Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, if he will make an estimate of the annual difference between (a) the current cost of administering the British Indian Ocean Territory and (b) the proposed cost of leasing the Diego Garcia base from Mauritius.

It is established practice not to publish payments made for overseas military bases.

The Foreign, Commonwealth, and Development Office provides funding to the BIOT Administration to help support the good governance of the Territory. In FY 23/24, the FCDO provided £29.3 million of funding.