Asked by: Alex Sobel (Labour (Co-op) - Leeds North West)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many visas his Department has granted to applicants from North Macedonia in each year since 2020.
Answered by Tom Pursglove - Minister of State (Minister for Legal Migration and Delivery)
The Home Office publishes data on entry clearance visas in the ‘Immigration System Statistics Quarterly Release’. Data on visas granted, by nationality, are published in table Vis_D02 of the Entry clearance detailed dataset. Information on how to use the dataset can be found in the ‘Notes’ page of the workbook. The latest data relate up to the end of 2023.
Asked by: Alex Sobel (Labour (Co-op) - Leeds North West)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether he plans to introduce a (a) visa exemption, (b) visa on arrival and (c) eVisa scheme for people from North Macedonia.
Answered by Tom Pursglove - Minister of State (Minister for Legal Migration and Delivery)
There are no plans to introduce a visa exemption or visa on arrival for North Macedonians. The introduction of eVisas will help travellers prove their status at the UK border in a secure, timely and efficient manner. This introduction will not be country specific.
Asked by: Alex Sobel (Labour (Co-op) - Leeds North West)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, whether she has taken recent steps to facilitate bilateral trade with North Macedonia.
Answered by Greg Hands - Minister of State (Department for Business and Trade)
Bilateral trade between the UK and North Macedonia was worth a total of £2.5 billion in the 4 quarters to end of Q4 2023, comprising of £1.7bn of exports and £787 million of imports. North Macedonia is the UK’s largest trading partner in the Western Balkans. The UK’s trade relationship is underpinned by the Partnership, Trade and Cooperation Agreement (PTCA), signed in 2020. The inaugural PTCA Joint Committee met in 2022 and we hope to convene the second version later this year. In September 2023, the UK launched the British-Macedonian Business Chamber, as a symbol of the growing trade & investment partnership.
Asked by: Baroness Helic (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the security situation in and stability of the Western Balkans, following the testimony of the NATO Supreme Allied Commander Europe, General Christopher Cavoli, before the US House Committee on Armed Services on 10 April.
Answered by Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
We share General Cavoli's assessment over rising tensions in the Western Balkans, and Russia's malign role in exacerbating those tensions. Working bilaterally and with partners, and drawing on over £40 million of programme activity, the UK is driving forward efforts to build resilience to external threats, strengthen democracy, prevent a return to conflict and tackle migration and serious organised crime. Government Ministers are engaging actively in support of these goals. Most recently, the Foreign Secretary met the Prime Ministers of Kosovo, Serbia, North Macedonia and Montenegro to discuss greater UK investment in the Western Balkans.
Asked by: Lord Wasserman (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Viscount Younger of Leckie on 26 October (HL10597), in how many countries there is a legal requirement to uprate the UK State Pensions paid to those UK pensioners who live there; and which countries they are.
Answered by Viscount Younger of Leckie - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Work and Pensions)
The UK State Pension is payable worldwide to those who meet the qualifying conditions, without regard to nationality, and the amount is based on an individual’s National Insurance record. UK State Pensions are up-rated overseas only where there is a legal requirement to do so. The Government has no plans to change this policy.
People who live outside the UK will not receive an increase in their State Pension unless they live in:
- an EEA country or Switzerland; or
- a country with which DWP have a reciprocal agreement that allows for it. These countries are:
*Following the break-up of Yugoslavia, the UK agreement with former Yugoslavia now covers Bosnia-Herzegovina, Kosovo, Montenegro, North Macedonia, and Serbia.
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 troops are in deployed in Kosovo as of 21 November 2023.
Answered by James Heappey
The UK currently has 643 personnel deployed to Kosovo, in operational and Defence Engagement capacities.
In an operational capacity, the UK currently has 641 personnel supporting NATO's Kosovo Force (KFOR). There are 41 regularly deployed personnel, and a further 600 personnel currently deployed from our Strategic Reserve Force.
To support our Defence Engagement programme, the UK currently has a deployed Advisor to the Kosovo Security Forces, in addition to the non-resident Defence Attaché (based in Skopje, North Macedonia).
Asked by: James Daly (Conservative - Bury North)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, with which (a) foreign countries and (b) administrative regions of foreign countries that issue their own driving licences his Department has an agreement for mutual recognition of documents; and whether his Department is taking steps to reach such agreement with other countries and regions.
Answered by Richard Holden - Minister without Portfolio (Cabinet Office)
The UK continues to exchange and recognise licences originating from all European Economic Area (EEA) countries. Arrangements are in place with all EEA countries for the recognition and exchange of the vast majority of GB licences.
Outside of the EEA, mutual driving licence exchange agreements are in place with the following designated countries:
Andorra | Gibraltar | South Africa |
Australia | Hong Kong | Switzerland |
Barbados | Japan | Taiwan |
British Virgin Islands | Monaco | Ukraine |
Canada | New Zealand | United Arab Emirates |
Cayman Islands | Republic of Korea | Zimbabwe |
Falkland Islands | Republic of North Macedonia |
|
Faroe Islands | Singapore |
|
Work is currently progressing on arrangements with a further seven countries:
Albania | Moldova | Sri Lanka |
Kosovo | San Marino |
|
Malaysia | Serbia |
|
I also recently met with an official delegation from Kenya to discuss existing arrangements with them as well.
Asked by: Matt Western (Labour - Warwick and Leamington)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, how many Chevening scholarships have been awarded to each country for awarded for the 2023-24 academic year.
Answered by Andrew Mitchell - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office) (Minister for Development)
Chevening operates in over 160 countries and territories. For the 2023-24 academic year, our budget of £57.7 million Official Development Assistance (ODA), £1.6 million non-ODA funding, and additional income of around £13.2 million from tuition fee-waivers and external partners allowed us to offer 1440 awards of which 1383 were from ODA funding and 57 from non-ODA funding. Attached is a table indicating numbers from each eligible country. For countries where we offered fewer than five places we withhold the exact number as this would contravene one of the data protection principles. In this case, Sections 40(2) and 40 (3A)(a) of the Freedom of Information Act apply.
| ODA | Country | Awards made (incl. full/part partner funded awards) |
| ODA | AFGHANISTAN | 22 |
| ODA | ALBANIA | 11 |
| ODA | ALGERIA | 7 |
| ODA | ANGOLA / SAO TOME AND PRINCIPE | 15 |
| ODA | ARGENTINA | 15 |
| ODA | ARMENIA | 5 |
| ODA | AZERBAIJAN | 7 |
| ODA | BANGLADESH | 21 |
| ODA | BELARUS | 7 |
| ODA | BELIZE | Fewer than 5 |
| ODA | BHUTAN | 5 |
| ODA | BOLIVIA | 6 |
| ODA | BOSNIA AND HERZEGOVINA | 6 |
| ODA | BOTSWANA | 5 |
| ODA | BRAZIL | 46 |
| ODA | BURUNDI | Fewer than 5 |
| ODA | CAMBODIA | 14 |
| ODA | CAMEROON / CHAD / EQUATORIAL GUINEA / GABON | 8 |
| ODA | CHINA | 33 |
| ODA | COLOMBIA | 14 |
| ODA | CONGO, The Democratic Republic Of The/Central African Republic/Republic of Congo | Fewer than 5 |
| ODA | COSTA RICA / NICARAGUA | 6 |
| ODA | COTE D'IVOIRE | 7 |
| ODA | CUBA | 8 |
| ODA | DJIBOUTI | Fewer than 5 |
| ODA | DOMINICAN REPUBLIC/HAITI | 13 |
| ODA | EAST CARIBBEAN ODA (GRENADA, ST LUCIA, DOMINICA, ST VINCENT & THE GRENADINES, ANTIGUA AND BARBUDA) | 11 |
| ODA | EAST TIMOR | Fewer than 5 |
| ODA | ECUADOR | 6 |
| ODA | EGYPT | 30 |
| ODA | EL SALVADOR | Fewer than 5 |
| ODA | ERITREA | Fewer than 5 |
| ODA | Eswatini | Fewer than 5 |
| ODA | ETHIOPIA | 13 |
| ODA | GAMBIA | 5 |
| ODA | GEORGIA/South Caucasus | 14 |
| ODA | GHANA / BENIN / TOGO /BURKINA FASO | 16 |
| ODA | GUATEMALA / HONDURAS | 5 |
| ODA | GUINEA | Fewer than 5 |
| ODA | GUYANA / SURINAME | 5 |
| ODA | INDIA | 38 |
| ODA | INDONESIA | 43 |
| ODA | IRAQ | 18 |
| ODA | JAMAICA | 13 |
| ODA | JORDAN | 8 |
| ODA | KAZAKHSTAN | 9 |
| ODA | KENYA | 33 |
| ODA | KOSOVO | 8 |
| ODA | KYRGYZ REPUBLIC | Fewer than 5 |
| ODA | LAOS | 13 |
| ODA | LEBANON | 10 |
| ODA | LESOTHO | 6 |
| ODA | LIBERIA | Fewer than 5 |
| ODA | LIBYA | 10 |
| ODA | MADAGASCAR/COMOROS | 8 |
| ODA | MALAWI | 6 |
| ODA | MALAYSIA | 41 |
| ODA | MALDIVES | 7 |
| ODA | MALI | Fewer than 5 |
| ODA | MAURITANIA | 5 |
| ODA | MAURITIUS | 7 |
| ODA | MEXICO | 34 |
| ODA | MOLDOVA | 6 |
| ODA | MONGOLIA | 17 |
| ODA | MONTENEGRO | 7 |
| ODA | MOROCCO | 11 |
| ODA | MOZAMBIQUE | 15 |
| ODA | MYANMAR | 11 |
| ODA | NAMIBIA | 14 |
| ODA | NEPAL | 11 |
| ODA | NIGER | Fewer than 5 |
| ODA | NIGERIA | 39 |
| ODA | NORTH MACEDONIA | 6 |
| ODA | OVERSEAS TERRITORIES | 12 |
| ODA | PACIFIC POOL | 32 |
| ODA | PAKISTAN (DOES NOT INCLUDE FELLOWS) | 46 |
| ODA | PALESTINIAN TERRITORIES | 11 |
| ODA | PANAMA | 5 |
| ODA | PARAGUAY | 17 |
| ODA | PERU | 11 |
| ODA | PHILIPPINES | 23 |
| ODA | RWANDA | 8 |
| ODA | SAMOA + COOK ISLANDS | Fewer than 5 |
| ODA | SENEGAL / CAPE VERDE /GUINEA-BISSAU | 8 |
| ODA | SERBIA | 7 |
| ODA | SIERRA LEONE | 6 |
| ODA | SOMALIA | 17 |
| ODA | SOUTH AFRICA | 47 |
| ODA | SOUTH SUDAN | 6 |
| ODA | SRI LANKA | 10 |
| ODA | SUDAN | 14 |
| ODA | SYRIA | 15 |
| ODA | TAJIKISTAN | Fewer than 5 |
| ODA | TANZANIA | 17 |
| ODA | THAILAND | 24 |
| ODA | TUNISIA | 6 |
| ODA | TURKEY | 20 |
| ODA | TURKMENISTAN | 6 |
| ODA | UGANDA | 21 |
| ODA | UKRAINE | 37 |
| ODA | UZBEKISTAN | 7 |
| ODA | VENEZUELA | 7 |
| ODA | VIETNAM | 23 |
| ODA | YEMEN | 9 |
| ODA | ZAMBIA | 11 |
| ODA | ZIMBABWE | 7 |
| Non-ODA | AUSTRALIA | Fewer than 5 |
| Non-ODA | BAHAMAS | Fewer than 5 |
| Non-ODA | BARBADOS (+ ST KITTS AND NEVIS) | Fewer than 5 |
| Non-ODA | BRUNEI | Fewer than 5 |
| Non-ODA | CANADA | Fewer than 5 |
| Non-ODA | CHILE | Fewer than 5 |
| Non-ODA | HONG KONG | Fewer than 5 |
| Non-ODA | ICELAND | Fewer than 5 |
| Non-ODA | ISRAEL | Fewer than 5 |
| Non-ODA | JAPAN | Fewer than 5 |
| Non-ODA | NEW ZEALAND | Fewer than 5 |
| Non-ODA | SEYCHELLES | Fewer than 5 |
| Non-ODA | SINGAPORE | 5 |
| Non-ODA | SOUTH KOREA | Fewer than 5 |
| Non-ODA | TAIWAN | 5 |
| Non-ODA | TRINIDAD AND TOBAGO | Fewer than 5 |
| Non-ODA | URUGUAY | 10 |
| 1350 |
Asked by: Mike Penning (Conservative - Hemel Hempstead)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many migrants arrived in the UK illegally from (a) Bosnia and Herzegovina, (b) Georgia, (c) Mongolia, (d) Albania, (e) Chile, (f) Kosovo, (g) North Macedonia and (h) Serbia in (i) 2022 and (ii) 2023 to date.
Answered by Robert Jenrick
The Home Office publishes data on detected irregular arrivals in the ‘Irregular Migration to the UK Quarterly Release’. Quarterly data on detected irregular arrivals broken down by method of entry and nationality are published in table Irr_D01 of the ‘Irregular Migration detailed datasets’. Information on how to use the dataset can be found in the ‘Notes’ page of the workbook. The latest data relates to end June 2023.
Further provisional small boat arrivals data is published in the data tables accompanying the ‘Statistics relating to the Illegal Migration Act’. Numbers of arrivals by nationality are published in table IMB_01b for Q2 and July 2023.
The Home Office also publishes data on returns in the ‘Immigration System Statistics Quarterly Release’. Data on returns by destination are published in table Ret_D02 of the ‘Returns detailed datasets’. Information on how to use the dataset can be found in the ‘Notes’ page of the workbook. The latest data relates to the end of March 2023.
Further provisional returns data is published in the data tables accompanying the ‘Statistics relating to the Illegal Migration Act’. Quarterly numbers of returns of Albanians and all other nationalities are published in table IMB_05 up to the end of July 2023. Since the signing of the UK-Albania Joint Communique on 13 December 2022, the UK has returned 2,898 Albanian nationals to Albania and covers the period up to 31 July 2023.
Information on future Home Office statistical release dates can be found in the ‘Research and statistics calendar’.
Asked by: Mike Penning (Conservative - Hemel Hempstead)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many illegal migrants were returned to (a) Bosnia and Herzegovina, (b) Georgia, (c) Mongolia, (d) Albania, (e) Chile, (f) Kosovo, (g) North Macedonia and (h) Serbia in (i) 2022 and (ii) 2023 to date.
Answered by Robert Jenrick
The Home Office publishes data on detected irregular arrivals in the ‘Irregular Migration to the UK Quarterly Release’. Quarterly data on detected irregular arrivals broken down by method of entry and nationality are published in table Irr_D01 of the ‘Irregular Migration detailed datasets’. Information on how to use the dataset can be found in the ‘Notes’ page of the workbook. The latest data relates to end June 2023.
Further provisional small boat arrivals data is published in the data tables accompanying the ‘Statistics relating to the Illegal Migration Act’. Numbers of arrivals by nationality are published in table IMB_01b for Q2 and July 2023.
The Home Office also publishes data on returns in the ‘Immigration System Statistics Quarterly Release’. Data on returns by destination are published in table Ret_D02 of the ‘Returns detailed datasets’. Information on how to use the dataset can be found in the ‘Notes’ page of the workbook. The latest data relates to the end of March 2023.
Further provisional returns data is published in the data tables accompanying the ‘Statistics relating to the Illegal Migration Act’. Quarterly numbers of returns of Albanians and all other nationalities are published in table IMB_05 up to the end of July 2023. Since the signing of the UK-Albania Joint Communique on 13 December 2022, the UK has returned 2,898 Albanian nationals to Albania and covers the period up to 31 July 2023.
Information on future Home Office statistical release dates can be found in the ‘Research and statistics calendar’.