Asked by: Peter Kyle (Labour - Hove and Portslade)
Question to the Northern Ireland Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, whether he plans to uprate benefits in Northern Ireland in line with inflation in the absence of an Northern Ireland Executive.
Answered by Chris Heaton-Harris
Welfare policy and the provision of benefits is a devolved matter in Northern Ireland. The UK Government will protect the most vulnerable in society by increasing benefits in Great Britain in line with inflation from April 2023. I am supportive of benefits being uplifted in Northern Ireland in line with the rest of the UK.
In the absence of locally accountable leadership in Northern Ireland, my department will work with the Northern Ireland Civil Service on the approach to benefits uprating in Northern Ireland, as has been the case throughout previous periods without a functioning Northern Ireland Executive.
Asked by: Peter Kyle (Labour - Hove and Portslade)
Question to the Northern Ireland Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, what assessment he has made of the success of the New Decade New Approach investment in Health services in (a) implementing the Bengoa, the Health and Wellbeing 2026: Delivering Together, and the Power to People reports and (b) delivering more care in the community.
Answered by Chris Heaton-Harris
The Government is acutely aware of the pressures facing the health service in Northern Ireland. A programme of reform at the devolved level is needed to tackle long-standing and systemic problems. Consecutive Executive Ministers have failed to adequately address this issue.
Through the New Decade, New Approach Agreement, the Government is providing additional funding of £245m to the Northern Ireland Executive for public sector transformation.
The absence of a functioning Executive is exacerbating severe delays to health reform in Northern Ireland. I outlined to Parliament on Wednesday 9 November, my intention to introduce legislation to enable Northern Ireland Departments to maintain delivery of all vital public services, including health and social care, until an Executive can be restored.
The Government’s immediate priority remains facilitating the restoration of a fully functioning Executive that can progress long-term solutions to transform healthcare in Northern Ireland and maximise value from the UK Government funds announced in the Autumn Statement which will see the budget to the Northern Ireland Executive increase by £650m over the next two financial years.
Asked by: Peter Kyle (Labour - Hove and Portslade)
Question to the Northern Ireland Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, how many times the New Decade New Approach Joint Board has met since 22 July 2020.
Answered by Chris Heaton-Harris
The Joint Board has met three times since 22 July 2020.
Asked by: Peter Kyle (Labour - Hove and Portslade)
Question to the Northern Ireland Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, with reference to the Answer of 7 November 2022 to Question 77502 on Schools: Northern Ireland, what estimate he has made of the number of young people who will be able to access the connected classroom programme.
Answered by Chris Heaton-Harris
I am continuing to explore options for facilitating the establishment of a Connected Classroom programme, with the aim of providing young people in Northern Ireland with the opportunity to engage and collaborate with young people across the UK. Therefore, I cannot make an estimate at this time of the number of young people who will be able to access the programme.
Asked by: Peter Kyle (Labour - Hove and Portslade)
Question to the Northern Ireland Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, with reference to the Answer of 30 March 2022 to Question 146691 on Schools: Northern Ireland, what options have been identified for the delivery of the Connected Classrooms programme.
Answered by Chris Heaton-Harris
The Government continues to deliver on the commitments we made in Annex A of New Decade, New Approach to support a diverse, prosperous Northern Ireland.
We are exploring delivery options for the Connected Classrooms programme including delivery via UK Government departments or agencies, via the Northern Ireland Executive departments and through the charity and third sectors.