Question to the Northern Ireland Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, for what reason he rejected the Electoral Commission of Northern Ireland's request to separate the next scheduled local government and Assembly elections.

Answered by Hilary Benn - Secretary of State for Northern Ireland

The date for local government elections is set in statute as the first Thursday in May every 4 years, and for the Assembly elections as the first Thursday in May every 5 years. The people of Northern Ireland expect to go to the polls on 6 May 2027 and the Government has no intention of changing that.

Question to the Northern Ireland Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, whether he has made an assessment of trends in the level of violence against women in (a) Northern Ireland and (b) the rest of Europe.

Answered by Fleur Anderson - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Northern Ireland Office)

Violence against women and girls is a national emergency and last year seven women were killed in Northern Ireland. Through my ongoing engagement with organisations working to support victims and survivors and tackle this societal issue, it is clear that there are additional challenges unique to the Northern Ireland context. I welcome the Northern Ireland Executive’s Strategic Framework to End Violence Against Women and Girls that places the overall emphasis on prevention, tackling the root causes, and stopping the violence before it starts.

Question to the Northern Ireland Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, how much funding he has allocated to the Finucane Inquiry.

Answered by Hilary Benn - Secretary of State for Northern Ireland

As I outlined in my oral statement of 11 September 2024, I considered the likely costs and impact of the Patrick Finucane Inquiry on public finances. It is the Government’s expectation that the Inquiry will avoid unnecessary costs given all the previous reviews and investigations and the large amount of information and material that is already in the public domain. Public inquiries regularly publish financial reports on their expenditure in the course of their work.

Question to the Northern Ireland Office:

To ask His Majesty's Government which commitments arising from the Safeguarding the Union command paper (CP1021), published on 31 January 2024, (1) have been, or (2) are in the process of being, implemented; and which commitments remain outstanding.

Answered by Baroness Anderson of Stoke-on-Trent - Baroness in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)

The Government continues to make progress on delivering the commitments made in the Safeguarding the Union command paper. In the past month alone, that has included: taking forward legislation which allows the Government to introduce ‘not for EU’ labelling in Great Britain; hosting the first East-West Council meeting in Northern Ireland; and the completion of work to digitise the Belfast News Letter.

Question to the Northern Ireland Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, pursuant to the Answer of 23 June 2025 to Question 59713 on Foreign Investment in UK: Northern Ireland, on what date he discussed filling the role of US Special Envoy to Northern Ireland with the US Administration and Congress.

Answered by Hilary Benn - Secretary of State for Northern Ireland

Economic growth is the number one priority of the Government. That is why we are working closely with the Northern Ireland Executive to create a thriving, competitive and regionally balanced economy in Northern Ireland through increased investment, job creation, and higher living standards.

I had a range of meetings during my visit to Washington in March, but the role of a US Special Envoy to Northern Ireland was not raised with me. There has not been such a position in every US Administration, and is a matter for which the US Administration is responsible.

Question to the Northern Ireland Office:

To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Baroness Anderson of Stoke-on-Trent on 20 December 2024 (HL3343), in which said that they were "currently considering the best way to take forward the approach referred to in Annex B of the Safeguarding the Union command paper", what was the outcome of those considerations.

Answered by Baroness Anderson of Stoke-on-Trent - Baroness in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)

This Government continues to make progress on delivering the commitments made in the Safeguarding the Union command paper. The best way to take forward the approach referred to in Annex B remains under consideration.

Found: Erskine House 20-32 Chichester St Belfast BT1 4GF E: correspondence@nio.gov.uk www.gov.uk/nio

Found: Erskine House 20-32 Chichester St Belfast BT1 4GF E: correspondence@nio.gov.uk www.gov.uk/nio

Found: It is run from the NIO, which means it has no real independence or anything to do.

Question to the Cabinet Office:

To ask His Majesty's Government, with reference to page 19 of the Government Strategy for Grants Management 2023–2025 published in September 2023, what are (1) the current total budget, (2) staffing level, and (3) key performance indicators, for the Government Grants Managed Service; and which government departments and arm’s-length bodies currently use the Government Grants Managed Service.

Answered by Baroness Anderson of Stoke-on-Trent - Baroness in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)

The current year budget is cost-neutral to the Cabinet Office. Operational costs depend upon the value of grants which go through the pilot, as resources are flexed according to demand. Customer departments and ALBs pay for the administration of these pilot grants.

There is currently a central programme team of 7 FTE, with operations staff numbers variable, according to demand.

A monitoring and evaluation approach and plan was developed in December 2023 and agreed with the Evaluation Task Force (ETF). A set of KPIs was agreed, focused on the cost to serve of grant administration in GGMS, versus departments’ usual approaches to grant and the median baseline cost. There are also KPIs related to the identification of fraud and error through the Spotlight due diligence tool.

Eight departments, arm’s-length bodies or other public bodies are participating in the pilot: the Home Office, the Department for Transport, the Department for Science, Innovation, & Technology, the Money & Pensions Service, the Department for Education, the Northern Ireland Office, UK Space Agency and UK Atomic Energy Authority.

Found: (NIO) published a green paper, The future of Northern Ireland: A paper for discussion.

Found: 2024; and CBP9954, Northern Ireland Devolution: Safeguarding the Union, 3 April 2024 34 Northern Ireland Office

Found: purposes Net resources authorised for capital purposes Net Cash Requirement (£) (£) (£) Northern Ireland Office

Found: Lieutenant's expenditure; capital, and associated non-cash costs; other non-cash costs.65 Northern Ireland Office

Found: from routine revaluation of assets”. 4.2 Devolved administrations Northern Ireland The Northern Ireland Office

Found: Available at: Population estimates for the UK, England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland - Office