) officials from his Department have had with counterparts in the Commonwealth and Commonwealth member countries on reparatory justice (i) since July 2024 and (ii) subsequent to the most recent Commonwealth Heads of Government meeting; whether further such discussions are planned; and whether he plans to use ODA for reparatory justice measures.

We fully recognise the horrific impacts and the understandable, ongoing, strength of feeling on the transatlantic slave trade across communities in the UK and the Commonwealth family. Ministers have had no discussions with Commonwealth counterparts focused on reparatory justice since July 2024, and none are foreseen. If interlocutors raise reparatory justice, we make clear our position that we do not pay reparations. We are focused on working with Commonwealth partners to tackle the most pressing challenges of today including security, growth and climate change and building partnerships for the future.

Commonwealth and Development Affairs, if he will list ministerial contacts with (a) ministers and (b) representatives of the government of Mauritius since July 2024.

The Prime Minister and Foreign Secretary met the then Mauritian Prime Minister in London on 23 July 2024, and negotiating rounds led to political agreement between the Prime Minister and then Mauritian Prime Minister on 3 October 2024. The Prime Minister's Special Envoy for BIOT negotiations, Jonathan Powell, and Prime Minister Ramgoolam met on 25 November 2024. I met virtually with the Mauritian Attorney General on 16 January who had a subsequent meeting with our Attorney General on the same day. The Prime Minister spoke with Prime Minister Ramgoolam on 31 January. This engagement has been supplemented by numerous official level meetings, and joint statements from the UK and Mauritian governments were issued on 20 December 2024 and 13 January.

Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what plans he has to deliver efficiency savings in his Department in (a) this financial year, (b) 2025-26 and (c) future financial years.

The Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) has made efficiency savings in this financial year through initiatives outlined in the Government Efficiency Framework. This framework was agreed between the FCDO and HMT during the 2021 Spending Review, and set out efficiency targets of £84.8 million to meet by the end of 2024-25. This was increased to £86.8 million during the 2023 Spending Review. The FCDO has met this target.To help drive out waste and ensure all funding is focused on the Government's priorities, the FCDO plans to achieve future efficiency savings through digital innovation, workforce optimisation and corporate process reform.

Commonwealth and Development Affairs, pursuant to the Written Statement HCWS451 of 13 February 2025 on Syria Sanctions, if he will list the Syria Regulations he is planning to change; and what conditions he plans to apply to the Government of Syria in relation to the relaxation of sanctions.

As my statement to the House on 10 March made clear, the interim Syrian authorities must ensure the protection of all Syrians and to make progress towards an inclusive political transition. We will judge them by their actions, not their words.On 6 March, the Government lifted asset freezes on 24 Syrian entities that were previously used by the Assad regime to fund the oppression of the Syrian people, including the Central Bank of Syria. This follows the Office of Financial Sanctions Implementation publishing on 12 February a General Licence, allowing payments that support humanitarian assistance in Syria. Sanctions remain in place against the Assad family, their associates, and those complicit in committing atrocities.We keep our sanctions under close review. Where there are changes to the Syria Regulations, Members of Parliament will have the opportunity to debate in line with the made affirmative procedure for sanctions Statutory Instruments.

How many (a) meetings and (b) discussions (i) the Attorney General and (ii) his officials have had with the representatives of the Government of Mauritius since July 2024.

Since July 2024, the Attorney General and his officials have had one meeting with a representative of the Government of Mauritius.This was a courtesy meeting with Mr Gavin Glover, the visiting Attorney General of Mauritius, in January 2025.

Commonwealth and Development Affairs, how many (a) meetings and (b) discussions (i) he and (ii) Ministers from his Department have had with their Mauritian counterparts since July 2024.

The Prime Minister and Foreign Secretary met the then Mauritian Prime Minister in London on 23 July 2024, and negotiating rounds led to political agreement between the Prime Minister and then Mauritian Prime Minister on 3 October 2024. The Prime Minister's Special Envoy for BIOT negotiations, Jonathan Powell, and Prime Minister Ramgoolam met on 25 November 2024. The Attorney General met with the Mauritian Attorney General on 16 January 2025, and I also had a separate call with the Mauritian AG on this date. The Prime Minister spoke with Prime Minister Ramgoolam on 31 January 2025. This engagement has been supplemented by numerous official level meetings, and joint statements from the UK and Mauritian governments were issued on 20 December 2024 and 13 January 2025. We do not hold a centralised list of all meetings relating to Chagos sovereignty, and the number of such meetings, and Ministers and senior officials involved, would make it disproportionately costly to put such a list together.

Commonwealth and Development Affairs, when his next scheduled meeting is with representatives of the Chinese Government.

On 13 February, the Foreign Secretary met the Chinese Minister of Foreign Affairs, Wang Yi, in London. The Foreign Secretary does not have any further meetings scheduled with representatives of the Chinese Government at this point.

Commonwealth and Development Affairs, whether the Government has agreed any changes to (a) the proposed treaty and (b) financial arrangements connected to the agreement with Mauritius announced on 3 October 2024 on the future sovereignty of the British Indian Ocean Territory.

In the house I have said repeatedly that I will not provide a running commentary on this matter. We have reached an agreement with Mauritius, but the final text of the proposed treaty, as well as the financial arrangements are still being finalised and it is only when they are concluded that we will be in a position to put them before Parliament, in line with the normal procedures, for scrutiny and debate.

Commonwealth and Development Affairs, how many counter proposals the Government has received from the Mauritian Government on the future sovereignty of the British Indian Ocean Territory since 3 October 2024.

It would not have been, nor would it be appropriate to provide a running commentary on private negotiations, not least given the national security issues involved. When the treaty text is finalised and agreed, it will be laid before Parliament, which will be the right time for scrutiny and discussion.

Commonwealth and Development Affairs, how many (a) meetings and (b) discussions (i) the Prime Minister and (ii) his officials have had with their Mauritian counterparts since July 2024.

Ministerial meetings with external organisations will be published in the usual way on gov.uk.