Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what assessment she has made of the adequacy of checks and balances on planning permission in the Turks and Caicos Islands.

The Hon Member has asked a large number of related questions on the Turks and Caicos Islands Government (TCIG), some of which we are unable to answer because they fall within the responsibility of the devolved government, and others because they relate to ongoing proceedings, on which it would not be appropriate to comment.

Among the devolved matters for which the TCIG are responsible are procurement and infrastructure development. In addition, decisions regarding land use - including applications, allocations, challenges and oversight - are all made by appropriate bodies within the TCIG. The Governor appoints agency heads but is independent of these entities' operations. Agency effectiveness is governed by established legal and regulatory frameworks and concerns can be raised with them as appropriate.

Establishing wider access to beneficial ownership data - even if limited to those with a legitimate interest - is a step forward towards enabling greater scrutiny of illicit finance. The UK welcomed TCI's Legitimate Interest Access (LIA) Register of Beneficial Ownership when it launched in 2025. But we are clear that there is more work to be done, and alongside other Overseas Territories (OTs), TCI has committed to improving their LIA. The Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office (FCDO) is working closely with the OTs to ensure LIA registers provide the maximum possible degree of access and transparency, whilst protecting the right to privacy in line with each OT's respective constitutions. The UK's expectation remains for the OTs and Crown Dependencies to establish fully public registers of beneficial ownership.

The UK is committed to expanding economic cooperation with the OTs. Sustainable economic prosperity is important to the whole UK family. The FCDO co-convened an OT Trade and Investment Study Visit in March 2026 bringing together senior representatives from across the OTs - including from the TCIG - to strengthen awareness of UK capabilities, and give our support to commercial partnerships and economic development opportunities. The UK Government remains available to provide advice and technical support where requested.

We regularly raise our expectations on publicly accessible and legitimate interest access registers of beneficial ownership with Overseas Territories and Crown Dependencies, and I most recently discussed this with OT leaders and representatives on 16 July.