Asked by: Gavin Robinson (Democratic Unionist Party - Belfast East)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment he has made of the Northern Ireland Executive's overspend in the financial year 2022-23.
Answered by Laura Trott - Chief Secretary to the Treasury
The UK Government provided £297 million of non-ringfenced RDEL funding to the Northern Ireland Executive at Supplementary Estimates 2022-23 to ensure the delivery of a balanced budget.
In the absence of an Executive, the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland set a budget for 2023-24 via Written Ministerial Statement on 27 April 2023. This included flexibility on the repayment of the 2022-23 overspend.
The Northern Ireland Executive received £17 million non-ringfenced RDEL and £13 million general CDEL in Barnett consequentials at Mains Estimates 2023-24. Any further Barnett consequentials will be confirmed if UK Government departmental budgets change at subsequent fiscal events.
A more detailed breakdown of Barnett funding can be found in the Block Grant Transparency publication.
Block Grant Transparency: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/block-grant-transparency-july-2023
Asked by: Gavin Robinson (Democratic Unionist Party - Belfast East)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what estimate he has made of how much remains in the Northern Ireland Executive's 2022-23 financial year overspend following the deduction of Barnett consequentials.
Answered by Laura Trott - Chief Secretary to the Treasury
The UK Government provided £297 million of non-ringfenced RDEL funding to the Northern Ireland Executive at Supplementary Estimates 2022-23 to ensure the delivery of a balanced budget.
In the absence of an Executive, the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland set a budget for 2023-24 via Written Ministerial Statement on 27 April 2023. This included flexibility on the repayment of the 2022-23 overspend.
The Northern Ireland Executive received £17 million non-ringfenced RDEL and £13 million general CDEL in Barnett consequentials at Mains Estimates 2023-24. Any further Barnett consequentials will be confirmed if UK Government departmental budgets change at subsequent fiscal events.
A more detailed breakdown of Barnett funding can be found in the Block Grant Transparency publication.
Block Grant Transparency: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/block-grant-transparency-july-2023
Asked by: Gavin Robinson (Democratic Unionist Party - Belfast East)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, with reference to the answer of 17 April 2023 to Question 176600 on Motor Vehicle Tyres (Labelling) (Enforcement) (Amendment) (EU Exit) Regulations 2020, what recent progress his Department has made on reviewing its stock of Retained EU Law.
Answered by Mark Harper - Secretary of State for Transport
The Department continues to actively review retained EU laws to identify and progress opportunities for reform by June 2026, when the Retained EU Law (Revocation and Reform) Act’s powers expire.
We have already taken steps, such as through four statutory instruments already laid so far that seek to revoke or reform transport retained EU laws, the detail of which is available online. This is in addition to revoking over 65 unnecessary transport retained EU laws through the Act itself, including the Port Services Regulations 2019.
Asked by: Gavin Robinson (Democratic Unionist Party - Belfast East)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment he has made of the potential merits of repealing 4.1 and 4.2 of Annex III of EU Regulation 1069/2011.
Answered by Neil O'Brien
The Food Standards Agency (FSA) has policy responsibility for the safety of high caffeine drinks and foods, including the caffeine labelling requirements set out in Articles 4.1 and 4.2 of Annex III of retained EU Regulation No. 1169/2011.
These articles require information to be provided on the level of caffeine, in milligrams per 100 millilitres or per 100 grams and helps to highlight the existence of caffeine in a product where, unlike a coffee or tea, people may not expect it to be present.
We have no current plans to remove these requirements as some people need to limit their caffeine consumption such as pregnant women where high caffeine consumption can increase the risk of pregnancy complications. However, the FSA is considering the UK Government’s Retained EU Law (Revocation and Reform) Bill and what opportunities there are to reform legislation, where needed.
The FSA advises that children, or other people sensitive to caffeine, should only consume caffeine in moderation. Pregnant and breast-feeding women should limit their caffeine consumption to less than 200 mg a day. As the level of caffeine can vary between high caffeine ‘energy’ drinks and caffeinated foods, the labelling requirement provide useful information for consumers who need to limit their caffeine consumption.
Asked by: Gavin Robinson (Democratic Unionist Party - Belfast East)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what recent discussions he has had with his counterpart in the Welsh Government on its proposal to end the sale of energy drinks to children under 16; and whether he has made an assessment of the potential merits of bringing forward a similar proposal.
Answered by Neil O'Brien
We have consulted on a proposal to end the sale of energy drinks to children in England and we will be setting out our full response to the consultation in due course. There have been no such recent discussions.
Asked by: Gavin Robinson (Democratic Unionist Party - Belfast East)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what his Department's policy is on a potential ban on the sale high energy drinks to children.
Answered by Neil O'Brien
We have consulted on a proposal to end the sale of energy drinks to children in England and we will be setting out our full response to the consultation in due course. There have been no such recent discussions.
Asked by: Gavin Robinson (Democratic Unionist Party - Belfast East)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, how much money has been returned from Stormont to the UK Government in un-used Financial Transaction Barnett Consequentials in each financial year from 2010-11 to 2022-2023.
Answered by John Glen - Paymaster General and Minister for the Cabinet Office
The Northern Ireland Executive receive ringfenced Financial Transactions Capital (FTC) funding. FTC funding is different to other aspects of the DEL block grant as it is treated as a financial transaction rather than spending and does not affect Public Sector Net Borrowing.
The Northern Ireland Executive Financial transaction budgets are provided with FTC funding through the Barnett formula in a consistent manner to UK Government departments. Where funding is provided on a net basis, repayments of loans can be recycled indefinitely into new loans. Where funding is provided on a gross basis, the Northern Ireland Executive is required to return funding to HM Treasury within an agreed period.
There were no underspends for the financial years 2010-11 through 2015-16. In subsequent years, the underspends were as follows:
Outturn data for 2022-23 is not yet available.
Any income from repayments of loans or underspends against the Northern Ireland Executive’s wider FTC funding can be used to reduce the amount of gross FTC repayable over time and the Executive have made use of this option. The UK Government maintains regular engagement with the Northern Ireland Executive on treatment of FTC funding.
Asked by: Gavin Robinson (Democratic Unionist Party - Belfast East)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, how much additional funding was contributed to the Welsh Block grant in each financial year between 2017-23 as the result of the 5 per cent uplift arising from the December 2016 Agreement between the Welsh Government and the United Kingdom Government on the Welsh Government’s fiscal framework.
Answered by John Glen - Paymaster General and Minister for the Cabinet Office
The Block Grant Transparency publication sets out a full breakdown of funding for the Welsh Government, including the impact of the 5% uplift.
The publication is regularly updated after each UK Budget. The next update is expected before summer recess following Spring Budget 2023.
Asked by: Gavin Robinson (Democratic Unionist Party - Belfast East)
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 meet representatives of the Training for Women Network Ltd to discuss the provision of training places through the Athena project.
Answered by Dehenna Davison
The department followed the published assessment criteria in taking selection decisions and ensured allocation of funding to a suitable mix of projects to address all geographies and range of needs. Unsuccessful bidders will receive feedback on their bid in due course and my officials can further discuss the reasons why bids were unsuccessful where appropriate.
UK Shared Prosperity Fund allocations for 2022-23 to 2024-25 have been published. We are ensuring that domestic UK-wide funding will at least match EU receipts across the UK, reaching around £1.5 billion a year in 2024-25 when EU funding ceases, while also providing for a smooth transition onto the new, domestic regime. Funding for 2025 onwards is a matter for the Spending Review in 2024.
Asked by: Gavin Robinson (Democratic Unionist Party - Belfast East)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, with reference to the Answer of 3 March 2021 to Question 159322 on UK Shared Prosperity Fund (UKSPF), what steps he is taking to ensure that UKSPF funding in Northern Ireland will at least match previous receipts from EU structural funds in each of the next five years.
Answered by Dehenna Davison
The department followed the published assessment criteria in taking selection decisions and ensured allocation of funding to a suitable mix of projects to address all geographies and range of needs. Unsuccessful bidders will receive feedback on their bid in due course and my officials can further discuss the reasons why bids were unsuccessful where appropriate.
UK Shared Prosperity Fund allocations for 2022-23 to 2024-25 have been published. We are ensuring that domestic UK-wide funding will at least match EU receipts across the UK, reaching around £1.5 billion a year in 2024-25 when EU funding ceases, while also providing for a smooth transition onto the new, domestic regime. Funding for 2025 onwards is a matter for the Spending Review in 2024.