Asked by: John Healey (Labour - Wentworth and Dearne)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many UK troops have been stationed in Qatar in each year since 2021.
Answered by James Heappey
The information requested by the right hon. Member for the years 2021 and 2022 can be found in the following table:
Country | Year | Number of Personnel (Full time Service Personnel only) |
Singapore | 2021 | 10 |
2022 | 10 | |
Brunei | 2021 | 160 |
2022 | 160 | |
Nepal | 2021 | 20 |
2022 | 20 | |
British Indian Ocean Territory | 2021 | 40 |
2022 | 40 | |
Oman | 2021 | 80 |
2022 | 70 | |
Qatar | 2021 | 10 |
2022 | 30 |
The figures are provided as at 1 April of each year. Figures for 2023 are not yet available and we can provide an update to the Member when these become ready.
Notes:
UK Regulars comprise Full time Service personnel, including Nursing Services, but excluding Full Time Reserve Service (FTRS) personnel, Gurkhas, mobilised Reservists, Military Provost Guard Service (MPGS), Locally Engaged Personnel (LEP), Non Regular Permanent Staff (NRPS), High Readiness Reserve (HRR) and Expeditionary Forces Institute (EFI) personnel.
Figures in this table have been rounded to the nearest 10, though numbers ending in a “5” have been rounded to the nearest multiple of 20 to prevent the systematic bias caused by always rounding numbers upwards.
Asked by: John Healey (Labour - Wentworth and Dearne)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what UK military capabilities have been stationed in Singapore in each year since 2021.
Answered by James Heappey
Over the time period in question (2021 to present), our defence footprint in Singapore has consisted of: the British Defence Singapore Support Unit (BDSSU) that delivers logistic support, including refuelling and resupply capabilities, from Singapore's Sembawang Naval Installation as part of the UK's contribution to the Five Power Defence Arrangements; the Defence Section including our resident Defence Adviser (DA); and the British Defence Staff South East Asia, located in the British High Commission alongside the Defence Section. Other defence assets have visited Singapore in the course of their duties since 2021 but are not stationed there.
Asked by: John Healey (Labour - Wentworth and Dearne)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many UK armed forces personnel have been stationed in the Indian Ocean Territory in every year since 2021.
Answered by James Heappey
The information requested by the right hon. Member for the years 2021 and 2022 can be found in the following table:
Country | Year | Number of Personnel (Full time Service Personnel only) |
Singapore | 2021 | 10 |
2022 | 10 | |
Brunei | 2021 | 160 |
2022 | 160 | |
Nepal | 2021 | 20 |
2022 | 20 | |
British Indian Ocean Territory | 2021 | 40 |
2022 | 40 | |
Oman | 2021 | 80 |
2022 | 70 | |
Qatar | 2021 | 10 |
2022 | 30 |
The figures are provided as at 1 April of each year. Figures for 2023 are not yet available and we can provide an update to the Member when these become ready.
Notes:
UK Regulars comprise Full time Service personnel, including Nursing Services, but excluding Full Time Reserve Service (FTRS) personnel, Gurkhas, mobilised Reservists, Military Provost Guard Service (MPGS), Locally Engaged Personnel (LEP), Non Regular Permanent Staff (NRPS), High Readiness Reserve (HRR) and Expeditionary Forces Institute (EFI) personnel.
Figures in this table have been rounded to the nearest 10, though numbers ending in a “5” have been rounded to the nearest multiple of 20 to prevent the systematic bias caused by always rounding numbers upwards.
Asked by: John Healey (Labour - Wentworth and Dearne)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many UK armed forces personnel have been stationed in Singapore in each year since 2021.
Answered by James Heappey
The information requested by the right hon. Member for the years 2021 and 2022 can be found in the following table:
Country | Year | Number of Personnel (Full time Service Personnel only) |
Singapore | 2021 | 10 |
2022 | 10 | |
Brunei | 2021 | 160 |
2022 | 160 | |
Nepal | 2021 | 20 |
2022 | 20 | |
British Indian Ocean Territory | 2021 | 40 |
2022 | 40 | |
Oman | 2021 | 80 |
2022 | 70 | |
Qatar | 2021 | 10 |
2022 | 30 |
The figures are provided as at 1 April of each year. Figures for 2023 are not yet available and we can provide an update to the Member when these become ready.
Notes:
UK Regulars comprise Full time Service personnel, including Nursing Services, but excluding Full Time Reserve Service (FTRS) personnel, Gurkhas, mobilised Reservists, Military Provost Guard Service (MPGS), Locally Engaged Personnel (LEP), Non Regular Permanent Staff (NRPS), High Readiness Reserve (HRR) and Expeditionary Forces Institute (EFI) personnel.
Figures in this table have been rounded to the nearest 10, though numbers ending in a “5” have been rounded to the nearest multiple of 20 to prevent the systematic bias caused by always rounding numbers upwards.
Asked by: John Healey (Labour - Wentworth and Dearne)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many UK armed forces personnel have been stationed in Nepal in every year since 2021.
Answered by James Heappey
The information requested by the right hon. Member for the years 2021 and 2022 can be found in the following table:
Country | Year | Number of Personnel (Full time Service Personnel only) |
Singapore | 2021 | 10 |
2022 | 10 | |
Brunei | 2021 | 160 |
2022 | 160 | |
Nepal | 2021 | 20 |
2022 | 20 | |
British Indian Ocean Territory | 2021 | 40 |
2022 | 40 | |
Oman | 2021 | 80 |
2022 | 70 | |
Qatar | 2021 | 10 |
2022 | 30 |
The figures are provided as at 1 April of each year. Figures for 2023 are not yet available and we can provide an update to the Member when these become ready.
Notes:
UK Regulars comprise Full time Service personnel, including Nursing Services, but excluding Full Time Reserve Service (FTRS) personnel, Gurkhas, mobilised Reservists, Military Provost Guard Service (MPGS), Locally Engaged Personnel (LEP), Non Regular Permanent Staff (NRPS), High Readiness Reserve (HRR) and Expeditionary Forces Institute (EFI) personnel.
Figures in this table have been rounded to the nearest 10, though numbers ending in a “5” have been rounded to the nearest multiple of 20 to prevent the systematic bias caused by always rounding numbers upwards.
Asked by: Catherine West (Labour - Hornsey and Wood Green)
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 his Singaporean counterpart on the position of Singapore as a transit hub for (a) raw materials and (b) potential weapons components destined for Myanmar.
Answered by Leo Docherty - Minister of State (Ministry of Defence) (Minister for the Armed Forces)
The UK has had a comprehensive arms embargo on Myanmar since 2013, which prohibits the supply of dual-use items, including technology and manufacturing equipment, to the Myanmar military. Since the coup in Myanmar, the UK has led global efforts to reduce the flow of weapons to Myanmar through coordinating multilateral statements. On 26 November 2022, in coordination with partners, we released a statement which committed to preventing the flow of arms, dual-use goods and technical assistance reaching the military, which was signed by states who have previously supplied weapons. We have also spearheaded efforts to impose sanctions on arms dealers and the military's own domestic production, in close coordination with the US, EU and Canada. We take a rigorous approach to due diligence in relation to our arms embargo, including enhanced military end-use controls for items destined for the military and security forces. We have also established the Myanmar Witness programme, which monitors weapons exports to Myanmar using open-source intelligence. We will continue to take coordinated action to halt the military's access to arms and lobby countries who sell weapons to the military.
Asked by: Ruth Cadbury (Labour - Brentford and Isleworth)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, which countries have given consent for the import of paraquat from the UK.
Answered by Mims Davies - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
The Health and Safety Executive’s data on exports under the Great Britain Prior Informed Consent Regulation, collected annually since 2020, shows that the following countries have given consent to the import of paraquat from Great Britain: Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador, European Union, Guatemala, India, Mexico, Singapore, South Africa and the United States.
Asked by: Bill Wiggin (Conservative - North Herefordshire)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what assessment they have made of the impact of the UK's departure from the EU on their ability to deliver successful policy outcomes.
Answered by Mike Freer - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Justice)
Leaving the EU has provided the UK with the freedom to conceive and implement laws and policies that put the UK first. At the start of this year, the Government set out its plans to maximise the benefits of Brexit across each major sector of the economy and transform the UK into the best regulated country in the world.
Leaving the EU has also meant that the UK is free to pursue its own independent trade policy and trade agreements. The Ministry of Justice represents the UK legal sector’s interests overseas by improving and maintaining market access for UK lawyers practicing internationally by securing legal services provisions in Free Trade Agreements (FTAs). Since leaving the EU we have secured legal services provisions in a number of FTAs including with Australia and New Zealand. We will continue to seek world leading provisions on legal services in ongoing and upcoming FTA negotiations where this will deliver benefit to the UK legal services sector.
I am also actively engaging with key stakeholders in the sector both at home and abroad, including the Law Society of England and Wales, the Law Society of Scotland, the American Bar Association, and law firms across the UK, to understand the sector’s priorities. This is to ensure that we [HMG] are working effectively with the sector to remove barriers to trade in legal services and to increase UK legal services exports globally.
The UK is a global leader in Private International Law (PIL) and outside the EU we have now regained competence in PIL matters. Private International Law arrangements support the confidence of businesses to trade and invest across borders, underpinning economic growth and access to justice.
That is why we are taking advantage of new freedoms to sign agreements and seek opportunities to strengthen arrangements with our international partners. The government has published a consultation on whether the UK should be party to the Hague 2019 convention on Recognition and Enforcement of Foreign Judgements and in due course we will be publishing the government response to the consultation on whether the UK should sign and ratify the 2018 Singapore Convention on Mediation to support our world-leading mediation sector.
Asked by: Liam Byrne (Labour - Birmingham, Hodge Hill)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, if he will set out his Department's forecast of (a) the total FTE and (b) the change in FTE staff deployed in the Indo-Pacific region, broken down by nation for each year in the next five-year period.
Answered by James Heappey
Following the commitments made in the Defence Command Paper in support of the UK’s Indo-Pacific tilt, the period since 16 March 2021 has seen an increase in both MOD personnel and MOD assets permanently deployed to the Indo-Pacific region.
This increase in personnel supports the expansion of the UK’s Defence Network, including the establishment of a British Defence Staff for Oceania, in Canberra and Defence Advisor and Attaché posts in Fiji and the Philippines respectively.
Over the same period, the number of assets in the region has also increased. Following the conclusion of the Carrier Strike Group deployment, HMS Spey and Tamar were permanently stationed in the region at the end of 2021.
As of 8 December 22, there are a total of 1,297 Defence Personnel deployed in the Indo Pacific, not including the Global Network.
Country | Number of Personnel |
Pakistan | 10 |
Indonesia | ~5 |
Nepal | 140 |
Brunei | 840 |
BIOT (British Indian Ocean Territory) | 35 |
Australia | 20 |
Japan | 85 |
Singapore | 5 |
New Zealand | 10 |
South Korea | 50 |
Maritime – 2x OPVs on Defence Engagement tasks | 105 |
Total | 1,297[1] |
There is no specific figure forecast to increase the total FTE in the next five-year period. Defence will ensure that increases in personnel are commensurate with our commitments to the region as set out in the Integrated Review and Defence Command Paper.
[1] These figures have been rounded to the nearest 5, in order to reflect the adaptive nature of Defence activity, however, the total figure represents the number of UK Defence Personnel deployed on the 8 December excluding those personnel working in Defence sections or as part of the global network.
Asked by: Liam Byrne (Labour - Birmingham, Hodge Hill)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what his Department's forecast is of (a) the total FTE and (b) the change in FTE complement for each of his embassies and consulates in the Indo-Pacific region, broken down by (i) embassy and (ii) consulate for each year in the next five-year period.
Answered by Anne-Marie Trevelyan - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
We have doubled the number of British High Commissions across the Pacific Island Countries over the past three years. The UK now has six High Commissions in the Pacific including: Fiji, Papua New Guinea, Solomon Islands, Tonga, Samoa and Vanuatu. The UK also opened the UK Mission to ASEAN in 2019 to strengthen UK-ASEAN engagement. Since achieving ASEAN Dialogue Partner Status, the UK Mission to ASEAN has expanded with further roles planned by March 2023.
We have increased resourcing in a number of key Missions including Canberra, Jakarta, and Singapore.
In addition, a significant and increasing number of FCDO roles both at Headquarters and across the global network, involve an element of China policy. This shift in focus and resource has been underway for a number of years. The FCDO dedicated an additional £3 million in 2020/21 and a further £3 million in 2022/23 to increase our capability on China, including a significantly expanded China Department and new China-related roles in the overseas network.
Following the Autumn Budget announced by the Prime Minister and Chancellor, FCDO ODA allocations are being worked through and will be published in due course. FCDO will also be launching detailed Business & Country Planning and Workforce Planning exercises in the new year. This will help to determine the FCDO's future workforce requirements from 2023-24 onwards, taking into account Ministerial priorities, and delivering our FCDO transformation.
The actual FCDO Official Development Assistance (ODA) spend has been published in Annex A within the Annual Report and Accounts for 2021-22 (https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/fcdo-annual-report-and-accounts-2021-to-2022) and 2020-21 (https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/fcdo-annual-report-and-accounts-2020-to-2021). ODA is measured on a calendar year basis. Provisional UK ODA figures are published annually in spring, with final figures in autumn. Final data for 2021 was published on 23 November 2022 (https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/statistics-on-international-development)