Asked by: Lisa Nandy (Labour - Wigan)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many full-time UK armed forces personnel are currently deployed overseas, by country of deployment.
Answered by James Heappey
In addition to the 7,025 at sea in Ships and Submarines around the globe, figures for those deployed overseas on 22 Jul 2021, including in Defence Sections of Embassies, International Headquarters, permanent deployments, on UN Duties, on Operations, participating in international exercises, or in support of other Defence activity, are listed in the table below. This represents a snapshot as numbers are continuously changing. Some of these details have been withheld due to operational sensitivity, including our current presence in Afghanistan.
COUNTRY | Personnel |
ALBANIA | 1 |
ALGERIA | 2 |
ARGENTINA | 2 |
AUSTRALIA | 200 |
AUSTRIA | 2 |
BAHRAIN | 193 |
BANGLADESH | 1 |
BARBADOS | 3 |
BELGIUM | 280 |
BELIZE | 67 |
BOSNIA AND HERZEGOVINA | 3 |
BRAZIL | 2 |
BRUNEI DARUSSALAM | 734 |
BULGARIA | 1 |
CAMEROON | 17 |
CANADA | 295 |
CHAD | 1 |
CHILE | 2 |
CHINA | 5 |
COLOMBIA | 3 |
CROATIA | 5 |
CURACAO | 2 |
CYPRUS | 3,272 |
CZECH REPUBLIC | 18 |
DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC OF CONGO | 4 |
DENMARK | 4 |
DIEGO GARCIA | 43 |
DJIBOUTI | 4 |
EGYPT | 4 |
ESTONIA | 716 |
ETHIOPIA | 2 |
FALKLAND ISLANDS | 843 |
FIJI | 1 |
FINLAND | 1 |
FRANCE | 83 |
GEORGIA | 34 |
GERMANY | 585 |
GHANA | 3 |
GIBRALTAR | 516 |
GREECE | 53 |
INDIA | 8 |
INDONESIA | 2 |
IRAQ | 152 |
IRELAND | 1 |
ISRAEL | 4 |
ITALY | 196 |
JAMAICA | 2 |
JAPAN | 5 |
JORDAN | 215 |
KAZAKHSTAN | 2 |
KENYA | 617 |
KOSOVO | 36 |
KUWAIT | 84 |
LATVIA | 19 |
LEBANON | 4 |
LITHUANIA | 2 |
MALAYSIA | 7 |
MALI | 442 |
MEXICO | 2 |
MOLDOVA | 1 |
MOROCCO | 2 |
NEPAL | 69 |
NETHERLANDS | 116 |
NEW ZEALAND | 6 |
NIGERIA | 53 |
NORTH MACEDONIA | 3 |
NORWAY | 49 |
OCCUPIED PALESTINIAN TERRITORIES | 6 |
OMAN | 235 |
PAKISTAN | 13 |
POLAND | 164 |
PORTUGAL | 27 |
QATAR | 134 |
ROMANIA | 175 |
RUSSIAN FEDERATION | 1 |
SAINT HELENA, ASCENSION AND TRISTAN DA CUNHA | 23 |
SAUDI ARABIA | 142 |
SENEGAL | 6 |
SERBIA | 1 |
SEYCHELLES | 1 |
SIERRA LEONE | 2 |
SINGAPORE | 9 |
SLOVAKIA | 1 |
SLOVENIA | 11 |
SOMALIA | 63 |
SOUTH AFRICA | 2 |
SOUTH KOREA | 7 |
SOUTH SUDAN | 5 |
SPAIN | 37 |
SRI LANKA | 1 |
SWEDEN | 3 |
THAILAND | 2 |
TUNISIA | 4 |
TURKEY | 46 |
TURKS AND CAICOS ISLANDS | 15 |
UGANDA | 2 |
UKRAINE | 436 |
UNITED ARAB EMIRATES | 141 |
UNITED STATES | 1,053 |
UZBEKISTAN | 1 |
VIETNAM | 2 |
ZAMBIA | 6 |
ZIMBABWE | 1 |
Asked by: Kenny MacAskill (Alba Party - East Lothian)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, with reference to the News release of 1 July 2021 by Police Scotland entitled Royal College of Defence Studies makes visit to SPC Tulliallan, which 22 countries comprised the delegation from the Royal College of Defence Studies that visited the Scottish Police College at Tulliallan on 30 June 2021.
Answered by James Heappey
The RCDS course member visit to the Scottish Police College at Tulliallan on 30 June 2021 comprised delegates from the following 21 nations; Afghanistan, Bosnia & Herzegovina, Botswana, Chile, India, Israel, Japan, Kenya, Malaysia, Netherlands, New Zealand, Nigeria, North Macedonia, Norway, Pakistan, Romania, Saudi Arabia, Spain, the UAE, the UK, and the USA.
Asked by: Lord Collins of Highbury (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask Her Majesty's Government how much bilateral official development assistance they expect to provide to North Macedonia in 2021/22.
Answered by Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
Annual country-level allocations will be published in the FCDO's 2021 Annual Report later this year, and programme-level funding is regularly updated on DevTracker.
Final country data is published in the Statistics for International Development each year, and spend for 2021 will be published in this document in autumn 2022.
Asked by: Emily Thornberry (Labour - Islington South and Finsbury)
Question to the Department for International Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, what her planned timetable is for negotiating revised trade agreements with (a) Liechtenstein, (b) Switzerland, (c) Canada, (d) Singapore, (e) Israel, (f) Mexico, (g) Egypt, (h) North Macedonia, (i) Chile, (j) Morocco, (k) Ukraine, (l) Lebanon, (m) Jordan, (n) Tunisia, (o) Serbia, (p) Georgia, (q) Faroe Islands, (r) Moldova, (s) Albania, (t) Kosovo and (u) Palestine to enable companies using the duty-free provisions in the UK’s new generation of freeports to access the tariff reductions available on UK exports to those countries.
Answered by Ranil Jayawardena
The United Kingdom has already committed to beginning negotiations with Canada and Mexico by the end of 2021. HM Government will continue to keep all agreements under review, as we seek to improve benefits for all British businesses, including those operating in our freeports.
Asked by: Lord Chidgey (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the implementation of the new regional training initiative in the Western Balkans; and whether it will include joint training for Serbia, North Macedonia, and Kosovo.
Answered by Baroness Goldie
The establishment of a Western Balkans regional training initiative is a further sign of the UK's continuing commitment to the Western Balkans. The initiative will develop our understanding of the training needs of the Armed Forces of the Western Balkans, and improve the way we coordinate and deliver training and capacity building. We aim to ensure the nations of the region can contribute to international security and to increase cooperation. The training cell will be established later this year and discussions are ongoing about what training will be provided.
Asked by: Lord Tunnicliffe (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what countries the British Armed Forces provided training to on UK territory in (1) 2020, and (2) 2021.
Answered by Baroness Goldie
Personnel from the countries listed in the table below have attended defence education or training in the UK in 2019-20 and 2020-21.
Year | Countries |
2019/20 | AFGHANISTAN ALBANIA ALGERIA ANGOLA ANTIGUA & BARBUDA ARGENTINA ARMENIA AUSTRALIA AUSTRIA AZERBAIJAN BAHAMAS BAHRAIN BANGLADESH BARBADOS BELARUS BELGIUM BELIZE BOSNIA & HERZEGOVINA BRAZIL BRUNEI CAMEROON CANADA CHILE CHINA COLOMBIA CROATIA CYPRUS CZECH REPUBLIC DENMARK EGYPT ESTONIA ETHIOPIA FIJI FINLAND FRANCE GAMBIA GEORGIA GERMANY GHANA GREECE GRENADA GUYANA HUNGARY INDIA INDONESIA IRAQ IRELAND ISRAEL ITALY JAMAICA JAPAN JORDAN KAZAKHSTAN KENYA KOSOVO KUWAIT KYRGYZSTAN LATVIA LEBANON LESOTHO LITHUANIA LUXEMBOURG MALAWI MALAYSIA MALDIVES MALI MALTA MAURITIUS MEXICO MOLDOVA MONGOLIA MONTENEGRO MOROCCO MOZAMBIQUE NEPAL NETHERLANDS NEW ZEALAND NIGER NIGERIA NORTH MACEDONIA NORWAY OMAN PAKISTAN OCCUPIED PALESTINIAN TERRITORIES PAPUA NEW GUINEA PARAGUAY PHILIPPINES POLAND PORTUGAL QATAR ROMANIA RWANDA SAUDI ARABIA SENEGAL SERBIA SIERRA LEONE SINGAPORE SLOVENIA SOUTH AFRICA SOUTH KOREA SPAIN SRI LANKA SWEDEN SWITZERLAND THAILAND TONGA TRINIDAD AND TOBAGO TURKEY UGANDA UKRAINE UNITED ARAB EMIRATES URUGUAY USA UZBEKISTAN VIETNAM |
2020/21 | AFGHANISTAN ALBANIA ARMENIA AUSTRALIA AUSTRIA AZERBAIJAN BAHAMAS BAHRAIN BANGLADESH BELGIUM BELIZE BHUTAN BOSNIA & HERZEGOVINA BOTSWANA BRAZIL BRUNEI CAMEROON CANADA CHILE COLOMBIA CYPRUS CZECH REPUBLIC DENMARK EGYPT ESTONIA ETHIOPIA FIJI FINLAND FRANCE GEORGIA GERMANY GHANA GREECE HUNGARY INDIA INDONESIA IRAQ IRELAND ISRAEL ITALY JAMAICA JAPAN JORDAN KENYA KOSOVO KUWAIT LEBANON LITHUANIA MALAWI MALAYSIA MALDIVES MALI MALTA MOLDOVA MONGOLIA MONTENEGRO MOROCCO NEPAL NETHERLANDS NEW ZEALAND NIGER NIGERIA NORTH MACEDONIA NORWAY OMAN PAKISTAN OCCUPIED PALESTINIAN TERRITORIES PARAGUAY POLAND PORTUGAL QATAR ROMANIA SAUDI ARABIA SIERRA LEONE SINGAPORE SLOVAKIA SOUTH KOREA SPAIN SRI LANKA SWITZERLAND THAILAND TONGA TUNISIA UGANDA UKRAINE UNITED ARAB EMIRATES URUGUAY USA |
Note: MOD records information on International Defence Training (IDT) by financial year, rather than by calendar year. Information is taken from a central IDT database. Some activity may not be captured on that database.
Asked by: Gregory Campbell (Democratic Unionist Party - East Londonderry)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what progress NATO is making on expanding its membership since the joining of North Macedonia.
Answered by James Heappey
NATO membership is open to any European country that is able to undertake the commitments and obligations of membership of the Alliance, and contribute to security in the Euro-Atlantic area. This "open door policy" is based upon Article 10 of the Washington Treaty.
Since the accession to NATO of the Republic of North Macedonia in March 2020, three NATO partner countries have continued to undertake domestic reforms which will help them to pursue their Euro-Atlantic aspirations: Bosnia-Herzegovina, Georgia and Ukraine. NATO's engagement with each of these continues through bespoke means: with Georgia through the NATO-Georgia Council; with Ukraine through the NATO-Ukraine Council; and with Bosnia-Herzegovina through the Membership Action Plan, which has been in place since 2010. As a means of improving their interoperability with NATO, Georgia and Ukraine also enjoy "Enhanced Opportunities Partner" status with the Alliance.
Asked by: Lord Grocott (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for International Trade:
To ask Her Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answers by Lord Grimstone of Boscobel on 22 February (HL13173) and 9 March (HL13586), to list in the body of their answer which specific countries they have secured continuity trade agreements with since the UK’s departure from the EU.
Answered by Lord Grimstone of Boscobel
In addition to our deal with the EU, we have secured trade agreements with 66 non-EU countries, covering £890 billion of trade in total (2019 data). These are:
Albania;
Antigua and Barbuda;
Barbados;
The Bahamas;
Belize;
Botswana;
Cameroon;
Canada;
Colombia;
Côte d’Ivoire (The Ivory Coast);
Costa Rica;
Chile;
Dominica;
The Dominican Republic;
Ecuador;
Egypt;
El Salvador;
Eswatini (Swaziland);
The Faroe Islands;
Fiji;
Ghana;
Grenada;
Guyana;
Guatemala;
Georgia;
Honduras;
Iceland;
Israel;
Japan;
Jordan;
Jamaica;
Kenya;
Kosovo;
Lebanon;
Lesotho;
Liechtenstein;
Mexico;
Morocco;
Moldova;
Mozambique;
Mauritius;
Nicaragua;
Norway;
North Macedonia;
Namibia;
Peru;
Panama;
Papua New Guinea;
The Palestinian Authority;
Saint Lucia;
St. Vincent and the Grenadines;
Samoa;
The Solomon Islands;
St. Kitts and Nevis;
The Seychelles;
South Africa;
Switzerland;
Singapore;
South Korea;
Suriname;
Trinidad and Tobago;
Tunisia;
Turkey;
Ukraine;
Vietnam; and
Zimbabwe.
Asked by: Baroness Helic (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask Her Majesty's Government how many (1) UK national, and (2) locally engaged, staff were employed in the British embassies in (a) Slovenia, (b) Croatia, (c) Bosnia-Herzegovina, (d) Serbia, (e) Montenegro, (f) North Macedonia, (g) Kosovo, and (h) Albania, in the (i) 2015/16, (ii) 2016/17, (iii) 2017/18, (iv) 2018/19, (v) 2019/20, and (vi) 2020/21, financial years.
Answered by Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
As at 31 March 2020, the FCDO UK based headcount band for each Embassy requested is set out in the table below.
| (i) 31st March 2016 | (ii) 31st March 2017 | (iii) 31st March 2018 | (iv) 31st March 2019 | (v) 31st March 2020 | 31st December 2020 | ||||||
Country and Embassy (PQ HL12645) | FCDO UKB staff- Band | FCDO CBS- Band | FCDO UKB staff- Band | FCDO CBS- Band | FCDO UKB staff- Band | FCDO CBS- Band | FCDO UKB staff- Band | FCDO CBS- Band | FCDO UKB staff- Band | FCDO CBS- Band | FCDO UKB staff- Band | FCDO CBS- Band |
a) Slovenia | fewer than 10 | 10-19 | fewer than 10 | fewer than 10 | fewer than 10 | fewer than 10 | fewer than 10 | 10-19 | fewer than 10 | 10-19 | fewer than 10 | 10-19 |
b) Croatia | fewer than 10 | 20-29 | fewer than 10 | 20-29 | fewer than 10 | 20-29 | fewer than 10 | 20-29 | fewer than 10 | 20-29 | fewer than 10 | 20-29 |
c) Bosnia and Herzegovina | fewer than 10 | 20-29 | fewer than 10 | 10-19 | fewer than 10 | 20-29 | fewer than 10 | 20-29 | fewer than 10 | 20-29 | fewer than 10 | 20-29 |
d) Serbia | fewer than 10 | 50-59 | fewer than 10 | 50-59 | 10-19 | 50-59 | 10-19 | 50-59 | 10-19 | 50-59 | 10-19 | 50-59 |
e) Montenegro | fewer than 10 | 10-19 | fewer than 10 | 10-19 | fewer than 10 | 10-19 | fewer than 10 | 10-19 | fewer than 10 | 10-19 | fewer than 10 | 10-19 |
f) North Macedonia | fewer than 10 | 20-29 | fewer than 10 | 10-19 | fewer than 10 | 10-19 | fewer than 10 | 10-19 | fewer than 10 | 10-19 | fewer than 10 | 10-19 |
g) Kosovo | fewer than 10 | 30-39 | fewer than 10 | 30-39 | fewer than 10 | 30-39 | fewer than 10 | 30-39 | fewer than 10 | 30-39 | fewer than 10 | 30-39 |
h) Albania | fewer than 10 | 20-29 | fewer than 10 | 20-29 | fewer than 10 | 20-29 | fewer than 10 | 20-29 | fewer than 10 | 20-29 | fewer than 10 | 20-29 |
UKB – UK Based Staff
CBS – Country Based Staff
Asked by: Baroness Helic (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask Her Majesty's Government how many (1) UK national, and (2) locally engaged, staff are employed in the British embassies in (a) Slovenia, (b) Croatia, (c) Bosnia-Herzegovina, (d) Serbia, (e) Montenegro, (f) North Macedonia, (g) Kosovo, and (h) Albania.
Answered by Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
As at 31st December 2020, the FCDO UK based headcount band for each Country requested is set out in the table below.
Country and Embassy (PQ HL12645) | FCDO UK Based staff- Band | FCDO Country Based Staff- Band |
a) Slovenia | Fewer than 10 | 10-19 |
b) Croatia | Fewer than 10 | 20-29 |
c) Bosnia and Herzegovina | Fewer than 10 | 20-29 |
d) Serbia | 10-19 | 50-59 |
e) Montenegro | Fewer than 10 | 10-19 |
f) North Macedonia | Fewer than 10 | 10-19 |
g) Kosovo | Fewer than 10 | 30-39 |
h) Albania | Fewer than 10 | 20-29 |