Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, with reference to the memorandum of understanding with the Government of St Helena, agreed on 15 October 2024, if he will publish (a) the accounting officer’s advice on the scheme, (b) the costings of the scheme, (c) the details of the accommodation that will be provided and (d) the assessment of the potential merits of using St Helena.

We do not routinely publish policy advice and assessments from officials. The UK Government has agreed to a one-off funding of £6.65million with the Government of St Helena for initiatives to improve public health and education outcomes, and also local IT systems. The UK Government will support the Government of St Helena to care for and process any potential migrants. The St Helena Government will be responsible for determining what accommodation should be provided to any migrants transferred, with technical support from the UK Government.