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: Helen Morgan (Liberal Democrat - North Shropshire)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if she will take steps to establishing mutual recognition schemes for dental qualifications with other countries; and if she will make an estimate of the potential impact of mutual recognition schemes on the average time taken to recruit dentists from overseas.
Answered by Andrea Leadsom - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The General Dental Council (GDC) is the independent regulator of dentistry and dental care professionals practising in the United Kingdom. Only dentists and dental care professionals registered with the GDC can legally practise dentistry in the UK. Currently, to be entered into the dentists register, an individual must satisfy the GDC’s requirements and either: have received their qualifications from a recognised UK dental school; hold recognised qualifications in dentistry from the European Economic Area or Switzerland; hold recognised qualifications in dentistry obtained before 1 January 2001 from certain overseas universities; or pass either the Overseas Registration Exam run by the GDC, or the License in Dental Surgery run by the Royal College of Surgeons.
In March 2023, we introduced legislation that gives the GDC greater flexibility in expanding the registration routes for international applicants, and improving its international registration processes. This includes enabling the GDC to broaden the ways in which it can assess additional overseas qualifications to determine if they are sufficient for registration as a dentist.
On 16 February 2024, we launched a consultation on introducing further legislation that would give the GDC powers to provisionally register overseas-qualified dentists who have not yet met the GDC’s requirements for full registration. Under these proposals, holders of provisional registration would be able to practise dentistry in the UK for a limited time under the supervision of a fully registered dentist, whilst they are seeking to meet the GDC’s requirements for full registration.
Asked by: Helen Morgan (Liberal Democrat - North Shropshire)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if she will take steps with the General Dental Council to improve the registration process for dentists who qualified outside the UK.
Answered by Andrea Leadsom - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
To join the General Dental Council’s (GDC) dentists register, a person must hold: a dentistry degree from a recognised United Kingdom dental school; a qualification in dentistry from a European Economic Area country or Switzerland, recognised under the European Union exit standstill arrangements; or a qualification in dentistry obtained before 2001 from one of a limited number of overseas dental schools.
For dentists with qualifications gained from anywhere else, they must demonstrate to the GDC that they have the required skills and knowledge for full registration. Currently, this means they are required to pass one of the following examinations before they can apply for registration: the Overseas Registration Exam; or the Licence in Dental Surgery exam, offered by the Royal College of Surgeons of England.
Legislative changes which came into force in March 2023 gave the GDC greater flexibility in expanding the registration routes for international applicants, and improving its international registration processes. On 16 February 2024, the Government launched a consultation on further draft legislation that would give the GDC powers to provisionally register overseas-qualified dentists who have not yet met the GDC’s requirements for full registration.
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 the Government has taken to help increase levels of exports to Switzerland in the last two years.
Answered by Greg Hands - Minister of State (Department for Business and Trade)
I refer the Honourable Member to the response provided to Question 12702 on 8 February.
Asked by: Zarah Sultana (Labour - Coventry South)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Minister of State, Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, with reference to the press notice entitled Allegations about UNRWA staff and 7 October attacks: FCDO statement, published on 27 January 2024, what steps his Department is taking to review those allegations; and what estimate he has made of when that review will be concluded.
Answered by Andrew Mitchell - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office) (Minister for Development)
We are appalled by allegations that UNRWA staff were involved in the 7 October attack against Israel, a heinous act of terrorism that the UK Government has repeatedly condemned. We are pausing any future funding of UNRWA whilst we review these concerning allegations.The United States, Germany, Australia, Italy, Canada, Finland, Switzerland and the Netherlands have all temporarily paused funding.
The pause will remain in place until we review the allegations, and we are looking to our partners in the UN to carry out a robust and comprehensive investigation.
Any future funding decisions will be taken after this point.
Our decision to pause future funding to UNRWA has no impact on the UK's contribution to the humanitarian response. We are getting on with aid delivery through funding multiple implementing partners including other UN agencies and international and UK NGOs. This support is helping people in Gaza get food, water, shelter and medicines.
Asked by: Barbara Keeley (Labour - Worsley and Eccles South)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, if his Department has made an assessment of the potential impact of the time taken to issue A1 forms on the UK’s live music sector.
Answered by Nigel Huddleston - Financial Secretary (HM Treasury)
Many musicians travel internationally for performances, and HMRC acknowledges that access to A1 certificates is important to them in accessing their social security rights in the EU, EEA and Switzerland.
HMRC has seen a significant rise in the number of A1 applications and in other National Insurance work which has impacted processing times.
While progress has been made, HMRC acknowledges that more needs to be done to meet its service standards and is aiming to do so for all types of A1 applications by the end of April 2024. To address this the department has implemented a recovery strategy, including providing additional resources. HMRC has also recently introduced new online versions of the A1 application forms based on customer feedback, along with additional features to improve the application process.
Asked by: Barbara Keeley (Labour - Worsley and Eccles South)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what the average processing time was for issuing an A1 form in (a) January 2023, (b) September 2023, (c) December 2023 and (d) January 2024.
Answered by Nigel Huddleston - Financial Secretary (HM Treasury)
Many musicians travel internationally for performances, and HMRC acknowledges that access to A1 certificates is important to them in accessing their social security rights in the EU, EEA and Switzerland.
HMRC has seen a significant rise in the number of A1 applications and in other National Insurance work which has impacted processing times.
While progress has been made, HMRC acknowledges that more needs to be done to meet its service standards and is aiming to do so for all types of A1 applications by the end of April 2024. To address this the department has implemented a recovery strategy, including providing additional resources. HMRC has also recently introduced new online versions of the A1 application forms based on customer feedback, along with additional features to improve the application process.
Asked by: Barbara Keeley (Labour - Worsley and Eccles South)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether he plans to deliver his Department's service standards for the issuing of A1 forms by April 2024.
Answered by Nigel Huddleston - Financial Secretary (HM Treasury)
Many musicians travel internationally for performances, and HMRC acknowledges that access to A1 certificates is important to them in accessing their social security rights in the EU, EEA and Switzerland.
HMRC has seen a significant rise in the number of A1 applications and in other National Insurance work which has impacted processing times.
While progress has been made, HMRC acknowledges that more needs to be done to meet its service standards and is aiming to do so for all types of A1 applications by the end of April 2024. To address this the department has implemented a recovery strategy, including providing additional resources. HMRC has also recently introduced new online versions of the A1 application forms based on customer feedback, along with additional features to improve the application process.
Asked by: Barbara Keeley (Labour - Worsley and Eccles South)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what progress HMRC has made on reducing the time taken to issue f A1 forms.
Answered by Nigel Huddleston - Financial Secretary (HM Treasury)
Many musicians travel internationally for performances, and HMRC acknowledges that access to A1 certificates is important to them in accessing their social security rights in the EU, EEA and Switzerland.
HMRC has seen a significant rise in the number of A1 applications and in other National Insurance work which has impacted processing times.
While progress has been made, HMRC acknowledges that more needs to be done to meet its service standards and is aiming to do so for all types of A1 applications by the end of April 2024. To address this the department has implemented a recovery strategy, including providing additional resources. HMRC has also recently introduced new online versions of the A1 application forms based on customer feedback, along with additional features to improve the application process.
Asked by: Caroline Lucas (Green Party - Brighton, Pavilion)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Minister of State, Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, what discussions he held with (a) his international counterparts and (b) United Nations organisations before deciding to pause funding to the UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA).
Answered by Andrew Mitchell - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office) (Minister for Development)
We are appalled by allegations that the United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) staff were involved in the 7 October attack against Israel, a heinous act of terrorism that the UK Government has repeatedly condemned. We are pausing any future funding of UNRWA whilst we review these concerning allegations. The US, Germany, Australia, Italy, Canada, Finland, Switzerland and the Netherlands have also all temporarily paused funding.
We remain committed to getting humanitarian aid to the people in Gaza who desperately need it, including through other UN agencies such as the UN World Food Programme, and UNICEF. We engage regularly with our international and UN partners, including UNRWA, on a wide range of issues relating to the humanitarian situation and the delivery of aid to Gaza.