§ Mr. ChurchillTo ask the Secretary of State for Social Security if he will list those countries outside the EU where British state pensioners(a) do and (b) do not receive the annual uprating; and if he will set down the guiding principles behind the decision to place non-EU countries chosen by British pensioners for their retirement into the uprated or the frozen category. [3301]
§ Mr. HealdThe information is in the lists.
Lists A and B show the overseas countries outside the European economic area1 where United Kingdom retirement and widow's pensions were paid in July 1996. Annual pension upratings are payable in the countries listed in A. Upratings are not payable in the countries listed in B.
The general rule is that annual pension increases are not payable outside the United Kingdom unless European Community regulations or reciprocal social security agreements provide otherwise. Reciprocal agreements with the countries listed in A were entered into with a view to providing a measure of social protection for workers, and members of their families, when moving from one country to the other during their working lives. In order to enter into an agreement with the UK the other country's social security scheme had to be sufficiently similar to provide for reciprocity. Increasingly, there had to be sufficient movement of workers between the two countries to justify the outlay of resources to negotiate, operate and maintain the agreement. Above all, any additional costs had to be affordable.
94WLIST A: NON-EEA COUNTRIES WHERE ANNUAL UPRATINGS ARE PAYABLE
- Barbados
- Bermuda
- Bosnia-Herzegovina2
- Croatia2
- Cyprus
- Guernsey
- Isle of Man
- Israel
- Jamaica
- Jersey
- Macedonia2
- Malta
- Mauritius
- Philippines
- Slovenia2
- Switzerland
- Turkey
- USA
- Yugoslavia
1 Comprises EC member states plus Iceland, Norway and Liechtenstein. EC regulations on social security for migrant workers apply throughout the European Economic Area.2 Formerly a constituent republic of the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia (FRY). Annual pension increases payable by virtue of the 1958 reciprocal agreement with FRY.LIST B: COUNTRIES WHERE ANNUAL UPRATINGS ARE NOT PAYABLE
95W
- Afghanistan
- Albania
- Algeria
- Andorra
- Angola
- Anguilla
- Antigua and Barbuda
- Argentina
- Armenia
- Ascension Island
- Australia
- Bahamas
- Bahrain
- Bangladesh
- Belarus
- Belize
- Benin
- Bhutan
- Bolivia
- Botswana
- Brazil
- British Virgin Islands
- Brunei
- Bulgaria
- Burma
- Burundi
- Cameroon
- Canada
- Cape Verde Islands
- Cayman Islands
- Chile
96W
- China
- Colombia
- Congo
- Cook Islands
- Costa Rica
- Cuba
- Czech Republic
- Denmark
- Djibouti
- Dominica
- Dominican Republic
- Ecuador
- Egypt
- El Salvador
- Estonia
- Ethiopia
- Falkland Islands
- Faroe Islands
- Fiji
- Gambia
- Ghana
- Grenada
- Guatemala
- Guinea
- Guinea-Bissau
- Guyana
- Honduras
- Hong Kong
- Hungary
- Iceland
- India
- Indonesia
- Iran
- Iraq
- Japan
- Jordan
- Kampuchea
- Kazakhstan
- Kenya
- Kiribati
- Korea (South)
- Kuwait
- Laos
- Latvia
- Lebanon
- Lesotho
- Liberia
- Libya
- Liechtenstein
- Lithuania
- Macau
- Malagasy Republic
- Malawi
- Malaysia (including Sabah and Sarawak)
- Maldive Islands
- Mexico
- Monaco
- Mongolia
97W
- Montserrat
- Morocco
- Mozambique
- Namibia
- Nepal
- Netherlands Antilles
- New Caledonia
- New Zealand
- Nicaragua
- Nigeria
- Norfolk Island
- Norway
- Oman
- Pakistan
- Panama
- Papua New Guinea
- Paraguay
- Peru
- Poland
- Puerto Rico
- Qatar
- Romania
- Russia
- St. Helena and Dependencies
- St. Kitts-Nevis
- St. Lucia
- St. Martin
- St. Vincent
- san Marino
- Saudi Arabia
- Senegal
- Seychelles
- Sierra Leone
- Singapore
- Slovak Republic
- Solomon Islands
- Somalia
- South Africa
- Sri Lanka
- Sudan
- Swaziland
- Syria
- Taiwan
- Tanzania
- Thailand
- Togo
- Tonga
- Trinidad and Tobago
- Tunisia
- Turks and Caicos Islands
- Tuvalu
- Uganda
- Ukraine
- United Arab Emirates
- Uruguay
- Vanuatu (New Hebrides)
- Vatican city
- Venezuela
- Vietnam
- Virgin Islands (USA)
- Western Samoa
- Yemen, Republic of Zaire
- Zambia
- Zimbabwe.