Asked by: Andrew Rosindell (Conservative - Romford)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, when a Royal Navy ship last visited Pitcairn Island (a) to patrol UK waters and (b) in any other capacity.
Answered by James Heappey
HMS Spey visited Pitcairn in February 2022 delivering COVID vaccines and dental care as part of its duties as one of the two Royal Navy Offshore Patrol Vessels deployed in the Indo-Pacific. In addition, Spey conducted patrols in the waters around the islands in the Pitcairn chain to deter and defend against illegal fishing and to carry out environmental monitoring.
Asked by: Andrew Rosindell (Conservative - Romford)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, which British Overseas Territories are eligible to receive Overseas Development Aid; and what recent discussions they have had about expanding the rules so that other British Overseas Territories are eligible for that aid.
Answered by Jesse Norman
Montserrat, the Pitcairn Islands, St Helena and Tristan da Cunha are eligible for Overseas Development Aid. There are no ongoing discussions to expand the list of Overseas Territories eligible for regular Overseas Development Aid.
Asked by: Lord Bishop of Exeter (Bishops - Bishops)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made, if any, of the UK’s naval capability in supporting British Crown Dependencies and British Overseas Territories in the South Pacific.
Answered by Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
The UK Government is committed to defending the British Crown Dependencies and British Overseas Territories, in line with our constitutional responsibilities. The Pitcairn Islands are the sole UK Overseas Territory in the Pacific. The Ministry of Defence maintains high-readiness maritime, land and air assets to deter and respond to threats globally, including the appropriate naval capability to support the British Crown Dependencies and Overseas Territories. HMS Spey recently visited Pitcairn Island where it delivered COVID-19 vaccines and patrolled the Exclusive Economic Zone.
Asked by: Andrew Rosindell (Conservative - Romford)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many people from the British Overseas Territories have served in the British Armed forces in each of the last five years, by each Overseas Territory.
Answered by Leo Docherty - Minister of State (Ministry of Defence) (Minister for the Armed Forces)
The table below shows the number of personnel from the British Overseas Territories serving in the trained and untrained Regular and Reserve Armed Forces between 2017 and 2021. Nationality is recorded on the Joint Personnel Administration (JPA) system. JPA allows personnel to select British Overseas Territory Citizen (BOTC), or one of five specific territories. The vast majority of personnel select the BOTC option. It is therefore not possible to provide a breakdown of all British Overseas Territories.
Table 1: Number of British Overseas Territory1 UK Regulars2 and Future Reserves 20203 personnel serving in each calendar year4 between 2017 and 2021. |
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| 2017 | 2018 | 2019 | 2020 | 2021 |
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British Overseas Territory Citizen5 | 160 | 150 | 140 | 110 | 70 |
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British Virgin Islander | ~ | ~ | ~ | ~ | ~ |
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Cayman Islander | ~ | ~ | - | - | - |
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Gibraltarian | ~ | ~ | ~ | ~ | ~ |
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Monserratian | ~ | ~ | ~ | ~ | ~ |
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St Helenian | 10 | 10 | 10 | ~ | ~ |
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Grand Total | 170 | 160 | 150 | 120 | 80 |
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Notes: |
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| Nationality is as recorded on the Joint Personnel Administration database. Primary nationality has been used, so people with only a secondary nationality of a British Overseas Territory have not been included. |
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| UK Regulars include Full-time Service personnel, including Nursing Services, but excluding FTRS personnel, Gurkhas, mobilised Reservists, MPGS, LEP and NRPS. |
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| Future Reserves 2020 includes volunteer reserves who are mobilised, HRR and volunteer reserve personnel serving on ADC or FTRS contracts. Sponsored Reserves who provide a more cost effective solution than volunteer reserve are also included in the Army Reserve FR20. Non Regular Permanent Staff (NRPS), Expeditionary Forces Institute (EFI) and University Officer Cadets and Regular Reservists are excluded. |
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| If a service person has been recorded as having a British Overseas Territory as a primary Nationality at least once within each year, then they have been recorded once within that year. |
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| British Overseas Territories Citizens includes personnel from Anguila, Bermuda, British Antarctic Territory, British Indian Ocean Territory, British Virgin Islands, Cayman Islands, Falkland Islands, Gibraltar, Montserrat, Pitcairn Islands, Saint Helena, Ascension and Tristan da Cunha, South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands, Turks and Caicos Islands. This could mean the populations for British Virgin Islander, Cayman Islander, Gibraltarian, Monserratian and St Helenian are under-represented. |
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| Figures for both UK Regulars and FR20 include both trained and untrained personnel. |
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| Figures in this publication 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. Figures 5 or less have been indicated with a "~" and where there are no personnel has been indicated by a "-". |
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Asked by: Andrew Rosindell (Conservative - Romford)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what projects her Department has in partnership with the British Overseas Territories; and whether her Department has plans to work with the British Overseas Territories on future projects.
Answered by Nigel Huddleston - Financial Secretary (HM Treasury)
My Department works closely with the Overseas Territories in pursuit of our obligations under the UNESCO World Heritage Convention. Four of the UK's thirty three World Heritage Sites are situated in the Overseas Territories of Bermuda, Gibraltar, Tristan da Cunha and the Pitcairn Islands, and we will welcome applications from further sites to be considered for the UK's Tentative List when the review is launched this year.
Nine of our Overseas Territories will be represented at the Commonwealth Games in Birmingham this summer. I wish each of their teams success.
Asked by: Andrew Rosindell (Conservative - Romford)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, whether her Department has made an assessment on the potential merits of promoting the import of honey from the Pitcairn Islands.
Answered by Amanda Milling - Government Whip, Lord Commissioner of HM Treasury
Pitcairn's disease free bee population has resulted in the production of high quality honey which is exported across the globe. While no recent assessment of promoting this excellent local produce has taken place, the Government did fund an apiculture programme for Pitcairn in 1998 which included an analysis of the bees and honey production. In addition, part of an ongoing Defra-funded Darwin Plus project is advising the Pitcairn Government on improving biosecurity to reduce the risk of invasive species impacting honey production. The UK remains committed to supporting the people of the Pitcairn Islands and maximising opportunities for economic development. The FCDO funds the shipping service, which allows access to Pitcairn Islands and for goods to be exported.
Asked by: Andrew Rosindell (Conservative - Romford)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what progress has been made on delivering covid-19 booster vaccines to the Pitcairn islands, Tristan de Cunha and the staff at the British Antarctic territories.
Answered by Amanda Milling - Government Whip, Lord Commissioner of HM Treasury
The FCDO have been organising the delivery of COVID-19 vaccines to the Overseas Territories, reaching all of the inhabited Territories, South Georgia and the British Antarctic Territory. Deliveries of booster doses are well underway. Booster vaccines were delivered to the British Antarctic Territory on 12 January, boosters are currently en route to Pitcairn and planning is underway to deliver booster doses to Tristan da Cunha as soon as possible.
Asked by: Andrew Percy (Conservative - Brigg and Goole)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what steps her Department is taking to ensure that citizens in the British Overseas Territories receive booster shots of the covid-19 vaccine.
Answered by Amanda Milling - Government Whip, Lord Commissioner of HM Treasury
The Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office has been supporting the Overseas Territories since the outset of the pandemic. This includes the provision of vaccines which have been provided on a population proportionate basis with the United Kingdom. The UK Overseas Territories have some of the highest vaccination rates globally and the roll out of booster vaccines began in October 2021. To date, eleven (Anguilla, Ascension Island, Bermuda, the British Virgin Islands, Cayman Islands, Falkland Islands, Gibraltar, Montserrat, St Helena, South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands and the Turks & Caicos Islands Overseas Territories) have received booster vaccines. Plans are in hand to deliver boosters to the remaining three Overseas Territories (Pitcairn, Tristan da Cunha and staff at the British Antarctic Territory) in early 2022.
Asked by: Emily Thornberry (Labour - Islington South and Finsbury)
Question to the Department for International Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, when she plans to respond to Question 44264 on the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership: Pitcairn Islands, tabled on 7 September 2021 by the Rt. hon. Member for Islington South and Finsbury.
Answered by Penny Mordaunt - Lord President of the Council and Leader of the House of Commons
Question 44264 was answered on 22nd September.
Asked by: Emily Thornberry (Labour - Islington South and Finsbury)
Question to the Department for International Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, pursuant to the Answer of 12 July to Question 28135 on Department for International Trade: Treaties, whether she has (a) sought and (b) received legal advice on the possible inclusion of the Pitcairn Islands in the UK’s application for accession to the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership.
Answered by Penny Mordaunt - Lord President of the Council and Leader of the House of Commons
The UK is responsible for the international relations of all UK Overseas Territories, including the Pitcairn Islands, and will seek legal advice if, and where, appropriate as negotiations with trading partners progress.