Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what discussions the Government had with the Chinese Government in 2020 on the works to the Chinese Consulate in Belfast in breach of planning controls in a conservation area; and what subsequent assessment has been made of the implications of the Chinese Government ignoring planning restrictions in relation to the proposed new Chinese Embassy in London.

An appointed independent Planning Inspector will hold a public inquiry into the proposal for the new Chinese Embassy in London, after which the Secretary of State for the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government will make a decision on planning grounds in her quasi-judicial role.