Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what representations he has received from hon. Members on the forthcoming KPMG study into resettlement of the Chagos Islands.

Since work on the study began in January 2014, FCO Ministers and Parliamentarians, most notably the Chagos All Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) as well as the hon. Gentleman, have continued to discuss its progress and timescales for the subsequent policy review by Ministers. We are aware of specific representations from my hon friend the Member for Islington North (Jeremy Corbyn), Chair of the Chagos APPG, who has written four times to FCO Ministers, including the Foreign Secretary, about the policy review of resettlement of the British Indian Ocean Territory (BIOT) and right of return of the former islanders (Chagossians). In addition, my honourable friend himself has tabled three Parliamentary Questions (PQs), and my hon friend the Member for Romford (Andrew Rosindell MP) has tabled one PQ on the resettlement feasibility study. The study is nearing completion and its draft final report will be circulated very shortly to allow for further consultation before it is finalised and published in the New Year.