Written Question

NATO

Monday 25th March 2024

Asked by: Kenny MacAskill (Alba Party - East Lothian)

Question to the Ministry of Defence:

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what the (a) location is of and (b) deployment levels are at each NATO (i) owned and (ii) operated sites.

Answered by James Heappey

The UK is one of the largest contributors of personnel to NATO, underlining our commitment to deterrence and defence of the Euro-Atlantic Area.

The table below shows the number of UK personnel posted to NATO Peacetime Establishment locations, with personnel in 39 NATO locations in 19 countries all over Europe and the Continental US, and the UK has proportional workforce equity at all locations.

Country	Location	UK Fill		Country	Location	UK Fill
Belgium	Brussels	50		Netherlands	Brunssum	110
	Mons	170		Norway	Stavanger	30
Bulgaria	Sofia	~		Poland	Bydgoszcz	~
Estonia	Tallin	~			Elblag	~
France	Lille	10			Szczecin	~
Germany	Geilenkirchen	10		Portugal	Lisbon	10
	Munster	10			Oeiras	~
	Oberammergau	~		Romania	Bucharest	~
	Ramstein	70		Slovakia	Bratislava	~
	Uedem	20		Spain	Torrejon	20
	Ulm	20			Valencia	~
	Wesel	30		Türkiye	Istanbul	10
Greece	Thessaloniki	~			Izmir	30
Italy	Milan	20		UK	Blandford	50
	Naples	120			Molesworth	10
	Poggio	20			Northwood	60
	Sigonella	~			Yeovilton	~
Latvia	Adazi	~		USA	Norfolk	50
	Riga	~			Tampa	~

"~" denotes a number less than or equal to 5.

Data have been rounded to 10 and therefore totals may not always equal the sum of the parts.

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Written Question

Imports: EU Countries

Wednesday 28th February 2024

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.

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Written Question

NATO: Military Exercises

Wednesday 28th February 2024

Asked by: Tobias Ellwood (Conservative - Bournemouth East)

Question to the Ministry of Defence:

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what the breakdown is of armed forces capabilities deployed to Poland as part of NATO exercise Steadfast Defender 24.

Answered by James Heappey

STEADFAST DEFENDER 24 will see the British Army deploy two brigade combat teams and a 3* corps headquarters to Poland, as part of Exercises BRILLANT JUMP, POLISH DRAGON, and IMMEDIATE RESPONSE. This equates to around 4,000 personnel and 2,000 pieces of equipment across the Allied Rapid Reaction Corps, 7th Light Mechanised Brigade Combat Team as the core of the Very High Readiness Joint Task Force (Land), and 12th Armoured Brigade Combat Team. Across Europe, an additional 3,500 theatre enablement personnel will deploy to enable port operations, cross continent force flow, and sustainment of UK forces for the duration of the exercises. There are no maritime or air capabilities deployed to Poland as part of STEADFAST DEFENDER 24.

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Written Question

Military Exercises

Monday 26th February 2024

Asked by: Andrew Gwynne (Labour - Denton and Reddish)

Question to the Ministry of Defence:

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, pursuant to the Answer of 29 January 2024 to Question 10764, how many times British armed forces personnel have taken part in (a) bilateral and (b) multinational training exercises with (i) Germany, (ii) France, (iii) Italy, (iv) Poland, (v) the Netherlands, (vi) USA and (vii) Spain.

Answered by James Heappey

The information requested is not held centrally. The following has been compiled from sources across the single-Services. It is a ‘best estimate’ based on the available information.

Year	Bilateral	RN	Army	RAF	Multinational	RN	Army*	RAF
2016	Germany	6	0	0	Germany	2		0
	France	4	4	0	France	6		0
	Italy	0	1	0	Italy	3		0
	Poland	0	0	0	Poland	1		0
	The Netherlands	0	0	0	The Netherlands	2		0
	USA	7	15	0	USA	7		3
	Spain	0	2	0	Spain	2		0
2017	Germany	1	0	0	Germany	2		0
	France	1	4	0	France	9		0
	Italy	0	1	0	Italy	1		0
	Poland	0	1	0	Poland	1		0
	The Netherlands	2	0	0	The Netherlands	3		0
	USA	3	15	0	USA	12		3
	Spain	2	2	0	Spain	0		0
2018	Germany	1	2	0	Germany	2		0
	France	4	7	0	France	6		0
	Italy	1	1	0	Italy	4		0
	Poland	0	1	0	Poland	2		0
	The Netherlands	0	2	0	The Netherlands	1		0
	USA	5	19	0	USA	9		3
	Spain	1	2	0	Spain	4		0
2019	Germany	0	1	0	Germany	2		0
	France	5	9	0	France	6		0
	Italy	0	1	0	Italy	3		0
	Poland	2	1	0	Poland	1		0
	The Netherlands	1	1	0	The Netherlands	5		0
	USA	10	20	0	USA	9		4
	Spain	1	2	0	Spain	3		0
2020	Germany	0	0	0	Germany	0		0
	France	2	0	0	France	3		0
	Italy	0	0	0	Italy	0		0
	Poland	0	0	0	Poland	0		0
	The Netherlands	2	0	0	The Netherlands	3		0
	USA	6	0	0	USA	7		6
	Spain	0	0	0	Spain	0		0
2021	Germany	0	2	0	Germany	3		3
	France	5	6	0	France	7		3
	Italy	1	1	0	Italy	3		4
	Poland	0	1	0	Poland	2		0
	The Netherlands	2	0	0	The Netherlands	6		1
	USA	11	21	0	USA	17		8
	Spain	0	2	0	Spain	3		1
2022	Germany	0	2	0	Germany	1		4
	France	1	7	0	France	4		3
	Italy	3	0	0	Italy	1		3
	Poland	0	0	0	Poland	1		1
	The Netherlands	0	1	0	The Netherlands	3		2
	USA	3	22	0	USA	13		12
	Spain	0	3	0	Spain	3		2
2023	Germany	0	4	0	Germany	2		2
	France	1	7	0	France	9		3
	Italy	0	1	0	Italy	1		1
	Poland	0	0	0	Poland	1		1
	The Netherlands	0	1	0	The Netherlands	3		1
	USA	5	22	0	USA	15		10
	Spain	0	3	0	Spain	2		2

* Due to the way in which Army data is held, multinational involvement cannot be readily separated from bilateral. Many of the bilateral exercises listed will be multinational, but the data capture only shows the primary sponsor of the exercise and not the additional participants. Army data from 2020 has been discounted due to uncertainty as to which exercises did or did not take place due to the COVID-19 Pandemic.

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Written Question

EU Nationals: Voting Rights

Monday 26th February 2024

Asked by: Stephen Timms (Labour - East Ham)

Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask the Minister of State, Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, whether he is seeking to secure additional bilateral voting rights agreements with EU states to ensure EU citizens who arrived in the UK from 2021 onwards can continue voting in local elections after May 2024.

Answered by Leo Docherty - Minister of State (Ministry of Defence) (Minister for the Armed Forces)

In December 2018, the UK wrote to all 27 EU Member States signalling our willingness to enter into bilateral agreements to ensure continuity of local election voting and candidacy rights for each other's citizens. Since 2018, we have entered into five bilateral agreements, these are: Spain, Portugal, Luxembourg, Poland and very recently Denmark, which is subject to Parliamentary ratification. The existence of constitutional barriers in some Member States has prevented the UK from entering into agreements with certain Member States. However, the UK remains open to negotiating fully reciprocal bilateral agreements where EU Member States are interested in doing so.

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Written Question

Exports: Poland

Thursday 8th February 2024

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 Poland since 2022.

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 Poland. UK exports to Poland amounted to £10.5 billion in the 12 months to September 2023, an increase of 26.0% or £2.2 billion in current prices compared to the previous 12 months, making Poland the UK’s 21st 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 a wider network of support, including trade advisers, Export Champions, the Export Academy, International Markets network and UK Export Finance.

I visited Poland last month to promote UK exports and two-way investment flows.

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Written Question

Yemen: Military Intervention

Thursday 25th January 2024

Asked by: Mark Hendrick (Labour (Co-op) - Preston)

Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask the Minister of State, Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, what diplomatic steps he is taking to help prevent regional conflict following strikes on Houthi targets in Yemen.

Answered by Anne-Marie Trevelyan - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)

We continue to work with our allies and partners to safeguard maritime security and navigation rights and freedoms in the Red Sea.

The Foreign Secretary has discussed developments in the Red Sea with key interlocutors from Saudi Arabia (14 December), United Arab Emirates (16 December & 12 January), Egypt (20 December), Iran (31 December and 17 January), Oman (31 December and 14 January), United States (2 January), the Palestinian Authority (5 January), Italy (8 January), Cyprus (12 and 24 January), Turkey (12 January), Saudi Arabia ( 17 January), Government of Yemen (17 January), United States (17 January), UN Secretary General (17 January), Poland (17 January), Sweden (21 January) and Greece (21 January). He also sent messages to United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia and Bahrain on 23 January providing an update on the 22 January strikes.

The UK, alongside international partners, condemned the Houthi attacks through a series of ministerial statements. This included a 1 December United Nations Security Council statement, a 19 December US led statement with 43 signatories, a 3 January statement clearly stating that continued attacks would have consequences, a 12 January statement after the first strikes signed by 10 countries and a 23 January statement after the second strikes signed by 24 countries. On 10 January the United Nations Security Council passed resolution 2722 affirming freedom of navigation and noting members states' right to defend their vessels.

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Written Question

Prisoners: Repatriation

Tuesday 19th December 2023

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
Czech Republic	Italy	Saudi

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Written Question

Gender Recognition Certificates

Friday 15th December 2023

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 Poland 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.

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Written Question

Ministry of Defence: Trade Promotion

Wednesday 13th December 2023

Asked by: Maria Eagle (Labour - Garston and Halewood)

Question to the Ministry of Defence:

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many (a) UK and (b) overseas trade shows the Minister for Defence Procurement has attended since his appointment.

Answered by James Cartlidge - Minister of State (Ministry of Defence)

Since being appointed, I have attended a number of domestic trade shows, including the Royal International Air Tattoo, Defence Security and Exports International 2023, the counter UAS, uncrewed strategy and SME roundtable and fair at Larkhill; and four overseas trade shows in Czech Republic, UAE, Turkey, and Poland.

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