Question to the Northern Ireland Office:

To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the implementation of devolution in Northern Ireland.

This Government remains fully committed to the Belfast (Good Friday) Agreement, which provided an important and stable base for power-sharing in Northern Ireland. The New Decade New Approach (NDNA) deal reached in January 2020 resulted in the restoration of the NI institutions. Good progress has been made in implementing the deal (which has included releasing over £555million of the £2bn of funding agreed in the deal and progress towards the establishment of an independent fiscal council) and establishing the governance structures that underpin NDNA (such as the Joint Board and Implementation Review meetings). The Government does acknowledge, however, that some of the matters targeted for early resolution under NDNA have been affected and challenged by the ongoing public health crisis.

The Government is working to deliver the next tranche of our commitments, such as progressing legislation on the sustainability of the institutions and reforms to the Petition of Concern mechanism.