Asked by: John Healey (Labour - Wentworth and Dearne)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many UK armed forces personnel have been stationed in Nepal in every year since 2021.
Answered by James Heappey
The information requested by the right hon. Member for the years 2021 and 2022 can be found in the following table:
Country | Year | Number of Personnel (Full time Service Personnel only) |
Singapore | 2021 | 10 |
2022 | 10 | |
Brunei | 2021 | 160 |
2022 | 160 | |
Nepal | 2021 | 20 |
2022 | 20 | |
British Indian Ocean Territory | 2021 | 40 |
2022 | 40 | |
Oman | 2021 | 80 |
2022 | 70 | |
Qatar | 2021 | 10 |
2022 | 30 |
The figures are provided as at 1 April of each year. Figures for 2023 are not yet available and we can provide an update to the Member when these become ready.
Notes:
UK Regulars comprise Full time Service personnel, including Nursing Services, but excluding Full Time Reserve Service (FTRS) personnel, Gurkhas, mobilised Reservists, Military Provost Guard Service (MPGS), Locally Engaged Personnel (LEP), Non Regular Permanent Staff (NRPS), High Readiness Reserve (HRR) and Expeditionary Forces Institute (EFI) personnel.
Figures in this table have been rounded to the nearest 10, though numbers ending in a “5” have been rounded to the nearest multiple of 20 to prevent the systematic bias caused by always rounding numbers upwards.
Asked by: Tony Lloyd (Labour - Rochdale)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, how much his Department spent on international development targeted primarily at (a) the delivery of and (b) research into healthcare services in the last five years.
Answered by Andrew Mitchell - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office) (Minister for Development)
From 2017 - 2021, the FCDO spent more than £4.5 billion on activities that primarily support the delivery of health services, and more than £730 million on global health research.
Between 2016 and 2021, FCDO supported Gavi to vaccinate 324 million children, averting 6.9 million deaths. Between 2015 and 2020, FCDO reached an average of 25.3 million total women and girls with modern methods of family planning per year, and reached 55.1 million young children, women and adolescent girls through our nutrition programmes. In Nepal, sustained UK support has helped to increase the proportion of women giving birth in health facilities from 9% in 2001 to 80% in 2022.
FCDO's investment in health research has supported the development of 11 new drugs for malaria, including a child friendly malaria treatment that is used in more than 50 countries, more than 20 diagnostics for faster and more reliable detection of tuberculosis, malaria, sleeping sickness and COVID-19, and a new vaccine for rotavirus.
The spend figure provided for activities that primarily support, directly or indirectly, the delivery of health services includes all activities under the OECD-DAC Creditor Reporting System sector codes for 'Health, General', 'Basic Health', 'Non-Communicable Diseases (NCDs)' and 'Population Policies/Programmes & Reproductive Health', excluding 'Medical research' (12182) and 'Research for prevention and control of NCDs' (12382). Further information can be found in the Statistics on International Development: final UK aid spend 2021 (https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/statistics-on-international-development-final-uk-aid-spend-2021).
Year | Activities that support delivery of health services |
2017 | £1,018,870,299 |
2018 | £936,597,525 |
2019 | £958,566,780 |
2020 | £1,041,225,156 |
2021 | £559,469,940 |
Total | £4,514,729,701 |
The total spend on global health research by the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office's central Research and Evidence Directorate over the last five financial years is as follows:
Financial year | Total spend on global health research |
2018/19 | £132,330,000 |
2019/20 | £155,410,000 |
2020/21 | £371,860,000 |
2021/22 | £75,330,000 |
2022/23 | Final and audited spend for 2022/23 will be published in our annual report at the end of the financial year |
Total | £734,930,000 |
Asked by: Catherine West (Labour - Hornsey and Wood Green)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what assessment he has made of the potential implications of Chinese investment in Nepalese infrastructure projects for regional (a) security and (b) stability.
Answered by Anne-Marie Trevelyan - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
China is a longstanding and major source of investment and aid to Nepal, including in the energy and tourism sectors. We recognise there is need to increase resilience and ensure that countries have a choice of investment and development partnerships. We are working with partners to ensure a range of countries in South Asia, including Nepal, have alternatives to a strategic dependence on China or any other country. British International Investment has invested over $100m in Nepal, within their broader South Asia portfolio, which will create jobs and boost economic growth and stability.
Asked by: Navendu Mishra (Labour - Stockport)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, whether his Department has taken steps to build energy generation partnerships on a bilateral basis with Nepal.
Answered by Anne-Marie Trevelyan - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
The UK is implementing its Climate Smart Development Programme in Nepal. This will promote renewable energy access by supporting the Government of Nepal to further access climate finance and leverage both public and private investments to meet its adaptation and mitigation targets. Similarly, the Government of Nepal, UK, World Bank and 15 other Development Partners (DPs) endorsed the Kathmandu Declaration on Green, Resilient and Inclusive Development (GRID) in September 2021. This will advance Nepal's climate pathway through investment in forestry, agriculture, clean energy, sustainable tourism, clean transport programs and climate smart urbanisation.
Asked by: Liam Byrne (Labour - Birmingham, Hodge Hill)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, if he will set out his Department's forecast of (a) the total FTE and (b) the change in FTE staff deployed in the Indo-Pacific region, broken down by nation for each year in the next five-year period.
Answered by James Heappey
Following the commitments made in the Defence Command Paper in support of the UK’s Indo-Pacific tilt, the period since 16 March 2021 has seen an increase in both MOD personnel and MOD assets permanently deployed to the Indo-Pacific region.
This increase in personnel supports the expansion of the UK’s Defence Network, including the establishment of a British Defence Staff for Oceania, in Canberra and Defence Advisor and Attaché posts in Fiji and the Philippines respectively.
Over the same period, the number of assets in the region has also increased. Following the conclusion of the Carrier Strike Group deployment, HMS Spey and Tamar were permanently stationed in the region at the end of 2021.
As of 8 December 22, there are a total of 1,297 Defence Personnel deployed in the Indo Pacific, not including the Global Network.
Country | Number of Personnel |
Pakistan | 10 |
Indonesia | ~5 |
Nepal | 140 |
Brunei | 840 |
BIOT (British Indian Ocean Territory) | 35 |
Australia | 20 |
Japan | 85 |
Singapore | 5 |
New Zealand | 10 |
South Korea | 50 |
Maritime – 2x OPVs on Defence Engagement tasks | 105 |
Total | 1,297[1] |
There is no specific figure forecast to increase the total FTE in the next five-year period. Defence will ensure that increases in personnel are commensurate with our commitments to the region as set out in the Integrated Review and Defence Command Paper.
[1] These figures have been rounded to the nearest 5, in order to reflect the adaptive nature of Defence activity, however, the total figure represents the number of UK Defence Personnel deployed on the 8 December excluding those personnel working in Defence sections or as part of the global network.
Asked by: Navendu Mishra (Labour - Stockport)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, pursuant to the Answer of 14 November to Question 80951 on Nepal: Migrant Workers, whether the Government plans to continue to recruit health workers from nations classified as red list by the World Health Organisation.
Answered by Will Quince
International recruitment in England is guided by the Code of Practice for the International Recruitment of Health and Social Care Personnel. The Code states that active international recruitment from the 47 countries on the World Health Organization’s Health Workforce Support and Safeguards list should not take place, except where a Government-to-Government agreement is in place. Of countries on this list, the United Kingdom currently has a Government-to-Government agreement on the recruitment of healthcare workers with Nepal.
However, the Code acknowledges an individual’s right to migrate and individuals from countries on this list can make direct applications for vacancies in the UK health and social care sectors of their own accord.
Asked by: Sarah Champion (Labour - Rotherham)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, which countries his Department includes in its definition of the Indo-Pacific region.
Answered by Anne-Marie Trevelyan - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
The Indo-Pacific Directorate-General in the FCDO has lead responsibility for relations with the following countries and territories: India and Indian Ocean (Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Maldives, Nepal, and Sri Lanka), North East Asia (China, Hong Kong, Japan, Mongolia, North Korea (DPRK), South Korea (RoK), Taiwan), South East Asia (Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, Timor Leste, Vietnam) and Oceania (Australia, Fiji, Kiribati, Marshall Islands, Micronesia, Nauru, New Zealand, Palau, Papua New Guinea, Samoa, Solomon Islands, Tonga, Tuvalu, and Vanuatu). There is close coordination with other departments leading work on neighbouring countries, especially Pakistan and Afghanistan.
Asked by: Virendra Sharma (Labour - Ealing, Southall)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, whether he has had discussions with (a) the Nepalese Government and (b) Gurkha Representatives in the UK on (i) Gurkha pensions and (ii) other entitlements since their meeting in September 2021; and whether he has taken steps to arrange further discussions.
Answered by Andrew Murrison - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Defence)
Since September 2021, there have been several meetings held between the Ministry of Defence and the Government of Nepal to discuss the UK-Nepal relationship and the formation of the Bilateral Gurkha Committee. I attended the inaugural Bilateral Gurkha Committee meeting on 3 November 2022 alongside His Excellency, Gyan Chandra Acharya, the Ambassador of Nepal, and Gurkha veteran representatives. I have asked MOD officials to work with the Gurkha community and Service charities to fully understand the issues and welfare concerns both in Nepal and here in the UK, with a follow up meeting at official level due to take place later this month.
Asked by: Virendra Sharma (Labour - Ealing, Southall)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, whether he has had discussions with Cabinet colleagues on uprating Gurkha pensions.
Answered by Andrew Murrison - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Defence)
The Government greatly values the unique contribution that the Gurkhas have made and continue to make to the UK, and remains committed to providing Gurkhas a fair pension, including uplifts determined by formal review processes.
Gurkha terms and conditions of service were initially set by the 1947 Tripartite Agreement and were altered as the Brigade’s circumstance changed over the years. Since 2007 Gurkhas have served on the same basis as the remainder of the British Army apart from specific conditions to maintain the Brigade of Gurkhas.
Since 2007, Gurkhas have also received the same pension under the Armed Forces Pension Scheme (AFPS) as the rest of the UK Armed Forces. Gurkhas who had served beyond 1997 were given the option to transfer to the Armed Forces Pension Scheme. For those who served prior to 2007, the 1948 Gurkha Pension Scheme (GPS) provides a pension over their lifetime at least as good, and in many cases better, than that given to their British counterparts with identical periods of service. Whilst GPS pensions are smaller, most are paid for longer; from as early as age 33, whereas the AFPS pays a pension only from age 60/65.
The Defence Secretary has not had discussions with Cabinet colleagues regarding uprating legacy Gurkha pensions as retrospective changes or improvements generally are not made to public service pension schemes. This policy applies across the whole of the public sector.
The GPS remains linked to the Indian Army pension scheme. Changes are introduced every 10 years when the Indian Central Pay Commission (CPC) adjusts the levels of pay and pensions for personnel in the Indian Army. A public consultation in 2020/2021 sought views on how the 7th CPC should be implemented in relation to the GPS.
Following the consultation, Ministers decided that 140% of the Indian rates, with a minimum of 10% for those already above 140%, was the most appropriate level to implement the 7th CPC for the GPS.
When the 7th CPC changes were implemented, the government also implemented new groupings and structures for disability pensions. Full information on legacy GPS Disability Pensions is available in the Gurkha Pension Scheme Manual, Chapter Three, available on gov.uk.
The government has also chosen to work with a charity, the Gurkha Welfare Trust (GWT), to provide healthcare for its veterans and their families in Nepal. The GWT is part-funded by a grant-in-aid from MOD, and in 2018, the Army made a grant of £25 million over ten years to the GWT, specifically to improve the provision of healthcare, including secondary care, for our veterans in Nepal.
Asked by: Virendra Sharma (Labour - Ealing, Southall)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, if he will take steps to increase existing Gurkha medical pensions to the British Army rate; and if he will make a statement.
Answered by Andrew Murrison - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Defence)
The Government greatly values the unique contribution that the Gurkhas have made and continue to make to the UK, and remains committed to providing Gurkhas a fair pension, including uplifts determined by formal review processes.
Gurkha terms and conditions of service were initially set by the 1947 Tripartite Agreement and were altered as the Brigade’s circumstance changed over the years. Since 2007 Gurkhas have served on the same basis as the remainder of the British Army apart from specific conditions to maintain the Brigade of Gurkhas.
Since 2007, Gurkhas have also received the same pension under the Armed Forces Pension Scheme (AFPS) as the rest of the UK Armed Forces. Gurkhas who had served beyond 1997 were given the option to transfer to the Armed Forces Pension Scheme. For those who served prior to 2007, the 1948 Gurkha Pension Scheme (GPS) provides a pension over their lifetime at least as good, and in many cases better, than that given to their British counterparts with identical periods of service. Whilst GPS pensions are smaller, most are paid for longer; from as early as age 33, whereas the AFPS pays a pension only from age 60/65.
The Defence Secretary has not had discussions with Cabinet colleagues regarding uprating legacy Gurkha pensions as retrospective changes or improvements generally are not made to public service pension schemes. This policy applies across the whole of the public sector.
The GPS remains linked to the Indian Army pension scheme. Changes are introduced every 10 years when the Indian Central Pay Commission (CPC) adjusts the levels of pay and pensions for personnel in the Indian Army. A public consultation in 2020/2021 sought views on how the 7th CPC should be implemented in relation to the GPS.
Following the consultation, Ministers decided that 140% of the Indian rates, with a minimum of 10% for those already above 140%, was the most appropriate level to implement the 7th CPC for the GPS.
When the 7th CPC changes were implemented, the government also implemented new groupings and structures for disability pensions. Full information on legacy GPS Disability Pensions is available in the Gurkha Pension Scheme Manual, Chapter Three, available on gov.uk.
The government has also chosen to work with a charity, the Gurkha Welfare Trust (GWT), to provide healthcare for its veterans and their families in Nepal. The GWT is part-funded by a grant-in-aid from MOD, and in 2018, the Army made a grant of £25 million over ten years to the GWT, specifically to improve the provision of healthcare, including secondary care, for our veterans in Nepal.