Maritime and Coastguard Agency: British Overseas Territories
(asked on 6th July 2026) - View Source
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, pursuant to the Answer of 29 June 2026 to Question 11742 on British Overseas Territories, what estimate she has made of the cost to the public purse of each monitoring visit undertaken by officials from the Maritime and Coastguard Agency to British Overseas Territories since 4 July 2024, broken down by (a) destination and (b) visit.
The MCA undertakes monitoring visits to provide assurance that Overseas Territories’ maritime administrations continue to meet their international maritime obligations and the standards set under the Red Ensign Group framework.
The estimated cost for each of the monitoring visits undertaken by officials from the Maritime and Coastguard Agency to British Overseas Territories since 4 July 2024 is shown below: This does not include staff salaries.
Location X Number of Auditors | Dates | Travel (£) | Accommodation (£) | Subsistence (£, estimated) | Other expenditure (£) | Total cost (£) |
Primary Monitoring Visits | ||||||
Gibraltar X 4 | 16–20 Sep 2024 | 2,802.37 | 2,285.33 | 632.07 | — | 5,719.77 |
Turks & Caicos Islands X 4 | 2–6 Dec 2024 | 8,676.98 | 10,268.26 | 1,180.77 | 400.88 | 20,526.89 |
St Helena X 3 | 24–28 Feb 2025 | 16,518.26 | 4,873.56 | 727.74 | — | 22,119.56 |
Cayman Islands X 3 | 1–12 Sep 2025 | 10,034.90 | 3,661.70 | 709.71 | — | 14,406.31 |
British Virgin Islands X 5 | 1–5 Dec 2025 | 32,116.97 | 6,791.67 | 1,725.53 | — | 40,634.17 |
Secondary Monitoring / Support Visits | ||||||
British Virgin Islands X 3 | 29–31 Jul 2024 | 17,410.96 | 2,958.99 | 725.62 | 470.46 | 21,566.03 |
Anguilla X 1 | 20–24 Jan 2025 | 1,978.00 | 1,399.75 | 644.07 | — | 4,021.82 |
British Virgin Islands X 2 | 16–18 Jul 2025 | 4,790.56 | 1,732.16 | 431.59 | 297.15 | 7,251.46 |
Turks & Caicos Islands X 2 | 3–6 Nov 2025 | 7,172.34 | 3,175.34 | 713.27 | — | 11,060.95 |
St Helena X 3 | 16–20 Mar 2026 | 8,267.00 | 2,730.00 | 586.24 | — | 11,583.24 |