Asked by: Priti Patel (Conservative - Witham)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether she made an assessment of the potential impact of cancelling the A12 Widening Scheme on housing growth.
Answered by Lilian Greenwood - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
As announced on 8 July 2025, this Government inherited a series of commitments that could not be afforded. Therefore, the Secretary of State for Transport had to take the difficult decision not to progress the A12 (Chelmsford to A120) Widening Scheme. The decision was based on evidence assessed against a wide range of criteria, including housing growth impacts, and in line with the HMT Treasury Green Book and the Department’s Transport Analysis Guidance. The Department will continue to work with National Highways and relevant partners to explore whether there are any small-scale interventions to potentially address issues on the A12 to support housing growth.
Asked by: Priti Patel (Conservative - Witham)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what the cost to the public purse was of purchasing (a) land and (b) properties as part of the A12 widening scheme; and how (a) much land and (b) many properties were purchased.
Answered by Lilian Greenwood - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
As announced on 8 July 2025, this Government inherited a series of commitments that could not be afforded. Therefore, the Secretary of State for Transport had to take the difficult decision not to progress the A12 (Chelmsford to A120) Widening Scheme.
The cost to the public purse to date of purchasing a) land is £0.8 million and b) the cost to the public purse to date of purchasing properties is £19.9 million; and a) 38,600 square metres of land and b) 26 properties have been purchased. Following cancellation of the scheme, National Highways will be working to bring the scheme to a close and will publish details on costs incurred in its Annual Report and Accounts in due course.
Asked by: Priti Patel (Conservative - Witham)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what the total cost to the public purse is for the A12 widening scheme.
Answered by Lilian Greenwood - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
As announced on 8 July 2025, this Government inherited a series of commitments that could not be afforded. Therefore, the Secretary of State for Transport had to take the difficult decision not to progress the A12 (Chelmsford to A120) Widening Scheme. In 2022, the A12 scheme had an estimated cost of between £1,045 million and £1,268 million, on the assumption of a start of works in 2023/24 under the previous government, which did not happen. Had the scheme proceeded following Spending Review 2025, the cost of delivery to the earliest timetable would be greater because of increases in prices over time and other factors. Following cancellation, National Highways will be working to bring the scheme to a close and will publish details on costs incurred in its Annual Report and Accounts in due course.
Asked by: Priti Patel (Conservative - Witham)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment she has made of the potential impact of the cancellation of the A12 widening scheme on (a) levels of congestion, (b) road safety and (c) the economy.
Answered by Lilian Greenwood - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
As announced on 8 July 2025, this Government inherited a series of commitments that could not be afforded. Therefore, the Secretary of State for Transport had to take the difficult decision not to progress the A12 (Chelmsford to A120) Widening Scheme.
The decision was based on evidence assessed against a wide range of criteria including (a) congestion, (b) road safety and (c) the economy and in line with the HMT Treasury Green Book and the Department’s Transport Analysis Guidance.
Asked by: Priti Patel (Conservative - Witham)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, whether papers from the previous Government were disclosed to Ministers in the Administration relating to the UK-Mauritius negotiations.
Answered by Stephen Doughty - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
The Government has complied with the guidance set out in the Cabinet Manual on the access to papers of a previous administration.
Asked by: Priti Patel (Conservative - Witham)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, pursuant to the Answer of 2 July 2025 to Question 62581 on Chagos Islands: Sovereignty, whether his Department has made an estimate of the (a) yearly payment schedules for the duration of the lease and (b) related inflationary uplifts; and what estimate he has made of cash payments to Mauritius in years (i) one to 10, (ii) 11 to 20, (iii) 21 to 30, (iv) 31 to 40, (v) 41 to 50, (vi) 51 to 60, (vii) 61 to 70, (viii) 71 to 80, (ix) 81 to 90 and (x) 90 to 99 of the lease.
Answered by Stephen Doughty - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
I refer the Rt Hon Member to the answer to her previous question 57197.
Asked by: Priti Patel (Conservative - Witham)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, with reference to his Oral Statement of 7 October 2024 on British Indian Ocean Territory: Negotiations, Official Report, column 46, on what evidential basis he stated that Mauritius will authorise us to exercise their sovereign rights and authorities in respect of Diego Garcia.
Answered by Stephen Doughty - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
This formed part of the negotiations with the Government of Mauritius and was subsequently included in Article 2 of the Treaty.
Asked by: Priti Patel (Conservative - Witham)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, whether he has had discussions with (a) international partners and (b) representatives from the Yale Humanitarian Research Lab Ukraine Conflict Observatory on the future funding of the Yale Humanitarian Research Lab Ukraine Conflict Observatory to support its work on tracking Ukrainian children abducted by Russia.
Answered by Stephen Doughty - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
The UK is an active member of the International Coalition for the Return of Children, whose work includes supporting initiatives to identify, locate, and return children to their families. On the issue of tracking Ukrainian children abducted by Russia, we are working closely with the Government of Ukraine to identify which Open-Source Intelligence providers will best meet their needs to provide this data going forward.
Asked by: Priti Patel (Conservative - Witham)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what discussions he has had with his international counterparts on continuing to fund the organisations tracking Ukrainian children abducted by Russia.
Answered by Stephen Doughty - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
The UK-led multi-donor Partnership Fund for a Resilient Ukraine (PFRU) is providing more than £5.7 million of funding for support to the return and reintegration of children - of which the UK contributes a third. Through this fund, we have supported Bring Kids Back, Save Ukraine, and other leading child protection civil society organisations.
In addition, the UK is an active member of the International Coalition for the Return of Children, whose work includes supporting initiatives to identify, locate, and return children to their families.
Asked by: Priti Patel (Conservative - Witham)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, whether the earlier draft of the UK-Mauritius Treaty from October 2024 gave the UK a unilateral right to extend the lease after the initial 99 year period.
Answered by Stephen Doughty - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
As the Foreign Secretary said in his statement to Parliament in October 2024, the UK negotiated a right to extend the duration of the Treaty beyond 99 years. This was subsequently included in Article 13 of the Treaty.