Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what the cost to date has been of the Draft Feasibility Study for the Resettlement of the British Indian Ocean Territory Report; and what the expected final cost of that study is.

The BIOT Administration are paying for the independent feasibility study on resettlement of the British Indian Ocean Territory. The total costs charged to them to date stands at just under £71,000 (including VAT). This figure not only includes costs of the independent consultants, but also associated expenses such as translations for Chagossians, for a research visit to BIOT, and to speak to the communities in person here in the UK, Mauritius and the Seychelles. The full final cost is expected to be approximately £650,000.