Asked by: Sorcha Eastwood (Alliance - Lagan Valley)
Question to the Northern Ireland Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, whether he plans to provide support to former Northern Ireland (a) prison officers and (b) police to maintain security at their homes.
Answered by Hilary Benn - Secretary of State for Northern Ireland
The Northern Ireland Office Home Protection Scheme is in place to provide protective security measures to those in certain occupations who are assessed to be under significant threat from Northern Ireland-related terrorism. Serving and former prison and police officers fall within that range of occupations.
Asked by: Sorcha Eastwood (Alliance - Lagan Valley)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many allergy 'near miss' incidents took place in schools in England in each year since 2016.
Answered by Catherine McKinnell - Minister of State (Education)
The information requested is not held centrally.
Asked by: Sorcha Eastwood (Alliance - Lagan Valley)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, with reference to the Written Statement of 4 June 2025, HCWS682, on School Food, what estimate she has made of the potential Barnett consequentials for Northern Ireland following the expansion of free school meals to all children in households in receipt of Universal Credit.
Answered by Darren Jones - Chief Secretary to the Treasury
The Barnett formula is applied when departmental budgets change – not when departments announce how they are spending their budgets.
When changes to the Department for Education’s budget were confirmed at Spending Review 2025 on 11 June, the Barnett formula was applied in the usual way.
The published Block Grant Transparency document provides a detailed breakdown of how the block grants are calculated and the next version will be published in due course.
Asked by: Sorcha Eastwood (Alliance - Lagan Valley)
Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:
To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, what his planned timetable is for his Department's examination of the digital age of consent.
Answered by Chris Bryant - Minister of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)
We have added measures to the Data (Use and Access) Bill to strengthen data protection standards for children. Any changes to the age of digital consent would require public consultation.
We continue to consider further options for protecting children online and commissioned a feasibility study to further explore the impact of smartphones and social media use on children’s wellbeing to help inform our next steps. We do not have a timetable for completing this work.
Asked by: Sorcha Eastwood (Alliance - Lagan Valley)
Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:
To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, what recent discussions he has had with the Chief Medical Officer on the potential merits of raising the digital age of consent.
Answered by Chris Bryant - Minister of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)
Ministers and officials engage regularly with a range of experts and stakeholders on issues relating to children’s online safety and wellbeing. While there have been no recent formal discussions with the Chief Medical Officer specifically on the digital age of consent, we will continue to draw on expert advice as we review the evidence in this area.
Asked by: Sorcha Eastwood (Alliance - Lagan Valley)
Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:
To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, if he will introduce legislation to improve online safety laws.
Answered by Feryal Clark - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
The government is committed to working with Ofcom to ensure the Online Safety Act is implemented quickly and effectively.
This year we expect users, in particular children, to see notable change in their online experience as the duties come into force. Ofcom is now enforcing the illegal safety duties, and protections for children will follow next month.
The government has high expectations for platforms, and nothing is off the table when it comes to keeping children and the public safe. The government has already built on the Act and will continue to do so where required.