Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what assessment he has made of the potential implications for his policies of levels of crime in the Turks and Caicos islands.

The UK is committed across government to supporting the Overseas Territories to reduce crime levels affecting their residents. I visited the Turks and Caicos Islands (TCI) in early November to understand better the security situation there, and I am in regular contact with colleagues in other UK Government departments on how best we can support the Overseas Territories. The FCDO support in TCI this year includes: deploying privately contracted Authorised Firearms Officers; continuing to embed serious crime investigators within the police; and strengthening border security by procuring new marine assets, delivering advanced coastal sensors, and funding the accommodation of US air crews based in TCI to improve maritime surveillance.