Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office written question – answered at on 22 September 2025.
Priti Patel
Shadow Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, when he will respond to the House of Lords International Agreements Committee's report entitled UK-Mauritius Agreement on the Chagos Archipelago including Diego Garcia, HL 146, published on 25 June 2025.
Priti Patel
Shadow Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, with reference to paragraph 49 of the House of Lords International Agreements Committee report on the UK-Mauritius Agreement on the Chagos Archipelago including Diego Garcia, published on 25 June 2025, what assessment he has made of the adequacy of the Chagossian Trust Fund.
Stephen Doughty
Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
I refer the Right Honourable Member to the answer to question 75385. The response to the House of Lords International Agreements Committee report will be published shortly.
Ahead of ratification, the Government will make a ministerial Statement in both Houses providing a factual update on eligibility for resettlement and the modalities of the trust fund. This will enable further discussion in a proper manner.
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The house of Lords is the upper chamber of the Houses of Parliament. It is filled with Lords (I.E. Lords, Dukes, Baron/esses, Earls, Marquis/esses, Viscounts, Count/esses, etc.) The Lords consider proposals from the EU or from the commons. They can then reject a bill, accept it, or make amendments. If a bill is rejected, the commons can send it back to the lords for re-discussion. The Lords cannot stop a bill for longer than one parliamentary session. If a bill is accepted, it is forwarded to the Queen, who will then sign it and make it law. If a bill is amended, the amended bill is sent back to the House of Commons for discussion.
The Lords are not elected; they are appointed. Lords can take a "whip", that is to say, they can choose a party to represent. Currently, most Peers are Conservative.
Secretary of State was originally the title given to the two officials who conducted the Royal Correspondence under Elizabeth I. Now it is the title held by some of the more important Government Ministers, for example the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs.
Right Honourable is a form of address used within the House of Commons, for members of the Privy Council. Members of the person’s own party will refer to them as ‘My Right Honourable Friend, the member for [constituency]’. Members of other parties will refer to them as ‘The Right Honourable Lady/Gentleman, the member for [constituency]’. The Privy Council consists of, among others, Cabinet ministers and a number of junior ministers as well as former office holders.
