Asked by: Philip Hollobone (Conservative - Kettering)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, on what date the compulsory prisoner transfer agreements with each non-UK country came into force; how many prisoners were transferred (a) from and (b) to the UK (i) under each of those agreements and (ii) in the last arrival period under each of those agreements.
Answered by Lucy Frazer - Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport
Any foreign national who comes to our country and abuses our hospitality by breaking the law should be in no doubt of our determination to punish and deport them. More than 45,000 foreign national offenders have been removed from the UK since 2010, and in the last financial year almost 6,000 were removed from prisons, immigration removal centres, and the community.
The Early Removal Scheme is the principal method for removing foreign national offenders early from prison. In 2017/18, over 2,000 foreign national offenders were removed under this scheme. Prisoners may also be transferred to a prison in their own country under Prisoner Transfer Agreements. The principal compulsory prisoner transfer scheme is the EU Prisoner Transfer Framework Decision (2008/909/JHA). In addition, compulsory transfer may take place under the Additional Protocol to the Council of Europe Convention on the Transfer of Sentenced Persons, and a small number of bilateral prisoner transfer agreements.
Our departure from the European Union will have implications on prisoner transfers to the EU. If we leave the EU without a ‘deal’, we will lose access to the EU Prisoner Transfer Framework Decision. This will mean falling back on the Council of Europe Convention on the Transfer of Sentenced Persons and its Additional Protocol, which we believe to be a less effective mechanism than the EU agreement. Therefore, under a ‘no deal’ scenario we should be prepared to see a decline in the number of transfers to and from the EU.
The tables below provide information for England and Wales, taken from Management Information. In relation to British national prisoners transferred into England and Wales, Management Information does not distinguish between prisoners transferred under the EU Prisoner Transfer Framework Decision and the Council of Europe Convention on the Transfer of Sentenced Persons. Transfer may therefore have taken place on either a voluntary or compulsory basis. Please note that transfers have not taken place to several countries listed in the tables below as the UK either does not hold nationals from those countries in our prisons, or because there are concerns that prisons might be in breach of Article 3 of the European Convention on Human Rights. The transfer of prisoners into and out of Scotland and Northern Ireland is a devolved matter.
Table 1: Transfer under the EU Prisoner Transfer Framework Decision (EU PTFD) | ||||
Country | Date country ratified the EU PTFD | Number of foreign national prisoners transferred from England and Wales | Number of British national prisoners transferred into England and Wales | |
1 | Austria | 01/01/2012 | -- | 1 |
2 | Belgium | 18/06/2012 | 17 | 3 |
3 | Bulgaria | Not ratified | -- | -- |
4 | Croatia | 01/07/2013 | -- | 1 |
5 | Cyprus | 23/05/2014 | 1 | 5 |
6 | Czech Republic | 01/01/2014 | 12 | 3 |
7 | Denmark | 05/12/2011 | 1 | 6 |
8 | Estonia | 01/01/2015 | 1 | -- |
9 | Finland | 05/12/2011 | -- | 1 |
10 | France | 05/08/2013 | -- | -- |
11 | Germany | 25/07/2015 | 2 | 9 |
12 | Greece | 15/11/2014 | -- | 2 |
13 | Hungary | 01/01/2013 | -- | 1 |
14 | Italy | 05/12/2011 | 9 | 9 |
15 | Ireland (Republic) | Not ratified | -- | -- |
16 | Latvia | 01/07/2012 | 15 | -- |
17 | Lithuania | 01/04/2015 | 28 | -- |
18 | Luxembourg | 05/12/2011 | -- | 2 |
19 | Malta | 03/02/2012 | 1 | 1 |
20 | Netherlands | 01/11/2012 | 141 | 6 |
21 | Poland | 01/01/2012 | 35 | -- |
22 | Portugal | 17/12/2015 | 9 | 7 |
23 | Romania | 26/12/2013 | 56 | -- |
24 | Slovakia | 01/02/2012 | 17 | 2 |
25 | Slovenia | 20/09/2013 | -- | -- |
26 | Spain | 11/12/2014 | 9 | 40 |
27 | Sweden | 01/04/2015 | 3 | 1 |
Total | 357 | 100 | ||
Table 2: Transfer Under the Additional Protocol to the Council of Europe Convention on the Transfer of Sentenced Persons This table does not include EU Member States which have ratified the Additional Protocol as transfers take place under the EU Prisoner Transfer Framework Decision. Please note: the date of entry into force has been taken as the date the UK ratified the Additional Protocol or the date of ratification by the named country, whichever is the later date. | ||||
Country | Date the Additional Protocol entered into force | Number of foreign national prisoners transferred from England and Wales | Number of British national prisoners transferred into England and Wales | |
1 | Bulgaria | 01/11/2009 | -- | -- |
2 | Georgia | 01/11/2009 | -- | -- |
3 | Iceland | 01/11/2009 | -- | -- |
4 | Lichtenstein | 01/11/2009 | -- | -- |
5 | FRY Macedonia | 01/11/2009 | -- | -- |
6 | Moldova | 01/11/2009 | -- | -- |
7 | Montenegro | 01/11/2009 | -- | -- |
8 | Norway | 01/11/2009 | -- | -- |
9 | Russia | 01/11/2009 | -- | -- |
10 | Serbia | 01/11/2009 | -- | -- |
11 | San Marino | 01/11/2009 | -- | -- |
12 | Switzerland | 01/10/2014 | -- | -- |
13 | Turkey | 01/09/2016 | -- | -- |
14 | Ukraine | 01/11/2009 | -- | -- |
Table 3: Bilateral Prisoner Transfer Agreements | ||||
Country | Date the Bilateral Prisoner Transfer Agreement came into force | Number of foreign national prisoners transferred from England and Wales | Number of British national prisoners transferred into England and Wales | |
1 | Albania | 11/06/2013 | 24 | 2 |
2 | Ghana | 06/07/2017 | -- | -- |
3 | Libya | 29/04/2009 | -- | -- |
4 | Nigeria | 29/09/2014 | 1 | -- |
5 | Rwanda | 23/11/2010 | -- | -- |
6 | Somaliland | Not Available | -- | -- |
Total | 25 | 2 | ||
Asked by: Helen Goodman (Labour - Bishop Auckland)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, which properties on his Department's assets register were worth over £5 million at 31 March 2018.
Answered by Alan Duncan
There are 86 properties valued in existing use with a net book value over £5 million as at 31 March 2018 in the Foreign and Commonwealth Office Asset Register, as follows:
Location | Properties |
Abu Dhabi | 1 |
Abuja | 1 |
Accra | 2 |
Addis Ababa | 1 |
Algiers | 1 |
Amman | 1 |
Athens | 1 |
Bahrain | 1 |
Belgrade | 2 |
Berlin | 1 |
Berne | 1 |
Bridgetown | 1 |
Brussels | 1 |
Buenos Aires | 2 |
Cairo | 1 |
Caracas | 1 |
Colombo | 1 |
Dublin | 2 |
Geneva | 2 |
Harare | 2 |
Helsinki | 1 |
Hong Kong | 2 |
Istanbul | 1 |
Jakarta | 1 |
Kampala | 2 |
Khartoum | 2 |
Kinshasa | 2 |
Kuala Lumpur | 1 |
Kuwait | 1 |
Lagos | 1 |
Lilongwe | 1 |
Luxembourg | 1 |
Manila | 1 |
Mogadishu | 1 |
Moscow | 2 |
Mumbai | 1 |
Nairobi | 1 |
New Delhi | 2 |
New York | 3 |
Oslo | 1 |
Ottawa | 1 |
Paris | 4 |
Rabat | 1 |
Rangoon | 1 |
Rome | 2 |
San Francisco | 1 |
Santiago | 1 |
Seoul | 1 |
Singapore | 4 |
Stockholm | 2 |
Tbilisi | 1 |
Tel Aviv | 1 |
The Hague | 1 |
Tokyo | 2 |
United Kingdom | 3 |
Vienna | 2 |
Warsaw | 1 |
Washington | 3 |
Total | 86 |
Asked by: Lord Jones of Cheltenham (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask Her Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Baroness Buscombe on 7 January (HL12466), with which EU countries the UK does not have reciprocal arrangements covering the annual uprating of State Pensions in the EU to which they will revert if the UK leaves the EU; and with which of those countries they have entered negotiations for post-Brexit arrangements to replace the European Union Pensions Directive.
Answered by Baroness Buscombe
The UK has seventeen reciprocal social security agreements with EU Member States which are in use between some or all of the Crown Dependencies and the relevant EU country which provide for reciprocal uprating of state pension. The EU countries are: Austria, Belgium, Croatia, Cyprus, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg, Malta, Netherlands, Portugal, Slovenia, Spain and Sweden. In the event the UK leaves without a withdrawal agreement, the UK will keep the role of pre-existing Reciprocal Agreements with individual Member States under review. Whether these come back into force will be subject to discussion and agreement between the UK and the relevant EU Member State.
There are ten EU countries where there is no reciprocal social security agreement in place. Those countries are: Bulgaria, Czechia, Estonia, Greece, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Romania and Slovakia.
The UK government has taken the necessary steps to protect the rights of citizens through legislation and set out the measures it will take in a no deal scenario. The measures are based on the terms of the Withdrawal Agreement in the policy paper: “Citizens’ Rights - EU citizens in the UK and UK nationals in the EU” dated 6 December 2018. For social security arrangements, the UK will have retained EU law allowing the UK to apply the current social security coordination rules to protect those in receipt or entitled to a UK State Pension or benefit, including where they live in the EU. This will apply equally to citizens from all EU Member States. In a no deal scenario, we will uprate the UK State Pension for those living in the EU in 2019-20, with a view to securing continued reciprocal social security arrangements in future.
Asked by: Lord Jones of Cheltenham (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask Her Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Baroness Buscombe on 7 January (HL12466), with which EU countries the UK currently has reciprocal arrangements covering the annual uprating of State Pensions in the EU to which they will revert if the UK leaves the EU.
Answered by Baroness Buscombe
The UK has seventeen reciprocal social security agreements with EU Member States which are in use between some or all of the Crown Dependencies and the relevant EU country which provide for reciprocal uprating of state pension. The EU countries are: Austria, Belgium, Croatia, Cyprus, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg, Malta, Netherlands, Portugal, Slovenia, Spain and Sweden. In the event the UK leaves without a withdrawal agreement, the UK will keep the role of pre-existing Reciprocal Agreements with individual Member States under review. Whether these come back into force will be subject to discussion and agreement between the UK and the relevant EU Member State.
There are ten EU countries where there is no reciprocal social security agreement in place. Those countries are: Bulgaria, Czechia, Estonia, Greece, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Romania and Slovakia.
The UK government has taken the necessary steps to protect the rights of citizens through legislation and set out the measures it will take in a no deal scenario. The measures are based on the terms of the Withdrawal Agreement in the policy paper: “Citizens’ Rights - EU citizens in the UK and UK nationals in the EU” dated 6 December 2018. For social security arrangements, the UK will have retained EU law allowing the UK to apply the current social security coordination rules to protect those in receipt or entitled to a UK State Pension or benefit, including where they live in the EU. This will apply equally to citizens from all EU Member States. In a no deal scenario, we will uprate the UK State Pension for those living in the EU in 2019-20, with a view to securing continued reciprocal social security arrangements in future.
Asked by: Henry Smith (Conservative - Crawley)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what recent comparative assessment he has made of the level of funding for education in (a) England and (b) EU member states.
Answered by Nick Gibb
The Department uses internationally comparable data from the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) to assess how our funding compares internationally.
This data shows that the UK is among the higher spenders on education at primary and secondary level. The UK government spends 3.8% of GDP on primary and secondary educational institutions, compared to an EU22 average of 3.0%. Within the EU, only Belgium (4.1%) and Finland (4.0%) spend a higher proportion of GDP on primary and secondary educational institutions than the UK. The OECD data also shows that the UK is the top spender in the G7 on schools and colleges delivering primary and secondary education, as a percentage of GDP.
Total expenditure on primary and secondary educational institutions as a percentage of GDP, from government sources (2015) in EU countries in the OECD analysis can be found in the table below:
Country | Expenditure as a percentage of GDP |
Austria | 3.0 |
Belgium | 4.1 |
Czech Republic | 2.4 |
Denmark | Missing |
Estonia | 2.7 |
Finland | 4.0 |
France | 3.4 |
Germany | 2.6 |
Greece | 2.7 |
Hungary | 2.7 |
Ireland | 2.5 |
Italy | 2.8 |
Latvia | 3.3 |
Luxembourg | 2.8 |
Netherlands | 3.2 |
Poland | 2.9 |
Portugal | 3.4 |
Slovak Republic | 2.6 |
Slovenia | 3.0 |
Spain | 2.7 |
Sweden | 3.6 |
United Kingdom | 3.8 |
EU22 average | 3.0 |
The data on expenditure on educational institutions as a percentage of GDP by source of funds is available in Table C2.2 of the OECD’s Education at a Glance 2018 publication at the following link: https://www.oecd-ilibrary.org/education/education-at-a-glance-2018/total-expenditure-on-educational-institutions-as-a-percentage-of-gdp-by-source-of-funds-2015_eag-2018-table140-en.
Asked by: Margaret Greenwood (Labour - Wirral West)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, with which EU member states does the UK have bilateral agreements for social security co-ordination which would come into force if the UK left the EU without a withdrawal agreement; and when were those agreements concluded.
Answered by Alok Sharma - COP26 President (Cabinet Office)
The UK has seventeen reciprocal social security agreements with EU Member States which are currently in use between some or all of the Crown Dependencies and the relevant EU country. The EU countries and the year the principal convention came into force are: Austria (1971), Belgium (1958), Croatia (1958), Cyprus 1984), Denmark (1960), Finland (1984), France (1958), Germany (1961), Ireland (2007 (consolidated)), Italy (1953), Luxembourg (1955), Malta (1996), Netherlands (2007(consolidated)), Portugal (1979), Slovenia (1958), Spain (1975) and Sweden (1956). In the event the UK leaves the EU without a withdrawal agreement, the UK will keep these Reciprocal Agreements under review. Whether these come back into force will be subject to discussion and agreement between the UK and the relevant EU Member State.
Separate to Reciprocal Agreements, in the event the UK leaves the EU without a Withdrawal Agreement, the UK government has taken the necessary steps to protect the rights of citizens through legislation and set out the measures it will take. The measures are based on the terms of the Withdrawal Agreement in the policy paper: “Citizens’ Rights - EU citizens in the UK and UK nationals in the EU” dated 6 December 2018. For social security arrangements, the UK will have retained EU law allowing the UK to apply the current social security coordination rules to protect those in receipt or entitled to a UK State Pension or benefit until such time as new arrangements are agreed.
Asked by: Layla Moran (Liberal Democrat - Oxford West and Abingdon)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, if he will make representations to the authorities in Nicaragua on upholding the human rights of (a) Amaya Coppens and (b) other human rights defenders in that country; and if he will make a statement.
Answered by Alan Duncan
The UK is deeply concerned about the Nicaraguan Government's repression against its citizens who criticize the Government, including human rights defenders. The persecution includes intimidation, harassment, arbitrary detention and torture. The UK continues to call on Nicaragua to end this repression and cease its mistreatment of human rights defenders. We are aware of the particular case of Amaya Coppens, a Belgian/Nicaraguan dual citizen student protestor. As Belgium itself does not have a presence, the resident Luxembourg mission in Managua has been allowed access to trial hearings.
Asked by: Stella Creasy (Labour (Co-op) - Walthamstow)
Question to the Department for Exiting the European Union :
To ask the Secretary of State for Exiting the European Union, pursuant to the Answer of 12 November 2018 to Question 188822 on Department for Exiting the European Union: Facebook, which geographies including the details of any postcodes used have been targeted by his Department to ensure that their adverts are optimised to reach the right audience.
Answered by Chris Heaton-Harris - Secretary of State for Northern Ireland
The Department has previously confirmed (Question 188822) that a geographical targeted approach was used to ensure effective communication through social media.
Social media campaigns, including Facebook, have targeted EU citizens to communicate the progress of the UK’s EU exit. This has included the following countries:
UK
Hungary
Luxembourg
Estonia
Latvia
Slovenia
Lithuania
Croatia
Romania
Slovakia
Finland
Denmark
Bulgaria
Austria
Sweden
Portugal
Czech Republic
Greece
Netherlands
Poland
Ireland
Belgium
Italy
Spain
France
Germany
Asked by: Roger Godsiff (Labour - Birmingham, Hall Green)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, for what reason he did not attend the recent meeting of EU environment ministers in Luxembourg on cutting CO2 emissions; and what steps his Department is taking to reduce UK emissions following the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change's Special Report on 1.5 degrees.
Answered by David Rutley - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
Claire Perry, Minister of State for Energy and Clean Growth at the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS), who attends cabinet and is responsible for climate change mitigation, attended the meeting.
Working closely with BEIS, Defra is delivering greenhouse gas emission reductions within the agriculture, forestry and waste management sectors, as set out in the Clean Growth Strategy and the 25 Year Environment Plan.
We are leading the world in our response to the IPCC report. The UK hosted the European launch of the IPCC’s report at the first ever Green Great Britain Week held between 15-19 October. Following the report we have commissioned the UK’s independent advisors, the Committee on Climate Change, for advice on the implications of the Paris Agreement for the UK’s long-term emission reduction target, including on setting a net zero target.
Asked by: Paul Blomfield (Labour - Sheffield Central)
Question to the Department for Exiting the European Union :
To ask the Secretary of State for Exiting the European Union, what discussions he has had with his counterparts in (a) Austria, (b) Belgium, (c) Bulgaria, (d) Croatia, (e) Cyprus, (f) The Czech Republic, (g) Denmark, (h) Estonia, (i) Finland, (j) France, (k) Germany, (l) Greece, (m) Hungary, (n) Ireland, (o) Italy, (p) Latvia, (q) Lithuania, (r) Luxembourg, (s) Malta, (t) The Netherlands, (u) Poland, (v) Portugal, (w) Romania, (x) Slovakia, (y) Slovenia, (z) Spain and (i) Sweden on maintaining the rights of UK nationals in those member states in the event that the UK leaves the EU without a deal.
Answered by Suella Braverman
Ministers and officials from DExEU and other Government departments speak regularly to Ministers and senior officials from other Member States about the issues related to our exit from the EU, including on the rights of UK nationals in the EU.
We are urging our EU counterparts to offer the same reassurance to UK nationals living in EU Member States as the Prime Minister recently gave to EU citizens in the UK. We will also ensure all relevant information is available to UK nationals overseas in the most transparent and accessible way.
For information on living in a specific Member State citizens should refer to the “Living in Guides” on gov.uk.