Asked by: Claire Hanna (Social Democratic & Labour Party - Belfast South)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, if he will take steps to introduce a compensation scheme for women affected by the Pensions Act 1995.
Answered by Paul Maynard - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Work and Pensions)
We are considering the Ombudsman’s report and will respond in due course.
Asked by: Claire Hanna (Social Democratic & Labour Party - Belfast South)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, whether he plans to replace the Shared Prosperity Fund when that fund comes to an end in March 2025.
Answered by Jacob Young - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities)
I have received no formal representations from recipients of UK Shared Prosperity Fund monies in Northern Ireland to date. However, I recognise that UKSPF plays a significant role in supporting important provision across Northern Ireland, and in the normal course of business, my officials are regularly engaging with project deliverers and partners on this issue.
As with all Government funding, decisions regarding the future of UKSPF after the end of the current programme in March 2025 are a matter of the next spending review, so we are currently unable to outline specific plans at this stage. We recognise the need for those delivering UKSPF to have certainty as to its future and are committed to setting out further detail in due course.
My officials are regularly engaging with project leads and partners on this issue.
Asked by: Claire Hanna (Social Democratic & Labour Party - Belfast South)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, if he will make an assessment of the potential merits of bringing forward legislative proposals to protect landscapes with distinct literary heritage and value.
Answered by Rebecca Pow - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Much of England's culturally rich landscapes and the literary heritage they represent are found in our National Parks, The Broads and National Landscapes. These Protected Landscapes are already specifically designated and managed to conserve and enhance their natural beauty and important cultural associations, including relevant literature and the sites which inspired it, as key components of the natural beauty of the area.
Protected Landscapes are extensively protected as set out in the National Planning Policy Framework which gives ‘great weight’ to the landscape and scenic beauty of Protected Landscapes. In addition local authorities are able to formally identify areas of local landscape value in local plans and the historic literary importance of a place can already be taken into account in development decisions.
Asked by: Claire Hanna (Social Democratic & Labour Party - Belfast South)
Question to the Northern Ireland Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, pursuant to the Answer of 6 March 2024 to Question 16419 on Integrated Schools: Northern Ireland, on what date the Northern Ireland Executive was informed of the removal of the ring-fence for the £150m Fresh Start Agreement funding.
Answered by Steve Baker - Minister of State (Northern Ireland Office)
HM Treasury officials wrote to their counterparts in the Northern Ireland Department of Finance on 1 March 2024 formally confirming the removal of the ring-fence for £150 million of Fresh Start Agreement funding.
This formal confirmation followed official level discussions between the UK Government and the Northern Ireland Civil Service on UK Government funding streams being made available within the financial package to support the restored Executive.
Asked by: Claire Hanna (Social Democratic & Labour Party - Belfast South)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what recent discussions he has had with Cabinet colleagues on the potential merits of extending visas for people resident in the UK on Ukrainian sponsorship schemes (a) indefinitely and (b) beyond 18 months.
Answered by Tom Pursglove - Minister of State (Minister for Legal Migration and Delivery)
To provide certainty about the future of the Ukraine visa schemes, on 18 February we announced that existing Ukraine scheme visa holders will be able to apply for permission to remain in the UK for an additional 18 months under a new Ukraine Permission Extension scheme set to open in early 2025 (before the first UKR scheme visas start to expire in March 2025).
We keep our Ukraine schemes under consistent review in line with the ongoing war, engaging closely with other Government departments, the Ukrainian government and our counterparts globally, including governments within Europe who are hosting Ukrainians under the EU’s Temporary Protection Directive (or similar).
The Ukrainian government have been clear about their strong desire for the future repatriation of its citizens to help rebuild Ukraine when it is safe to do so. It is important that our approach respects these wishes and therefore our offer of sanctuary remains temporary in nature and does not lead to settlement in the UK.
Asked by: Claire Hanna (Social Democratic & Labour Party - Belfast South)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if he will publish a breakdown breakdown by religion of National Crime Agency (a) officers and (b) civilian staff based in Northern Ireland.
Answered by Tom Tugendhat - Minister of State (Home Office) (Security)
It is the policy of successive UK governments not to comment on matters of intelligence and national security; this includes information relating to the NCA's workforce in Northern Ireland.
Asked by: Claire Hanna (Social Democratic & Labour Party - Belfast South)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Minister of State, Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, if he will have discussions with his Israeli counterparts on ensuring that foreign humanitarian aid workers are granted visas to carry out humanitarian aid work in Gaza and the West Bank.
Answered by Andrew Mitchell - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office) (Minister for Development)
Palestinian civilians are facing a devastating and growing humanitarian crisis.
We need a humanitarian pause now to allow humanitarian actors and Gazans to operate and move safely and enable hostages to be released.
Among other things, we need Israel to ensure effective systems to guarantee the safety of aid convoys, humanitarian operations and IDP returns, and facilitate access.
We also need Israel to ensure the UN has the people, vehicles, equipment and fuel to distribute aid safely across Gaza. This includes issuing visas.
Asked by: Claire Hanna (Social Democratic & Labour Party - Belfast South)
Question to the Northern Ireland Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, whether Stormont House Agreement Fresh Start funding allocations were included in recent the Northern Ireland Assembly Restoration Package.
Answered by Steve Baker - Minister of State (Northern Ireland Office)
The UK Government is providing the Executive with a significant £3.3 billion spending settlement to stabilise its finances and protect public services. Within this package, we are increasing the spending power of the Executive by repurposing over £700 million of existing and new UK Government funds.
The Fresh Start agreement in 2015 made provision for funding for integrated and shared education over 10 years. As that capital funding was due to expire at the end of 2024-25, the decision to remove the ring-fence on £150m of Fresh Start Agreement funding was made by the UK Government after assessing existing funding in Northern Ireland. We came to a considered position in response to the challenging budgetary position faced by the Northern Ireland Executive.
The Northern Ireland Executive will be able to decide how it uses the non-ring fenced funding element of reprioritised and new UK Government funding streams which contribute to the settlement package.
Asked by: Claire Hanna (Social Democratic & Labour Party - Belfast South)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if he will have discussions with the Northern Ireland administration on the (a) social, (b) physical and (c) mental health needs of asylum seekers in Northern Ireland.
Answered by Tom Pursglove - Minister of State (Minister for Legal Migration and Delivery)
The safety and wellbeing of asylum seekers that we support is of paramount importance to the Home Office. The Asylum Accommodation Support Contract (AASC) Statement of Requirements below gives a detailed breakdown of all of the services to be undertaken by our accommodation providers and to the standards we expect. Full details of our policies: http://data.parliament.uk/DepositedPapers/Files/DEP2018-1112/AASC_-_Schedule_2_-_Statement_of_Requirements.pdf.
The Home Office continues to engage with Northern Ireland government departments to progress agreements to ensure continued delivery for service users in Northern Ireland.
Asked by: Claire Hanna (Social Democratic & Labour Party - Belfast South)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment his Department has made of the implications for his policies of the report by the Independent Chief Inspector of Borders and Immigration entitled An inspection of contingency asylum accommodation for asylum seeking families with children in Northern Ireland, published on 29 February 2024.
Answered by Tom Pursglove - Minister of State (Minister for Legal Migration and Delivery)
The former Independent Chief Inspector of Borders Immigration has identified several areas for improvement and made 5 recommendations. The Home Office has fully accepted two and partially accepted three recommendations.
Work is already underway to take forward the recommendations in this report to ensure that we continue to meet not only our statutory obligations in Northern Ireland, but also to support the delivery of the Home Office’s broader aims in the UK, in response to the findings.