Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, pursuant to the contribution of the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs of 17 June 2014, Official Report, column 947, on Diego Garcia, what factors the Government will take into account when deciding on future plans for British Indian Ocean Territory.

In my answer in the House on 17 June I spoke about the key factors that the Government will consider in coming to a policy decision on resettlement of the Territory – value for the UK taxpayer, long-term contingent liabilities, and defence requirements of Diego Garcia to the UK and our allies. This consideration will clearly be driven by the report on the feasibility of resettlement by the independent consultants, which will provide us with a factual analysis of the practicalities that any resettlement might involve, including the economic sustainability of a resettled population, and its environmental impact, and of course the views of Chagossians themselves about what they want to see from our policy. We look forward to the final report which is expected by January 2015.