Questioner: Andrew Rosindell (CON - Romford)
Question
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what steps is his Department taking to support Monserrat in discussions with the European Union on future of trade between those two parties.
Answered by Nigel Adams
We remain unwavering in our commitment to safeguarding the Overseas Territories' interests and we are providing support to Anguilla, Bermuda and Montserrat, following the UK's withdrawal from the EU. During negotiations of the UK-EU Trade and Cooperation Agreement, the UK made clear to the EU from the outset that we were negotiating on behalf of the Overseas Territories. However, the European Commission refused to negotiate a future relationship that included the Overseas Territories. We sought to change the Commission's position, but the Commission declined to engage. We continue to work with all the Overseas Territories to take advantage of the opportunities available to us as an independent trading nation.
Questioner: Andrew Rosindell (CON - Romford)
Question
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what steps is his Department taking to assist Anguilla in discussions with the European Union on future of trade between those two parties.
Answered by Nigel Adams
We remain unwavering in our commitment to safeguarding the Overseas Territories' interests and we are providing support to Anguilla, Bermuda and Montserrat, following the UK's withdrawal from the EU. During negotiations of the UK-EU Trade and Cooperation Agreement, the UK made clear to the EU from the outset that we were negotiating on behalf of the Overseas Territories. However, the European Commission refused to negotiate a future relationship that included the Overseas Territories. We sought to change the Commission's position, but the Commission declined to engage. We continue to work with all the Overseas Territories to take advantage of the opportunities available to us as an independent trading nation.
Questioner: Andrew Rosindell (CON - Romford)
Question
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what steps is his Department taking to support Bermuda in discussions with the European Union on future of trade between those two parties.
Answered by Nigel Adams
We remain unwavering in our commitment to safeguarding the Overseas Territories' interests and we are providing support to Anguilla, Bermuda and Montserrat, following the UK's withdrawal from the EU. During negotiations of the UK-EU Trade and Cooperation Agreement, the UK made clear to the EU from the outset that we were negotiating on behalf of the Overseas Territories. However, the European Commission refused to negotiate a future relationship that included the Overseas Territories. We sought to change the Commission's position, but the Commission declined to engage. We continue to work with all the Overseas Territories to take advantage of the opportunities available to us as an independent trading nation.
Questioner: Stephen Doughty (LAB - Cardiff South and Penarth)
Question
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what proportion of UK Overseas Territory residents have received a (a) first dose and (b) both doses of a covid-19 vaccine, by territory.
Answered by Nigel Adams
The UK Government has committed to supply COVID-19 vaccines for the people of the Overseas Territories. The Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) have been arranging deliveries and vaccines have now been delivered to all 12 permanently inhabited Territories, most recently the Pitcairn Islands and Tristan da Cunha, but also to South Georgia. Further deliveries are anticipated to complete the programmes over the coming weeks. The table below represents the percentage of the adult population in each to receive first and second doses of the vaccines.
Overseas Territory | 1ST DOSES As a % of adult population (as of 3 June) | 2ND DOSES As a % of adult population |
Anguilla | 83% | 51% |
Ascension | 98% | 90% |
Bermuda | 71% | 64% |
BVI | 47% | 22% |
Cayman Islands | 82% | 70% |
Falklands | 95% | 93% |
Gibraltar* | >90% | >90% |
Montserrat | 39% | 34% |
Pitcairn | 82% | 0% |
St Helena | 98% | 92% |
South Georgia | 100% | 0% |
TCI | 64% | 50% |
Tristan da Cunha | 90% | 0% |
Questioner: Imran Ahmad Khan (IND - Wakefield)
Question
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, how much funding his Department has allocated to the distribution of covid-19 vaccines to British Overseas Territories.
Answered by Nigel Adams
The COVID-19 pandemic has impacted all of the UK's Overseas Territories, with confirmed outbreaks in all but two of the inhabited Territories. The UK Government has been directly supplying the UK's Overseas Territories with COVID-19 vaccines as part of the UK's enduring commitment to the Territories. The UK Government's policy is to publish data on vaccinations administered. By 19 March, each Overseas Territory had administered approximately the following number of doses:
| Approximate number of doses administered by 18 March 2021 |
Anguilla | 5,500 |
Ascension | 816 |
Bermuda | 30,000 |
British Virgin Islands | 6,500 |
Cayman Islands | 38,300 |
Falkland Islands | 1,787 |
Gibraltar | 53,171 |
Montserrat | 1140 |
Pitcairn | 0 |
St Helena | 3,400 |
Tristan da Cunha | 0 |
Turks & Caicos Islands | 11,283 |
The FCDO are arranging and funding the delivery of vaccines to the Territories, which began on 5 January and are aiming to deliver enough doses to offer vaccines to every adult across the Territories. So far, there have been 27 deliveries, reaching all of the permanently inhabited Overseas Territories with airports. Further deliveries are scheduled and planning is underway to deliver vaccines to the two remaining permanently inhabited Overseas Territories without airports: Pitcairn and Tristan da Cunha. In line with the UK Government's commitment to supply the Overseas Territories with a population proportionate share of vaccines, our programme aims to provide vaccines for the entire adult populations of the Territories and is expected to be complete in a similar timescale to the UK domestic rollout.
Questioner: Imran Ahmad Khan (IND - Wakefield)
Question
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, pursuant to the Answer of 14 December 2020 to Question 126163, how many covid-19 vaccines have been distributed to each British Overseas Territory to date.
Answered by Nigel Adams
The COVID-19 pandemic has impacted all of the UK's Overseas Territories, with confirmed outbreaks in all but two of the inhabited Territories. The UK Government has been directly supplying the UK's Overseas Territories with COVID-19 vaccines as part of the UK's enduring commitment to the Territories. The UK Government's policy is to publish data on vaccinations administered. By 19 March, each Overseas Territory had administered approximately the following number of doses:
| Approximate number of doses administered by 18 March 2021 |
Anguilla | 5,500 |
Ascension | 816 |
Bermuda | 30,000 |
British Virgin Islands | 6,500 |
Cayman Islands | 38,300 |
Falkland Islands | 1,787 |
Gibraltar | 53,171 |
Montserrat | 1140 |
Pitcairn | 0 |
St Helena | 3,400 |
Tristan da Cunha | 0 |
Turks & Caicos Islands | 11,283 |
The FCDO are arranging and funding the delivery of vaccines to the Territories, which began on 5 January and are aiming to deliver enough doses to offer vaccines to every adult across the Territories. So far, there have been 27 deliveries, reaching all of the permanently inhabited Overseas Territories with airports. Further deliveries are scheduled and planning is underway to deliver vaccines to the two remaining permanently inhabited Overseas Territories without airports: Pitcairn and Tristan da Cunha. In line with the UK Government's commitment to supply the Overseas Territories with a population proportionate share of vaccines, our programme aims to provide vaccines for the entire adult populations of the Territories and is expected to be complete in a similar timescale to the UK domestic rollout.
Questioner: Lord Lancaster of Kimbolton (CON - Life peer)
Question
To ask Her Majesty's Government whether the supply of COVID-19 vaccines to residents of (1) British Overseas Territories, and (2) the Crown Dependencies, is being given equal priority to the supply to UK residents.
Answered by Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon
The UK Government has procured COVID-19 vaccines on behalf of the Crown Dependencies and Overseas Territories and is committed to continue to providing a proportionate supply in line with roll out of the vaccine in the UK. The governments of the Crown Dependencies and Overseas Territories are responsible for the coordination of their own vaccination programmes. This includes setting their own frameworks for prioritisation based on demographics and their wider public health strategies. The Crown Dependencies have been supplied vaccine directly by Public Health England: details of their vaccination programmes, including up-to-date statistics on number of doses administered, can be found at gov.im, gov.je and gov.gg.
The Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) has been coordinating the deployment of COVID-19 vaccines to the Overseas Territories with the support of the Department of Health and Social Care, the Vaccines Taskforce, Ministry of Defence and Public Health England. Deliveries to the inhabited Overseas Territories began on 5 January and as of 15 February, the FCDO has organised 16 vaccine deliveries to 10 Overseas Territories to support their individual vaccination programmes for priority groups, with further deliveries scheduled over coming weeks in line with Territories' vaccination plans. Planning is also underway to deliver vaccines to the two outstanding inhabited Territories: Tristan da Cunha and the Pitcairn Islands.
Public Health England have been providing expert advice to the Overseas Territories on deploying the vaccines. The FCDO have provided support to the Overseas Territories throughout the pandemic, enabling seven islands to begin testing for COVID-19 for the first time, the others to continue testing, ensuring none ran out of Personal Protective Equipment, funding two military deployments and sending medical staff, ventilators and other equipment.
Questioner: Lord Lancaster of Kimbolton (CON - Life peer)
Question
To ask Her Majesty's Government whether the COVID-19 vaccination timeline for (1) British Overseas Territories, and (2) the Crown Dependencies, mirrors that planned for the UK; and if not, why not.
Answered by Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon
The UK Government has procured COVID-19 vaccines on behalf of the Crown Dependencies and Overseas Territories and is committed to continue to providing a proportionate supply in line with roll out of the vaccine in the UK. The governments of the Crown Dependencies and Overseas Territories are responsible for the coordination of their own vaccination programmes. This includes setting their own frameworks for prioritisation based on demographics and their wider public health strategies. The Crown Dependencies have been supplied vaccine directly by Public Health England: details of their vaccination programmes, including up-to-date statistics on number of doses administered, can be found at gov.im, gov.je and gov.gg.
The Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) has been coordinating the deployment of COVID-19 vaccines to the Overseas Territories with the support of the Department of Health and Social Care, the Vaccines Taskforce, Ministry of Defence and Public Health England. Deliveries to the inhabited Overseas Territories began on 5 January and as of 15 February, the FCDO has organised 16 vaccine deliveries to 10 Overseas Territories to support their individual vaccination programmes for priority groups, with further deliveries scheduled over coming weeks in line with Territories' vaccination plans. Planning is also underway to deliver vaccines to the two outstanding inhabited Territories: Tristan da Cunha and the Pitcairn Islands.
Public Health England have been providing expert advice to the Overseas Territories on deploying the vaccines. The FCDO have provided support to the Overseas Territories throughout the pandemic, enabling seven islands to begin testing for COVID-19 for the first time, the others to continue testing, ensuring none ran out of Personal Protective Equipment, funding two military deployments and sending medical staff, ventilators and other equipment.
Questioner: Lord Lancaster of Kimbolton (CON - Life peer)
Question
To ask Her Majesty's Government how many doses of COVID-19 vaccine have (1) been offered, and (2) been supplied, to each of the Crown Dependencies, broken down by (a) the total number, and (b) as a percentage of total population over the age of 18.
Answered by Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon
The UK Government has procured COVID-19 vaccines on behalf of the Crown Dependencies and Overseas Territories and is committed to continue to providing a proportionate supply in line with roll out of the vaccine in the UK. The governments of the Crown Dependencies and Overseas Territories are responsible for the coordination of their own vaccination programmes. This includes setting their own frameworks for prioritisation based on demographics and their wider public health strategies. The Crown Dependencies have been supplied vaccine directly by Public Health England: details of their vaccination programmes, including up-to-date statistics on number of doses administered, can be found at gov.im, gov.je and gov.gg.
The Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) has been coordinating the deployment of COVID-19 vaccines to the Overseas Territories with the support of the Department of Health and Social Care, the Vaccines Taskforce, Ministry of Defence and Public Health England. Deliveries to the inhabited Overseas Territories began on 5 January and as of 15 February, the FCDO has organised 16 vaccine deliveries to 10 Overseas Territories to support their individual vaccination programmes for priority groups, with further deliveries scheduled over coming weeks in line with Territories' vaccination plans. Planning is also underway to deliver vaccines to the two outstanding inhabited Territories: Tristan da Cunha and the Pitcairn Islands.
Public Health England have been providing expert advice to the Overseas Territories on deploying the vaccines. The FCDO have provided support to the Overseas Territories throughout the pandemic, enabling seven islands to begin testing for COVID-19 for the first time, the others to continue testing, ensuring none ran out of Personal Protective Equipment, funding two military deployments and sending medical staff, ventilators and other equipment.
Questioner: Lord Lancaster of Kimbolton (CON - Life peer)
Question
To ask Her Majesty's Government how many doses of COVID-19 vaccine have (1) been offered, and (2) been supplied, to each of the British Overseas Territories, broken down by (a) the total number, and (b) as a percentage of total population over the age of 18.
Answered by Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon
The UK Government has procured COVID-19 vaccines on behalf of the Crown Dependencies and Overseas Territories and is committed to continue to providing a proportionate supply in line with roll out of the vaccine in the UK. The governments of the Crown Dependencies and Overseas Territories are responsible for the coordination of their own vaccination programmes. This includes setting their own frameworks for prioritisation based on demographics and their wider public health strategies. The Crown Dependencies have been supplied vaccine directly by Public Health England: details of their vaccination programmes, including up-to-date statistics on number of doses administered, can be found at gov.im, gov.je and gov.gg.
The Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) has been coordinating the deployment of COVID-19 vaccines to the Overseas Territories with the support of the Department of Health and Social Care, the Vaccines Taskforce, Ministry of Defence and Public Health England. Deliveries to the inhabited Overseas Territories began on 5 January and as of 15 February, the FCDO has organised 16 vaccine deliveries to 10 Overseas Territories to support their individual vaccination programmes for priority groups, with further deliveries scheduled over coming weeks in line with Territories' vaccination plans. Planning is also underway to deliver vaccines to the two outstanding inhabited Territories: Tristan da Cunha and the Pitcairn Islands.
Public Health England have been providing expert advice to the Overseas Territories on deploying the vaccines. The FCDO have provided support to the Overseas Territories throughout the pandemic, enabling seven islands to begin testing for COVID-19 for the first time, the others to continue testing, ensuring none ran out of Personal Protective Equipment, funding two military deployments and sending medical staff, ventilators and other equipment.
Questioner: John Lamont (CON - Berwickshire, Roxburgh and Selkirk)
Question
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, how the UK is assisting the Overseas Territories and Crown dependencies with the roll-out of the covid-19 vaccine.
Answered by Nigel Adams
The Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, together with Public Health England, the Department of Health and Social Care, and the UK Vaccine Taskforce, are coordinating the deployment of vaccines to the Overseas Territories. Vaccines have so far been delivered to Anguilla, Bermuda, the British Virgin Islands, Cayman Islands, Falkland Islands, Gibraltar, Montserrat, St Helena and the Turks and Caicos Islands. The Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office are currently finalising plans to deliver vaccines to the other inhabited Overseas Territories. Public Health England are coordinating the deliveries to the Crown Dependencies, the governments of which are taking forward the distribution of vaccine in their respective jurisdictions.
Questioner: Imran Ahmad Khan (IND - Wakefield)
Question
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many British armed forces personnel have been recruited from the British Overseas Territories in each of the last five years.
Answered by James Heappey
The requested information is provided in the following table:
Intake of UK Regulars, British Overseas Territory Citizens, for the last five Financial Years (FY)
FY | 2015-16 | 2016-17 | 2017-18 | 2018-19 | 2019-20 |
Intake | ~ | 10 | 10 | 10 | ~ |
Notes:
Questioner: Lord Risby (CON - Life peer)
Question
To ask Her Majesty's Government what support they have provided to British Overseas Territories and Crown Dependencies during the COVID-19 pandemic; and whether this support will extend to the provision of vaccinations when trials are concluded.
Answered by Baroness Sugg
The UK Government has undertaken a major operation to support the Overseas Territories (OTs) in dealing with COVID-19. Support has been sent to all of the inhabited OTs with the exception of Pitcairn. UK support has enabled seven OTs to start testing for the virus and the others to continue testing when supply routes were cut. Supplies of PPE were sent to ensure no OT ran out. Medical equipment was sent to ensure hospitals could cope when each island was cut off from their usual medical evacuation routes by providing field hospital equipment, medicines, ventilators, CPAPS and other equipment. Expert support was provided in the form of advice from PHE, deployments of medical staff and a remote telemedicine service providing OT clinicians with remote access to clinical advice in the treatment of COVID-19 and other critical conditions. Military teams were deployed to the Cayman Islands and Turks and Caicos Islands to support with logistics and border security. Flights were arranged by the FCDO to repatriate British nationals to and from the OTs. Emergency budgetary support has been provided to Montserrat, St Helena and Anguilla to keep essential public services running and ensure these OTs can respond to the impacts of the pandemic.
The UK Government has worked closely with the governments of the Crown Dependencies throughout the COVID-19 pandemic. While the Crown Dependencies are responsible for their own emergency planning, response and recovery, the UK has engaged at working and political level with these jurisdictions to support their own efforts to combat COVID-19 and mitigate against its spread on the islands. This has included ensuring that the Crown Dependencies can access UK supply chains for key medicines and medical devices, including PPE and ventilators. The UK will maintain this engagement over the coming months to ensure that the UK can continue to offer support to Crown Dependency governments.
Through the Vaccine Task Force, the UK Government is procuring vaccines on behalf of the Crown Dependencies and OTs, and is working with them to ensure the smooth deployment of a COVID-19 vaccine once a safe and effective one is available.
Questioner: Alexander Stafford (CON - Rother Valley)
Question
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what steps he has taken to reduce tax avoidance in (a) Bermuda, (b) the Cayman Islands, (c) the British Virgin Islands, (d) Anguilla, (e) the Turks and Caicos Islands, (f) Montserrat, (g) Gibraltar, (h) the Channel Islands, and (i) the Isle of Man.
Answered by Jesse Norman
The Crown Dependencies and Overseas Territories are autonomous jurisdictions with their own democratically elected governments, who have the mandate to decide their own fiscal policies. However, thanks to UK leadership, all Crown Dependencies and Overseas Territories with a financial centre have made commitments to implementing global standards on tax transparency.
Questioner: Derek Thomas (CON - St Ives)
Question
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what support his Department has given the UK Overseas Territories in the Caribbean to ensure that future built developments incorporate climate resilience.
Answered by Wendy Morton
Following the destruction caused by hurricanes in 2017, the UK Government has funded construction work in several Overseas Territories (OTs), with a focus on building back with improved hurricane and seismic resilience. In Montserrat, the UK is investing in resilient infrastructure through the Capital Infrastructure Programme for Resilient and Economic Growth (CIPREG), including projects such as the recently laid fibre optic cable link that will bolster Montserrat's resilience against extreme weather. Additionally, with funding from the cross-Government Conflict, Stability and Security Fund, the Joint Nature Conservation Committee (JNCC) has supported OTs in the Caribbean to build response and resilience models to hurricane related flood risks. This includes opportunities to maximise the role and value of the natural environment, including coastal vegetation, mangroves and coral reefs, to minimise flood damage, and the use of vulnerability mapping to inform on-island planning processes for new infrastructure and residential developments. The JNCC is also working with individual OTs to develop monitoring programmes capable of recognising changes to their marine and terrestrial environments, including those related to climate change.
Through the UK Government funded Darwin and Darwin Plus Initiatives, the UK continues to support the ability of the OTs to increase their resilience and ability to adapt in the face of climate change by funding individual projects, such as efforts to improve coastal ecosystem resilience in Anguilla and restoration of mangroves in the British Virgin Islands.