Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what recent assessment he has made of the risk of piracy in the waters of the British Indian Ocean Territory.

While there have been no attacks around the waters of the British Indian Ocean Territory, piracy is a significant threat in the Gulf of Aden and Indian Ocean, and has occurred as far as 1,000 nautical miles from the coast of Somalia. We undertake regular assessments of potential criminal activity in the territorial waters of the British Indian Ocean Territory in order to ensure that we retain an appropriate level of capability.