Asked by: Lord Dodds of Duncairn (Democratic Unionist Party - Life peer)
Question to the Northern Ireland Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, how many visits the independent reviewer of justice and security has made to (a) Northern Ireland and (b) north Belfast in each year since 2012.
Answered by James Brokenshire
The Independent Reviewer of the Justice and Security (Northern Ireland) Act 2007 travels extensively to Northern Ireland each year and meets with a broad range of interested parties, including representatives from community groups and political parties in Northern Ireland. This year between May and November, the Reviewer has travelled to Northern Ireland on 12 separate occasions.
The Reviewer’s annual reports, which are laid in Parliament, set out the number of visits made by the Reviewer each year and the various organisations and individuals consulted as part of the review process. Reports 5 to 8 cover the period 2012 to 2015 and can be viewed online at www.gov.uk/government/publications. Report 9 covering 2015 to 2016 will be published in the New Year.
Asked by: Lord Dodds of Duncairn (Democratic Unionist Party - Life peer)
Question to the Northern Ireland Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, what discussions the independent reviewer of justice and security has had with political parties and elected representatives in north Belfast in each year since 2012.
Answered by James Brokenshire
The Independent Reviewer of the Justice and Security (Northern Ireland) Act 2007 travels extensively to Northern Ireland each year and meets with a broad range of interested parties, including representatives from community groups and political parties in Northern Ireland. This year between May and November, the Reviewer has travelled to Northern Ireland on 12 separate occasions.
The Reviewer’s annual reports, which are laid in Parliament, set out the number of visits made by the Reviewer each year and the various organisations and individuals consulted as part of the review process. Reports 5 to 8 cover the period 2012 to 2015 and can be viewed online at www.gov.uk/government/publications. Report 9 covering 2015 to 2016 will be published in the New Year.
Asked by: Lord Dodds of Duncairn (Democratic Unionist Party - Life peer)
Question to the Northern Ireland Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, what organisations and individuals in north Belfast the independent reviewer of justice and security has met with in an official capacity in each year since 2012.
Answered by James Brokenshire
The Independent Reviewer of the Justice and Security (Northern Ireland) Act 2007 travels extensively to Northern Ireland each year and meets with a broad range of interested parties, including representatives from community groups and political parties in Northern Ireland. This year between May and November, the Reviewer has travelled to Northern Ireland on 12 separate occasions.
The Reviewer’s annual reports, which are laid in Parliament, set out the number of visits made by the Reviewer each year and the various organisations and individuals consulted as part of the review process. Reports 5 to 8 cover the period 2012 to 2015 and can be viewed online at www.gov.uk/government/publications. Report 9 covering 2015 to 2016 will be published in the New Year.
Asked by: Lord Dodds of Duncairn (Democratic Unionist Party - Life peer)
Question to the Northern Ireland Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, what recent assessment he has made of the adequacy of the current level of personnel in the PSNI; and what response he has made to the recent representations by the Police Federation for staffing levels to be increased.
Answered by James Brokenshire
Staffing levels in the Police Service of Northern Ireland are a matter for the Chief Constable and PSNI’s budget is provided by the Department of Justice. However, we will always give our fullest possible backing to the men and women of the PSNI who do such a superb job. That is partly why this Government has provided specific Additional Security Funding totalling £230million in the last parliament and committed a further £160m in the current parliament.
Asked by: Lord Dodds of Duncairn (Democratic Unionist Party - Life peer)
Question to the Northern Ireland Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, what progress has been made on the establishment of an independent reporting commission under the Fresh Start Agreement.
Answered by Theresa Villiers
We are making significant progress in the arrangements to establish the Independent Reporting Commission (IRC) by the end of this year. We are working with the Government of Ireland to finalise the detail of the international treaty which will establish the Commission and I propose to bring forward supporting regulations on the appropriate immunities and privileges as soon as possible after the Treaty is signed.
Asked by: Lord Dodds of Duncairn (Democratic Unionist Party - Life peer)
Question to the Northern Ireland Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, what recent discussions she has had with the Northern Ireland Policing Board about the implementation of the Fresh Start Agreement.
Answered by Theresa Villiers
I have regular discussions on implementation of the Fresh Start Agreement with the Minister of Justice for Northern Ireland and the Chief Constable of the Police Service of Northern Ireland. I attended a review meeting on implementation of the Fresh Start Agreement on 29 June 2016 with the Northern Ireland Executive and the Government of Ireland. I have not had any recent discussions with the Northern Ireland Policing Board on implementation of the agreement.
Asked by: Lord Dodds of Duncairn (Democratic Unionist Party - Life peer)
Question to the Northern Ireland Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, how many police officers there are per head of population (a) in Northern Ireland, (b) in the Metropolitan Police Service area and (c) on average for all police forces in the UK.
Answered by Theresa Villiers
There is currently 1 PSNI officer per 273 of the population in Northern Ireland.
The answers for part (b) and (c) are matters for the Home Office.
Asked by: Lord Dodds of Duncairn (Democratic Unionist Party - Life peer)
Question to the Northern Ireland Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, what funding has been provided to tackle terrorism in Northern Ireland under the Strategic Defence and Security Review 2015.
Answered by Theresa Villiers
The PSNI will receive Additional Security Funding totalling £160m over this parliament. Over the next 5 years £2.5 billion will also be invested in the Security and Intelligence Agencies to create a bigger more capable global security and intelligence network. This is significant funding. It matches the severity of the terrorist threat, it demonstrates our unwavering commitment to the brave men and women in the police and intelligence agencies, and it is helping to keep people safe.
Asked by: Lord Dodds of Duncairn (Democratic Unionist Party - Life peer)
Question to the Northern Ireland Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, what recent discussions she has had with the Northern Ireland Executive on the Joint Agency Task Force; and if she will make a statement.
Answered by Theresa Villiers
I attended a Security Interface meeting on 4 July 2016 with Clare Sugden MLA, Minister of Justice for Northern Ireland, representatives of PSNI and senior representatives of the Department of Justice. We received an update on the work of the Joint Agency Task Force. The Task Force has presented its first report to the meeting of Justice Ministers in the framework of the Intergovernmental Agreement on co-operation on criminal justice matters, with an update on operational activity undertaken to date.
Asked by: Lord Dodds of Duncairn (Democratic Unionist Party - Life peer)
Question to the Northern Ireland Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, how much her Department has spent on information technology and equipment since 2010.
Answered by Theresa Villiers
Since 2010, my Department has spent £3.96m on information technology and equipment, including IT support and maintenance. This represents expenditure up to the end of the 2015-16 financial year.