Question to the Ministry of Defence:

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, for what reason Question 113434 on UNCLOS and the Chagos Islands, tabled on 12 February for answer on 25 February 2026, has not been answered; and when he plans to answer it.

Answered by Al Carns - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Defence) (Minister for Veterans)

I responded to the right hon. Member on 4 March 2026.

Question to the Cabinet Office:

To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what procedures will apply to enable access by the Intelligence and Security Committee to such documentation necessary to fulfil the duties placed upon it n relation to dealings between Peter Mandelson and Jeffrey Epstein.

Answered by Nick Thomas-Symonds - Paymaster General and Minister for the Cabinet Office

I refer you to the Government's response to the Urgent Question tabled on 12th February, the Written Ministerial Statement in the name of the Chief Secretary to the Prime Minister that same day, and Oral Statement on the 23 February which set out an update on the Government's process for complying with the Humble Address motion. We will set out further details in due course. The Government wishes to ensure that Parliament’s instruction is met with the urgency and transparency that it deserves.

Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, for what reason Questions 113021 and 113433 on UNCLOS and the Chagos Islands, tabled on 12 February for answer on 24 and 25 February 2026 respectively, have not been answered; and when she plans to answer them.

Answered by Stephen Doughty - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)

Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, pursuant to the answer of 10 February 2026 to Question 110708, whether she plans to derogate from Article 298 of UNCLOS.

Answered by Stephen Doughty - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)

The UK already made a declaration pursuant to Article 298 of UNCLOS. This does not however affect our assessment on the risks to the UK-US base on Diego Garcia. I refer the Rt Hon Member to the answer cited in his question.

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if she will make an assessment of the likely impact of the recent changes in immigration rules on the practicability of continuing the rescue from oppressive regimes of academics in danger by awarding fellowships at United Kingdom universities, arranged until now by the Council for At-Risk Academics.

Answered by Alex Norris - Minister of State (Home Office)

The visa brake will apply to nationals of Afghanistan, Cameroon, Myanmar, and Sudan, for the Student route, and nationals of Afghanistan for the Skilled Worker route. We understand decision may be disappointing to some people. If fellowship schemes use the specified routes, they will be impacted; schemes that use any other visa routes will be unaffected.

Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:

To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, if he will take steps to support small rural communities dependent on oil supplies whose commercial suppliers have said than none will be available for a period of weeks.

Answered by Martin McCluskey - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)

The Government is closely monitoring heating oil supply and demand in light of instability in the Middle East. The UK benefits from a strong and diverse security of fuel supplies and Ministers have met with and continue to engage with the UK & Ireland Fuel Distributors Association (UKIFDA) and other key industry bodies. We are aware that increased demand is leading to delays in some companies being able to accept new orders while they work through the backlog of existing orders.

We continue to work with the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) on whether any further support or action is needed to protect consumers.

Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:

To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, when the Government’s response to its 2025 public consultation on (a) strengthening local government standards and (b) addressing misconduct and bullying by town and parish councillors will be published.

Answered by Alison McGovern - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)

The Government published its response to the consultation “Strengthening the standards and conduct framework for local authorities in England” in November 2025. The response sets out the Government’s intention to introduce measures including a mandatory Code of Conduct for councillors and strengthened oversight of the local government standards regime.

We intend to legislate on local government standards reforms when parliamentary time allows.

Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, whether she has had discussions with her US counterpart on the statement issued by the United Nations’ Committee for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination on 8 December 2025 on the ratification of the UK-Mauritius agreement concerning the Chagos Archipelago.

Answered by Stephen Doughty - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)

Ministers and officials in the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office are in constant discussion with their US counterparts across a wide range of issues.

Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, how many applications were made by (a) Chagossians and (b) other nationalities to visit the British Indian Ocean Territory in each of the last 5 years; and how many of those applications were accepted.

Answered by Stephen Doughty - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)

The British Indian Ocean Territory (BIOT) Administration is responsible for immigration matters in BIOT.

The last Heritage Visit for Chagossians to visit the Archipelago took place in February 2020, and was attended by 27 Chagossians. Heritage visits were paused in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic and during treaty negotiations with Mauritius. The Government acknowledges the importance of heritage visits to the Chagossian community and is working to reinstate these as soon as possible.

Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, when the last trip was organised by the Government to the British Indian Ocean Territory for Chagossians to visit their homeland; and how many Chagossians participated in that visit.

Answered by Stephen Doughty - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)

The British Indian Ocean Territory (BIOT) Administration is responsible for immigration matters in BIOT.

The last Heritage Visit for Chagossians to visit the Archipelago took place in February 2020, and was attended by 27 Chagossians. Heritage visits were paused in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic and during treaty negotiations with Mauritius. The Government acknowledges the importance of heritage visits to the Chagossian community and is working to reinstate these as soon as possible.

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what (a) steps she will take and (b) powers she possesses to protect (i) military bases and (ii) other sensitive locations from the threat posed by the piecemeal purchase of properties in their vicinity by (A) Russian, (B) Chinese and (C) other adversaries.

Answered by Dan Jarvis - Minister of State (Cabinet Office)

The first duty of Government is national security. We take the protection of sensitive locations extremely seriously, and we work closely with the police and operational partners to ensure they have the powers they need.

The National Security and Investment Act 2021 provides the Government with powers to identify and, where necessary, intervene in acquisitions of entities or assets (including land) that may pose a threat to the UK’s national security. This can, under some circumstances, include properties near sensitive sites.

In addition, the National Security Act 2023 protects against activity that could be harmful to the UK in and around the most sensitive sites through new and updated criminal offences, police powers to protect these sites, and a power to designate new sites as prohibited places.

Question to the Ministry of Defence:

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, if he will take steps to acquire from Ukraine (a) cheap anti-drone military assets and (b) instruction in maximising their effective operation in order to augment the protection of United Kingdom and allied personnel in the Middle East.

Answered by Al Carns - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Defence) (Minister for Veterans)

This continues to be an extremely challenging and unsettling time for many across the Middle East. The UK condemns Iran’s role in attempting to draw the region into a wider conflict. Our first priority is to protect British nationals, British interests and our partners. We support action that will help bring a swift resolution to this conflict, and an end to Iran's reckless and escalatory response.

I will not go into operational details but let us be clear, Iran has continued to support Russia in its on-going illegal war on Ukraine including through supplying unmanned aerial systems – like those now being used to target our Middle East partners.

We will continue to do all we can to ensure the protection of United Kingdom and allied personnel in the region

The Minister for Defence Readiness & Industry has been engaging with industry on how the UK can further support partners in the region.

Question to the Cabinet Office:

To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, for what reason Question 111416 on Jeffrey Epstein and Lord Mandelson, tabled on 6 February for answer on 11 February 2026, has not been answered; and when he plans to answer it.

Answered by Nick Thomas-Symonds - Paymaster General and Minister for the Cabinet Office

An answer was made to UIN 111416 on 4 March.

https://questions-statements.parliament.uk/written-questions/detail/2026-02-06/111416

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Question to the Ministry of Defence:

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, with reference to his statement of 22 May 2025 on Diego Garcia Military Base, Official Report, Column 1284, if he will provide the basis for his comments that the UK would face legal rulings within weeks.

Answered by Luke Pollard - Minister of State (Ministry of Defence)

I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave on 3 March 2026 to Question 116019 to the hon. Member for New Forest East (Sir Julian Lewis).