Asked by: Lord Dodds of Duncairn (Democratic Unionist Party - Life peer)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask His Majesty's Government how many applications they have received to the Duty Reimbursement Scheme in each year since the scheme was set up, and how much has been reimbursed in each year.
Answered by Lord Livermore - Financial Secretary (HM Treasury)
The Duty Reimbursement Scheme (DRS) has been operational since 30 June 2023, allowing businesses who move goods into Northern Ireland to reclaim or remit duty provided that the goods can be shown not to have subsequently entered the EU.
As of 3 April 2025, 1407 claims have been submitted under the DRS.
Period | Claims Submitted | Amounts Repaid |
30 June 2023 – 31 December 2023 | 92 | £134,925.30 |
1 January 2024 – 31 December 2024 | 873 | £1,706,950.41 |
1 January 2025 – 3 April 2025 | 442 | £1,720,655.27 |
Businesses also have a three-year window from the date they were notified of the duty being owed to make a claim under the DRS.
HMRC has published extensive guidance and will continue to support businesses to use the scheme effectively, as well as other schemes like the Customs Duty Waiver Scheme.
Asked by: Lord Dodds of Duncairn (Democratic Unionist Party - Life peer)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to address the rising number of prisoners of conscience detained for their religious beliefs worldwide; and what assessment they have made of international law as a framework for holding governments accountable for violations of freedom of religion or belief.
Answered by Lord Collins of Highbury - Lord in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)
The UK champions, and remains strongly committed to, freedom of religion or belief (FoRB) for all abroad. It is our firm opinion that no one should live in fear because of what they do or do not believe in. We are championing the right to FoRB and promoting tolerance and mutual respect through our engagement in multilateral organisations, our bilateral work, working with the Special Envoy for FoRB, David Smith, and our programme funding, including the Rule of Law (ROLE UK) legal reform programme.
We also use our skilled global diplomatic network to engage directly with governments. Ministers and FCDO officials regularly raise specific cases of concern, and do not shy away from challenging those we believe are not meeting their obligations, whether publicly or in private. The UK continues to hold countries to account on their FoRB commitments and obligations, through our engagement with the UN's Universal Periodic Review (UPR) and at the UN Human Rights Council. This work is mutually reinforcing of our wider human rights efforts, underpinning our belief that human rights are universal.
Asked by: Lord Dodds of Duncairn (Democratic Unionist Party - Life peer)
Question to the Northern Ireland Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government what its policy is on deciding whether to consult stakeholders in Northern Ireland on changes to European Union legislation which are imposed on Northern Ireland under the Windsor Framework.
Answered by Baroness Anderson of Stoke-on-Trent - Baroness in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)
The Government regularly consults with stakeholders in Northern Ireland on a wide range of policy issues, including those relating to the Windsor Framework.
Regulations that apply under the Windsor Framework are also subject to scrutiny both in Parliament and, as provided for in law, in the Northern Ireland Assembly. The Government will continue to uphold these scrutiny commitments, which include the provision of explanatory materials on amended or replaced EU legislation which is included in the annexes to the Framework.
Asked by: Lord Dodds of Duncairn (Democratic Unionist Party - Life peer)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government how much foreign direct investment into Northern Ireland from the United States of America there has been in each year since 2019.
Answered by Baroness Anderson of Stoke-on-Trent - Baroness in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)
The information requested falls under the remit of the UK Statistics Authority.
Please see the letter attached from the National Statistician and Chief Executive of the UK Statistics Authority.
The Rt Hon. the Lord Dodds of Duncairn
House of Lords
London
SW1A 0PW
21 March 2025
Dear Lord Dodds,
As National Statistician and Chief Executive of the UK Statistics Authority, I am responding to your Parliamentary Question asking how much foreign direct investment into Northern Ireland from the United States of America there has been in each year since 2019 (HL5989).
Foreign direct investment positions are the value of stocks of investment at a given point in time. Flows measure the movement of funds received by Northern Ireland from the United States of America during the year. The Office for National Statistics (ONS) publishes experimental subnational UK estimates, which currently includes data up to 2021.1.
Further information on Northern Ireland positions, flows and earnings with the United States of America can be found on the ONS website1.
Table 1: Northern Ireland Inward Foreign Direct Investment positions and flows with the United States of America, 2019-20212,3 . £million
Type | 2019 | 2020 | 2021 |
Positions | 3930 | 6472 | 7180 |
Flows | -167 | -300 | 75 |
Source: Office for National Statistics
Yours sincerely,
Professor Sir Ian Diamond
1 https://www.ons.gov.uk/economy/nationalaccounts/balanceofpayments/articles/foreigndirectinvestme ntexperimentaluksubnationalstatistics/2021
2 A negative sign before a value indicates net disinvestment in Northern Ireland.
3 These statistics exclude FDI related to banks, bank holding companies, property and public corporations.
Asked by: Lord Dodds of Duncairn (Democratic Unionist Party - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask His Majesty's Government what estimate they have made of the total cost of building and completing each of the Border Control Posts in Northern Ireland; and what is the estimated date of completion of each one.
Answered by Baroness Hayman of Ullock - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
In line with the commitments we have made under the Windsor Framework, SPS inspection facilities are under construction in Northern Ireland at the ports of Belfast, Larne, Foyle and Warrenpoint. Preparations are well underway, and they will be operationally ready by July 2025.
The Government has committed to a maximum funding envelope of £192.3 million. Of this envelope, Defra has spent £70.7 million up to 28 February 2025, the latest data currently available.
Asked by: Lord Dodds of Duncairn (Democratic Unionist Party - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask His Majesty's Government what is the total cost to date of the construction of each of the border control posts being built in Northern Ireland, including all administrative fees.
Answered by Baroness Hayman of Ullock - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
In line with the commitments we have made under the Windsor Framework, SPS inspection facilities are under construction in Northern Ireland at the ports of Belfast, Larne, Foyle and Warrenpoint. Preparations are well underway, and they will be operationally ready by July 2025.
The Government has committed to a maximum funding envelope of £192.3 million. Of this envelope, Defra has spent £70.7 million up to 28 February 2025, the latest data currently available.
Asked by: Lord Dodds of Duncairn (Democratic Unionist Party - Life peer)
Question to the Northern Ireland Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government how many staff are employed by the Windsor Framework Independent Monitoring Panel; and how many times the body has met since it was created.
Answered by Baroness Anderson of Stoke-on-Trent - Baroness in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)
I refer the Noble Lord to the answer given by the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland on 18 March 2025 (UIN 38339).
In accordance with paragraph 160 of the Safeguarding the Union command paper, a Secretariat is provided by the UK Government to the Panel, and the Panel receives relevant data to support its monitoring functions. The Panel does not directly employ staff.
It is a matter for the Panel to determine the structure and cadence of its meetings and panellists regularly engage with each other as well as having recently met the Secretary of State on 3 March.
Asked by: Lord Dodds of Duncairn (Democratic Unionist Party - Life peer)
Question to the Northern Ireland Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government what resources they are providing to the working of the Windsor Framework Independent Monitoring Panel.
Answered by Baroness Anderson of Stoke-on-Trent - Baroness in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)
I refer the Noble Lord to the answer given by the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland on 18 March 2025 (UIN 38339).
In accordance with paragraph 160 of the Safeguarding the Union command paper, a Secretariat is provided by the UK Government to the Panel, and the Panel receives relevant data to support its monitoring functions. The Panel does not directly employ staff.
It is a matter for the Panel to determine the structure and cadence of its meetings and panellists regularly engage with each other as well as having recently met the Secretary of State on 3 March.
Asked by: Lord Dodds of Duncairn (Democratic Unionist Party - Life peer)
Question to the Northern Ireland Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government how and when they intend to respond to the passing of the Regulation (EU) 2023/2411 Applicability Motion in the Northern Ireland Assembly.
Answered by Baroness Anderson of Stoke-on-Trent - Baroness in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)
The Government continues to evaluate the implications of Regulation 2023/2411, in the light of the applicability motion vote in the Northern Ireland Assembly and the conditions set out in Schedule 6B of the Northern Ireland Act 1998.
Asked by: Lord Dodds of Duncairn (Democratic Unionist Party - Life peer)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government what actions they are considering to address the persecution of Uyghur refugees in China, including coercive birth control measures; and what steps they are taking to engage with international partners to address these concerns.
Answered by Baroness Chapman of Darlington - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
This government stands firm on human rights, including in Xinjiang, where China continues to persecute and arbitrarily detain Uyghurs and other predominantly Muslim minorities.
We raise our concerns at the highest levels: the Prime Minister, Foreign Secretary, Chancellor and Energy Secretary all raised human rights recently with their counterparts (President Xi, Foreign Minister Wang, Vice Premier He and Vice Premier Ding respectively). We continue to coordinate efforts with our international partners and work in multilateral fora to hold China to account for human rights violations. Most recently we raised the persecution of Uyghurs within our Item 4 statement at the Human Rights Council.