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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Asked by: Kenny MacAskill (Alba Party - East Lothian)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what the benefits to the UK are of the funding committed to the Ineos energy investment in Belgium.
Answered by Greg Hands - Minister of State (Department for Business and Trade)
UK Export Finance’s (UKEF’s) support for the Ineos Project One plant secures new export opportunities for the UK by enabling an overseas buyer to finance the purchase of goods, services and/or intangibles from UK suppliers.
As the UK’s export credit agency, UKEF’s mission is to advance prosperity by ensuring no viable UK export fails for lack of finance or insurance, doing that sustainably and at no net cost to the taxpayer.
Asked by: Lord Bourne of Aberystwyth (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask His Majesty's Government what discussions, if any, they have held with EU countries regarding the introduction of safety and security declaration requirements for EU imports on 31 October, and what were the contents of any such discussions.
Answered by Baroness Vere of Norbiton - Parliamentary Secretary (HM Treasury)
Government officials engage regularly with officials from EU Member States to discuss new customs-related requirements, including safety and security declarations. This has included official visits to Belgium, France, the Netherlands, Denmark and Ireland with further engagement planned for Italy, Spain, Poland and Germany in 2024. Baroness Neville-Rolfe visited Belgium to discuss import controls with the Belgian Government and industry in early February 2024. Partners have been extremely helpful in communicating these requirements using their own stakeholder communication channels, and providing suggestions for further guidance that could be helpful. More formal communication of these changes to EU Member States took place in the Trade Specialised Committee on Customs Cooperation and Rules of Origin, the minutes of which can be found on gov.uk.
Asked by: Stephen Kinnock (Labour - Aberavon)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, with reference to the press release entitled PM meeting with the Prime Minister of Belgium, published by the Prime Minister's office on 23 January 2024, when he expects to finalise the UK-Belgium Law Enforcement Cooperation Agreement; and if he will publish that agreement as soon as it is finalised.
Answered by Tom Pursglove - Minister of State (Minister for Legal Migration and Delivery)
Negotiations on the draft UK-Belgium Law Enforcement Cooperation Agreement are nearing completion. Once finalised and signed by both parties, the agreement will be published as a Command Paper and laid before Parliament with an Explanatory Memorandum in accordance with normal parliamentary procedures.
Asked by: Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi (Labour - Slough)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what steps her Department has taken to help increase exports to Belgium in the last two years.
Answered by Greg Hands - Minister of State (Department for Business and Trade)
The Government is committed to driving forward export growth and helping UK businesses export to markets across the globe including Belgium. UK exports to Belgium amounted to £25.3 billion in the 12 months to September 2023, an increase of 3.5% or £0.9 billion in current prices compared to the previous 12 months, making Belgium the UK's 8th largest export market.
UK businesses can access DBT's wealth of export support via Great.gov.uk. This comprises a digital self-serve offer and our wider network of support, including trade advisers, Export Champions, the Export Academy, our International Markets network and UK Export Finance.
Asked by: Stephen Timms (Labour - East Ham)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, with reference to the oral contribution of the Prime Minister during the oral statement on Defending the UK and Allies of 15 January 2024, Official Report, column 577, for what reason only forces from the UK and USA took part in the action in the Red Sea on 11 January 2024.
Answered by James Heappey
The UK and United States' military action on 12 January against Houthi targets was taken with support from Australia, Bahrain, Canada and the Netherlands.
Ten countries, including Germany, Denmark, New Zealand and Republic of Korea, signed a joint statement on the strikes, re-iterating to the Houthis that we will not hesitate to defend lives and protect the free flow of commerce in the face of continued threats.
This followed a 3 January joint statement from by the UK, US and ten allies, including Belgium, Germany, Italy and the Netherlands, calling for the immediate end to the Houthis' illegal activities.
Asked by: Karl Turner (Labour - Kingston upon Hull East)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, What recent assessment he has made of the financial impact of the introduction of the EU Emissions Trading Scheme from 1 January 2024 on operators of (a) cargo and (b) passenger ships over 5,000 gross tonnage on routes between UK ports and ports in (i) the Netherlands, (ii) Belgium, (iii) France, (iv) Spain, (v) Denmark, (vi) Germany and (vii) other EU member states.
Answered by Guy Opperman - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
The expansion of the UK Emissions Trading Scheme (ETS) to domestic maritime is currently planned from 2026. Officials across the UK ETS Authority have been regularly engaging across the maritime sector ahead of the next consultation on expansion of the UK ETS to domestic maritime. My officials met with industry bodies as recently as three weeks ago, and will continue to do so both ahead of, and following, the publication of the next consultation on the expansion of the UK ETS.
The EU ETS meanwhile will apply to all cargo and passenger vessels over 5000GT operating within the European Economic Area (EEA) and internationally to the EEA from 1 Jan 2024.
We have no plans to make a full assessment of this EU ETS scheme, it will impact all nations going to the EEA equally. The amount of in-scope emissions that allowances must be surrendered will increase from 40% in 2024, increasing to 70% in 2025, and 100% in 2026. The EU ETS will initially cover carbon dioxide emissions and be widened to include methane and nitrous oxide from 2026.
We will continue to monitor developments of international and regional carbon pricing instruments covering shipping schemes, including the EU ETS proposal, and consider how these might interact with our domestic policy in the future. This will be applied equally to all operators travelling internationally to the EEA. The EU ETS is not expected to have any organizational impact on the MCA.
Asked by: Grahame Morris (Labour - Easington)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many foreign national offenders were removed from the country through a prison transfer agreement each year since 2010; and if he will list which countries were they removed to.
Answered by Edward Argar - Minister of State (Ministry of Justice)
Any foreign national who is convicted of a crime and given a prison sentence is considered for deportation at the earliest opportunity. Where appropriate, the Government will also seek to permanently remove foreign criminals from the UK via the Early Removal Scheme once they have served the minimum required of their sentence. This is our best performing removal scheme with 5,262 Foreign National Offenders (FNOs) having been removed between January 2019 and June 2022.
The Home Office removed 16,676 foreign national offenders since January 2019 to September 2023. Published figures show that FNO returns have increased in the latest 12-month period (ending September 2023) by 19% when compared to previous 12-month period.
Our new Prisoner Transfer Agreement with Albania entered into force in May 2023 and we have signed a new Prisoner Transfer Agreement with the Philippines. We are looking to negotiate new Prisoner Transfer Agreements with key EU Member States and wider-world countries
Foreign national offender removals via Prisoner Transfer Agreements since 2010:
Year: | Removals: |
2010 | 46 |
2011 | 33 |
2012 | 41 |
2013 | 44 |
2014 | 34 |
2015 | 57 |
2016 | 99 |
2017 | 107 |
2018 | 111 |
2019 | 136 |
2020 | 81 |
2021 | 73 |
2022 | 50 |
2023 | 33 |
Countries or Territories we have removed foreign national offenders to via Prisoner Transfer Agreements since 2010:
Albania | Denmark | Latvia | Slovakia |
Austria | Ecuador | Lithuania | Slovenia |
Belgium | Estonia | Macedonia | Spain |
Bermuda | France | Malta | Sri Lanka |
Bolivia | Germany | Montenegro | St Helena |
Brazil | Ghana | Netherlands | Sweden |
Bulgaria | Gibraltar | Nigeria | Switzerland |
Canada | Greece | Norway | Turkey |
Cayman | Hungary | Pakistan | Ukraine |
Chile | India | Poland | Vietnam |
Croatia | Ireland | Portugal | Iraq |
Cyprus | Israel | Romania |
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Czech Republic | Italy | Saudi |
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Asked by: Anneliese Dodds (Labour (Co-op) - Oxford East)
Question
To ask the Minister for Women and Equalities, whether she had discussions with her counterpart in Belgium before laying the Gender Recognition (Approved Countries and Territories and Saving Provision) Order 2023 on the removal of that country from the list of approved countries and territories to qualify applicants for the overseas route to apply for gender recognition certificates.
Answered by Stuart Andrew - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)
I refer back to my previous answer to UIN 5635 on 14th December.
Asked by: Priti Patel (Conservative - Witham)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether his Department holds information on the countries that will implement the OECD Pillar 2 minimum corporation tax measures from 31 December 2023; and what discussions he has had with (a) the OECD and (b) his counterparts in other countries on the implementation of that measure.
Answered by Gareth Davies - Exchequer Secretary (HM Treasury)
Countries that have committed to apply Pillar 2 from 31 December 2023 or 1 January 2024 include: Australia, Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Canada, Croatia, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Liechtenstein, Luxembourg, Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovenia, South Korea, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland and Vietnam. Japan are implementing for 1 April 2024.
Guernsey, Isle of Man, Jersey, Hong-Kong and Singapore have committed to implement for 1 January 2025.
There are many other jurisdictions that have taken steps towards Pillar 2 implementation.
There are regular multilateral discussions at Ministerial level, including at the level of the G20, on how to ensure swift and coordinated implementation of Pillar 2, as well as the support that can be provided to developing countries in that regard.