Asked by: Colum Eastwood (Social Democratic & Labour Party - Foyle)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, whether he has made an assessment of the potential merits of Ministers travelling to settlements deemed illegal under international law.
Answered by Hamish Falconer - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
The Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office did not provide support. UK Government Ministers do not visit Israeli-run institutions in the West Bank.
Asked by: Colum Eastwood (Social Democratic & Labour Party - Foyle)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, whether her Department provided support to Paul Givan MLA on his recent official visit to the Ofek school in Jerusalem.
Answered by Hamish Falconer - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
The Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office did not provide support. UK Government Ministers do not visit Israeli-run institutions in the West Bank.
Asked by: Colum Eastwood (Social Democratic & Labour Party - Foyle)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what his policy is on ministerial visits to Israeli-run state institutions beyond the Green Line.
Answered by Hamish Falconer - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
The Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office did not provide support. UK Government Ministers do not visit Israeli-run institutions in the West Bank.
Asked by: Colum Eastwood (Social Democratic & Labour Party - Foyle)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, what progress he has made on implementing an energy labelling scheme that is compatible with EU standards.
Answered by Martin McCluskey - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
The Government is assessing updates to Great Britian’s energy labelling standards on a case-by-case basis. The department is working to address challenges from differing labelling regimes, informed by independent analysis of EU standards and potential implications for the UK internal market.
Additional information on energy labelling can be found here: https://energysavingtrust.org.uk/advice/home-appliances/. Further guidance on energy labelling for suppliers can be found here https://www.gov.uk/guidance/the-energy-labelling-of-products, and on the Office for Product Safety & Standards website.
Asked by: Colum Eastwood (Social Democratic & Labour Party - Foyle)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment she has made of the adequacy of the length of time taken for UK Visas and Immigration to process requests for an increase in undefined Certificates of Sponsorship allocations for healthcare providers.
Answered by Mike Tapp - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Home Office)
The same service standard applies to all sponsors using the immigration system and the onus is on the sponsors to be aware of the legal status of their workers and request the relevant Certificates of Sponsorship in accordance with those timescales. Priority services are available albeit capped for an expedited consideration. We keep our service standards under review.
Healthcare workers who qualify for the Health and Care Visa benefit from faster in-country visa processing times and are exempt from paying the Immigration Health Surcharge (IHS).
Asked by: Colum Eastwood (Social Democratic & Labour Party - Foyle)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if she will make an assessment of the potential merits of creating an expedited process for healthcare organisations seeking Certificates of Sponsorship to support visa renewals for existing employees.
Answered by Mike Tapp - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Home Office)
The same service standard applies to all sponsors using the immigration system and the onus is on the sponsors to be aware of the legal status of their workers and request the relevant Certificates of Sponsorship in accordance with those timescales. Priority services are available albeit capped for an expedited consideration. We keep our service standards under review.
Healthcare workers who qualify for the Health and Care Visa benefit from faster in-country visa processing times and are exempt from paying the Immigration Health Surcharge (IHS).
Asked by: Colum Eastwood (Social Democratic & Labour Party - Foyle)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, pursuant to the Answer of 29 October 2025 to Question 84961 on Armed Forces: Northern Ireland, whether there were any remuneration capping arrangements applied to legal costs incurred in the defence of Soldier F; and whether Schedule 1 of the Legal Aid for Crown Court Proceedings (Costs) Rules (Northern Ireland) 2005 was applied to defence costs.
Answered by Al Carns - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Defence) (Minister for Veterans)
The Ministry of Defence (MOD) did not impose any cap on the legal costs associated with the defence of Soldier F. Schedule 1 of the Legal Aid for Crown Court Proceedings (Costs) Rules (Northern Ireland) 2005 does not apply to costs funded by the MOD.
The MOD will continue to provide the welfare and legal support to all Service personnel that served during the Troubles.
Asked by: Colum Eastwood (Social Democratic & Labour Party - Foyle)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, pursuant to the Answer of 29 October 2025 to Question 84961 on Armed Forces: Northern Ireland, what the hourly rate of legal fees paid to (a) Senior Counsel, (b) Junior Counsel and (c) solicitors instructed during the course of proceedings were.
Answered by Al Carns - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Defence) (Minister for Veterans)
This is considered commercially sensitive information and is being withheld accordingly.
The MOD will continue to provide the welfare and legal support to all service personnel that served during the Troubles.
Asked by: Colum Eastwood (Social Democratic & Labour Party - Foyle)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, pursuant to the Answer of 29 October 2025 to Question 84961 on Legal costs for ‘Soldier F’, what information his Department holds on the cost to the public purse for pastoral care provided to (a) Soldier F and (b) the families of the people who died on Bloody Sunday.
Answered by Al Carns - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Defence) (Minister for Veterans)
The Ministry of Defence do not provide pastoral care to those who have not served.
Pastoral care provided to Soldier F during his legal proceedings involved the time of various employees and multiple organisations across the Department. Most of the associated costs are covered by central budgets within which the costs of support to individual cases are not separately identifiable, as such we cannot determine a specific figure for this support.
The Ministry of Defence will continue to provide the welfare and legal support to all service personnel that served during the troubles.
Asked by: Colum Eastwood (Social Democratic & Labour Party - Foyle)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, pursuant to the Answer of 29 October 2025 to Question 84961 on legal costs for ‘Soldier F’, if she will publish the cost for each stage of the legal processes for which support was provided.
Answered by Al Carns - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Defence) (Minister for Veterans)
The Ministry of Defence do not hold records of legal costs in a way that allows for the extraction and presentation of costs associated with each stage of the legal process.
The Ministry of Defence will continue to provide the welfare and legal support to all Service personnel that served during the troubles.