Asked by: Andrew Rosindell (Conservative - Romford)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, which British Overseas Territories are eligible to receive Overseas Development Aid; and what recent discussions they have had about expanding the rules so that other British Overseas Territories are eligible for that aid.
Answered by Jesse Norman
Montserrat, the Pitcairn Islands, St Helena and Tristan da Cunha are eligible for Overseas Development Aid. There are no ongoing discussions to expand the list of Overseas Territories eligible for regular Overseas Development Aid.
Asked by: Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi (Labour - Slough)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, how much funding the Government has provided for removing invasive non-native plants which threaten native cloud forests in St Helena in each of the last five years.
Answered by Amanda Milling - Government Whip, Lord Commissioner of HM Treasury
The UK Government has funded 3 projects over the last 5 years that have included support for the removal of invasive non-native plants as part of the cloud forest rehabilitation. Two of these projects have been funded by grants from Darwin Plus: DPLUS059 for the establishment of the national framework for invasive plant management in St Helena and DPLUS099 for fragmented cloud forest habitat rehabilitation through innovative invasive plant management. A third project is funded by the Conflict, Stability and Security Fund Environmental Sustainability and Climate Change Programme to restore the cloud forest, remove invasive plants and improve water security. The funding for these projects, which cover multiple programmes on St Helena, over the last five financial years is:
2018/19 - £82,793
2019/20 - £166,775
2020/21 - £90,000
2021/22 - £785,048
2022/23 - £993,659 grant allocation for this Financial Year
Asked by: Andrew Rosindell (Conservative - Romford)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many people from the British Overseas Territories have served in the British Armed forces in each of the last five years, by each Overseas Territory.
Answered by Leo Docherty - Minister of State (Ministry of Defence) (Minister for the Armed Forces)
The table below shows the number of personnel from the British Overseas Territories serving in the trained and untrained Regular and Reserve Armed Forces between 2017 and 2021. Nationality is recorded on the Joint Personnel Administration (JPA) system. JPA allows personnel to select British Overseas Territory Citizen (BOTC), or one of five specific territories. The vast majority of personnel select the BOTC option. It is therefore not possible to provide a breakdown of all British Overseas Territories.
Table 1: Number of British Overseas Territory1 UK Regulars2 and Future Reserves 20203 personnel serving in each calendar year4 between 2017 and 2021. |
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| 2017 | 2018 | 2019 | 2020 | 2021 |
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British Overseas Territory Citizen5 | 160 | 150 | 140 | 110 | 70 |
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British Virgin Islander | ~ | ~ | ~ | ~ | ~ |
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Cayman Islander | ~ | ~ | - | - | - |
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Gibraltarian | ~ | ~ | ~ | ~ | ~ |
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Monserratian | ~ | ~ | ~ | ~ | ~ |
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St Helenian | 10 | 10 | 10 | ~ | ~ |
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Grand Total | 170 | 160 | 150 | 120 | 80 |
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Notes: |
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| Nationality is as recorded on the Joint Personnel Administration database. Primary nationality has been used, so people with only a secondary nationality of a British Overseas Territory have not been included. |
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| UK Regulars include Full-time Service personnel, including Nursing Services, but excluding FTRS personnel, Gurkhas, mobilised Reservists, MPGS, LEP and NRPS. |
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| Future Reserves 2020 includes volunteer reserves who are mobilised, HRR and volunteer reserve personnel serving on ADC or FTRS contracts. Sponsored Reserves who provide a more cost effective solution than volunteer reserve are also included in the Army Reserve FR20. Non Regular Permanent Staff (NRPS), Expeditionary Forces Institute (EFI) and University Officer Cadets and Regular Reservists are excluded. |
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| If a service person has been recorded as having a British Overseas Territory as a primary Nationality at least once within each year, then they have been recorded once within that year. |
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| British Overseas Territories Citizens includes personnel from Anguila, Bermuda, British Antarctic Territory, British Indian Ocean Territory, British Virgin Islands, Cayman Islands, Falkland Islands, Gibraltar, Montserrat, Pitcairn Islands, Saint Helena, Ascension and Tristan da Cunha, South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands, Turks and Caicos Islands. This could mean the populations for British Virgin Islander, Cayman Islander, Gibraltarian, Monserratian and St Helenian are under-represented. |
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| Figures for both UK Regulars and FR20 include both trained and untrained personnel. |
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| Figures in this publication 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. Figures 5 or less have been indicated with a "~" and where there are no personnel has been indicated by a "-". |
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Asked by: Andrew Percy (Conservative - Brigg and Goole)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what steps her Department is taking to ensure that citizens in the British Overseas Territories receive booster shots of the covid-19 vaccine.
Answered by Amanda Milling - Government Whip, Lord Commissioner of HM Treasury
The Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office has been supporting the Overseas Territories since the outset of the pandemic. This includes the provision of vaccines which have been provided on a population proportionate basis with the United Kingdom. The UK Overseas Territories have some of the highest vaccination rates globally and the roll out of booster vaccines began in October 2021. To date, eleven (Anguilla, Ascension Island, Bermuda, the British Virgin Islands, Cayman Islands, Falkland Islands, Gibraltar, Montserrat, St Helena, South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands and the Turks & Caicos Islands Overseas Territories) have received booster vaccines. Plans are in hand to deliver boosters to the remaining three Overseas Territories (Pitcairn, Tristan da Cunha and staff at the British Antarctic Territory) in early 2022.
Asked by: Lord Jones of Cheltenham (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask Her Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Baroness Vere of Norbiton on 25 May (HL48), whether they plan to provide funding for the St Helena Government to charter aircraft in order to improve prospects for the tourism industry on the Island towards the aim of economic self-sufficiency.
Answered by Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
The UK Government has recently confirmed its contribution to the St Helena Government's budget for 2021/22. St Helena Government will provide funding for charter flights that maintain essential access to and from the Island. The UK Government continues to work with the St Helena Government in their efforts to stimulate the economy and encourage tourists to visit the Island in future.
Asked by: Stephen Doughty (Labour (Co-op) - Cardiff South and Penarth)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
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% |
Asked by: Lord Jones of Cheltenham (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what plans they have to charter aircraft for tourists wishing to visit (1) St Helena, (2) Ascension, (3) Falkland Islands, and (4) any other 'green list' territories which have no current regular air services, in order to boost the tourism sector in those territories.
Answered by Baroness Vere of Norbiton - Parliamentary Secretary (HM Treasury)
The Government has no plans to charter additional aircraft for tourists wishing to visit St Helena, Ascension, the Falklands Islands or any other current 'green list' territories.
The destinations which airlines fly to is a commercial decision for the airline.
Asked by: Imran Ahmad Khan (Independent - Wakefield)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
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.
Asked by: Imran Ahmad Khan (Independent - Wakefield)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
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.
Asked by: Luke Pollard (Labour (Co-op) - Plymouth, Sutton and Devonport)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, whether British Overseas Territories Governments are planned to be represented in the wider UK delegation to COP15 in China.
Answered by Nigel Adams
The UK's ratification of the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) does not automatically extend to the Overseas Territories (OTs), but to date the CBD has been extended to five of the UK OTs - British Virgin Islands, St Helena, Ascension Island & Tristan da Cunha, Cayman Islands, Gibraltar, South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands and the Falkland Islands.
The make-up of the UK delegation to CBD COP15 will be confirmed closer to the time and will be dependent on the conference agenda and format.