Asked by: Baroness Hoey (Non-affiliated - Life peer)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government from which countries the Heads of State have not been invited to attend His Majesty The King's Coronation.
Answered by Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
Invitations were issued to the Heads of State of all nations with whom the UK has full diplomatic relations, with a small number of exceptions. Realms and Overseas Territories also received invitations in line with their constitutional arrangements. Invitations were not issued to Afghanistan, Belarus, Myanmar, Russia, Syria, Iran and Venezuela. Invitations were issued at London Head of Mission level to the Democratic People's Republic of Korea and Nicaragua.
Asked by: Wendy Chamberlain (Liberal Democrat - North East Fife)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many UK pensioners living overseas had their pensions suspended in (a) 2019, (b) 2020, (c) 2021 due to (i) non-return and (ii) late return of life certificates, broken down by country of residence.
Answered by Laura Trott - Chief Secretary to the Treasury
DWP holds data relating to the late and non-return of a Life Certificate for the 2019 period, which resulted in the temporary suspension of a customer’s State Pension payments. In 2019, 26,206 claims were temporarily suspended, which is broken down by country as shown in the following table: -
Country | Number of State Pension claims temporarily suspended in 2019 due to the late or non-return of a completed Life Certificate |
| |
India | 1,280 |
Uganda | 65 |
Iceland | 11 |
Costa Rica | 24 |
Ukraine | 21 |
Gambia | 37 |
Jamaica | 2,269 |
Nigeria | 1,265 |
Venezuela | 39 |
Sierra Leone | 35 |
Dominican Republic | 30 |
Ecuador | 52 |
Greece | 539 |
Bulgaria | 256 |
Poland | 116 |
Netherlands | 624 |
Hong Kong | 124 |
Fiji | 4 |
Anguilla | 9 |
Jordan | 13 |
Montserrat | 14 |
Malawi | 4 |
Canada | 15,798 |
Cook Islands | 0 |
Norfolk Islands | 3 |
Papua New Guinea | 11 |
Western Samoa | 2 |
Ascension Island | 1 |
Lesotho | 8 |
Dominica | 277 |
South Korea | 52 |
Oman | 55 |
Lebanon | 35 |
Romania | 69 |
Peru | 33 |
Serbia | 63 |
Namibia | 26 |
Libya | 3 |
Tonga | 4 |
Cape Verde Islands | 5 |
Belarus | 2 |
Bangladesh | 473 |
Mauritius | 125 |
Azerbaijan | 4 |
Kazakhstan | 2 |
Vietnam | 74 |
Virgin Islands (British) | 25 |
Estonia | 10 |
Taiwan | 19 |
Panama | 36 |
Uruguay | 19 |
Kuwait | 28 |
Liechtenstein | 6 |
Antilles (Netherlands) | 11 |
St Kitts & Nevis | 76 |
Switzerland | 1,529 |
Brazil | 164 |
Vanuatu | 11 |
Bolivia | 30 |
Cambodia | 37 |
Nepal | 26 |
Brunei | 9 |
Bosnia Herzegovina | 7 |
Ethiopia | 14 |
Iran | 14 |
Hungary | 127 |
Swaziland | 29 |
Russia | 23 |
As a result of the outbreak of COVID in 2020, DWP suspended the Life Certificate exercise in March 2020, to ensure that our customers were not negatively impacted by any postal service issues which could have resulted in their State Pension payments being temporarily suspended. Therefore, DWP does not hold any data for this period.
DWP reintroduced the Life Certificate exercise in November 2021. Therefore, DWP does not hold any data for 2021, as any potential suspensions would be applied after 16 weeks of issue of the Life Certificate, which would mean that the suspension occurred in 2022.
The Management Information used has been taken from the same operational source data systems as our published administrative data. However, as this Management Information is not a recognised National or Official Statistic, it has not been subjected to the same level of Quality Assurance. As a result, these figures should be treated with caution.
Asked by: Margaret Ferrier (Independent - Rutherglen and Hamilton West)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many people in receipt of a UK pension live in countries without a reciprocal social security agreement with the UK by (a) the country they live in and (b) their gender.
Answered by Laura Trott - Chief Secretary to the Treasury
This information is published on Stat-Xplore https://stat-xplore.dwp.gov.uk and currently extends to November 2020.
The number of people in receipt of a UK State Pension living in countries without a reciprocal social security agreement with the UK is 298,294.
The breakdown by country and gender are shown in the tables below:
Country of State Pension receipt | Male | Female |
Antigua | 141 | 166 |
Albania | 8 | 7 |
Algeria | 13 | 5 |
Andorra | 91 | 74 |
Anguilla | 33 | 48 |
Antilles (Netherlands) | 20 | 19 |
Argentina | 128 | 132 |
Aruba | .. | 6 |
Ascension Island | 7 | .. |
Australia | 100,047 | 122,289 |
Bahamas | 116 | 139 |
Bahrain | 79 | 48 |
Bangladesh | 175 | 795 |
Belize | 57 | 38 |
Bolivia | 17 | 12 |
Botswana | 89 | 55 |
Brazil | 485 | 284 |
Brunei | 16 | 8 |
Burkina Faso | .. | .. |
Burma (Myanmar) | .. | .. |
Cameroon | 6 | 5 |
Cape Verde Islands | .. | 6 |
Cayman Islands | 111 | 78 |
Chile | 168 | 141 |
China People's Republic | 249 | 74 |
Colombia | 128 | 127 |
Cook Islands | 9 | .. |
Costa Rica | 65 | 38 |
Dom Commonwealth (Dominica) | 217 | 244 |
Dominican Republic | 26 | 17 |
Country of State Pension receipt | Male | Female |
Ecuador | 54 | 33 |
Egypt | 189 | 116 |
El Salvador | 8 | 5 |
Equatorial Guinea | .. | .. |
Ethiopia | 22 | 7 |
Falkland Islands & Dep | 47 | 26 |
Faroe Islands | 5 | 7 |
Fiji | 63 | 28 |
French Polynesia | .. | .. |
Gambia | 44 | 23 |
Ghana | 451 | 388 |
Greenland | .. | .. |
Grenada | 402 | 500 |
Guatemala | 7 | 5 |
Guyana | 110 | 101 |
Honduras | 6 | 8 |
Hong Kong | 1,510 | 904 |
India | 2,145 | 2,113 |
Indonesia | 314 | 42 |
Iran | 21 | 11 |
Iraq | 5 | .. |
Japan | 4,644 | 2,158 |
Jordan | 72 | 46 |
Kampuchea | 40 | .. |
Kenya | 345 | 305 |
Kuwait | 10 | 5 |
Laos | 19 | .. |
Lebanon | 73 | 49 |
Lesotho | 6 | 7 |
Macau | 7 | .. |
Country of State Pension receipt | Male | Female |
Malagasy Republic | 6 | 5 |
Malawi | 39 | 31 |
Malaysia | 1,072 | 1,159 |
Mexico | 241 | 228 |
Monaco | 246 | 143 |
Montserrat | 29 | 40 |
Morocco | 112 | 70 |
Mozambique | 9 | .. |
Namibia | 49 | 42 |
Nepal | 29 | 13 |
Nevis, St Kitts-Nevis | 131 | 148 |
New Caledonia | 8 | 10 |
Nicaragua | 15 | 6 |
Nigeria | 1,090 | 804 |
Norfolk Island | .. | .. |
Oman | 71 | 29 |
Pakistan | 1,103 | 1,579 |
Panama | 23 | 14 |
Papua New Guinea | 8 | 5 |
Paraguay | 14 | 8 |
Peru | 66 | 64 |
Qatar | 41 | 15 |
Republic of Azerbaijan | 11 | .. |
Republic of Belarus | 13 | 12 |
Republic of Georgia | 19 | .. |
Republic of Kazakhstan | 12 | .. |
Republic of Kyrgyzstan | 5 | .. |
Republic of Moldova | 5 | .. |
Republic of Yemen | 172 | 501 |
Russian Federation | 95 | 41 |
San Marino | .. | .. |
Saudi Arabia | 75 | 20 |
Senegal | .. | 8 |
Seychelles | 73 | 78 |
Sierra Leone | 18 | 27 |
Singapore | 514 | 359 |
Country of State Pension receipt | Male | Female |
Solomon Islands | .. | .. |
Somalia | 9 | 13 |
South Africa | 12,932 | 17,411 |
South Korea | 288 | 91 |
Sri Lanka | 557 | 572 |
St Helena & Deps | 56 | 48 |
St Lucia | 376 | 454 |
St Vincents & Grenadines | 221 | 229 |
Sudan | 5 | .. |
Surinam | 5 | .. |
Swaziland | 42 | 37 |
Syria | 5 | .. |
Tahiti | 7 | .. |
Taiwan | 88 | 20 |
Tanzania | 54 | 23 |
Thailand | 4,777 | 586 |
Togo | .. | .. |
Tonga | 8 | 6 |
Trinidad & Tobago | 456 | 843 |
Tunisia | 62 | 53 |
Turks & Caicos Islands | 17 | 6 |
Uganda | 47 | 26 |
Ukraine | 59 | 33 |
United Arab Emirates | 431 | 180 |
United States Minor Outlying Islands | .. | 5 |
Uruguay | 35 | 27 |
Vanuatu | 24 | 13 |
Venezuela | 24 | 16 |
Vietnam | 105 | 14 |
Virgin Islands (British) | 28 | 19 |
Western Samoa | .. | .. |
Zambia | 79 | 86 |
Zimbabwe | 311 | 546 |
Please note:
1. The ".." denotes a nil or negligible number of claimants or award amount based on a nil or negligible number of claimants.
Asked by: Andrew Lewer (Conservative - Northampton South)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, whether he has had recent discussions with his counterparts in (a) Brazil and (b) Colombia on tackling illegal mining in Venezuela.
Answered by David Rutley - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
UK ministers and senior officials regularly discuss regional security and environmental issues with the Brazilian and Colombian Governments. Whilst we have not recently discussed illegal mining in Venezuela, Secretary of State Thérèse Coffey met with the Brazilian Minister for Indigenous Peoples in January to discuss tackling illegal mining in the Amazon region, one of the key drivers of deforestation. During a recent visit to Colombia, I [Minister Rutley] met with President Petro and the Minister of Foreign Affairs to discuss shared priorities, including the UK's support to tackling environment and security issues. In my statement at the UN Security Council on 11 January, I [Minister Rutley] welcomed Colombian Government-led efforts to secure a ceasefire with armed groups, many of which are fighting for control of illicit economies, including illegal mining in Venezuela.
Asked by: Fabian Hamilton (Labour - Leeds North East)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what discussions he has had with his Venezuelan counterpart on election observers at the 2024 Presidential Election in that country.
Answered by Anne-Marie Trevelyan - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
The UK Government does not recognise the Maduro regime. Our key priority is a peaceful resolution to the current crisis in Venezuela, where multiple crises are afflicting its people. A democratic transition through free and fair presidential elections, held in accordance with international democratic standards, is essential to help to bring an end to the multiple crises afflicting the Venezuelan people.
Asked by: Baroness Kennedy of Cradley (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government which countries the UK has visa free travel arrangements with for British citizens.
Answered by Lord Murray of Blidworth
FCDO, who have responsibility for this information, have said that the information this question is requesting can be found in public domain https://visaguide.world/visa-free-countries/uk-passport/
We have included the list for ease:
Albania
American Samoa
Andorra
Anguilla
Antigua and Barbuda
Argentina
Armenia
Aruba
Australia
Austria
Bahamas
Barbados
Belarus
Belgium
Belize
Bermuda
Bolivia
Caribbean Netherlands
Bosnia and Herzegovina
Botswana
Brazil
British Virgin Islands
Brunei
Bulgaria
Canada
Cabo Verde
Cayman Islands
Chile
Colombia
Cook Islands
Costa Rica
Croatia
Curaçao
Cyprus
Czechia
Denmark
Dominica
Dominican Republic
Ecuador
El Salvador
Estonia
Falkland Islands
Faroe Islands
Fiji
Finland
France
French Guiana
French Polynesia
French West Indies
Georgia
Germany
Gibraltar
Greece
Greenland
Grenada
Guam
Guatemala
Guyana
Haiti
Honduras
Hong Kong
Hungary
Iceland
Indonesia
Iraq
Ireland
Israel
Italy
Jamaica
Kazakhstan
Kiribati
Kosovo
Kyrgyzstan
Latvia
Lesotho
Liechtenstein
Lithuania
Luxembourg
Macau
Malaysia
Malta
Marshall Islands
Mauritius
Mayotte
Mexico
Micronesia
Moldova
Monaco
Mongolia
Montenegro
Montserrat
Morocco
Namibia
Netherlands
New Caledonia
New Zealand
Nicaragua
Niue
North Macedonia
Northern Mariana Islands
Norway
Oman
Pakistan
Palestine
Panama
Paraguay
Peru
Philippines
Poland
Portugal
Puerto Rico
Qatar
Réunion
Romania
San Marino
São Tomé and Príncipe
Senegal
Serbia
Singapore
Slovakia
Slovenia
South Africa
South Korea
Spain
Sri Lanka
Saint Kitts and Nevis
Saint Lucia
Saint Martin
Saint Vincent and the Grenadines
Sweden
Switzerland
Taiwan
Thailand
Gambia
Trinidad and Tobago
Tunisia
Turks and Caicos Islands
Türkiye
United States Virgin Islands
Ukraine
United States
Uruguay
Uzbekistan
Vanuatu
Vatican City
Venezuela
Vietnam
Zambia
Eswatin
Asked by: Fabian Hamilton (Labour - Leeds North East)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, if he will make an assessment of the implications for his policies of a Bill proposed in the Venezuelan parliament to regulate the financing of non-governmental organisations.
Answered by David Rutley - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
The UK firmly supports the right of civil society to operate freely in all countries, including Venezuela. Recent years have seen a worrying deterioration of the human rights situation in Venezuela, where the Maduro regime has used force against peaceful protesters; stifled media freedom; carried out arbitrary detentions and harassed journalists and human rights defenders. We have on frequent occasions made clear our concern for the Venezuelan people and that we consider the regime in large part responsible for the economic and humanitarian crises afflicting the country.
Asked by: Fabian Hamilton (Labour - Leeds North East)
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 implications for his policies of the approach adopted by Nicolas Maduro to the Venezuelan Catholic Church.
Answered by David Rutley - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
Views held by Nicolas Maduro about the Roman Catholic Church in Venezuela have no particular implications for UK policies. We have on frequent occasions made clear our concern for the Venezuelan people and that we consider Mr Maduro and his regime in large part responsible for the economic and humanitarian crises afflicting the country. The United Kingdom is a determined champion of freedom of speech and is firmly committed to the principle that freedom of speech is essential for the good government of any country. Representatives of the Catholic Church have a distinguished record in many countries of speaking truth to those in power and of speaking up for people whose concerns are not being taken with the seriousness they deserve.
Asked by: Kenny MacAskill (Alba Party - East Lothian)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, with reference to the report of the Special Rapporteur on the negative impact of unilateral coercive measures on the enjoyment of human rights - Visit to the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela, what assessment he has made of the impact of the UK sanctions towards Venezuela on Venezuelan citizens.
Answered by David Rutley - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
The UK has sanctioned 41 Venezuelans under our Venezuela Autonomous, Global Human Rights and Global Anti-Corruption regimes. Sanctions are in place against individuals who are responsible for egregious human rights violations, the undermining of democracy and exploitation of public programmes. UK sanctions are helping to encourage democratic change by keeping pressure on the illegitimate Maduro regime, targeting illicit finance, and calling out human rights abuses.
Asked by: Kenny MacAskill (Alba Party - East Lothian)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, whether (a) officials and (b) Ministers in his Department have had discussions with counterparts in the United States on Venezuelan gold stored in the Bank of England since 2019.
Answered by David Rutley - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
The issue regarding control of the gold reserves is the subject of ongoing litigation and it would not be appropriate for FCDO to comment. The UK Government is not a party to the legal case.
We are working with a range of international partners, including the US, to encourage a democratic transition in Venezuela through free and fair presidential elections. This is essential to help to bring an end to the multiple crises afflicting the Venezuelan people.