Written Evidence Nov. 09 2023
Inquiry: The Status of the UK’s Overseas Territories in the 21 CenturyFound: For example, our research has found that companies registered in the British Virgin Islands (BVI)
Asked by: James Daly (Conservative - Bury North)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, with which (a) foreign countries and (b) administrative regions of foreign countries that issue their own driving licences his Department has an agreement for mutual recognition of documents; and whether his Department is taking steps to reach such agreement with other countries and regions.
Answered by Richard Holden - Minister without Portfolio (Cabinet Office)
The UK continues to exchange and recognise licences originating from all European Economic Area (EEA) countries. Arrangements are in place with all EEA countries for the recognition and exchange of the vast majority of GB licences.
Outside of the EEA, mutual driving licence exchange agreements are in place with the following designated countries:
Andorra | Gibraltar | South Africa |
Australia | Hong Kong | Switzerland |
Barbados | Japan | Taiwan |
British Virgin Islands | Monaco | Ukraine |
Canada | New Zealand | United Arab Emirates |
Cayman Islands | Republic of Korea | Zimbabwe |
Falkland Islands | Republic of North Macedonia |
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Faroe Islands | Singapore |
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Work is currently progressing on arrangements with a further seven countries:
Albania | Moldova | Sri Lanka |
Kosovo | San Marino |
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Malaysia | Serbia |
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I also recently met with an official delegation from Kenya to discuss existing arrangements with them as well.
Written Evidence Nov. 09 2023
Inquiry: The Status of the UK’s Overseas Territories in the 21 CenturyFound: , Cayman Islands, Falkland Islands, Gibraltar, Montserrat, St Helena, and Turks and Caicos Islands
Written Evidence Nov. 09 2023
Inquiry: The Status of the UK’s Overseas Territories in the 21 CenturyFound: However, there are some inhabited Overseas Territories that we haven’t inspected, including the Cayman
Feb. 28 2024
Source Page: I. Working arrangement establishing operational cooperation between the European Border and Coast Guard Agency and the Home Office of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland. Incl. annex. 17p. II. Explanatory memorandum on the working arrangement. 4p.Found: Anguilla; Bermuda; British Antarctic Territory; British Indian Ocean Territory; British Virgin Islands
Asked by: Andrew Rosindell (Conservative - Romford)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what support her Department is providing to the Cayman Islands to help them achieve UNESCO World Heritage status.
Answered by John Whittingdale
The Department for Culture, Media and Sport is actively engaging with all the five new sites on the UK's Tentative List of World Heritage Sites, including The Little Cayman Marine Parks and Protected Areas. We are also coordinating engagement between the sites and the Government's expert advisers on cultural and natural heritage — Historic England and the Joint Nature Conservation Committee. This is to ensure that all sites receive the advice and support they need to develop their World Heritage nomination.
Sites on the new Tentative List are expected to submit their nominations to become a World Heritage Site to UNESCO, where they will be examined by the World Heritage Committee, which will make the final decision on whether to inscribe the site on the World Heritage List.
Asked by: Maria Eagle (Labour - Garston and Halewood)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, pursuant to the Answer of 17 November 2023 to Question 1027 on Military Attachés, if he will publish an updated list of countries without a resident UK Defence Attache.
Answered by James Heappey
The Global Defence Network (GDN) utilises Resident and Non-Resident Defence Attachés (DA), who engage in Defence diplomacy in over three-quarters of the world’s nations. The table below has a list of countries covered on a Non-Residential Accreditations (NRA) basis, where a UK DA is not resident in country, but a DA elsewhere has the responsibility.
Country (NRA) | Location of DA |
Angola | Mozambique - Maputo |
Anguilla (British overseas territory) | Jamaica - Kingston |
Antigua & Barbuda | Jamaica - Kingston |
Armenia | Georgia – Tbilisi |
Azerbaijan | Georgia – Tbilisi |
Bahamas | Jamaica - Kingston |
Barbados | Jamaica - Kingston |
Belarus | Ukraine – Kyiv |
Belize | Jamaica - Kingston |
Benin | Accra - Ghana |
Bermuda (British overseas territory) | USA – Washington DC |
Botswana | Harare - Zimbabwe |
British Virgin Islands (British overseas territory) | Jamaica - Kingston |
Burkina Faso | Ghana - Accra |
Burundi | Uganda – Kampala |
Cambodia | (In process of transferring to) Vietnam - Hanoi |
Cayman Islands (British overseas territory) | Jamaica – Kingston |
Chad | Cameroon - Yaoundé |
Cuba | Mexico – Mexico City |
Djibouti | Ethiopia – Addis Ababa |
Dominica | Jamaica - Kingston |
Dominican Republic | Jamaica - Kingston |
Democratic Republic of the Congo | Kampala - Uganda |
Eritrea | Sana’a - Yemen (temporarily relocated to Riyadh) |
Ecuador | Bogota - Colombia |
Grenada | Jamaica - Kingston |
Guinea | Sierra Leone – Freetown |
Guyana | Jamaica - Kingston |
Guatemala | Mexico – Mexico City |
Guinea-Bissau | Senegal - Dakar |
Haiti | Jamaica - Kingston |
Hungary | Croatia - Zagreb |
Iceland | Norway - Oslo |
Ivory Coast | Ghana – Accra |
Khartoum | Egypt - Cairo |
Kosovo | Macedonia - Skopje |
Kyrgyzstan | Kazakhstan – Astana |
Laos | (in process of transferring to) Vietnam - Hanoi |
Lesotho | South Africa - Pretoria |
Liberia | Sierra Leone - Freetown |
Luxembourg | Belgium - Brussels |
Malawi | Zimbabwe – Harare |
Mali | Senegal - Dakar |
Malta | Rome - Italy |
Mauritania | Morocco – Rabat |
Monaco | France – Paris |
Mongolia | Japan – Tokyo |
Myanmar | Thailand - Bangkok |
Montserrat (British overseas territory) | Jamaica - Kingston |
Namibia | South Africa – Pretoria |
Niger | Cameroon – Yaoundé |
Papua New Guinea | Australia – Canberra |
Paraguay | Argentina – Buenos Aires |
Peru | Colombia - Bogota |
Rwanda | Uganda – Kampala |
Seychelles | Kenya - Nairobi |
St Kitts & Nevis | Jamaica - Kingston |
St Lucia | Jamaica - Kingston |
St Vincent | Jamaica - Kingston |
Slovakia | Czech Rep - Prague |
Slovenia | Austria – Vienna |
South Sudan | Addis Ababa – Ethiopia |
Switzerland | Vienna - Austria |
Syria | Lebanon - Beirut |
Tajikistan | Kazakhstan – Astana |
Tanzania | Kenya – Nairobi |
The Gambia | Senegal - Dakar |
Timor-Leste (East Timor) | Indonesia - Jakarta |
Togo | Ghana – Accra |
Tonga | Fiji – Suva |
Trinidad & Tobago | Jamaica - Kingston |
Turkmenistan | Uzbekistan - Tashkent |
Turks & Caicos Islands (British overseas territory) | Jamaica - Kingston |
Uruguay | Argentina - Buenos Aires |
Vanuatu | Fiji – Suva |
Venezuela | Bogota - Colombia |
Zambia | Zimbabwe - Harare |
Supported by MOD from in the UK |
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Cape Verdi Islands |
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Congo |
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Gabon |
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Panama |
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Puerto Rica |
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Written Evidence Nov. 14 2023
Inquiry: The Status of the UK’s Overseas Territories in the 21 CenturyFound: professional service firms headquartered in the Overseas Territories, including Bermuda, the British Virgin Islands
Oct. 10 2023
Source Page: Overseas Territories Attorneys General Conference: October 2023Found: The Attorneys General of British Overseas Territories (Anguilla; the British Virgin Islands; Cayman
Mentions:
1: Lord Wallace of Saltaire (LDEM - Life peer) The Cayman Islands, I suspect, is a more serious problem.The Gibraltar Government said to me, “You have - Speech Link
2: Baroness Chapman of Darlington (LAB - Life peer) On the issue of reputation and our overseas territories, the fact is that Gibraltar and the Cayman Islands - Speech Link
3: Baroness Penn (CON - Life peer) Islands were mentioned. - Speech Link