Asked by: Peter Bottomley (Conservative - Worthing West)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, to list for each overseas country when resident UK pensioners do not receive yearly increases what the lowest current payment to a pensioner is who was entitled at retirement to a full basic UK state pension, stating the year the pension was frozen.
Answered by Guy Opperman - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
The UK State Pension is payable worldwide and is up-rated in countries where there is a legal requirement to do so. This is a longstanding policy which has been supported by successive post-war governments for over 70 years.
Up-rating is paid to State Pension recipients in the UK, European Union, European Economic Area, Barbados, Bermuda, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Israel, Jamaica, Kosovo, North Macedonia, Mauritius, Montenegro, Serbia, Switzerland, The Philippines, Turkey, and the United States.
Information on the lowest full basic State Pension in payment, in each country where up-rating is not paid, is not readily available and to provide it would incur a disproportionate cost.
Asked by: Peter Bottomley (Conservative - Worthing West)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, which countries the UK has (a) bilateral or (b) reciprocal agreements on provision of the State Pension; when each of those agreements was made, whether UK pensioners resident in those countries receive yearly increases; and how many UK pensioners there were in each country as of 9 June 2022.
Answered by Guy Opperman - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
The UK State Pension is payable worldwide and is up-rated annually in countries where there is a legal requirement to do so. This is a longstanding policy which has been supported by successive governments for over 70 years.
As of November 2020, 473,842 State Pension recipients residing in the European Union or countries which are members of the European Free Trade Association (Switzerland, Iceland, Norway, Lichtenstein) receive annual up-rating under various EU-Exit related agreements, including the UK-EU Withdrawal Agreement, which entered into force in 2020 and the UK-EU Trade and Cooperation Agreement, which entered into force in 2021.
Other countries with which the UK has a reciprocal agreement also allowing for State Pension up-rating, the date in which the particular agreement was made, and the number of State Pension recipients residing in these countries (as of November 2020) are:
*Following the break-up of Yugoslavia, the UK agreement with former Yugoslavia now covers Bosnia-Herzegovina, Kosovo, Montenegro, North Macedonia, and Serbia. Croatia and Slovenia are EU Member States covered by the UK-EU Trade and Cooperation Agreement.
The UK also has reciprocal social security agreements with New Zealand (1983) and Canada (1995) covering provisions for State Pension, but these agreements do not provide for annual up-rating. As of November 2020, 63,930 State Pension recipients reside in New Zealand and 126,426 recipients reside in Canada.
Source:
State Pension statistics by country of residence are currently available to November 2020 and these are available on Stat-Xplore here: https://stat-xplore.dwp.gov.uk
Guidance for users is available at:
https://stat-xplore.dwp.gov.uk/webapi/online-help/index.html
Asked by: Lord Roberts of Llandudno (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask Her Majesty's Government how old each Jamaican national deported to Jamaica on each of the last four flights was when they first came to the UK.
Answered by Baroness Williams of Trafford - Captain of the Honourable Corps of Gentlemen-at-Arms (HM Household) (Chief Whip, House of Lords)
Our priority will always be to keep our communities safe, and we make no apology for seeking to remove those with no right to remain in the UK and foreign criminals.
Since January 2019 we have removed 10,017 foreign criminals from the UK. Information on the number of Jamaican foreign national offenders returned from the UK is available from Immigration statistics quarterly release - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk) in table Ret_D03, which can be found attached.
A person’s age upon arrival to the UK or their nationality are not exceptions to automatic deportation under the Borders Act 2007, but may be relevant factors, in addition to the strength of their social, cultural and family ties in the UK, in considering whether a human rights exception applies. All those deported will have been provided with the opportunity to raise claims, which are fully considered and determined prior to removal including, where applicable, via the Courts.
We do not routinely comment on individual cases.
Asked by: Lord Roberts of Llandudno (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask Her Majesty's Government how many Jamaican nationals will be deported on the special charter flight to Jamaica on 18 May.
Answered by Baroness Williams of Trafford - Captain of the Honourable Corps of Gentlemen-at-Arms (HM Household) (Chief Whip, House of Lords)
Our priority will always be to keep our communities safe, and we make no apology for seeking to remove those with no right to remain in the UK and foreign criminals.
Since January 2019 we have removed 10,017 foreign criminals from the UK. Information on the number of Jamaican foreign national offenders returned from the UK is available from Immigration statistics quarterly release - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk) in table Ret_D03, which can be found attached.
A person’s age upon arrival to the UK or their nationality are not exceptions to automatic deportation under the Borders Act 2007, but may be relevant factors, in addition to the strength of their social, cultural and family ties in the UK, in considering whether a human rights exception applies. All those deported will have been provided with the opportunity to raise claims, which are fully considered and determined prior to removal including, where applicable, via the Courts.
We do not routinely comment on individual cases.
Asked by: Lord Roberts of Llandudno (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask Her Majesty's Government, for each of the last four flights carrying deported Jamaican nationals, how many such individuals were on each flight.
Answered by Baroness Williams of Trafford - Captain of the Honourable Corps of Gentlemen-at-Arms (HM Household) (Chief Whip, House of Lords)
Our priority will always be to keep our communities safe, and we make no apology for seeking to remove those with no right to remain in the UK and foreign criminals.
Since January 2019 we have removed 10,017 foreign criminals from the UK. Information on the number of Jamaican foreign national offenders returned from the UK is available from Immigration statistics quarterly release - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk) in table Ret_D03, which can be found attached.
A person’s age upon arrival to the UK or their nationality are not exceptions to automatic deportation under the Borders Act 2007, but may be relevant factors, in addition to the strength of their social, cultural and family ties in the UK, in considering whether a human rights exception applies. All those deported will have been provided with the opportunity to raise claims, which are fully considered and determined prior to removal including, where applicable, via the Courts.
We do not routinely comment on individual cases.
Asked by: Virendra Sharma (Labour - Ealing, Southall)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment her Department has made of the value for money of the Jamaica deportation charter flight on 8 May 2022.
Answered by Tom Pursglove - Minister of State (Minister for Legal Migration and Delivery)
This Government’s priority is keeping the people of this country safe, and we make no apology for seeking to remove dangerous foreign criminals. Foreign nationals who abuse our hospitality by committing crimes should be in no doubt of our determination to deport them.
Charter flight operations there are an important means to return disruptive individuals or where they are limited scheduled routes, particularly during the global Coronavirus pandemic. We manage the charter programme flexibly, balancing it with the use of scheduled flights to best respond to operational needs.
The endless merry go round of late legal claims – which are often unfounded or without merit – can result in people being removed from flights at the last minute.
Our New Plan for Immigration will stop the abuse of the system and expedite the removal of those who have no right to be here.
Asked by: Caroline Lucas (Green Party - Brighton, Pavilion)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if she will cancel the deportation flight to Jamaica scheduled for 18 May 2022; make it her policy to halt any further mass deportation flights from the UK; and if she will make a statement.
Answered by Tom Pursglove - Minister of State (Minister for Legal Migration and Delivery)
No.
Asked by: Chi Onwurah (Labour - Newcastle upon Tyne Central)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what the basis is for granting an exception to applicants from (a) Barbados, (b) Jamaica and (c) Trinidad and Tobago from a requirement to take International English Language Testing System exams for UK Visas and educational programmes; for what reason that exception does apply to applicants from Nigeria; how many Nigerians applied for the International English Language Testing System over the last five years; what the pass rate was in each of those years; and on what basis the charge for that test was calculated.
Answered by Kevin Foster
Those who come from a country which is on the Majority English Speaking Countries list (MESC list) are not required to provide evidence of English language ability.
To be included on the MESC list, the Home Office must have evidence over half the population in the country being considered speaks English as a first language. If a country meets this criteria it means it is more likely than not any individual applicant from that country can speak English with the level of fluency required to integrate in the UK and complete the course they are coming to study or job they are coming to do.
We do not have evidence that Nigeria meets this criteria. We regularly check whether new evidence is publicly available which shows a country meets the criteria to be included in the MESC list.
As an alternative to language testing, applicants can also rely on other types of proof of their language ability:
Information on how many Nigerians applied for the International English Language Testing System over the last five years and what the pass rate was in each of those years is not information held by the Home Office.
The fee for the Secure English Language Testing (SELT) test is set by the relevant SELT Provider. To allow for a fair pricing system, the SELT Provider is required to ensure that customers are being charged a comparable fee for the same or similar test. Once set, any increases to the fee can only be made with the agreement of the Home Office.
Asked by: Ruth Jones (Labour - Newport West)
Question to the Department for International Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, what recent assessment she has made of the effectiveness of trade links between Jamaica and the United Kingdom.
Answered by Ranil Jayawardena
Total trade between the United Kingdom and Jamaica was £308 million in the four quarters to the end of Q3 2021. Total trade with The Bahamas was £301 million in the same period.
The United Kingdom has a trade deal with both Jamaica and The Bahamas providing duty-free quota-free access to the British market for their goods. In return, they have committed to gradually liberalise access for the majority of their British imports. The trade deal covers services trade, intellectual property, procurement and other areas to support trade with our Commonwealth family, backing businesses, creating jobs and boosting prosperity across our nations.
Asked by: Ruth Jones (Labour - Newport West)
Question to the Department for International Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, what recent assessment she has made of the effectiveness of trade links between the Commonwealth of the Bahamas and the United Kingdom.
Answered by Ranil Jayawardena
Total trade between the United Kingdom and Jamaica was £308 million in the four quarters to the end of Q3 2021. Total trade with The Bahamas was £301 million in the same period.
The United Kingdom has a trade deal with both Jamaica and The Bahamas providing duty-free quota-free access to the British market for their goods. In return, they have committed to gradually liberalise access for the majority of their British imports. The trade deal covers services trade, intellectual property, procurement and other areas to support trade with our Commonwealth family, backing businesses, creating jobs and boosting prosperity across our nations.