Asked by: Stella Creasy (Labour (Co-op) - Walthamstow)
Question to the Northern Ireland Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, pursuant to the Answer of 1 April 2019 to Question 237070 on Health Services (Cross-border Health Care and Miscellaneous Amendments) (Northern Ireland) (EU Exit) Regulations 2019, if she will publish all written records of (a) the decision made by UK Government Ministers that in the interest of legal certainty in Northern Ireland, the UK Government would take through the necessary secondary legislation at Westminster for Northern Ireland in close consultation with the Northern Ireland departments and ( b)which Ministers made that assessment.
Answered by John Penrose
I will reply as soon as possible.
Asked by: Stella Creasy (Labour (Co-op) - Walthamstow)
Question to the Northern Ireland Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, pursuant to the Answer of 2 April 2019 to Question 236415, what criteria she used to inform the decision to extend the Offensive Weapons Bill which includes in it matters which are transferred to Northern Ireland Assembly to Northern Ireland.
Answered by Karen Bradley
It is important that we have a consistent approach to the control of corrosive substances across the UK. I therefore agreed that it was in the public interest to extend the Offensive Weapons Bill to Northern Ireland, on the condition that the provisions will not be commenced until the Northern Ireland Assembly is restored.
Asked by: Stella Creasy (Labour (Co-op) - Walthamstow)
Question to the Northern Ireland Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, with reference to her oral contribution to the Women and Equalities Committee inquiry into abortion in Northern Ireland on 27 February 2019, what plans she has to bring forward legislative proposals to give legal standing to the Northern Ireland Human Rights Committee.
Answered by Karen Bradley
I have secured collective agreement across Government to commit to introduce legislation to address the Commission’s ‘own motion’ legal standing under the Human Rights Act 1998, via its powers under the Northern Ireland Act 1998. This will happen at the earliest opportunity, before the end of 2019, to ensure it has the legal mandate to bring cases in its own name before the UK domestic courts.
We are currently working through options for the appropriate legislative vehicle to deliver this fix at the earliest opportunity.
Asked by: Stella Creasy (Labour (Co-op) - Walthamstow)
Question to the Northern Ireland Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, whether the decision on the legislative consent motions required for clauses 1 to 4 of the Offensive Weapons Bill will be made solely by the Department of Justice in Northern Ireland and the Northern Ireland Office.
Answered by Karen Bradley
In Northern Ireland, corrosive substances are devolved and are the responsibility of the Department of Justice in Northern Ireland. Clauses 1 to 4 of the Offensive Weapons Bill which the hon Member has referred to, relate to proportionate restrictions on the sale and delivery of certain acids and other dangerous corrosive chemicals, and are part of a range of measures to provide better protection to people in local communities across the UKand to enhance public safety. Consideration has been given by Northern Ireland departments and UK Government Ministers to extending these measures in the absence of an Assembly or a Legislative Consent Motion, which can only be granted during the passage of a Bill. The Bill contains separate commencement measures for provisions extending to Northern Ireland which relate to devolved matters. These are to be commenced by the Department of Justice in Northern Ireland and associated regulations will not be commenced without Northern Ireland Assembly approval.
Asked by: Stella Creasy (Labour (Co-op) - Walthamstow)
Question to the Northern Ireland Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, with reference to her oral contribution of 6 March 2019, Official Report column 949, that polls that they want to see change to the abortion laws in Northern Ireland—about 64%—are very clear that they want those changes to be made in Stormont, what the source is of that data.
Answered by Karen Bradley
The data comes from a ComRes survey conducted in Northern Ireland between 8 and 15 October 2018.