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Written Question
Bombings: Omagh
Monday 27th March 2023

Asked by: John Spellar (Labour - Warley)

Question to the Northern Ireland Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, how much funding will be provided for the independent statutory inquiry into the preventability of the Omagh bombing in August 1998.

Answered by Chris Heaton-Harris - Secretary of State for Northern Ireland

On 2 February 2023, an independent statutory inquiry into the Omagh bombing is being established under the Inquiries Act 2005. Consideration of the Terms of Reference and other details, including funding arrangements, are ongoing and will be a matter for discussion with the Chair, when appointed. More information will be set out in due course.


Written Question
Police Service of Northern Ireland: Finance
Thursday 12th January 2023

Asked by: John Spellar (Labour - Warley)

Question to the Northern Ireland Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, how much annual funding the Government provides to Police Service Northern Ireland.

Answered by Steve Baker - Minister of State (Northern Ireland Office)

Policing is a devolved matter in Northern Ireland and the PSNI’s main budget is allocated by the Department of Justice from the Northern Ireland block grant.

The recent Budget that the Secretary of State set for Northern Ireland provides the Northern Ireland Department of Justice with a 3.1% uplift on its 2021-2022 budget with a total allocation of £1.18 billion.

In addition to the block grant, the UK Government provides the Police Service of Northern Ireland with the additional security funding it needs to ensure that it has the resource to tackle the SUBSTANTIAL threat from Northern Ireland-related terrorism. This additional security funding ensures PSNI’s ability to tackle the terrorist threat while ensuring day-to-day policing is not compromised.

The UK Government contribution for the financial year 22/23 will be £32 million. This is the same as what has been provided each year since 2015/16. This continued level of Additional Security Funding for the PSNI from the UKG has been confirmed through to 2024/25.


Written Question
Buses: Northern Ireland
Thursday 1st October 2020

Asked by: John Spellar (Labour - Warley)

Question to the Northern Ireland Office:

What recent discussions he has had with the Secretary of State for Transport on increasing support for the hydrogen-powered bus sector in Northern Ireland.

Answered by Robin Walker

Northern Ireland has proven expertise with hydrogen-electric power in the bus sector and we have seen the introduction of the world’s first hydrogen-electric double-decker bus by Wrightbus this year.

The Secretary of State for Northern Ireland visited Wrightbus in August and recently discussed the opportunities for Northern Ireland with the Transport Secretary. I and my officials are engaging with DfT and BEIS on the UK bus and hydrogen strategies and aim to capitalise on our joint ambitions for these areas. It was good to see Wrightbus recently securing orders for hydrogen-electric buses through its H2Bus consortium and we look forward to forthcoming announcements on the UK’s Hydrogen and National Bus Strategies.


Written Question
Terrorism: Northern Ireland
Monday 22nd June 2020

Asked by: John Spellar (Labour - Warley)

Question to the Northern Ireland Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, what the costs of Operation Kenova have been to date.

Answered by Robin Walker

Operation Kenova is the independent investigation into a range of activities surrounding an alleged agent codenamed Stakeknife, led by former chief constable Jon Boutcher. Since it was established in 2016, Operation Kenova has taken on three further investigations at the request of the Chief Constable of the Police Service of Northern Ireland.

As this is an independent investigation, funding is the responsibility of the Police Service of Northern Ireland.