Asked by: Jim Shannon (Democratic Unionist Party - Strangford)
Question to the Northern Ireland Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, what recent discussions he has had with trade unions in Northern Ireland on nursing strikes.
Answered by Steve Baker
The UK Government has no authority to negotiate pay in Northern Ireland. The Secretary of State for Northern Ireland has met twice with representatives of health trade unions in Northern Ireland, at their request, to discuss the NI budget 2023-24 and the recent pay offer for Agenda for Change staff in England.
Asked by: Jim Shannon (Democratic Unionist Party - Strangford)
Question to the Northern Ireland Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, whether he has had recent discussions with hauliers in Northern Ireland on the impact of the Windsor Framework on that industry.
Answered by Steve Baker
The Secretary of State for Northern Ireland meets regularly with Northern Ireland stakeholders, including representatives of the road haulage industry to discuss a range of relevant issues, such as the Windsor Framework.
The Windsor Framework restores the free flow of trade from Great Britain to Northern Ireland, with a first-of-its-kind green lane that will enable goods destined for Northern Ireland to move easily without burdensome customs bureaucracy.
Customs paperwork will be scrapped and replaced with data sharing of ordinary, existing commercial information. This information will be provided from sales invoices and transport contracts – information that businesses will already hold and use for the movement of goods.
Asked by: Jim Shannon (Democratic Unionist Party - Strangford)
Question to the Northern Ireland Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, whether he has made a recent assessment of the adequacy of the level of public funding for policing in Northern Ireland; and if he will make a statement.
Answered by Steve Baker
Policing is a devolved matter in Northern Ireland and the Police Service of Northern Ireland’s main budget is allocated by the Department of Justice from the Northern Ireland Executive block grant.
The recent Budget that the Secretary of State set for Northern Ireland provides the Northern Ireland Department of Justice with a total resource allocation of £1.2 billion. It is for the Department of Justice now to determine the allocation of funding to the Police Service of Northern Ireland from its overall budget.
In addition to the block grant, the UK Government provides the Police Service of Northern Ireland with additional security funding to tackle the SEVERE threat from Northern Ireland related terrorism. In the financial year 2022-23 this was circa £32 million and this figure is confirmed through to 2024-25.
Asked by: Jim Shannon (Democratic Unionist Party - Strangford)
Question to the Northern Ireland Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, what recent discussions he has had with the Electoral Commission in Northern Ireland on voter ID.
Answered by Steve Baker
Electoral policy for Northern Ireland is a matter for the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland.
Northern Ireland Office officials meet regularly with the Electoral Commission to discuss a range of issues, including the Northern Ireland voter ID system, which has been in place, with minor amendments, since 2002.
Asked by: Jim Shannon (Democratic Unionist Party - Strangford)
Question to the Northern Ireland Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, whether the Government will provide funding to churches and community groups in Northern Ireland to help them celebrate the Coronation of His Majesty King Charles III; and whether any royal visits are planned to Northern Ireland during the Coronation celebrations.
Answered by Chris Heaton-Harris
Northern Ireland Office officials are working closely with officials from the Department for Culture, Media and Sport in order to provide funding to Local Authorities for local screenings of the Coronation of His Majesty King Charles III at locations across Northern Ireland.
There is no additional central Government funding available specifically for other organisations since every effort is being made to ensure that any activities and programmes for the Coronation do not impose an unnecessary burden on the taxpayer. It should be noted Lottery distributors and Local Authorities have made funds available for community events and many communities will fund their own activities, as they have done to mark other significant milestones in our shared history.
Visits to Northern Ireland by members of the Royal Family are a matter for the Royal Household.
Asked by: Jim Shannon (Democratic Unionist Party - Strangford)
Question to the Northern Ireland Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, what discussions he has had with the Northern Ireland Department of Justice on steps to (a) reduce violence against women and girls and (b) encourage women and girls to report incidences of violence.
Answered by Steve Baker
The Secretary of State for Northern Ireland recently visited Women’s Aid Federation NI and the Foyle Family Justice Centre in Derry-Londonderry in support of their crucial work.
It is disappointing that Northern Ireland remains the only region of the UK without a dedicated strategy to tackle violence against women and girls. The UK Government supports ongoing work by Northern Ireland departments to develop strategies tackling violence against women and girls, and domestic and sexual abuse. It is vital that the Northern Ireland Executive is restored to implement these strategies.
Asked by: Jim Shannon (Democratic Unionist Party - Strangford)
Question to the Northern Ireland Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, whether he has made a recent assessment of the potential impact of voter ID measures on the levels of voter ID fraud in Northern Ireland.
Answered by Steve Baker
The Elections Act 2022 makes no changes to the voter ID measures in Northern Ireland with the exception of the addition of two new documents to the existing list of acceptable evidence that may be produced at the polling station. The two new documents are the Half Fare SmartPass and the biometric immigration document.
The Electoral Commission will continue to report on their assessment of any electoral fraud following elections in Northern Ireland.
Asked by: Jim Shannon (Democratic Unionist Party - Strangford)
Question to the Northern Ireland Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, if he will make an assessment of the potential merits of extending the Contracts for Difference scheme to Northern Ireland; and if he will make a statement.
Answered by Steve Baker
Energy policy is devolved in Northern Ireland and is the responsibility of the Northern Ireland Executive Department for the Economy.
The Contracts for Difference scheme, which applies UK-wide, was not implemented in Northern Ireland. The reasons were set out by the Northern Ireland Executive Minister for the Economy in response to a written question (AQW 3094/17-22) tabled on 3 March 2020 and answered on 19 March 2020. The answer states that the Northern Ireland Executive considered that joining the scheme, which was introduced in Great Britain in 2014, would have placed a guaranteed additional cost burden on Northern Ireland consumers, on top of existing support that consumers already paid for the Renewables Obligations.
When the primary legislation for Contracts for Difference was put in place at the outset, provisions were put in place for Northern Ireland to join at a later date if conditions were right.
In developing its Energy Strategy, The Path to Net Zero Energy, the Department for the Economy carried out a consultation from December 2019 to March 2020. This consultation asked whether respondents agreed that the Department for the Economy should explore with the UK Government Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy the possibility of extending the Contracts for Difference scheme to Northern Ireland. 92% of respondents answered ‘yes’ to this question and the Northern Ireland Executive’s Energy Strategy, The Path to Net Zero Energy, published in December 2021, confirmed that the Northern Ireland Executive is exploring whether the Contracts for Difference scheme should be extended to Northern Ireland.
It is vital that the Northern Ireland Executive is restored, so that locally elected representatives are in place to continue important policy development relating to energy and net zero on behalf of the people of Northern Ireland.
Asked by: Jim Shannon (Democratic Unionist Party - Strangford)
Question to the Northern Ireland Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, what steps he is taking to support the Northern Ireland Department for Infrastructure to spend 10 per cent of the transport budget on active travel.
Answered by Steve Baker
Responsibility for transport policy is devolved to the Northern Ireland Executive and the Department for Infrastructure.
The UK Government recognises the importance of active travel, and through the “Communities and Place” strand of the UK Shared Prosperity Fund (UKSPF), will provide support for active travel enhancement, including proposals to undertake active travel needs assessments and explore active travel links.
All 11 Northern Ireland councils have been invited by the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities to bid for UKSPF funding to deliver such programmes. These bids are currently undergoing assessment.
Asked by: Jim Shannon (Democratic Unionist Party - Strangford)
Question to the Northern Ireland Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, what steps he is taking to help ensure the implementation of the Climate Change Act (Northern Ireland) 2022.
Answered by Steve Baker
In the absence of Northern Ireland Executive ministers, the Northern Ireland (Executive Formation etc.) Act 2022 provides Northern Ireland civil servants with the clarity they require to take the limited but necessary decisions to maintain delivery of public services and operate in the public interest. Specifically, in clause 3, subsections (1) and (3) remove the need for Ministers or an Executive Committee to be in place to enable the exercise of departmental functions by senior officers in Northern Ireland departments if they deem it in the public interest.
The accompanying guidance to the Act, published on 19 December 2022, helps NI departments determine whether exercising a function is in the public interest and lists the principles that they should take into account when making such a determination. The Government cannot and should not anticipate the decisions that civil servants will need to take under this Act. Consequently, the Government does not intend to comment on which decisions NI departments should be taking forward.