Asked by: Viscount Waverley (Crossbench - Excepted Hereditary)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government what discussions they have had with the government of Kazakhstan regarding knowledge sharing and capacity building on (1) sanctions compliance, (2) anti-money laundering measures, (3) regulation of cryptocurrencies, and (4) ‘Know Your Customer’ compliance.
Answered by Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
The UK Government has recently had several high-level engagements with the Government of Kazakhstan, including hosting the UK-Kazakhstan Strategic Dialogue in December, the UK-Kazakh Intergovernmental Commission on Trade and Investment in February and the Foreign Secretary's visit to Astana on 18 March, meeting President Tokayev and other senior Kazakhs. In our engagements, we continually emphasise the importance of developing and maintaining a quality business environment to support international investment into Kazakhstan. Although senior meetings have not covered the cryptocurrency regulations, the UK successfully ran a pilot project in 2022 on financial compliance to assess different types of training on tackling illicit finance.
Asked by: Viscount Waverley (Crossbench - Excepted Hereditary)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the UK–Ukraine Digital Trade Agreement, what discussions they have had with the government of Kazakhstan regarding assistance in removing barriers to digital trade or signing a similar agreement.
Answered by Lord Johnson of Lainston - Minister of State (Department for Business and Trade)
The UK continues to work to strengthen our trade and investment relationships with countries such as Kazakhstan. Fast growing economies such as Kazakhstan provide an abundance of opportunities for UK businesses across a wide range of sectors – notwithstanding our world leading digital sector.
The Department for Business and Trade is supporting British business to grab these opportunities through trade dialogues and regular exchanges including the annual United Kingdom-Kazakhstan Inter-Governmental Commission on Trade and Investment that I co-chaired earlier this year in February in London.
At this moment, we are not expecting to launch negotiations with Kazakhstan on a Digital Trade Agreement.
Asked by: Wendy Chamberlain (Liberal Democrat - North East Fife)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many UK pensioners living overseas had their pensions suspended in (a) 2019, (b) 2020, (c) 2021 due to (i) non-return and (ii) late return of life certificates, broken down by country of residence.
Answered by Laura Trott - Chief Secretary to the Treasury
DWP holds data relating to the late and non-return of a Life Certificate for the 2019 period, which resulted in the temporary suspension of a customer’s State Pension payments. In 2019, 26,206 claims were temporarily suspended, which is broken down by country as shown in the following table: -
Country | Number of State Pension claims temporarily suspended in 2019 due to the late or non-return of a completed Life Certificate |
| |
India | 1,280 |
Uganda | 65 |
Iceland | 11 |
Costa Rica | 24 |
Ukraine | 21 |
Gambia | 37 |
Jamaica | 2,269 |
Nigeria | 1,265 |
Venezuela | 39 |
Sierra Leone | 35 |
Dominican Republic | 30 |
Ecuador | 52 |
Greece | 539 |
Bulgaria | 256 |
Poland | 116 |
Netherlands | 624 |
Hong Kong | 124 |
Fiji | 4 |
Anguilla | 9 |
Jordan | 13 |
Montserrat | 14 |
Malawi | 4 |
Canada | 15,798 |
Cook Islands | 0 |
Norfolk Islands | 3 |
Papua New Guinea | 11 |
Western Samoa | 2 |
Ascension Island | 1 |
Lesotho | 8 |
Dominica | 277 |
South Korea | 52 |
Oman | 55 |
Lebanon | 35 |
Romania | 69 |
Peru | 33 |
Serbia | 63 |
Namibia | 26 |
Libya | 3 |
Tonga | 4 |
Cape Verde Islands | 5 |
Belarus | 2 |
Bangladesh | 473 |
Mauritius | 125 |
Azerbaijan | 4 |
Kazakhstan | 2 |
Vietnam | 74 |
Virgin Islands (British) | 25 |
Estonia | 10 |
Taiwan | 19 |
Panama | 36 |
Uruguay | 19 |
Kuwait | 28 |
Liechtenstein | 6 |
Antilles (Netherlands) | 11 |
St Kitts & Nevis | 76 |
Switzerland | 1,529 |
Brazil | 164 |
Vanuatu | 11 |
Bolivia | 30 |
Cambodia | 37 |
Nepal | 26 |
Brunei | 9 |
Bosnia Herzegovina | 7 |
Ethiopia | 14 |
Iran | 14 |
Hungary | 127 |
Swaziland | 29 |
Russia | 23 |
As a result of the outbreak of COVID in 2020, DWP suspended the Life Certificate exercise in March 2020, to ensure that our customers were not negatively impacted by any postal service issues which could have resulted in their State Pension payments being temporarily suspended. Therefore, DWP does not hold any data for this period.
DWP reintroduced the Life Certificate exercise in November 2021. Therefore, DWP does not hold any data for 2021, as any potential suspensions would be applied after 16 weeks of issue of the Life Certificate, which would mean that the suspension occurred in 2022.
The Management Information used has been taken from the same operational source data systems as our published administrative data. However, as this Management Information is not a recognised National or Official Statistic, it has not been subjected to the same level of Quality Assurance. As a result, these figures should be treated with caution.
Asked by: Margaret Ferrier (Independent - Rutherglen and Hamilton West)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many people in receipt of a UK pension live in countries without a reciprocal social security agreement with the UK by (a) the country they live in and (b) their gender.
Answered by Laura Trott - Chief Secretary to the Treasury
This information is published on Stat-Xplore https://stat-xplore.dwp.gov.uk and currently extends to November 2020.
The number of people in receipt of a UK State Pension living in countries without a reciprocal social security agreement with the UK is 298,294.
The breakdown by country and gender are shown in the tables below:
Country of State Pension receipt | Male | Female |
Antigua | 141 | 166 |
Albania | 8 | 7 |
Algeria | 13 | 5 |
Andorra | 91 | 74 |
Anguilla | 33 | 48 |
Antilles (Netherlands) | 20 | 19 |
Argentina | 128 | 132 |
Aruba | .. | 6 |
Ascension Island | 7 | .. |
Australia | 100,047 | 122,289 |
Bahamas | 116 | 139 |
Bahrain | 79 | 48 |
Bangladesh | 175 | 795 |
Belize | 57 | 38 |
Bolivia | 17 | 12 |
Botswana | 89 | 55 |
Brazil | 485 | 284 |
Brunei | 16 | 8 |
Burkina Faso | .. | .. |
Burma (Myanmar) | .. | .. |
Cameroon | 6 | 5 |
Cape Verde Islands | .. | 6 |
Cayman Islands | 111 | 78 |
Chile | 168 | 141 |
China People's Republic | 249 | 74 |
Colombia | 128 | 127 |
Cook Islands | 9 | .. |
Costa Rica | 65 | 38 |
Dom Commonwealth (Dominica) | 217 | 244 |
Dominican Republic | 26 | 17 |
Country of State Pension receipt | Male | Female |
Ecuador | 54 | 33 |
Egypt | 189 | 116 |
El Salvador | 8 | 5 |
Equatorial Guinea | .. | .. |
Ethiopia | 22 | 7 |
Falkland Islands & Dep | 47 | 26 |
Faroe Islands | 5 | 7 |
Fiji | 63 | 28 |
French Polynesia | .. | .. |
Gambia | 44 | 23 |
Ghana | 451 | 388 |
Greenland | .. | .. |
Grenada | 402 | 500 |
Guatemala | 7 | 5 |
Guyana | 110 | 101 |
Honduras | 6 | 8 |
Hong Kong | 1,510 | 904 |
India | 2,145 | 2,113 |
Indonesia | 314 | 42 |
Iran | 21 | 11 |
Iraq | 5 | .. |
Japan | 4,644 | 2,158 |
Jordan | 72 | 46 |
Kampuchea | 40 | .. |
Kenya | 345 | 305 |
Kuwait | 10 | 5 |
Laos | 19 | .. |
Lebanon | 73 | 49 |
Lesotho | 6 | 7 |
Macau | 7 | .. |
Country of State Pension receipt | Male | Female |
Malagasy Republic | 6 | 5 |
Malawi | 39 | 31 |
Malaysia | 1,072 | 1,159 |
Mexico | 241 | 228 |
Monaco | 246 | 143 |
Montserrat | 29 | 40 |
Morocco | 112 | 70 |
Mozambique | 9 | .. |
Namibia | 49 | 42 |
Nepal | 29 | 13 |
Nevis, St Kitts-Nevis | 131 | 148 |
New Caledonia | 8 | 10 |
Nicaragua | 15 | 6 |
Nigeria | 1,090 | 804 |
Norfolk Island | .. | .. |
Oman | 71 | 29 |
Pakistan | 1,103 | 1,579 |
Panama | 23 | 14 |
Papua New Guinea | 8 | 5 |
Paraguay | 14 | 8 |
Peru | 66 | 64 |
Qatar | 41 | 15 |
Republic of Azerbaijan | 11 | .. |
Republic of Belarus | 13 | 12 |
Republic of Georgia | 19 | .. |
Republic of Kazakhstan | 12 | .. |
Republic of Kyrgyzstan | 5 | .. |
Republic of Moldova | 5 | .. |
Republic of Yemen | 172 | 501 |
Russian Federation | 95 | 41 |
San Marino | .. | .. |
Saudi Arabia | 75 | 20 |
Senegal | .. | 8 |
Seychelles | 73 | 78 |
Sierra Leone | 18 | 27 |
Singapore | 514 | 359 |
Country of State Pension receipt | Male | Female |
Solomon Islands | .. | .. |
Somalia | 9 | 13 |
South Africa | 12,932 | 17,411 |
South Korea | 288 | 91 |
Sri Lanka | 557 | 572 |
St Helena & Deps | 56 | 48 |
St Lucia | 376 | 454 |
St Vincents & Grenadines | 221 | 229 |
Sudan | 5 | .. |
Surinam | 5 | .. |
Swaziland | 42 | 37 |
Syria | 5 | .. |
Tahiti | 7 | .. |
Taiwan | 88 | 20 |
Tanzania | 54 | 23 |
Thailand | 4,777 | 586 |
Togo | .. | .. |
Tonga | 8 | 6 |
Trinidad & Tobago | 456 | 843 |
Tunisia | 62 | 53 |
Turks & Caicos Islands | 17 | 6 |
Uganda | 47 | 26 |
Ukraine | 59 | 33 |
United Arab Emirates | 431 | 180 |
United States Minor Outlying Islands | .. | 5 |
Uruguay | 35 | 27 |
Vanuatu | 24 | 13 |
Venezuela | 24 | 16 |
Vietnam | 105 | 14 |
Virgin Islands (British) | 28 | 19 |
Western Samoa | .. | .. |
Zambia | 79 | 86 |
Zimbabwe | 311 | 546 |
Please note:
1. The ".." denotes a nil or negligible number of claimants or award amount based on a nil or negligible number of claimants.
Asked by: Mark Jenkinson (Conservative - Workington)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, how much coking coal has been imported since 2018; and what the value was of the imports by country of origin.
Answered by Victoria Atkins - Secretary of State for Health and Social Care
HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC) is responsible for the collection and publication of data on imports and exports of goods to and from the UK. HMRC releases this information monthly, as a National Statistic called the Overseas Trade in Goods Statistics (OTS), which is available via their dedicated website (www.uktradeinfo.com). From this website, it is possible to build your own data tables based upon bespoke search criteria.
The quantity and value of coking coal imported by country of origin from 2018 onwards appears in the table below.
Prior to 2022, the source of data for movements from the EU to the UK was Intrastat, this did not collect information on country of origin. The information on the country of dispatch has been given as an alternative.
Imports of Coking coal '27011210' from EU Member States by Country of Dispatch, 2018-2021 | |||
Year | Country of Dispatch | Statistical Value (£) | Net mass (kg) |
2018 | Ireland | 6,013,523 | 23,926,410 |
2019 | Ireland | 6,549,306 | 26,035,264 |
2020 | Ireland | 7,451,763 | 29,642,038 |
2020 | Poland | 10,279 | 17,354 |
2021 | Ireland | 6,099,655 | 24,252,668 |
2021 | Poland | 13,977 | 27,632 |
|
| 26,138,503 | 103,901,366 |
|
|
|
|
Imports of Coking coal '27011210' by Country of Origin, 2018-2022 | |||
Year | Country of Origin | Statistical Value (£) | Net mass (kg) |
2018 | Australia | 141,968,735 | 722,193,000 |
2018 | Japan | 55,241,352 | 176,000,000 |
2018 | Russia | 87,702,370 | 808,461,607 |
2018 | United States | 159,587,927 | 1,000,531,665 |
2019 | Australia | 105,663,842 | 507,541,670 |
2019 | Japan | 12,732,709 | 44,000,000 |
2019 | Russia | 80,538,472 | 783,977,229 |
2019 | United States | 121,656,062 | 827,660,496 |
2020 | Australia | 46,943,870 | 411,294,000 |
2020 | Russia | 51,751,791 | 792,601,202 |
2020 | United States | 91,348,179 | 918,790,529 |
2021 | Australia | 53,099,836 | 463,973,000 |
2021 | Brazil | 18,484,677 | 155,895,000 |
2021 | Russia | 57,298,064 | 557,418,494 |
2021 | United States | 102,420,594 | 796,150,720 |
2022 | Unknown | 10,340,349 | 26,014,912 |
2022 | Australia | 125,256,312 | 381,674,000 |
2022 | Canada | 13,898,412 | 38,500,000 |
2022 | Kazakhstan | 4,852 | 28,640 |
2022 | Russia | 14,639,058 | 80,642,000 |
2022 | Sweden | 17,356,927 | 157,638,000 |
2022 | United States | 303,375,807 | 999,093,710 |
|
| 1,671,310,197 | 10,650,079,874 |
|
|
|
|
| Grand Total | 1,697,448,700 | 10,753,981,240 |
|
|
| Data source: Overseas Trade Statistics |
Note: |
|
|
|
1. 'Unknown' country of origin has not been disclosed and is left blank on entry to the customs declaration data. | |||
2. Sanctions against imports from Russia began in February 2022 following Russian military action in Ukraine. | |||
3. Prior to 2022, the source of data for movements from the EU to the UK was Intrastat, this did not collect information on country of origin. | |||
Asked by: Andrew Rosindell (Conservative - Romford)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, how many diplomatic posts his Department has (a) opened and (b) closed in the last five years; and whether he plans to open any new diplomatic posts in 2023.
Answered by David Rutley - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
The Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) publishes information about the UK's diplomatic representation overseas on GOV.UK. (www.gov.uk/government/publications/list-of-foreign-office-posts). Published lists date back to October 2014 and are regularly updated, including changes made during the period of enquiry. The lists include all British Embassies, High Commissions and Consulates at the time of publication. Countries not included in a list did not have a permanent UK diplomatic presence at the time of publication.
The locations of HMG diplomatic presence are routinely scrutinised to ensure that the right people are in the right places to deliver UK priorities. HMG redeploy people and resources around the network as needed. A new British Trade Office will open in Almaty, Kazakhstan this year, reflecting a move towards greater engagement with clean energy and digital technology sectors. It replaces our Trade Office in Atyrau, which closed last year. A new office is planned to open in Dodoma to reflect the relocation of the Government of Tanzania from Dar Es Salaam to the capital.
Asked by: Ruth Cadbury (Labour - Brentford and Isleworth)
Question to the Department for International Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, in which countries does her Department employ staff based in UK (a) embassies (b) consulates.
Answered by Nigel Huddleston - Financial Secretary (HM Treasury)
As of 31 January 2023, this department employed UK-based staff in UK embassies in the following countries:
Algeria, Azerbaijan, Chile, China, Denmark, Egypt, Estonia, Ethiopia, France, Germany, Indonesia, Iran, Iraq, Ireland, Japan, Kazakhstan, Korea, Kuwait, Mexico, Morocco, Oman, Peru, Philippines, Poland, Qatar, Russian Federation, Saudi Arabia, Serbia, Switzerland, Thailand, Turkey, United Arab Emirates, Vietnam, Myanmar.
UK-based staff in UK consulates in the following countries:
Australia, Brazil, Canada, China, France, Germany, Italy, Saudi Arabia, Turkey, United States, Vietnam.
Asked by: Baroness Kennedy of Cradley (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government which countries the UK has visa free travel arrangements with for British citizens.
Answered by Lord Murray of Blidworth
FCDO, who have responsibility for this information, have said that the information this question is requesting can be found in public domain https://visaguide.world/visa-free-countries/uk-passport/
We have included the list for ease:
Albania
American Samoa
Andorra
Anguilla
Antigua and Barbuda
Argentina
Armenia
Aruba
Australia
Austria
Bahamas
Barbados
Belarus
Belgium
Belize
Bermuda
Bolivia
Caribbean Netherlands
Bosnia and Herzegovina
Botswana
Brazil
British Virgin Islands
Brunei
Bulgaria
Canada
Cabo Verde
Cayman Islands
Chile
Colombia
Cook Islands
Costa Rica
Croatia
Curaçao
Cyprus
Czechia
Denmark
Dominica
Dominican Republic
Ecuador
El Salvador
Estonia
Falkland Islands
Faroe Islands
Fiji
Finland
France
French Guiana
French Polynesia
French West Indies
Georgia
Germany
Gibraltar
Greece
Greenland
Grenada
Guam
Guatemala
Guyana
Haiti
Honduras
Hong Kong
Hungary
Iceland
Indonesia
Iraq
Ireland
Israel
Italy
Jamaica
Kazakhstan
Kiribati
Kosovo
Kyrgyzstan
Latvia
Lesotho
Liechtenstein
Lithuania
Luxembourg
Macau
Malaysia
Malta
Marshall Islands
Mauritius
Mayotte
Mexico
Micronesia
Moldova
Monaco
Mongolia
Montenegro
Montserrat
Morocco
Namibia
Netherlands
New Caledonia
New Zealand
Nicaragua
Niue
North Macedonia
Northern Mariana Islands
Norway
Oman
Pakistan
Palestine
Panama
Paraguay
Peru
Philippines
Poland
Portugal
Puerto Rico
Qatar
Réunion
Romania
San Marino
São Tomé and Príncipe
Senegal
Serbia
Singapore
Slovakia
Slovenia
South Africa
South Korea
Spain
Sri Lanka
Saint Kitts and Nevis
Saint Lucia
Saint Martin
Saint Vincent and the Grenadines
Sweden
Switzerland
Taiwan
Thailand
Gambia
Trinidad and Tobago
Tunisia
Turks and Caicos Islands
Türkiye
United States Virgin Islands
Ukraine
United States
Uruguay
Uzbekistan
Vanuatu
Vatican City
Venezuela
Vietnam
Zambia
Eswatin
Asked by: Stephen Doughty (Labour (Co-op) - Cardiff South and Penarth)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, whether he has had recent discussions with the President of Kazakhstan on helping to ensure that Kazakhstan is not used to evade Russian sanctions.
Answered by Leo Docherty - Minister of State (Ministry of Defence) (Minister for the Armed Forces)
The Foreign Secretary has not spoken to the President of Kazakhstan. However, on 20 December we will host a Strategic Dialogue with Foreign Minister Tileuberdi, where we will discuss all aspects of UK-Kazakhstan cooperation, including the response to Russia's war in Ukraine, and sanctions against Russia. The UK is committed to ensuring that third countries are not used by Russia to evade sanctions. We regularly underline our support for Kazakhstan's compliance with international sanctions, and welcome remarks made by Kazakh Government officials regarding their stance against circumvention.
Asked by: Christian Matheson (Independent - City of Chester)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what assessment he has made of the effect on UK media freedom policy of the use by Nursultan Nazarbayev of Kazakhstan of libel actions against UK journalists in English courts.
Answered by Gareth Johnson
The government is committed to a free and independent media. The Ministry of Justice is currently developing reforms regarding the challenges which Strategic Lawsuits Against Public Participation (SLAPPs) present to journalists and others involved in freedom of expression relating to the public interest. Our recent Call for Evidence response, published on 20 July, sets out the Government’s intention to tackle SLAPPs.