Asked by: Baroness Miller of Chilthorne Domer (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask Her Majesty's Government with which EU Member States they have (1) reached, and (2) signed, reciprocal agreements on driving licences.
Answered by Baroness Vere of Norbiton
The Department for Transport has successfully agreed arrangements with all EU/EEA Member States for the mutual recognition of photocard licences. As such, visitors with UK photocard licences will not need to carry an additional International Driving Permit (IDP) when driving in any EU/EEA Member State.
The UK has secured permanent or long-term reciprocal arrangements for the exchange of licences with: Austria, Croatia, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Ireland, Liechtenstein, Luxembourg, Norway, Poland, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia Switzerland, Bulgaria, Iceland, Lithuania, Hungary, Netherlands, Sweden, Latvia and Belgium. The UK is working to conclude the formal agreements where required.
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 - Shadow Minister (Defence)
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: Zarah Sultana (Your Party - Coventry South)
Question to the Department for International Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, if she will list the countries and territories (a) invited by UK Defence and Security Exports to attend Security and Policing 2021 and (b) that attended Security and Policing 2020.
Answered by Graham Stuart
The countries, territories and organisations invited to attend Security and Policing 2021 are listed below. Those annotated with a * are the countries, territories and organisations that attended.
Algeria *
Argentina
Australia *
Austria *
Bahrain
Bangladesh
Belgium *
Brazil
Bulgaria *
Canada *
Croatia *
Czech Republic *
Denmark *
Egypt *
Finland *
France
Germany
Ghana *
Greece *
Hungary *
India *
Indonesia
Iraq
Italy *
Japan *
Kenya *
Latvia *
Lithuania
Luxembourg *
Malaysia *
Mexico
Morocco *
NATO
Netherlands *
New Zealand *
Nigeria *
Norway *
Oman *
Pakistan *
Peru *
Poland *
Portugal *
Qatar
Romania *
Saudi Arabia *
Singapore *
South Africa *
South Korea *
Sweden *
Switzerland *
Taiwan *
Thailand
Trinidad & Tobago
Turkey
Ukraine *
UN *
USA *
Vietnam *
The list of countries, territories and organisations that attended Security and Policing 2020 were:
Australia
Belgium
Botswana
Brazil
Bulgaria
Canada
Colombia
Czech Republic
Estonia
Finland
France
Germany
Greece
Hungary
India
Indonesia
Italy
Japan
Luxembourg
Morocco
North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO)
Netherlands
New Zealand
Norway
Oman
Pakistan
Peru
Poland
Portugal
Qatar
Romania
Saudi Arabia
Slovakia
South Africa
Spain
Trinidad & Tobago
Turkey
UAE
Ukraine
United Nations (UN)
United States
Uzbekistan
The full list of countries, territories and organisations invited and those that attended Security and Policing 2020 can be found at:
https://www.gov.uk/government/news/security-and-policing-2020
Asked by: Lisa Nandy (Labour - Wigan)
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 126854 on Embassies: Staff, how many UK-based staff there are in each UK embassy in each EU Member State, by headcount band.
Answered by Nigel Adams
For security reasons, the FCDO provides headcount detail in bands. The FCDO was formed on 2nd September 20, with Legacy Departments continuing to use legacy systems for recording staff locations in the interim. People in former DFID roles are recorded at Country level with no ability to report at Post level currently available. Therefore the data provided is at Country level only.
As at 31st October 2020, the UK based headcount band for each Country in Europe is set out in the table below.
Data does not include Posts where there is no UKB presence, or Posts in Eastern Europe.
Country/Territory | FCDO Headcount at 31st October 2020 |
Albania | Fewer than 10 |
Austria | Fewer than 10 |
Belgium | 10 to 19 |
Bosnia and Herzegovina | Fewer than 10 |
Bulgaria | Fewer than 10 |
Croatia | Fewer than 10 |
Cyprus | 10 to 19 |
Czech Republic | Fewer than 10 |
Denmark | Fewer than 10 |
Estonia | Fewer than 10 |
Finland | Fewer than 10 |
France | 30-39 |
Germany | 20-29 |
Greece | Fewer than 10 |
Holy See | Fewer than 10 |
Hungary | Fewer than 10 |
Iceland | Fewer than 10 |
Ireland | 10 to 19 |
Italy | 10 to 19 |
Kosovo | Fewer than 10 |
Latvia | 10 to 19 |
Lithuania | Fewer than 10 |
Luxembourg | Fewer than 10 |
Malta | Fewer than 10 |
Montenegro | Fewer than 10 |
Netherlands | 10 to 19 |
North Macedonia | Fewer than 10 |
Norway | Fewer than 10 |
Poland | 10 to 19 |
Portugal | Fewer than 10 |
Romania | Fewer than 10 |
Serbia | 10 to 19 |
Slovakia | Fewer than 10 |
Slovenia | Fewer than 10 |
Spain | 10 to 19 |
Sweden | 10 to 19 |
Switzerland | 10 to 19 |
Turkey | 20-29 |
Turkey | 10 to 19 |
Asked by: Lord Sikka (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what action they have taken against PricewaterhouseCooper for any role played in implementing tax avoidance schemes exposed by the 'Luxembourg leaks'.
Answered by Lord Agnew of Oulton
It is not possible for HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) to provide details of any action taken in connection with this or any named organisation, for reasons of taxpayer confidentiality.
Should any tax agent be found to be enabling or facilitating tax avoidance then HMRC will use the full range of tools available, which include strict financial penalties, criminal sanctions, and public interest disclosures.
HMRC have reviewed all the documents relating to 142 taxpayers who had documents relating to their tax affairs disclosed by the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists, which have been referred to as the ‘Luxembourg Leaks’.
This work did not reveal a single case of material information where either the detail of the transactions had not already been provided to HMRC, or when examined did any more than confirm HMRC’s understanding of particular arrangements that were already known to HMRC.
The Government has taken resolute action since 2010 to clamp down on tax non-compliance and unfair outcomes. It has targeted a broad range of bad practice in order to ensure that everyone, from individuals to large multinationals, is required to pay the right amount at the right time.
Asked by: Lord Sikka (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what plans they have to publish the number of (1) prosecutions, (2) convictions, and (3) fines, resulting from their investigations into tax avoidance schemes exposed by the 'Luxembourg leaks'.
Answered by Lord Agnew of Oulton
It is not possible for HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) to provide details of any action taken in connection with this or any named organisation, for reasons of taxpayer confidentiality.
Should any tax agent be found to be enabling or facilitating tax avoidance then HMRC will use the full range of tools available, which include strict financial penalties, criminal sanctions, and public interest disclosures.
HMRC have reviewed all the documents relating to 142 taxpayers who had documents relating to their tax affairs disclosed by the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists, which have been referred to as the ‘Luxembourg Leaks’.
This work did not reveal a single case of material information where either the detail of the transactions had not already been provided to HMRC, or when examined did any more than confirm HMRC’s understanding of particular arrangements that were already known to HMRC.
The Government has taken resolute action since 2010 to clamp down on tax non-compliance and unfair outcomes. It has targeted a broad range of bad practice in order to ensure that everyone, from individuals to large multinationals, is required to pay the right amount at the right time.
Asked by: Lord Scriven (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the statement made by Ambassador Monique van Daalen at the 43rd session of the Human Rights Council on 15 June on behalf of Belgium, Luxembourg and the Netherlands that condemned reprisals against Bahraini human rights defenders for collaborating with UN treaty bodies; and what representations they intend to make to the government of Bahrain about reported ongoing reprisals against human rights defenders.
Answered by Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon
The UK Government takes note of a number of sources of information on Bahrain, including publications and statements from external organisations. We continue to monitor events in Bahrain closely and regularly raise human rights issues with the Government of Bahrain, at senior levels, both in private and public. We continue to encourage the Government of Bahrain to deliver on its international and domestic human rights commitments.
Asked by: Lord Tyler (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what plans they have to change the rights of EU citizens resident in the UK to stand and vote in local elections before the local government elections in England and Wales in 2021.
Answered by Lord True - Shadow Leader of the House of Lords
The May local elections were postponed until 2021 due to Covid-19.
In that context, the UK Government can confirm that resident EU citizens will remain able to vote and stand in the rescheduled May 2021 local elections in England (including London Assembly elections) and the May 2021 Police and Crime Commissioner elections in England and Wales. Those elected to office will be able to serve their full term and this will also apply to those elected before 2021.
The franchise for local elections are devolved in Scotland and Wales.
The UK Government has been clear that the issue of local voting rights of EU citizens living in the UK needs to be considered alongside the rights and interests of British expats living abroad. The Government has signed bilateral voting rights agreements with Spain, Portugal and Luxembourg in 2019, and with Poland in May 2020. We continue to work on further bilateral voting rights agreements with other EU member states.
Asked by: Wendy Chamberlain (Liberal Democrat - North East Fife)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, whether the Government plans to change the rights of EU citizens resident in the UK to (a) stand and (b) vote in local elections before the local government elections in England and Wales in 2021.
Answered by Chloe Smith
The May local elections were postponed until 2021 due to Covid-19.
In that context, the UK Government can confirm that resident EU citizens will remain able to vote and stand in the rescheduled May 2021 local elections in England (including London Assembly elections) and the May 2021 Police and Crime Commissioner elections in England and Wales. Those elected to office will be able to serve their full term and this will also apply to those elected before 2021.
The franchise for local elections are devolved in Scotland and Wales.
As I noted to the Hon. Member in previous answers, the UK Government has been clear that the issue of local voting rights of EU citizens living in the UK needs to be considered alongside the rights and interests of British expats living abroad.
The Government has signed bilateral voting rights agreements with Spain, Portugal and Luxembourg in 2019, and with Poland in May 2020. We continue to work on further bilateral voting rights agreements with other EU member states.
Asked by: Philip Davies (Conservative - Shipley)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many people aged 100 years old and over receive the state pension in each country outside the UK.
Answered by Guy Opperman
The table below provides how many people aged 100 years old and over, who receive the State Pension in each country outside the UK.
| Caseload |
Abroad not known | 20 |
Alderney | - |
Australia | 340 |
Austria | - |
Bangladesh | - |
Barbados | 10 |
Belgium | - |
Benin | - |
Bermuda | - |
Brazil | - |
Canada | 190 |
Cayman Islands | - |
Chile | - |
Cyprus | 10 |
Denmark | - |
Djibouti | - |
Equatorial Guinea | - |
France | 30 |
Germany | 10 |
Greece | - |
Guernsey | 10 |
Hong Kong | - |
India | - |
Israel | 10 |
Italy | 20 |
Jamaica | 70 |
Jersey | 10 |
Kenya | - |
Latvia | - |
Lithuania | - |
Luxembourg | - |
Monaco | - |
Montserrat | - |
New Zealand | 150 |
Norway | - |
Not known | 20 |
Pakistan | 20 |
Poland | - |
Portugal | - |
Republic of Ireland | 100 |
Republic of Yemen | 10 |
Sierra Leone | - |
Somalia | - |
South Africa | 30 |
Spain | 50 |
St Kitts and Nevis | - |
St Lucia | - |
St Vincent and The Grenadines | - |
Sweden | - |
Switzerland | - |
Thailand | - |
The Netherlands | - |
Trinidad and Tobago | - |
United Arab Emirates | - |
USA | 210 |
Zimbabwe | - |
|
|
Total | 1,390 |
Source: DWP Work and Pensions Longitudinal Study, August 2019.
Caseload figures have been rounded to the nearest 10.
Caseloads identified with ‘-‘ are negligible, but non-zero.
Caseloads exclude suspended cases.