Asked by: Andrew Gwynne (Independent - Gorton and Denton)
Question to the Northern Ireland Office:
What steps the Government is taking to support the recovery of the Northern Ireland economy after the covid-19 outbreak.
Answered by Robin Walker
Businesses in Northern Ireland have always exhibited tremendous resilience and ability to bounce back from adversity.
This Government has stood by the people of Northern Ireland, providing support for Northern Ireland businesses and employees throughout the pandemic with an unprecedented series of grants, loans and support schemes. We remain committed to enabling them, and the wider economy, to thrive and grow as we emerge from the lockdown.
We look forward to working with the Executive and local partners to unleash Northern Ireland’s potential by driving innovation and connecting Northern Ireland with opportunities through our new trading relationships.
Asked by: Andrew Gwynne (Independent - Gorton and Denton)
Question to the Northern Ireland Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, pursuant to the Answer of 5 July 2017 to Question 2270, on political parties: finance, when the Government announced the 1 July 2017 start date.
Answered by James Brokenshire
I first announced my intention to bring forward secondary legislation to implement full transparency from 1 July 2017 during my statement to Parliament on 3 July 2017. This is consistent with the commitment set out in the Government's Northern Ireland manifesto at the General Election. I had previously written to the Northern Ireland political parties in January seeking their views on this issue. The parties were also asked about the date from which transparency should take effect. While all parties that responded expressed broad support for the future publication of donations and loans, only one party expressed support for backdating publication.
All responses are available at the following link:
Having considered the representations of the parties, I did not believe it right to impose retrospective regulations on those who donated in accordance with the rules set out in law at the time.
Asked by: Andrew Gwynne (Independent - Gorton and Denton)
Question to the Northern Ireland Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, pursuant to the Answer of 5 July 2017 to Question 2270, on political parties: finance, for what reasons the Government chose 1 July 2017 as the start date.
Answered by James Brokenshire
I first announced my intention to bring forward secondary legislation to implement full transparency from 1 July 2017 during my statement to Parliament on 3 July 2017. This is consistent with the commitment set out in the Government's Northern Ireland manifesto at the General Election. I had previously written to the Northern Ireland political parties in January seeking their views on this issue. The parties were also asked about the date from which transparency should take effect. While all parties that responded expressed broad support for the future publication of donations and loans, only one party expressed support for backdating publication.
All responses are available at the following link:
Having considered the representations of the parties, I did not believe it right to impose retrospective regulations on those who donated in accordance with the rules set out in law at the time.
Asked by: Andrew Gwynne (Independent - Gorton and Denton)
Question to the Northern Ireland Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, whether proposed measures on transparency for political donations in Northern Ireland will require political parties to provide backdated accounts for donations.
Answered by James Brokenshire
The Northern Ireland parties have been obliged to provide political donation reports to the Electoral Commission since 2007. The proposed measures I set out in my statement of 3 July 2017 would introduce full transparency and provide for the publication of all donations and loans received by Northern Ireland parties on or after 1 July 2017.
Asked by: Andrew Gwynne (Independent - Gorton and Denton)
Question to the Northern Ireland Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, what plans he has to implement measures on transparency of political donations in Northern Ireland.
Answered by James Brokenshire
As I informed the House during my statement of 3 July 2017, and consistent with the commitment set out in the Government's Northern Ireland manifesto, I intend to bring forward legislation that will provide for the publication of all donations and loans received by Northern Ireland parties on or after 1 July 2017. This will bring Northern Ireland in line with the rest of the UK with regard to the publication of information relating to political donations and loans.
Asked by: Andrew Gwynne (Independent - Gorton and Denton)
Question to the Northern Ireland Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, how many staff in his Department respond to Freedom of Information requests.
Answered by Kris Hopkins
FOI requests may be responded to by any member of staff across the Department, as they are allocated to the most appropriate person to respond depending on the subject of the request.
Asked by: Andrew Gwynne (Independent - Gorton and Denton)
Question to the Northern Ireland Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, what the average response rate was of his Department to individual Freedom of Information requests in each month since July 2016.
Answered by Kris Hopkins
The latest Freedom of Information statistics were published in December 2016 and are available at:
https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/freedom-of-information-statistics-july-to-september-2016--2
Asked by: Andrew Gwynne (Independent - Gorton and Denton)
Question to the Northern Ireland Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, what recent assessment he has made of the (a) cost, (b) take up and (c) effectiveness in reducing fraud of the electoral identity card. in Northern Ireland.
Answered by Kris Hopkins
The requirement to produce photographic identification before voting in Northern Ireland is well established and has enhanced confidence in the integrity of the electoral system. There were 82,812 new additions to the register in the 2015/16 financial year and 24,232 electoral identity cards issued, covering new applications and replacements. The cost of the electoral identity card in Northern Ireland in 2015/2016 was £25,500. Northern Ireland does not hold an annual canvass and its electorate, at 1.2 million, is less than 3% of that of the United Kingdom as a whole.