Asked by: Lord Rogan (Ulster Unionist Party - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask His Majesty's Government how much funding they have released to Northern Ireland under the Plan for Neighbourhoods; and what benefits they expect the initiative to deliver for the target areas.
Answered by Baroness Taylor of Stevenage - Baroness in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)
On 4 March 2025, the UK Government announced the Plan for Neighbourhoods, a £1.5 billion programme to deliver up to £20 million of funding and support over the next decade into 75 communities across the UK. These 75 areas, including Coleraine and Derry~Londonderry, will now be incorporated into the Pride in Place Programme, representing the first phase of the programme.
Asked by: Lord Rogan (Ulster Unionist Party - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:
To ask His Majesty's Government what plans they have to create an AI Growth Zone in Northern Ireland.
Answered by Baroness Lloyd of Effra - Baroness in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)
The formal application process for AIGZ opened in April 2025 and we recently announced an AI Growth Zone in North East England. We will be communicating to all formal applicants the outcome of their application shortly and we will move selected sites forward as soon as they are ready.
Asked by: Lord Rogan (Ulster Unionist Party - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask His Majesty's Government whether they plan to have discussions with the Northern Ireland Executive about the geographical distribution of successful applicants to the Northern Ireland Football Fund.
Answered by Baroness Twycross - Baroness in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)
As the Northern Ireland Football Fund is the responsibility of the Northern Ireland Executive, it is for them to decide how best to award and distribute this funding.
The Multi-Sport Grassroots Facilities Programme is delivering £3 million of investment into Northern Ireland through the Irish Football Association this financial year. As part of its delivery, there is ongoing engagement at official and Ministerial level to ensure the two funds complement each other.
Asked by: Lord Rogan (Ulster Unionist Party - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the impact of food inflation on household budgets.
Answered by Baroness Hayman of Ullock - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
UK consumer food prices depend on a range of factors including agri-food import prices, domestic agricultural prices, domestic labour and manufacturing costs, and Sterling exchange rates. Changes in food prices are dependent on changes in one or more of these factors.
The latest available OECD data (up to 2023) shows that food prices in the UK remained lower than in most advanced economies and the lowest among G7 countries. After the USA, UK households spend the lowest share of their income on food and non-alcoholic drinks in the G7. In fiscal year end 2024, households spent 11.3% of their income on food, rising to 14.3% for the lowest 20% by income. Over the last ten years these figures have been relatively stable, barring the impact of coronavirus in 2020-22.
Through our Plan for Change we are going further and faster to put more money in people's pockets.
Asked by: Lord Rogan (Ulster Unionist Party - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask His Majesty's Government what discussions they have had with the Bank of America about establishing a new Belfast operations facility, and what assessment they have made of the benefits that investment will have on the Northern Ireland economy.
Answered by Lord Leong - Lord in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)
The UK Government has been working with Bank of America over several years to support their growth in the UK.
Recognizing Northern Ireland’s offer as an investment destination, DBT officials - both in the UK and North America - held a succession of meetings with Bank of America leadership to facilitate an announcement ahead of the State Visit.
This significant investment cements Northern Ireland’s role in the global financial services sector, boosting growth and delivering high value, skilled roles for the people of Northern Ireland.
Asked by: Lord Rogan (Ulster Unionist Party - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask His Majesty's Government what support they are providing to increase the number of publicly available electric vehicle charging devices in Northern Ireland.
Answered by Lord Hendy of Richmond Hill - Minister of State (Department for Transport)
While transport is largely devolved to the Department for Infrastructure, the Department is supporting Northern Ireland’s transition to zero emission vehicles. Through Round 1 of the Levelling Up Fund, we are providing up to £3.27 million to upgrade and expand the EV charging network. Previously, two grants totalling £1.38 million were awarded under the On Street Residential Chargepoint Scheme.
Asked by: Lord Rogan (Ulster Unionist Party - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government what estimate they have made of the number of irregular migrants who have entered the United Kingdom through the land border between the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland in each of the past five years.
Answered by Lord Hanson of Flint - Minister of State (Home Office)
Journeys from Ireland to the UK are within the Common Travel Area (CTA). As part of the CTA arrangements, the UK does not operate routine immigration controls of individuals arriving in the UK by air or sea from within the CTA, and no immigration checks are undertaken at the land border with Ireland.
The UK does however operate intelligence-led operational activity on CTA routes - away from the land border. This is to detect those who intend to abuse CTA arrangements. Operational activity must be targeted and supported by specific intelligence of CTA abuse.
There is a high level of cooperation on migration and border security between all members of the CTA (UK, Ireland, and the Crown Dependencies) to identify and tackle migration trends as they emerge.
Everyone entering the UK, regardless of where they enter from, is required to meet UK's immigration requirements. Anyone identified attempting to circumvent UK border controls is liable to be detained and, if they are not lawfully present within the UK, removed.
Asked by: Lord Rogan (Ulster Unionist Party - Life peer)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask His Majesty's Government how much funding they have allocated to Northern Ireland under the Barnett Formula as a consequence of spending on HS2; and how much additional funding they expect to allocate to Northern Ireland as a consequence of the project in each of the next five years.
Answered by Lord Livermore - Financial Secretary (HM Treasury)
The Block Grant Transparency publication breaks down all changes in the devolved governments’ block grant funding from the 2015 Spending Review up to and including Main Estimates 2023-24. Where funding for HS2 has been allocated at a fiscal event or Estimates, the publication will confirm the total Barnett consequentials received by the Northern Ireland Executive. The most recent report was published in July 2023 [1]. An updated report will be published in due course.
At Spending Reviews, the Barnett formula is applied to the overall change in a department’s settlement using departmental comparability factors. This means that Barnett consequentials generated in relation to HS2 specifically cannot be determined.
[1] You can access this report via the following link: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/block-grant-transparency-july-2023
Asked by: Lord Rogan (Ulster Unionist Party - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask His Majesty's Government how much of the £400 million investment in UK sport facilities outlined in the Spending Review will be allocated to Northern Ireland; what is the eligibility criteria; and who will make the final decisions on specific funding allocations.
Answered by Baroness Twycross - Baroness in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)
The Government is determined to ensure that everyone has access to quality sport and physical activity opportunities. That is why we have committed another £400 million to transform facilities across the whole of the nation.
This funding builds upon the £6.66 million already invested in Northern Ireland since 2024 as part of our Multi-Sport Grassroots Facilities Programme.
We will now work closely with sporting bodies and local leaders to establish what communities need, and then set out further plans on how future funding will be allocated across the UK.
Asked by: Lord Rogan (Ulster Unionist Party - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask His Majesty's Government what role they envisage the Northern Ireland defence sector playing in delivering the AUKUS agreement between the United Kingdom, the United States and Australia.
Answered by Lord Coaker - Minister of State (Ministry of Defence)
AUKUS is a landmark security and defence partnership with two of our closest allies. It is one of the most strategically important partnerships in decades, supporting peace and security in the Indo-Pacific and Euro-Atlantic, while also delivering jobs and economic growth in communities across all three nations.
AUKUS benefits the entire UK, including Northern Ireland, by strengthening our defence industry, generating thousands of new jobs. We expect over 21,000 people to be working on SSN-AUKUS programmes at its peak, both in UK shipyards and across the supply chain.
The commitments made in the Strategic Defence Review will only serve to enhance AUKUS and continue to contribute to jobs creation and economic growth.