Asked by: Stuart C McDonald (Scottish National Party - Cumbernauld, Kilsyth and Kirkintilloch East)
Question to the Northern Ireland Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, if he will bring forward legislative proposals to require the publication of details of electoral donations received by political parties in Northern Ireland between 2014 and 2017.
Answered by John Penrose
The Transparency of Donations and Loans etc. (Northern Ireland Political Parties) Order 2018 introduced transparency around donations and loans to political parties in Northern Ireland from July 2017. The date set in the legislation for introduction of the transparency regime followed a consultation process and represented a broad consensus across the Northern Ireland political parties.
The Government has no plans in place to legislate to facilitate the publication of pre-2017 data. We are committed to undertaking an operational review to consider all aspects of the operation of the donation and loans systems in Northern Ireland, to review whether there might be a case for further reforms.
Asked by: Stuart C McDonald (Scottish National Party - Cumbernauld, Kilsyth and Kirkintilloch East)
Question to the Northern Ireland Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, what the quantity was of (a) electricity and (b) natural gas used by her Department in each of the last three years for which figures are available.
Answered by Karen Bradley
The Northern Ireland Office has used the following quantity of (a) electricity and (b) natural gas in each of the last three years:
(a) electricity
2017/18 - 792,333 Kwh
2016/17 - 805,366 Kwh
2015/16 - 850,490 Kwh
(b) natural gas
2017/18 - 17,410 m3
2016/17 - 18,133 m3
2015/16 - 22,803 m3
Asked by: Stuart C McDonald (Scottish National Party - Cumbernauld, Kilsyth and Kirkintilloch East)
Question to the Northern Ireland Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, what the cost was of (a) electricity and (b) natural gas used by her Department in each of the last three years for which figures are available.
Answered by Shailesh Vara
The Northern Ireland Office has been charged the following for (a) electricity and (b) natural gas in each of the last three years:
(a) electricity
2017/18 - £ 88,642
2016/17 - £ 51,133
2015/16 - £ 69,032
(b) natural gas
2017/18 - £ 9,029
2016/17 - £ 6,265
2015/16 - £ 11,178
Asked by: Stuart C McDonald (Scottish National Party - Cumbernauld, Kilsyth and Kirkintilloch East)
Question to the Northern Ireland Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, if he will make it his policy to introduce legislation requiring the Electoral Commission to publish details of all reportable donations and loans received by political parties in Northern Ireland since January 2014.
Answered by James Brokenshire
I wrote to the Northern Ireland political parties and to the Electoral Commission in January seeking their views on moving to full transparency and the date from which transparency should take effect. While all parties that responded expressed broad support for the future publication of donations and loans, only one party expressed support for backdating publication to 1 January 2014. All responses are available at the following link:
Having considered the representations of the parties, I did not believe it right or fair to impose retrospective regulations on those who donated in accordance with the rules set out in law at the time. The secondary legislation to give effect to full transparency which I propose will therefore apply to donations and loans received on or after 1 July 2017.
Asked by: Stuart C McDonald (Scottish National Party - Cumbernauld, Kilsyth and Kirkintilloch East)
Question to the Northern Ireland Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, what assessment he has made of the potential effect of UK withdrawal from the EU Customs Union on the policy that there should be no border checks between Northern Ireland and Ireland.
Answered by James Brokenshire
The Government will consider the advantages and disadvantages of remaining in a Customs Union carefully. There are a number of options, and we have made clear that we will pursue one that works for the unique circumstances of the UK.
The open border for people and businesses has served us well and no-one wants to see a return to the borders of the past. It is a high priority for the Government that we do not see border controls coming into place. There is a very strong commitment from the Irish government as well as ourselves to see that that does not happen. We must now work closely together to ensure that as the UK leaves the EU we find shared solutions to the challenges and maximise the opportunities for both the UK and the Republic of Ireland.