Asked by: Richard Holden (Conservative - Basildon and Billericay)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, how many full-time equivalent members of DBT staff were working (a) in and (b) on each country on behalf of the UK as of (i) 4 July 2024 and (ii) June 2026.
Answered by Kate Dearden - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade)
The table shows the number of FTE DBT staff working in, and on behalf of the UK in each region as of July 2024 and April 2026. April 2026 is the latest available data point; data for June 2026 are not available. The available data are held at regional level. The requested information on a country-by-country basis is not readily available but could be provided as a separate list.
| July 2024 | April 2026 (latest data available) | ||
Regions | UK based staff working in other countries (FTE) | Country based staff working on other countries on behalf of the UK (FTE) | UK based staff working in other countries (FTE) | Country based staff working on other countries on behalf of the UK (FTE) |
Africa | 20 | 85 | 15 | 61 |
Asia Pacific | 45 | 212 | 45 | 200 |
China and Hong Kong | 24 | 152 | 22 | 137 |
Eastern Europe and Central Asia | 17 | 55 | 12 | 54 |
Europe | 34 | 285 | 33 | 267 |
Latin America and Caribbean | 15 | 220 | 13 | 129 |
Middle East, Afghanistan and Pakistan | 23 | 89 | 23 | 75 |
North America | 12 | 146 | 6 | 127 |
South Asia | 17 | 93 | 13 | 90 |
Total | 207 | 1,337 | 184 | 1,140 |
DBT also has UK-based teams working across a broad range of business and trade activities, including support for international trade missions. Most staff are in the Trade Group. However, DBT uses a flexible resourcing model, some staff work across multiple functions. The department therefore cannot separately identify the proportion of wider UK-based roles that support international trade missions.
Asked by: Baroness Lister of Burtersett (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the relationship between the decline in grants of indefinite leave to remain under the European Community Association Agreement category between the fourth quarter of 2025 and the first quarter of 2026 and the simultaneous increase in grants under the BN(O) Hong Kong category in the same period.
Answered by Lord Hanson of Flint - Minister of State (Home Office)
There is no correlation between outcomes of applications on different routes for indefinite leave to remain. The outcome of each application considered by the Home Office is decided on its individual facts. The Home Office allocates resources for case working of immigration applications in line with the forecasted demand.
There has been a higher than forecast intake on the European Community Association Agreement (ECAA) route over the last 12 months, and a high proportion of complex cases with large amounts of evidence which must be reviewed as part of the decision-making process. This has impacted processing times and volumes of decisions. Additional decision-making resource has now been assigned to the ECAA routes.
The increase in grants of indefinite leave to remain under the British National (Overseas) route reflects the timing of eligibility following the route’s introduction on 31 January 2021. Those on the route generally qualify for indefinite leave after five years’ residence.
Asked by: Brendan O'Hara (Scottish National Party - Argyll, Bute and South Lochaber)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, with reference to the Six-Monthly Report on Hong Kong published on 26 March 2026, what diplomatic steps she is taking to secure the release of Jimmy Lai following reports that he will not appeal his conviction under Hong Kong’s national security legislation.
Answered by Seema Malhotra - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
I refer the Hon Member to the answer provided on 21 April in response to Question 127084.
Asked by: Neil O'Brien (Conservative - Harborough, Oadby and Wigston)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how many foreign driving licences were exchanged for GB licences in each of the last five years, broken down by country of origin.
Answered by Simon Lightwood - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
The table below shows the number of foreign driving licence holders who have exchanged their licence for a GB licence in each of the last five years, broken down by the country or territory in which the original licence was issued.
Year | |||||
Country of Exchange | 2021 | 2022 | 2023 | 2024 | 2025 |
Andorra | 4 | 10 | 5 | 4 | 5 |
Austria | 134 | 166 | 132 | 143 | 144 |
Australia | 4799 | 4308 | 4852 | 5053 | 5163 |
Barbados | 63 | 127 | 156 | 139 | 105 |
British Virgin Islands | 30 | 50 | 60 | 50 | 39 |
Bulgaria | 5594 | 4389 | 2918 | 2068 | 1650 |
Canada | 1946 | 2419 | 2525 | 2574 | 2556 |
Cayman Islands | 22 | 146 | 141 | 110 | 142 |
Cyprus | 467 | 468 | 491 | 465 | 404 |
Denmark | 194 | 243 | 256 | 285 | 243 |
Estonia | 156 | 135 | 82 | 98 | 86 |
Falkland Islands | 60 | 76 | 42 | 23 | 31 |
Faroe Islands | 2 | 6 | 4 | 1 | 5 |
Finland | 173 | 163 | 171 | 179 | 184 |
France | 1603 | 1656 | 1651 | 1616 | 1717 |
Germany | 1403 | 1595 | 1617 | 1781 | 1875 |
Gibraltar | 55 | 74 | 87 | 82 | 68 |
Greece | 3078 | 2107 | 1731 | 1553 | 1341 |
Guernsey | 190 | 275 | 266 | 277 | 313 |
Hong Kong | 12345 | 33873 | 18052 | 10699 | 6023 |
Iceland | 39 | 38 | 32 | 35 | 37 |
Isle of Man | 221 | 339 | 306 | 279 | 295 |
Italy | 9690 | 6508 | 5495 | 5835 | 5649 |
Japan | 1384 | 1454 | 1578 | 1601 | 1785 |
Jersey | 321 | 480 | 502 | 464 | 411 |
Liechtenstein | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 4 |
Lithuania | 2719 | 2703 | 2201 | 2033 | 1389 |
Luxembourg | 36 | 45 | 64 | 82 | 74 |
Malta | 184 | 336 | 186 | 205 | 124 |
Moldova | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1424 |
Monaco | 14 | 13 | 17 | 12 | 9 |
New Zealand | 1662 | 1389 | 1893 | 2634 | 2794 |
North Macedonia | 808 | 464 | 214 | 151 | 112 |
Norway | 402 | 540 | 434 | 325 | 261 |
Poland | 13330 | 10340 | 9233 | 8158 | 6856 |
Portugal | 3352 | 2660 | 2476 | 2030 | 1816 |
Republic of Ireland | 2028 | 2488 | 2195 | 2049 | 1942 |
Romania | 14242 | 15329 | 11396 | 8812 | 7532 |
Singapore | 421 | 691 | 763 | 663 | 591 |
Slovenia | 1100 | 941 | 976 | 683 | 593 |
Spain | 5915 | 4632 | 3299 | 2652 | 2403 |
South Africa | 8465 | 11481 | 13740 | 11378 | 4571 |
South Korea | 646 | 991 | 1064 | 1207 | 1129 |
Sweden | 1009 | 1406 | 1352 | 1117 | 974 |
Switzerland | 530 | 640 | 505 | 439 | 465 |
Taiwan | 4 | 1014 | 1035 | 820 | 693 |
Ukraine | 2899 | 5436 | 10199 | 7115 | 4930 |
United Arab Emirates | 4346 | 7623 | 9097 | 6371 | 3795 |
Zimbabwe | 1277 | 6390 | 15371 | 17004 | 7064 |
Asked by: Juliet Campbell (Labour - Broxtowe)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether she has made any assessment of the financial impact on students and families that experienced delays in the processing of initial BN(O) Visa applications, and/or delays in processing indefinite leave to remain applications.
Answered by Mike Tapp - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Home Office)
There is a published service standard of 12 weeks for straightforward applications under the Hong Kong BN(O) Visa and Leave to Remain routes. For applications for Indefinite Leave to Remain the service standard for straightforward applications is 6 months. Priority services are also available for eligible applications.
The Home Office publishes data on performance against service standards in its quarterly immigration system statistics, available at: Visas, status and immigration data: October to December 2025. The most recent data on the Hong Kong BN(O) route covers Quarter 3 of 2025 and shows that 97.45% of straightforward standard visa applications and 98.89% of straightforward standard Leave to Remain applications were decided within 12 weeks. Performance on the Indefinite Leave to Remain route is not included in the published statistics for 2025, though the vast majority of these applications under the Hong Kong BN(O) route were not due to be received until 2026.
Asked by: Neil Coyle (Labour - Bermondsey and Old Southwark)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many officials in her Department are trained in (a) Hong Kong laws and (b) processing applications to settle in the UK.
Answered by Mike Tapp - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Home Office)
Home Officials are fully trained in all aspects of the policy on deciding applications made under the British National (Overseas) immigration route. The BNO visa allows status holders and their eligible family members to live, work and study in the UK. The route provides a direct pathway to settlement (indefinite Leave to Remain) after five years.
Generally, the Home Office allocates sufficient resources to applications for indefinite leave to remain to ensure that the forecasted volume of applications can be decided within the timeframe of the published service standard.
With regards to the request for information on the specific number of officials who are processing applications to settle in the UK, this could only be provided at a disproportionate cost given the breadth of the ask. The Cabinet Office’s Guide to Parliamentary Work (available at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/guide-to-parliamentary-work(opens in a new tab)) sets out: “There is an advisory cost limit known as the disproportionate cost threshold which is the level above which departments can decide not to answer a written question. The current disproportionate cost threshold is £850.”
Asked by: Alex Sobel (Labour (Co-op) - Leeds Central and Headingley)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many asylum claims originating from the People’s Republic of China, including Hong Kong, have been based on fear of persecution for reasons of political opinion since May 2015.
Answered by Alex Norris - Minister of State (Home Office)
Information regarding basis of claim is not published and could only be collected and verified for the purpose of answering this question at disproportionate cost.
Asked by: Alex Sobel (Labour (Co-op) - Leeds Central and Headingley)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many asylum claims have been submitted by asylum seekers from the People’s Republic of China, including Hong Kong, since May 2015; and how many of those were successful.
Answered by Alex Norris - Minister of State (Home Office)
The Home Office publishes data on asylum in the ‘Immigration System Statistics Quarterly Release’. Data on the number of people claiming asylum and initial decisions on asylum claims, by nationality, is published in tables Asy_D01 and Asy_D02 of the ‘Asylum claims and decisions detailed datasets’.
Data on latest asylum outcomes, by nationality, is published in table Asy_D04 of the ‘Outcome analysis of asylum claims detailed datasets’ as part of the ‘Immigration System Statistics Quarterly Release’.
Table Asy_D04 shows for main applicants only, the number of asylum claims made each year, the initial and latest outcomes of those claims, the number still awaiting an outcome, and the number returned. The latest published data relates to claims made up to the end of 2024.
Information on how to use the datasets can be found in the ‘Notes’ page of the workbook.
Asked by: Mark Sewards (Labour - Leeds South West and Morley)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what plans she has to (a) review and (b) revoke the privileges and immunities currently afforded to the Hong Kong Economic and Trade Office in London under the Hong Kong Economic and Trade Office Act 1996.
Answered by Seema Malhotra - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
This Government is taking a consistent, long term, and strategic approach to managing the UK's relations with China, rooted in UK interests. The Hong Kong Economic and Trade Office Act 1996 exists to promote trade with the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, and that legitimate activity is permitted to continue. However, anyone in any organisation found to be assisting a foreign state to undermine our security will be brought to justice.
Asked by: Mark Sewards (Labour - Leeds South West and Morley)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, if she will bring forward legislative proposals to repeal the Hong Kong Economic and Trade Office Act 1996.
Answered by Seema Malhotra - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
This Government is taking a consistent, long term, and strategic approach to managing the UK's relations with China, rooted in UK interests. The Hong Kong Economic and Trade Office Act 1996 exists to promote trade with the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, and that legitimate activity is permitted to continue. However, anyone in any organisation found to be assisting a foreign state to undermine our security will be brought to justice.