Asked by: Lord Bourne of Aberystwyth (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask His Majesty's Government what discussions, if any, they have held with EU countries regarding the introduction of safety and security declaration requirements for EU imports on 31 October, and what were the contents of any such discussions.
Answered by Baroness Vere of Norbiton - Parliamentary Secretary (HM Treasury)
Government officials engage regularly with officials from EU Member States to discuss new customs-related requirements, including safety and security declarations. This has included official visits to Belgium, France, the Netherlands, Denmark and Ireland with further engagement planned for Italy, Spain, Poland and Germany in 2024. Baroness Neville-Rolfe visited Belgium to discuss import controls with the Belgian Government and industry in early February 2024. Partners have been extremely helpful in communicating these requirements using their own stakeholder communication channels, and providing suggestions for further guidance that could be helpful. More formal communication of these changes to EU Member States took place in the Trade Specialised Committee on Customs Cooperation and Rules of Origin, the minutes of which can be found on gov.uk.
Asked by: Andrew Gwynne (Labour - Denton and Reddish)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, pursuant to the Answer of 29 January 2024 to Question 10764, how many times British armed forces personnel have taken part in (a) bilateral and (b) multinational training exercises with (i) Germany, (ii) France, (iii) Italy, (iv) Poland, (v) the Netherlands, (vi) USA and (vii) Spain.
Answered by James Heappey
The information requested is not held centrally. The following has been compiled from sources across the single-Services. It is a ‘best estimate’ based on the available information.
Year | Bilateral | RN | Army | RAF | Multinational | RN | Army* | RAF |
2016 | Germany | 6 | 0 | 0 | Germany | 2 |
| 0 |
France | 4 | 4 | 0 | France | 6 |
| 0 | |
Italy | 0 | 1 | 0 | Italy | 3 |
| 0 | |
Poland | 0 | 0 | 0 | Poland | 1 |
| 0 | |
The Netherlands | 0 | 0 | 0 | The Netherlands | 2 |
| 0 | |
USA | 7 | 15 | 0 | USA | 7 |
| 3 | |
Spain | 0 | 2 | 0 | Spain | 2 |
| 0 | |
2017 | Germany | 1 | 0 | 0 | Germany | 2 |
| 0 |
France | 1 | 4 | 0 | France | 9 |
| 0 | |
Italy | 0 | 1 | 0 | Italy | 1 |
| 0 | |
Poland | 0 | 1 | 0 | Poland | 1 |
| 0 | |
The Netherlands | 2 | 0 | 0 | The Netherlands | 3 |
| 0 | |
USA | 3 | 15 | 0 | USA | 12 |
| 3 | |
Spain | 2 | 2 | 0 | Spain | 0 |
| 0 | |
2018 | Germany | 1 | 2 | 0 | Germany | 2 |
| 0 |
France | 4 | 7 | 0 | France | 6 |
| 0 | |
Italy | 1 | 1 | 0 | Italy | 4 |
| 0 | |
Poland | 0 | 1 | 0 | Poland | 2 |
| 0 | |
The Netherlands | 0 | 2 | 0 | The Netherlands | 1 |
| 0 | |
USA | 5 | 19 | 0 | USA | 9 |
| 3 | |
Spain | 1 | 2 | 0 | Spain | 4 |
| 0 | |
2019 | Germany | 0 | 1 | 0 | Germany | 2 |
| 0 |
France | 5 | 9 | 0 | France | 6 |
| 0 | |
Italy | 0 | 1 | 0 | Italy | 3 |
| 0 | |
Poland | 2 | 1 | 0 | Poland | 1 |
| 0 | |
The Netherlands | 1 | 1 | 0 | The Netherlands | 5 |
| 0 | |
USA | 10 | 20 | 0 | USA | 9 |
| 4 | |
Spain | 1 | 2 | 0 | Spain | 3 |
| 0 | |
2020 | Germany | 0 | 0 | 0 | Germany | 0 |
| 0 |
France | 2 | 0 | 0 | France | 3 |
| 0 | |
Italy | 0 | 0 | 0 | Italy | 0 |
| 0 | |
Poland | 0 | 0 | 0 | Poland | 0 |
| 0 | |
The Netherlands | 2 | 0 | 0 | The Netherlands | 3 |
| 0 | |
USA | 6 | 0 | 0 | USA | 7 |
| 6 | |
Spain | 0 | 0 | 0 | Spain | 0 |
| 0 | |
2021 | Germany | 0 | 2 | 0 | Germany | 3 |
| 3 |
France | 5 | 6 | 0 | France | 7 |
| 3 | |
Italy | 1 | 1 | 0 | Italy | 3 |
| 4 | |
Poland | 0 | 1 | 0 | Poland | 2 |
| 0 | |
The Netherlands | 2 | 0 | 0 | The Netherlands | 6 |
| 1 | |
USA | 11 | 21 | 0 | USA | 17 |
| 8 | |
Spain | 0 | 2 | 0 | Spain | 3 |
| 1 | |
2022 | Germany | 0 | 2 | 0 | Germany | 1 |
| 4 |
France | 1 | 7 | 0 | France | 4 |
| 3 | |
Italy | 3 | 0 | 0 | Italy | 1 |
| 3 | |
Poland | 0 | 0 | 0 | Poland | 1 |
| 1 | |
The Netherlands | 0 | 1 | 0 | The Netherlands | 3 |
| 2 | |
USA | 3 | 22 | 0 | USA | 13 |
| 12 | |
Spain | 0 | 3 | 0 | Spain | 3 |
| 2 | |
2023 | Germany | 0 | 4 | 0 | Germany | 2 |
| 2 |
France | 1 | 7 | 0 | France | 9 |
| 3 | |
Italy | 0 | 1 | 0 | Italy | 1 |
| 1 | |
Poland | 0 | 0 | 0 | Poland | 1 |
| 1 | |
The Netherlands | 0 | 1 | 0 | The Netherlands | 3 |
| 1 | |
USA | 5 | 22 | 0 | USA | 15 |
| 10 | |
Spain | 0 | 3 | 0 | Spain | 2 |
| 2 |
* Due to the way in which Army data is held, multinational involvement cannot be readily separated from bilateral. Many of the bilateral exercises listed will be multinational, but the data capture only shows the primary sponsor of the exercise and not the additional participants. Army data from 2020 has been discounted due to uncertainty as to which exercises did or did not take place due to the COVID-19 Pandemic.
Asked by: Stephen Timms (Labour - East Ham)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Minister of State, Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, whether he is seeking to secure additional bilateral voting rights agreements with EU states to ensure EU citizens who arrived in the UK from 2021 onwards can continue voting in local elections after May 2024.
Answered by Leo Docherty - Minister of State (Ministry of Defence) (Minister for the Armed Forces)
In December 2018, the UK wrote to all 27 EU Member States signalling our willingness to enter into bilateral agreements to ensure continuity of local election voting and candidacy rights for each other's citizens. Since 2018, we have entered into five bilateral agreements, these are: Spain, Portugal, Luxembourg, Poland and very recently Denmark, which is subject to Parliamentary ratification. The existence of constitutional barriers in some Member States has prevented the UK from entering into agreements with certain Member States. However, the UK remains open to negotiating fully reciprocal bilateral agreements where EU Member States are interested in doing so.
Asked by: Beth Winter (Labour - Cynon Valley)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Minister of State, Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, whether he has made recent representations to his Spanish counterparts on proposals for a waste facility at the site of a mass grave close to Fuencarral Cemetery in Madrid.
Answered by Leo Docherty - Minister of State (Ministry of Defence) (Minister for the Armed Forces)
The FCDO are aware of this proposal and consider it to be a matter for the competent local Spanish authorities, who we understand have paused the project to investigate the land in question. We will continue to monitor developments.
Asked by: Tracey Crouch (Conservative - Chatham and Aylesford)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Minister of State, Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, whether he plans to hold discussions with his Spanish counterpart on changes to the 90 day short stay rule for British citizens with holiday homes.
Answered by Leo Docherty - Minister of State (Ministry of Defence) (Minister for the Armed Forces)
The UK's Trade and Cooperation Agreement with the EU confirms that both the UK and EU currently provide for visa-free travel for short-term visits for each other's nationals in accordance with their respective laws. British citizens in Spain are treated as third country nationals under the Schengen Borders Code. As such, they are able to travel visa-free for short stays for up to 90 days in a rolling 180-day period. This is the standard length of stay that the EU offers to other third countries, in line with existing EU legislation.
I [Minister Docherty] engage regularly with my EU counterparts to discuss a range of issues, including on mobility. The Government is focused on the smooth, robust and effective implementation of the Trade and Cooperation Agreement.
Asked by: Lord Marlesford (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government how Rwanda compares in population density with (1) China, (2) Russia, (3) the USA, (4) Australia, (5) Libya, (6) France, (7) Spain, (8) Germany, (9) the UK, and (10) Greece; and how relevant they regard that measure in their policy for transporting migrants from the UK to Rwanda.
Answered by Lord Sharpe of Epsom - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Home Office)
The table below shows the estimated population density (the number of people per square kilometre) of the countries listed based on UN statistics published in October 20231. The countries are ordered as in the question plus Rwanda at 11:
| Country | Population density |
1 | China2 | 148.5 |
2 | Russia | 8.8 |
3 | United States of America | 37.0 |
4 | Australia | 3.4 |
5 | Libya | 4.1 |
6 | France | 117.2 |
7 | Spain | 94.7 |
8 | Germany | 239.2 |
9 | United Kingdom | 278.1 |
10 | Greece | 79.4 |
11 | Rwanda | 569.1 |
1 UN Department of Economic and Social Affairs, ‘Statistical Yearbook 2023, Sixty-sixth issue’ (pages 15 to 35), October 2023
2 For statistical purposes, the UN data for China do not include the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, the Macao Special Administrative Region and Taiwan
Population was one of a range of factors that was considered when entering into the Migration and Economic Development Partnership with Rwanda.
Asked by: Karl Turner (Labour - Kingston upon Hull East)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, What recent assessment he has made of the financial impact of the introduction of the EU Emissions Trading Scheme from 1 January 2024 on operators of (a) cargo and (b) passenger ships over 5,000 gross tonnage on routes between UK ports and ports in (i) the Netherlands, (ii) Belgium, (iii) France, (iv) Spain, (v) Denmark, (vi) Germany and (vii) other EU member states.
Answered by Guy Opperman - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
The expansion of the UK Emissions Trading Scheme (ETS) to domestic maritime is currently planned from 2026. Officials across the UK ETS Authority have been regularly engaging across the maritime sector ahead of the next consultation on expansion of the UK ETS to domestic maritime. My officials met with industry bodies as recently as three weeks ago, and will continue to do so both ahead of, and following, the publication of the next consultation on the expansion of the UK ETS.
The EU ETS meanwhile will apply to all cargo and passenger vessels over 5000GT operating within the European Economic Area (EEA) and internationally to the EEA from 1 Jan 2024.
We have no plans to make a full assessment of this EU ETS scheme, it will impact all nations going to the EEA equally. The amount of in-scope emissions that allowances must be surrendered will increase from 40% in 2024, increasing to 70% in 2025, and 100% in 2026. The EU ETS will initially cover carbon dioxide emissions and be widened to include methane and nitrous oxide from 2026.
We will continue to monitor developments of international and regional carbon pricing instruments covering shipping schemes, including the EU ETS proposal, and consider how these might interact with our domestic policy in the future. This will be applied equally to all operators travelling internationally to the EEA. The EU ETS is not expected to have any organizational impact on the MCA.
Asked by: Baroness Coussins (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the Written Statement by the Home Secretary on 7 December announcing the changes to travel document requirements for school groups visiting the UK from France (HCWS106), whether they will extend those changes to school groups visiting the UK from Spain and Germany.
Answered by Lord Sharpe of Epsom - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Home Office)
At the Leaders’ Summit in Paris on 10 March 2023, as part of an overall agreement on migration reached with France, the UK committed to ease the travel of school groups to the UK by making changes to documentary requirements for schoolchildren on organised trips from France. The agreement we have is specific to France.
We would consider negotiating with other countries should they approach us with an interest in making similar arrangements.
Asked by: Grahame Morris (Labour - Easington)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many foreign national offenders were removed from the country through a prison transfer agreement each year since 2010; and if he will list which countries were they removed to.
Answered by Edward Argar - Minister of State (Ministry of Justice)
Any foreign national who is convicted of a crime and given a prison sentence is considered for deportation at the earliest opportunity. Where appropriate, the Government will also seek to permanently remove foreign criminals from the UK via the Early Removal Scheme once they have served the minimum required of their sentence. This is our best performing removal scheme with 5,262 Foreign National Offenders (FNOs) having been removed between January 2019 and June 2022.
The Home Office removed 16,676 foreign national offenders since January 2019 to September 2023. Published figures show that FNO returns have increased in the latest 12-month period (ending September 2023) by 19% when compared to previous 12-month period.
Our new Prisoner Transfer Agreement with Albania entered into force in May 2023 and we have signed a new Prisoner Transfer Agreement with the Philippines. We are looking to negotiate new Prisoner Transfer Agreements with key EU Member States and wider-world countries
Foreign national offender removals via Prisoner Transfer Agreements since 2010:
Year: | Removals: |
2010 | 46 |
2011 | 33 |
2012 | 41 |
2013 | 44 |
2014 | 34 |
2015 | 57 |
2016 | 99 |
2017 | 107 |
2018 | 111 |
2019 | 136 |
2020 | 81 |
2021 | 73 |
2022 | 50 |
2023 | 33 |
Countries or Territories we have removed foreign national offenders to via Prisoner Transfer Agreements since 2010:
Albania | Denmark | Latvia | Slovakia |
Austria | Ecuador | Lithuania | Slovenia |
Belgium | Estonia | Macedonia | Spain |
Bermuda | France | Malta | Sri Lanka |
Bolivia | Germany | Montenegro | St Helena |
Brazil | Ghana | Netherlands | Sweden |
Bulgaria | Gibraltar | Nigeria | Switzerland |
Canada | Greece | Norway | Turkey |
Cayman | Hungary | Pakistan | Ukraine |
Chile | India | Poland | Vietnam |
Croatia | Ireland | Portugal | Iraq |
Cyprus | Israel | Romania |
|
Czech Republic | Italy | Saudi |
|
Asked by: Anneliese Dodds (Labour (Co-op) - Oxford East)
Question
To ask the Minister for Women and Equalities, To ask the Minister for Women and Equalities, whether she had discussions with her counterpart in Spain before laying the Gender Recognition (Approved Countries and Territories and Saving Provision) Order 2023 on the removal of that country from the list of approved countries and territories to qualify applicants for the overseas route to apply for gender recognition certificates.
Answered by Stuart Andrew - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)
I refer back to my previous answer to UIN 5635 on 14th December.