Written questions by Patel.

Commonwealth and Development Affairs, whether she has made provision in her departmental budget for the cost of payments to Mauritius under the UK-Mauritius Treaty in 2025-26.

The payments to Mauritius will be split between the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office and the Ministry of Defence. They will be published in the normal manner alongside other departmental spend in the annual accounts.

Commonwealth and Development Affairs, whether a representative of the government of Mauritius enquired with her Department about visiting the Chagos Archipelago prior to sovereignty being transferred; and whether her Department has been asked to facilitate visits with third countries participating.

I refer the Rt Hon. member to the answer given to question 69814.

Commonwealth and Development Affairs, with reference to the UK-Mauritius Treaty, whether payments to Mauritius will be accounted for as day-to-day spending.

The payments to Mauritius will be split between the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office and the Ministry of Defence. They will be published in the normal manner alongside other departmental spend in the annual accounts.

Commonwealth and Development Affairs, whether she will consider the potential merits of commissioning a study of the environmental condition of the Marine Protected Area around the Chagos Archipelago prior to the transfer of sovereignty under the UK-Mauritius Treaty.

I refer the Rt Hon. Member to the answer given to question 70431.

Commonwealth and Development Affairs, if she will set out the technical assistance her Department will provide to Mauritius for the Marine Protected Area under Article 5 of the UK-Mauritius Treaty; and what the estimated (a) value and (b) cost of that support will be in each of the next five years.

I refer the Rt Hon. Member to the answer given to question 70431.

With reference to her Department's joint press release entitled UK removes Hay'at Tahrir al-Sham from terrorist organisation list, published on 21 October 2025, whether she has placed conditions on Hay'at Tahrir al-Sham as part of her decision to deproscribe that organisation.

HTS was proscribed as an alias of Al Qa’ida in 2017. The Government no longer assesses HTS to be an alias of AQ.Deproscription decisions are not taken lightly. The Home Secretary is supported in her decision making by a robust process which involves substantial consultation with operational partners and other Government departments. The decision to deproscribe HTS will support our continued efforts to counter Daesh in Syria and reduce the risk to the UK.We want to step up our engagement and support to give this transition the best chance of success. Deproscription will enhance our ability to do this. A stable Syria is in the UK's interests, reducing the risk of irregular migration and the threats to our national security.The Home Secretary reserves the right to review proscription decisions in response to evolving threats. The Government will always act swiftly and decisively in the interests of national security.

Commonwealth and Development Affairs, if she will set out her Department's plans for staffing reorganisation including (a) the number of staff in each of the next five years and (ii) total staffing costs in each of the next five financial years.

The Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) is undertaking a phased restructure of its workforce in line with the Spending Review settlement. Further details will be set out in the usual way in due course.

Commonwealth and Development Affairs, with reference to her joint letter with the Home Secretary to the Planning Inspectorate on the Chinese Embassy, dated 14 January 2025, what discussions her Department had with their Chinese counterparts on the planning application for the Chinese Embassy between 5 July 2024 and 14 January 2025.

I refer the Rt Hon. Member to the answer given to question 24158.

Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what assessment her Department has made of the steps taken by the interim Syrian regime on (a) the (i) identification and (ii) the safe disposal of chemical weapons and (b) the protection of the rights of minorities since December 2024.

The UK welcomes the Syrian Government's commitment to ridding Syria of the Assad regime's chemical weapons. We continue to engage the Syrian Government to support their efforts to locate, secure and destroy chemical weapons left by the Assad regime. The UK has committed over £2.8 million to the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) to support the OPCW's verification of the destruction of chemical weapons in Syria.The UK welcomes efforts by the Syrian Government to protect the rights of all Syrians, regardless of religious or ethnic background. This includes their investigations into outbreaks of sectarian violence in coastal areas and Suwayda, and their facilitation of the UN to investigate human rights violations. We will continue to judge the Syrian Government on its actions not its words.

Commonwealth and Development Affairs, whether the Prime Minister discussed (a) Russian oil imports and (b) the refining of oil from Russia by Turkish-based companies during his meeting with the President of Turkey on 27 October 2025.

I refer the Hon. Member to the oral statement on Ukraine made by the Foreign Secretary on 15 October 2025.

Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what discussions she has had with countries who signed the Gaza peace plan on disarming Hamas.

I refer the Hon. Member to the answer provided on 29 October to Question 83047.

With reference to her Department's joint press release entitled UK removes Hay'at Tahrir al-Sham from terrorist organisation list, published on 21 October 2025, on what date she commenced the process to review the proscription of Hay'at Tahrir al-Sham.

HTS was proscribed as an alias of Al Qa’ida in 2017. The Government no longer assesses HTS to be an alias of AQ.The decision to remove HTS as an alias of Al Qa’ida was based on assessments and relevant information available at the time. Every proscription decision is made after careful consideration by the Home Secretary and follows advice from the expert cross-government Proscription Review Group.We want to step up our engagement and support to give this transition the best chance of success. Deproscription will enhance our ability to do this. A stable Syria is in the UK's interests, reducing the risk of irregular migration and the threats to our national security.

Commonwealth and Development Affairs, If she will publish a list of all meetings between Jonathan Powell and (a) ministers and (b) officials in her Department during which China was discussed.

It has been the clear, consistent and longstanding policy not to provide details on any of the National Security Adviser's meetings.

Commonwealth and Development Affairs, If she will publish all (a) ministerial level contacts and (b) senior official level contacts between the UK and China since 5 July 2025.

Meetings between Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office ministers and senior representatives of the Chinese government can be found through publicly accessible means either on GOV.UK or ministers' social media accounts. As per usual diplomatic practice globally, we do not publish details of all official level contact with China. This would not be possible for practical and policy development reasons.

Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what representations her Department has received from Chinese counterparts on the China Audit.

Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office officials speak regularly with the Chinese Government on a range of issues. The reaction of Chinese officials to the conclusion of the China audit is a matter of public record, and a statement from the Chinese Embassy spokesperson is available online.

Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what discussions her Department has had with Chinese counterparts on the Foreign Influence Registration Scheme since 5 July 2024; and what discussions (a) ministers and (b) officials have had with Chinese counterparts on their embassy planning application since 5 July 2025.

Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office officials speak regularly with the Chinese Government about a range of issues.Decisions on which foreign powers will be placed on the enhanced tier of the Foreign Influence Registration Scheme are taken on a country-by-country basis, based on robust security and intelligence analysis.The planning application has been called in by the former Secretary of State for the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government and the current Secretary of State will make this decision independent from the rest of Government corresponding to his quasi-judicial role.

For what reason she has not placed China on the enhanced tier of the Foreign Influence Registration Scheme.

No decision has been made in relation to specifying China on the enhanced tier of FIRS. As I set out in the House of Commons on 13th October, we look very carefully at any question of whether to place a particular country on the enhanced tier of the scheme.Any changes to the countries listed will be announced first in Parliament in the usual way.

What steps she plans to take to decommission the A12 widening scheme; and what estimate she has made of the (a) timescale and (b) cost of that process.

The Department is working with National Highways to bring the scheme to a close in an orderly way to end a long period of uncertainty for those affected. We are anticipating that the scheme will be substantially closed down by the end of 2026, with some activities closing down sooner. National Highways will publish details on costs incurred in its Annual Report and Accounts in due course.

On which dates services agreements were (a) signed and (b) published covering rail services on (i) C2C and (ii) South Western Railway when those franchises were brought under public ownership.

Services Agreements with South Western Railway Limited and c2c Railway Limited were signed on 23 May 2025 and 16 July 2025 and came into force on 25 May 2025 and 20 July 2025 respectively. The Agreements will be made available on the Department for Transport website in due course.

Communities and Local Government, whether his Department was informed of the Department for Transport’s decision to cancel the A12 widening scheme between junctions 19 and 25 before 8 July 2025.

The Ministry for Housing, Communities and Local Government received confirmation that the A12 widening scheme had been cancelled on 7 July 2025. Together with National Highways and local partners, we are working through the impacts of this decision. We will be able to provide further details as this work progresses.