Asked by: Baroness Kennedy of Cradley (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government which countries the UK has visa free travel arrangements with for British citizens.
Answered by Lord Murray of Blidworth
FCDO, who have responsibility for this information, have said that the information this question is requesting can be found in public domain https://visaguide.world/visa-free-countries/uk-passport/
We have included the list for ease:
Albania
American Samoa
Andorra
Anguilla
Antigua and Barbuda
Argentina
Armenia
Aruba
Australia
Austria
Bahamas
Barbados
Belarus
Belgium
Belize
Bermuda
Bolivia
Caribbean Netherlands
Bosnia and Herzegovina
Botswana
Brazil
British Virgin Islands
Brunei
Bulgaria
Canada
Cabo Verde
Cayman Islands
Chile
Colombia
Cook Islands
Costa Rica
Croatia
Curaçao
Cyprus
Czechia
Denmark
Dominica
Dominican Republic
Ecuador
El Salvador
Estonia
Falkland Islands
Faroe Islands
Fiji
Finland
France
French Guiana
French Polynesia
French West Indies
Georgia
Germany
Gibraltar
Greece
Greenland
Grenada
Guam
Guatemala
Guyana
Haiti
Honduras
Hong Kong
Hungary
Iceland
Indonesia
Iraq
Ireland
Israel
Italy
Jamaica
Kazakhstan
Kiribati
Kosovo
Kyrgyzstan
Latvia
Lesotho
Liechtenstein
Lithuania
Luxembourg
Macau
Malaysia
Malta
Marshall Islands
Mauritius
Mayotte
Mexico
Micronesia
Moldova
Monaco
Mongolia
Montenegro
Montserrat
Morocco
Namibia
Netherlands
New Caledonia
New Zealand
Nicaragua
Niue
North Macedonia
Northern Mariana Islands
Norway
Oman
Pakistan
Palestine
Panama
Paraguay
Peru
Philippines
Poland
Portugal
Puerto Rico
Qatar
Réunion
Romania
San Marino
São Tomé and Príncipe
Senegal
Serbia
Singapore
Slovakia
Slovenia
South Africa
South Korea
Spain
Sri Lanka
Saint Kitts and Nevis
Saint Lucia
Saint Martin
Saint Vincent and the Grenadines
Sweden
Switzerland
Taiwan
Thailand
Gambia
Trinidad and Tobago
Tunisia
Turks and Caicos Islands
Türkiye
United States Virgin Islands
Ukraine
United States
Uruguay
Uzbekistan
Vanuatu
Vatican City
Venezuela
Vietnam
Zambia
Eswatin
Asked by: Caroline Lucas (Green Party - Brighton, Pavilion)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, which countries (a) requested covid-19 vaccines from the UK and (b) had this request granted and dispatched to them in 2020.
Answered by Maria Caulfield
The following countries requested and received United Kingdom donated doses either bilaterally or via COVAX: Afghanistan, Angola, Antiqua and Barbuda, Armenia, Bangladesh, Belize, Cambodia, Chad, Cote D’Ivoire, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Dominica, Djibouti, Egypt, Ethiopia, Ghana, Grenada, Guyana, Indonesia, Jamaica, Kenya, Laos, Mauritius, Malawi, Malaysia, Myanmar, Namibia, Nepal, Niger, Nigeria, Pakistan, the Philippines, Rwanda, Saint Vincent & Grenadines, Senegal, Somalia, St Lucia, Sudan, Tanzania, Thailand, Uganda, Ukraine, Vietnam, Yemen, Zambia.
No COVID-19 vaccinations were dispatched prior to 2021.
Asked by: Fabian Hamilton (Labour - Leeds North East)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, whether he has had discussions with his G7 counterparts on the engagement of Caribbean countries with the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD).
Answered by David Rutley
The OECD has a well-established Regional Programme which includes countries of the Caribbean (the Latin America & Caribbean Regional Programme - LACRP). The UK is co-chair of the Small Islands Developing States (SIDS) Working Group at the OECD Development Assistance Committee (DAC) and is in regular contact with G7 members on the breadth of issues that affect the region.
In 2022 the UK, Belize, Fiji and the Alliance of Small Island States (AOSIS) launched a new `Friends of SIDS' group that will also link to wider issues of concern in the Caribbean. That group will work to promote the recommendations of the Call to Action on SIDS Access to Finance.
Asked by: Andrew Rosindell (Reform UK - Romford)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, how many commercial fishing licences were sold in Tristan da Cunha in (a) each of the years from 2016 to 2021 and (b) 2022 to date; what the monetary value was of such licences; what the flag state was of each of the licenced vessels; and what fish they were licenced to catch.
Answered by Anne-Marie Trevelyan
The Following commercial fishing licences were issued by the Government of Tristan da Cunha;
2016 - one licence each for longline fishing of Bluenose Warehou and Tristan Lobster.
2017 to 2019 one licence each per year for longline fishing of Bluenose Warehou, one for trawling of Alfonsino and one for Tristan Lobster.
2020 to 2022 - One licence per year for Tristan Lobster fishing.
The lobster fishing and longline vessels are registered in Belize. The trawling vessel is registered in the Falkland Islands.
The value of these licenses is a commercial matter between the Tristan government and the licensee and as such the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office is unable to release this information.
Asked by: Stephen Kinnock (Labour - Aberafan Maesteg)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what recent discussions she has had with representatives of the governments of (a) Belize, (b) Peru, (c) Paraguay and (d) any other country on potential bilateral agreements with the UK on migration.
Answered by David Rutley
Our world-leading Migration and Economic Development Partnership with Rwanda will help break the business model of criminal people smuggling gangs and save lives. We are committed to working with a range of international partners to tackle the global migration crisis and are always in talks with a range of partners about how we can work together.
Asked by: Sarah Champion (Labour - Rotherham)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, with reference to the announcement at the Commonwealth Heads of Government Annual Meeting by the Prime Minister of £2.7 million in funding to support LGBT+ grassroots human rights defenders, and advance equality and freedom across the Commonwealth, what plans the Government has to provide such funding to other parts of the world.
Answered by Vicky Ford
The UK is committed to championing LGBT+ rights internationally and supporting those who defend them. As well as working across the Commonwealth, our programmes also work in countries across the world, such as Belize and Seychelles, supporting human rights defenders to promote the implementation of new laws and policies that better protect LGBT+ people from violence and discrimination. As an example, we are strengthening data in support of LGBT+ people at risk in and fleeing from Afghanistan, as well as continuing to support at-risk Afghans, including LGBT+ people, to come to the UK and we expect more to arrive in the UK in the coming months.
Asked by: Lord Lilley (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask Her Majesty's Government how many nurses joined the Nursing and Midwife Council Register from countries graded by the World Health Organisation as having fewer nurses than the global median in the most recent year for which figures are available
Answered by Lord Kamall - Shadow Minister (Health and Social Care)
The Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC) is the independent regulator of nurses, midwives, and nursing associates in the United Kingdom. The following table shows the number of nurses, midwives, and nursing associates joining the NMC’s register from each country with fewer nursing and midwifery personnel per 10,000 people than the global median in the year ending 31 March 2022.
Bahrain 4
Bangladesh 1
Barbados 18
Belize 17
Cameroon 17
China 6
Colombia 3
Egypt 13
Eswatini 9
Ethiopia 1
Gambia 12
India 9,769
Iran 19
Iraq 1
Jamaica 115
Jordan 12
Kenya 461
Lebanon 20
Lesotho 18
Malawi 7
Malaysia 20
Namibia 11
Nepal 210
Niger 1
Nigeria 3,010
Pakistan 112
Saint Lucia 13
Sri Lanka 14
Tanzania 1
Tunisia 1
Turkey 2
Uganda 30
Zambia 57
Zimbabwe 913
Notes:
1. The World Health Organization publishes a measure of the number of nurses per 10,000 population. The median for their measure, unweighted by countries population is 35.07 nursing and midwifery personnel per 10,000 population.
2. Countries below the median level of nursing and midwifery personnel per 10,000 population where there were no joiners to the NMC register are excluded.
Asked by: Gareth Thomas (Labour (Co-op) - Harrow West)
Question to the Department for International Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, what the Preference Utilisation Rates are in total for UK trade with (a) Antigua and Barbuda, (b) Bahamas, (c) Barbados, (d) Belize, (e) Dominica, (f) Dominican Republic, (g) Grenada, (h) Guyana, (i) Jamaica, (j) St Kitts and Nevis, (k) Saint Lucia, (l) St Vincent and Grenadines, (m) Suriname, (n) Trinidad and Tobago and (o) for the Cariforum Trade Bloc as a whole in each of the last five years; and if she will make a statement.
Answered by Ranil Jayawardena
Data up to the end of January 2020 is publicly available, but no comparable data is available for after this period.
Exports analysis 2017-19: https://trade.ec.europa.eu/doclib/html/159047.htm
Imports analysis 2017-19: https://trade.ec.europa.eu/doclib/html/159046.htm
Eurostat preference utilisation data for all periods 2000 to end January 2020: Easy Comext, Adjusted extra-EU imports since 2000 by tariff regime (DS-059281).
Asked by: Lord Coaker (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask Her Majesty's Government, further to remarks made by Baroness Goldie on 25 November (HL Deb, col 1057), how many regional hubs for army deployment and training are being created; where they are being created; and when they will be operational.
Answered by Baroness Goldie - Shadow Minister (Defence)
Land Regional Hubs will be established as part of the wider Defence Global Hub concept that will support the delivery of regional Military Strategic Objectives. The Army will capitalise on our pre-existing network of overseas bases in Oman, Kenya, Brunei, Belize and Germany, integrating with and augmenting the existing global network for Defence.
Asked by: John Healey (Labour - Rawmarsh and Conisbrough)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, with reference to the oral contribution of the Secretary of State for Defence of 25 November 2021, Official Report, column 483, if he will publish a list of his planned network of regional hubs.
Answered by James Heappey
Land Regional Hubs will be established as part of the wider Defence Global Hub concept that will support the delivery of regional Military Strategic Objectives. The Army will capitalise on our pre-existing network of overseas bases in Oman, Kenya, Brunei, Belize and Germany, integrating with and augmenting the existing global network for Defence.