Asked by: Lord Ashcroft (Conservative - Life peer)
Question
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what is their estimate of the export earnings which derive from foreign students attending United Kingdom universities.
Answered by Baroness Williams of Trafford - Captain of the Honourable Corps of Gentlemen-at-Arms (HM Household) (Chief Whip, House of Lords)
In the Government’s International Education Strategy, published in July 2013, the value of international higher education students to the UK was valued at £9.7bn. The international education strategy can be found at https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/international-education-strategy-global-growth-and-prosperity More recent data for the 2012/13 academic year is now available. Based on this, BIS estimates that UK exports attributable to international higher education students were £10.4bn.Asked by: Lord Ashcroft (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they have any proposals to follow the Canadian example of allowing foreign students the opportunity to work in the United Kingdom for a limited period before they return home.
Answered by Lord Bates
The UK has an excellent offer for international students, which already includes a number of options for those who wish to stay to work or set up in business after their studies.
Students who get a graduate job paying an appropriate salary can stay after their studies by switching into the Tier 2 route. There is no limit on the number of these places, which are exempt from the cap on economic migrants.
Graduates who wish to undertake a period of professional training relating to their degrees before pursuing a career overseas may do so by switching into an appropriate Tier 5 scheme.
Those completing a PhD or other doctoral qualification can stay for a year under the Tier 4 Doctorate Extension Scheme, which allows completing students to work, gain experience in their chosen field, or set up as an entrepreneur, again with no limit on numbers.
Those who wish to stay to develop a business idea can do so under the Graduate Entrepreneur scheme, the first in the world of its kind. All they need is an endorsement from their Higher Education Institution that they have a genuine and credible business idea, and to have enough funds to support themselves.
Asked by: Lord Ashcroft (Conservative - Life peer)
Question
To ask Her Majesty’s Government, further to the Written Answer by Baroness Anelay of St Johns on 24 October (HL2132), whether there are any similar investment protection treaties between the European Union and other countries.
Answered by Lord Livingston of Parkhead
A large number of EU treaties offer some level of protection to investors or investment. All of these are publically available and can be found on the EUR-lex database of law at http://eur-lex.europa.eu.
Asked by: Lord Ashcroft (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what were their estimates of the United Kingdom contribution to the European Union budget in 2014–15 prior to the communication of the increased contribution of £1.7 billion now sought by the European Commission.
Answered by Lord Deighton
The Office for Budget Responsibility’s (OBR) forecast of March 2014, estimates the UK’s net contribution to the EU Budget for 2014-15 as £9.1 billion.
Full information can be found in Table 2.21 of the OBR’s “economic and fiscal outlook supplementary fiscal table”[1].
[1] http://budgetresponsibility.org.uk/economic-fiscal-outlook-march-2014/.
Asked by: Lord Ashcroft (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government, further to the Written Answer by Baroness Anelay of St Johns on 24 October 2014 (HL2132), whether there are any investment protection treaties between the European Union and other countries.
Answered by Baroness Anelay of St Johns
No investment protection treaties are currently in force between the European Union and other countries.Asked by: Lord Ashcroft (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether, in the process of accession of further countries from the former Yugoslavia to the European Union, any steps are being taken to ensure that British citizens are compensated for any deprivation of property during the Tito era.
Answered by Baroness Anelay of St Johns
The accession process of countries from the former Federal Republic of Yugoslavia to the European Union does not involve steps specifically aimed at ensuring that British citizens are compensated for any deprivation of property during the Tito era. However the criteria for EU accession for candidate countries do include a requirement to implement measures to ensure that the rule of law is firmly embedded within the judicial and political system. This includes respect for private property, and we note that the European Commission has highlighted specifically the need for progress on restitution of property in its most recent annual enlargement Progress Reports on the Western Balkans countries published on 8 October. Furthermore, all Western Balkan countries have ratified the European Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Freedoms, the First Protocol of which enshrines the principle of respect for private property.
Some Western Balkans countries have, in recent years, made progress on the restitution of private property. Serbia invited applications for restitution and received 75,000 of them. Montenegro and Albania have been slower to implement their legislation on restitution, as highlighted in successive annual country Progress Reports by the European Commission. In 2012, the Commission recognised progress regarding restitution of property in Macedonia seized under the former Yugoslav Communist regime, despite administrative and judicial delays. In May, Albania (which was not part of the former Federal Republic of Yugoslavia) submitted an action plan to the Council of Europe, aiming to create, by June 2015, an effective mechanism to enforce decisions on restitution of, or compensation for, property nationalised during the Communist regime. The Kosovo Property Claims Commission and Kosovo Property Agency continue to resolve outstanding private property disputes resulting from the 1998-99 armed conflict. Over 40,000 claims have been decided. Bosnia and Herzegovina has made no progress on restitution of private property in the last four years. Despite earlier attempts to enact a legal framework, there is none in place.
Asked by: Lord Ashcroft (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they will publish a list of investment protection treaties agreed by all United Kingdom Overseas Territories with another country.
Answered by Baroness Anelay of St Johns
The UK has extended a number of Investment Promotion and Protection Agreements (IPPA) to the Overseas Territories when the Territories have provided a case for doing so and the other country agreed. These are the IPPAs currently in force that have been extended to Overseas Territories:
UK-Antigua & Barbuda IPPA (Gibraltar)
UK-Belize IPPA (Cayman Islands, Turks & Caicos Islands)
UK-Dominica IPPA (Gibraltar)
UK-Grenada IPPA (Bermuda, Gibraltar, Turks & Caicos Islands)
UK-Guyana IPPA (Bermuda, Gibraltar, Turks & Caicos Islands)
UK-Hungary IPPA (Bermuda, Gibraltar, Turks & Caicos Islands)
UK-Indonesia IPPA (Bermuda)
UK-Korea Republic IPPA (Turks & Caicos Islands)
UK-Mauritius IPPA (Gibraltar)
UK-Panama IPPA (Cayman Islands)
UK- Philippines IPPA (Turks & Caicos Islands)
UK-Singapore IPPA (Turks & Caicos Islands)
UK-St Lucia IPPA (Cayman Islands, Turks & Caicos Islands)
UK-Thailand IPPA (Turks & Caicos Islands)
UK-Tunisia IPPA (Bermuda, Gibraltar, Turks & Caicos Islands)
Records of all treaties involving the United Kingdom concluded between 1834 and 31 March 2014 can currently be found through the Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO)’s UK Treaties Online service at: http://treaties.fco.gov.uk/treaties/treaty.htm
Details of treaties involving the United Kingdom since March 2014 can be found on the FCO Treaty Section’s pages on GOV.UK at: https://www.gov.uk/uk-treaties
Asked by: Lord Ashcroft (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government, further to Written Answer by Baroness Warsi on 21 July (HL849), whether the answer remains the same with the word "intelligence" removed.
Answered by Baroness Anelay of St Johns
The US Government has assured us that there have been no cases of rendition through the UK, our Overseas Territories including Diego Garcia (British Indian Ocean Territory), or the Crown Dependencies, apart from the two cases in 2002, about which the then Foreign Secretary informed the House in 2008.
Asked by: Lord Ashcroft (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether anyone associated with the Liberation and Justice Movement of Sudan has been barred from entering the United Kingdom; and, if so, who and why.
Answered by Lord Bates
The Home Office does not routinely comment on individual cases. This is because the Home Office has obligations in law to protect this information. The Liberation and Justice Movement of Sudan has not been proscribed by the UK. Individuals associated with the Liberation and Justice Movement would not necessarily be denied entry based solely on their association with it.
Asked by: Lord Ashcroft (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government, further to the Written Answer by Lord Taylor of Holbeach on 11 August (HL1352), whether the citizens of the countries referred to in the answer could enter the Republic of Ireland and then enter the United Kingdom without a visa by entering Northern Ireland.
Answered by Lord Bates
Citizens of Bolivia, Fiji, Guyana, Lesotho, Malawi, South Africa, Swaziland and Taiwan travelling to Northern Ireland, or any part of the UK, from the Republic of Ireland, require a UK visa.
In recognition of the land border between the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland, intelligence led operations are conducted to target potential abuse and identify those not in possession of the appropriate UK entry clearance.