Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, if she will publish all correspondence from (a) her, (b) her ministers and (c) her officials to the Planning Inspectorate regarding the Chinese Embassy planning application.

Answered by Seema Malhotra - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)

I refer the Rt Hon Member to the answer provided on 29 October in response to Question 84208.

Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what estimate she has made of the (a) number and (b) total value of fare evasion incidents on Greater Anglia services in the latest period for which data is available.

Answered by Keir Mather - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)

The most recent Ticketless Travel Survey data we hold for Greater Anglia covers rail industry period 5, starting on Sunday 26 July 2025, to rail industry period 7 ending Saturday 17 October 2025. The overall revenue-at-risk was £4.685 million, and the portion of revenue-at-risk is 3.527 per cent.

Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, whether she had discussions with her Mauritian counterpart on the survey being conducted by the House of Lords International Relations and Defence Committee on Chagossian views on the Agreement with Mauritius concerning the Chagos Archipelago.

Answered by Stephen Doughty - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)

The UK Government continues to engage with Mauritius on a range of issues related to implementation of the agreement between our countries, and I met the Mauritian Attorney General to that end on his last visit to London.

Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what assessment has she made of the potential impact of the Chinese government funding training places for Mauritian officials on the (a) security of the British Indian Ocean Territory, (b) the future of Diego Garcia and (c) the future of UK interests in the Indo-Pacific.

Answered by Stephen Doughty - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)

The Agreement between the UK and Mauritius secures the important UK-US military base on Diego Garcia. It contains robust provisions to ensure the security of the base and its continued effective operation, including a 24 nautical mile buffer zone around Diego Garcia and a ban on foreign security forces anywhere in the archipelago. The Agreement was tested at the highest levels of the United States' security establishment, across multiple agencies, and it has been backed by our key allies and international partners, including the US and all our Five Eyes partners.

Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, whether she has made an assessment of the potential impact of the Pelindaba Treaty once sovereignty is transferred to Mauritius in accordance with the UK-Mauritius treaty on operations at Diego Garcia.

Answered by Stephen Doughty - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)

I refer the Rt Hon Member to the answer I gave her on 11 June in response to Question 57628.

Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, whether (a) Ministers and (b) officials met with the Mauritian Attorney General during his recent visit to London.

Answered by Stephen Doughty - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)

The UK Government continues to engage with Mauritius on a range of issues related to implementation of the agreement between our countries, and I met the Mauritian Attorney General to that end on his last visit to London.

Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, whether she has discussed the (a) level and (b) quotas of fishing that the government of Mauritius expect to permit in the Chagos Archipelago marine environment.

Answered by Stephen Doughty - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)

I refer the Rt Hon Member to the answer provided on 21 November to Question 90684.

Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, how many staff were employed in overseas postings in the 2025-26 financial year; and how many staff are forecast to be employed in overseas postings in each of the next five financial years.

Answered by Seema Malhotra - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)

The Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) is committed to becoming a smaller, more agile organisation, better able to deliver tangible benefits for the British people. Staff reductions are being made strategically, with decisions guided by an organisational prioritisation exercise. An Overseas Network Review is running in parallel to ensure our global footprint is best able to deliver UK objectives. The department will set out further details in due course.

Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, if she will publish her plans for (a) staffing reductions and (b) the reorganisation of her Department.

Answered by Seema Malhotra - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)

The Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) is committed to becoming a smaller, more agile organisation, better able to deliver tangible benefits for the British people. Staff reductions are being made strategically, with decisions guided by an organisational prioritisation exercise. An Overseas Network Review is running in parallel to ensure our global footprint is best able to deliver UK objectives. The department will set out further details in due course.

Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, if she will make an estimate of the number of hereditaments in Essex, broken down by local authority area; and how many have had their rateable values (a) increase and (b) decrease as a result of the latest revaluation.

Answered by Dan Tomlinson - Exchequer Secretary (HM Treasury)

Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what information she receives (a) daily and (b) weekly from the Civil-Military Coordination Center in Israel on (i) aid access, (ii) ceasefire violations committed by Hamas and (iii) planning for the implementation of the 20-Point Peace Plan.

Answered by Hamish Falconer - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)

The UK is working tirelessly alongside our international partners to push forward all aspects of the 20-point peace plan endorsed by the United Nations Security Council on 17 November, including maintaining the ceasefire, increasing the flow of humanitarian aid, establishing an International Stabilisation Force, and removing Hamas from any role in the future governance of Gaza. We will continue to keep the House updated on the progress of this work over the coming weeks and months.

Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what discussions she has had with her Israeli counterpart on the potential impact of Hamas' involvement in aid agencies and NGOs in Gaza.

Answered by Hamish Falconer - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)

The UK is working tirelessly alongside our international partners to push forward all aspects of the 20-point peace plan endorsed by the United Nations Security Council on 17 November, including maintaining the ceasefire, increasing the flow of humanitarian aid, establishing an International Stabilisation Force, and removing Hamas from any role in the future governance of Gaza. We will continue to keep the House updated on the progress of this work over the coming weeks and months.

Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what recent discussions she has had with her Israeli ministerial counterparts on (a) (i) the ceasefire in and (ii) aid access to Gaza and (b) the establishment of the International Stabilisation Force.

Answered by Hamish Falconer - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)

The UK is working tirelessly alongside our international partners to push forward all aspects of the 20-point peace plan endorsed by the United Nations Security Council on 17 November, including maintaining the ceasefire, increasing the flow of humanitarian aid, establishing an International Stabilisation Force, and removing Hamas from any role in the future governance of Gaza. We will continue to keep the House updated on the progress of this work over the coming weeks and months.

Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, pursuant to the Answer of 5 November 2025 to Question 85749 on Syria: Politics and Government, what quantity of chemical weapons has been identified.

Answered by Hamish Falconer - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)

As indicated in the answer referenced by the Rt Hon. Member, it will be for the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) to verify the types and quantities of any chemical weapons destroyed, but the UK remains committed to supporting the OPCW in that work.

Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether she has asked National Highways to update its business case for the A120 dualling scheme.

Answered by Simon Lightwood - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)

During the second Road Period (2020-2025) National Highways has been considering improvements to the A120 between Braintree and Marks Tey as a possible future major enhancement to the network as part of the Road Investment Strategy pipeline.

The last formal iteration of the business case for these proposals was developed in 2022/23. Affordability and deliverability assessments have been further tested since then to inform decision making and investment planning for RIS3 and beyond. The third Road Investment Strategy is due to be published in March 2026 and will include an updated pipeline of future enhancement schemes.

Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:

To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, if he will make an estimate of the total estimated yield in non-national domestic rates from commercial properties in each district in Essex in 2025-26 and 2026-27, broken down by local authority area.

Answered by Alison McGovern - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)

We do not collect data on national non-domestic rates by specific types of property.

However, we do collect data on net rates payable by local authorities in England. Forecast data for 2025-26 can be found here National non-domestic rates collected by councils - GOV.UK.

Data relating to 2026-27 will be published in February 2026.