Asked by: Christine Jardine (Liberal Democrat - Edinburgh West)
Question to the Northern Ireland Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, what steps he is taking to support local businesses in Northern Ireland.
Answered by Steve Baker - Minister of State (Northern Ireland Office)
This Government is committed to supporting SMEs. The British Business Bank’s £70m Investment Fund for Northern Ireland will increase the supply and diversity of early-stage finance for SMEs in Northern Ireland, and £17m of UK Shared Prosperity Funding (UKSPF) is delivering advice, business support and grants for SMEs. This is part of a range of measures in place and I should be glad if the hon Member requested an adjournment debate so that I could answer fully.
Asked by: Christine Jardine (Liberal Democrat - Edinburgh West)
Question to the Northern Ireland Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, how much his Department spent on recruitment consultants in each of the last three years.
Answered by Steve Baker - Minister of State (Northern Ireland Office)
The amount spent by the Department on recruitment consultants in each of the last three years was:
2019-20 - £31,380
2020-21 - £10,395
2021-22 - £42,336
Asked by: Christine Jardine (Liberal Democrat - Edinburgh West)
Question to the Northern Ireland Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, how much his Department has spent on headhunters in each of the last three years.
Answered by Steve Baker - Minister of State (Northern Ireland Office)
There has been no spend on headhunters by the Northern Ireland Office in each of the last three years.
Asked by: Christine Jardine (Liberal Democrat - Edinburgh West)
Question to the Northern Ireland Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, what the cost to the public purse has been of Ministerial severance pay in his Department in each year since 1 January 2016.
Answered by Steve Baker - Minister of State (Northern Ireland Office)
Under the Ministerial and Other Pensions and Salaries Act 1991, eligible Ministers who leave office are entitled to a one-off payment equivalent to one quarter of their annual salary at the point at which they leave Government. This applies only where a Minister is under 65 and is not appointed to a ministerial office within three weeks of leaving government.
Individuals may waive the payment to which they are entitled. That is a matter for their personal discretion, but this approach has been taken in the past. Details of such payments are published in departmental annual reports and accounts, and ministerial salaries are published on GOV.UK at https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/ministerial-salary-data.
Asked by: Christine Jardine (Liberal Democrat - Edinburgh West)
Question to the Northern Ireland Office:
What discussions he has had with his Cabinet colleagues on the prospects for concluding negotiations on a UK-EU veterinary agreement that is compatible with the Northern Ireland protocol.
Answered by Robin Walker
The UK is working hard and in good faith to ensure the Protocol operates in a sustainable way that works for the people of Northern Ireland. We have proposed an ambitious veterinary agreement, based on our respective high standards, to reduce checks and controls. We need the EU to meaningfully engage with these proposals to ease burdens in Northern Ireland and provide a sustainable basis for the Protocol.
Asked by: Christine Jardine (Liberal Democrat - Edinburgh West)
Question to the Northern Ireland Office:
What funding the Government plans to make available to businesses in Northern Ireland to help with the transition from the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme to the Job Support Scheme.
Answered by Robin Walker
This Government has introduced some of the most generous support schemes in the world, to support people and businesses in Northern Ireland, as they navigate the difficulties posed by COVID-19.
The Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme (CJRS) was due to end on 1 November but will be extended for a further one month until December. The Job Support Scheme (JSS) will be available to support businesses and their staff when the CJRS ends.
CJRS and JSS are part of the comprehensive package of support that the Government has provided to support the economy at this time. In Northern Ireland, this has included an additional £2.4bn funding for the Executive. Advice and support for businesses is available on gov.uk/coronavirus, or alternatively via the business support helpline.
Asked by: Christine Jardine (Liberal Democrat - Edinburgh West)
Question to the Northern Ireland Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, how much her Department (a) has spent and (b) plans to spend in the next three months on a public information campaign to prepare people for the potential effects of the UK leaving the EU without a deal.
Answered by Karen Bradley
The Government has a duty to inform citizens and businesses about how leaving the EU might affect them, and to advise on the steps they may need to take to prepare for EU Exit. A cross-departmental public information campaign has been developed to help achieve this.
Over the coming weeks, my colleagues in other departments will be using a range of channels to direct UK citizens, businesses, EU citizens living in the UK and UK nationals living in the EU to dedicated web pages at gov.uk/euexit.
Information on the costs associated with this campaign will be released in due course as part of normal data transparency releases.
Asked by: Christine Jardine (Liberal Democrat - Edinburgh West)
Question to the Northern Ireland Office:
What assessment she has made of the potential merits of Northern Ireland remaining in the Customs Union.
Answered by Karen Bradley
The UK as a whole will be leaving the Customs Union.
This Government is committed to delivering a Brexit that upholds the Belfast Agreement and the commitments that we have made to the people of Northern Ireland to avoid a hard border with Ireland and any border down the Irish Sea.
Asked by: Christine Jardine (Liberal Democrat - Edinburgh West)
Question to the Northern Ireland Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, what recent discussions he has had with political parties in Northern Ireland on equal marriage for same-sex couples.
Answered by Chloe Smith
Both mine and the Secretary of State’s position on this issue is clear and well known: me and the Secretary of State voted in support of equal marriage in England and Wales and like the Prime Minister hope this can be extended to Northern Ireland in the future. Me and the Secretary of State believe marriage should be a fundamental and common right across the UK.
However, the fundamental position remains that equal marriage is an entirely devolved issue in Northern Ireland and one that the UK Government would like a restored Assembly to resolve.