Asked by: Lord Weir of Ballyholme (Democratic Unionist Party - Life peer)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government whether the removal of restrictions on movement of human medicines from Great Britain to Northern Ireland, as a result of the Windsor Framework, and subsequently agreed to by the EU, also covers the movement of medical vaccines for human usage.
Answered by Baroness Neville-Rolfe - Minister of State (Cabinet Office)
The Windsor Framework secured an unprecedented settlement for human medicines, ensuring that licensing of all medicines will happen on a UK-wide basis by the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) from 1 January 2025. The same medicines, in the same packs and with the same labels, will be available across the United Kingdom.
This also applies to vaccines, including COVID-19 vaccines. Vaccines can therefore be moved between GB and NI without restrictions.
Asked by: Lord Weir of Ballyholme (Democratic Unionist Party - Life peer)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government what restrictions, if any, exist for the movement of thawed COVID-19 vaccine products from Great Britain to Northern Ireland for commercial purposes as a consequence of provisions of the Northern Ireland Protocol.
Answered by Baroness Neville-Rolfe - Minister of State (Cabinet Office)
The Windsor Framework secured an unprecedented settlement for human medicines, ensuring that licensing of all medicines will happen on a UK-wide basis by the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) from 1 January 2025. The same medicines, in the same packs and with the same labels, will be available across the United Kingdom.
This also applies to vaccines, including COVID-19 vaccines. Vaccines can therefore be moved between GB and NI without restrictions.
Asked by: Lord Weir of Ballyholme (Democratic Unionist Party - Life peer)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government whether all five joint consultative UK–EU sub-groups as outlined in the Windsor Framework have been established and complete membership appointed on both sides.
Answered by Baroness Neville-Rolfe - Minister of State (Cabinet Office)
The rules of procedure of the Joint Consultative Working Group (JCWG) provide for the establishment of structured sub-groups. Five new structured sub-groups have been established and UK and EU co-chairs for each group have been appointed. Consistent with the JCWG rules of procedure, before each meeting, those sub-groups inform each other of the intended composition of their respective delegations. The delegations are confidential unless otherwise decided by the co-chairs.
Asked by: Lord Weir of Ballyholme (Democratic Unionist Party - Life peer)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government how many meetings have taken place of each of the five joint consultative UK–EU sub-groups established under the Windsor Framework.
Answered by Baroness Neville-Rolfe - Minister of State (Cabinet Office)
Consistent with the Joint Consultative Working Group (JCWG) rules of procedure, meetings of the structured sub-groups to the JCWG are held as necessary and on a confidential basis.
Asked by: Lord Weir of Ballyholme (Democratic Unionist Party - Life peer)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government what (1) further statutory instruments, or (2) other pieces of legislation, they still need to bring forward to fully implement the Windsor Framework.
Answered by Baroness Neville-Rolfe - Minister of State (Cabinet Office)
Since the Windsor Framework was agreed in February 2023, the Government has been working to deliver the full benefits of that agreement for people and businesses in Northern Ireland. The Government has introduced secondary legislation to that effect and any further legislation would be introduced in Parliament in the usual way.
Asked by: Lord Weir of Ballyholme (Democratic Unionist Party - Life peer)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government what discussions they are having with the EU to resolve the issue of groupage for hauliers transporting goods from Great Britain into Northern Ireland.
Answered by Baroness Neville-Rolfe - Minister of State (Cabinet Office)
The Government continues to work with hauliers, including through a dedicated technical working group with the haulage community, to ensure arrangements under the Framework work as intended in the context of groupage and mixed loads. The Government remains in regular contact with the EU on all aspects of implementation of the Windsor Framework.
Asked by: Lord Weir of Ballyholme (Democratic Unionist Party - Life peer)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government what grant schemes are ringfenced solely for military veterans; and whether those grants are available for all military veterans across the UK.
Answered by Baroness Neville-Rolfe - Minister of State (Cabinet Office)
The Office for Veterans’ Affairs, based in the Cabinet Office, administers a range of grant schemes for veterans organisations and charities. These cover support in areas such as health, housing, employment, and combating stress, and are typically available UK wide.
The OVA was established in 2019 and has become more established over time, meaning comparable figures for each of the last five years are not available. However, in 2023/24, over £6 million was awarded to veterans organisations and charities.
The latest information on the work of the Office for Veterans’ Affairs can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/government/organisations/office-for-veterans-affairs
Asked by: Lord Weir of Ballyholme (Democratic Unionist Party - Life peer)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government what was the total funding provided for grant schemes for military veterans for each of the last five years.
Answered by Baroness Neville-Rolfe - Minister of State (Cabinet Office)
The Office for Veterans’ Affairs, based in the Cabinet Office, administers a range of grant schemes for veterans organisations and charities. These cover support in areas such as health, housing, employment, and combating stress, and are typically available UK wide.
The OVA was established in 2019 and has become more established over time, meaning comparable figures for each of the last five years are not available. However, in 2023/24, over £6 million was awarded to veterans organisations and charities.
The latest information on the work of the Office for Veterans’ Affairs can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/government/organisations/office-for-veterans-affairs
Asked by: Lord Weir of Ballyholme (Democratic Unionist Party - Life peer)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government what processes are in place to monitor the implementation of the Green Lane system for trade from Great Britain to Northern Ireland to identify any practical issues for businesses.
Answered by Baroness Neville-Rolfe - Minister of State (Cabinet Office)
The Government is conducting regular monitoring of the UK Internal Market Scheme and Northern Ireland Retail Movement Scheme and there are clear signs of new traders taking advantage of these new arrangements.
With respect to the UK Internal Market Scheme, as set out to the Northern Ireland Protocol Sub-Committee on 12 October, there are now more than 6,200 businesses registered - 2,200 of which (more than a third) are companies who were not members of the previous UKTS scheme. This list is dynamic, meaning more businesses moving goods in Northern Ireland will benefit over time.
With respect to the new Northern Ireland Retail Movement Scheme, the broader eligibility coupled with the certainty provided to businesses, mean that we have seen welcome signs of new traders taking advantage of the scheme. For example, wholesalers have written to customers noting that they are now able to “bring back some of your favourite products that we had to remove due to the previous Northern Ireland Protocol”. Consumers in Northern Ireland are also able to see the broader reach of the green lane, with for example shelf labelling in place in major food service outlets, which were excluded from the scope of the old grace periods.
The Government continues its extensive programme of engagement with businesses to identify any practical issues and ensure that the new Green Lane system continues to be implemented in a seamless manner.
Asked by: Lord Weir of Ballyholme (Democratic Unionist Party - Life peer)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government what plans they have, if any, to introduce additional legislation to protect (1) the UK internal market, and (2) Northern Ireland goods moving to Great Britain with unfettered access; and to outline the proposed timescale for such legislation.
Answered by Baroness Neville-Rolfe - Minister of State (Cabinet Office)
We have guaranteed unfettered access for qualifying Northern Ireland goods moving directly from Northern Ireland to Great Britain and will extend these protections to qualifying goods moved via Ireland. Additionally, we will introduce new arrangements for traders moving food and feed on these routes, ensuring the benefits of unfettered access are more squarely focussed on Northern Ireland traders, while creating no new requirements. Details of these arrangements can be found in the Border Target Operating Model published on 29 August 2023. This reflects Northern Ireland’s integral place in the United Kingdom’s internal market.