Question to the Northern Ireland Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, how much (a) Departmental Expenditure Limit and (b) Annually Managed Expenditure funding has been spent by the Independent Commission for Reconciliation and Information Recovery in each financial year since its establishment.

Answered by Sarah Owen - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Northern Ireland Office)

The Independent Commission for Reconciliation and Information Recovery (ICRIR) was formally established in December 2023. The outturn expenditure for the Commission in each financial year to date, including initial setup costs, is provided in the following table, broken down by Departmental Expenditure Limit (DEL) and Annually Managed Expenditure (AME).

*The full year Figures for 2025-26 remain provisional pending final audit and publication of the Annual Report and Accounts. Finalised, audited expenditure for completed financial years is also published within the ICRIR's and the Northern Ireland Office’s Annual Report and Accounts, copies of which are available on GOV.UK.

**Figures for 2026-27 represent actual year-to-date expenditure up to August 2026.

Question to the Northern Ireland Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, how many and what proportion of civil servants in his Department were on permanent home working contracts in 2025.

Answered by Sarah Owen - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Northern Ireland Office)

The Northern Ireland Office (NIO) does not hold a central record of which employees are working under remote-working arrangements.

The NIO remains committed to flexible working and the business benefits it offers, including supporting the Civil Service priority of ensuring continued, effective, and productive delivery across the full range of our services.

We differentiate formal, contractual remote-working arrangements from hybrid/informal working from home, which is a non-contractual arrangement. The NIO operates a hybrid approach led by business needs, and as a result, many employees work both from home and in the workplace on an informal basis.

Staff are expected to attend the workplace for a minimum of 60% of their working hours over a rolling 4-week period, with the exception of those with formal contractual remote-working contracts or specific arrangements in place, such as workplace adjustments.

The NIO does not hold central data on employees undertaking informal hybrid working.

Question to the Northern Ireland Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, what the value is of deductions made from Troubles Permanent Disablement Payments under Regulation 19 in respect of payments made to former members of (a) the Royal Ulster Constabulary, (b) the Ulster Defence Regiment, (c) the Royal Irish Regiment and (d) other branches of the Armed Forces.

Answered by Sarah Owen - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Northern Ireland Office)

The Troubles Permanent Disablement Payment Scheme is administered by the Victims’ Payments Board, with oversight by The Executive Office. As such, the Northern Ireland Office does not hold this information. I would encourage the Honourable Gentleman to direct his questions to the Victims’ Payments Board directly.

Question to the Northern Ireland Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, how many awards under the Troubles Permanent Disablement Payment Scheme have been reduced pursuant to Regulation 19 because an applicant receives (a) a War Disablement Pension, (b) an Ministry of Defence Injury on Duty Award and (c) a police Injury on Duty Award.

Answered by Sarah Owen - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Northern Ireland Office)

The Troubles Permanent Disablement Payment Scheme is administered by the Victims’ Payments Board, with oversight by The Executive Office. As such, the Northern Ireland Office does not hold this information. I would encourage the Honourable Gentleman to direct his questions to the Victims’ Payments Board directly.

Question to the Northern Ireland Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, how many successful applicants to the Troubles Permanent Disablement Payment Scheme have had their monthly payment reduced to (a) less than £10, (b) between £10 and £25 and (c) between £25 and £50 as a consequence of Regulation 19.

Answered by Sarah Owen - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Northern Ireland Office)

The Troubles Permanent Disablement Payment Scheme is administered by the Victims’ Payments Board, with oversight by The Executive Office. As such, the Northern Ireland Office does not hold this information. I would encourage the Honourable Gentleman to direct his questions to the Victims’ Payments Board directly.

Question to the Northern Ireland Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, pursuant to the Answer of 9 September 2026 to Question 23047 on Veterans: Northern Ireland, if he will publish the full list of veterans’ organisations he and his ministers have met with, and the dates on which they met, since their appointment.

Answered by Sarah Owen - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Northern Ireland Office)

Since being appointed, NIO Ministers, and officials, have undertaken a programme of engagement with various veterans organisations and representatives. This includes meetings alongside the Ministry of Defence with the three Veterans Commissioners, the Royal British Legion, the Northern Ireland Veterans Movement, and various Forces associations and regiments. Full details of engagements will be published as part of the quarterly transparency return.

As a result of this engagement, the Government has tabled a significant package of amendments ahead of Committee Stage that will strengthen the already considerable package of protections for veterans included in the Troubles Bill.

The Government will continue to engage closely with all stakeholders as we make progress on the Troubles Bill to ensure that it delivers effective legacy mechanisms that everybody can have confidence in.

Question to the Northern Ireland Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, whether his Department wrote to The Executive Office to indicate support for inviting the International Commission on Missing Persons to support the work of the Truth Recovery Independent Panel report into workings of Mother and Baby Homes, Magdalene Laundries and Workhouses in Northern Ireland between 1922 and 1995.

Answered by Sarah Owen - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Northern Ireland Office)

The Government supports the work of the Truth Recovery Independent Panel into the workings of Mother and Baby Homes, Magdalene Laundries and Workhouses in Northern Ireland. I was pleased to see that the Inquiry (Mother and Baby Institutions, Magdalene Laundries and Workhouses) and Redress Scheme Bill secured Royal Assent earlier this month. Victims and survivors have waited too long for what is owed to them.

In response to a letter from a member of the International Commission on Missing Persons about supporting the work of the associated inquiry into the above issues, the Secretary of State confirmed that officials have passed this offer on to the Executive Office, as that office is responsible for the inquiry and associated redress scheme.

Question to the Northern Ireland Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, what steps he is taking to address the capacity of wastewater infrastructure in Northern Ireland.

Answered by Sarah Owen - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Northern Ireland Office)

Whilst public services are a devolved matter for the Northern Ireland Executive, the Government has provided a record financial settlement, in addition to significant funding for public services through the £235m Transformation fund.

As part of the Transformation funding, £15m has been invested in the Department of Infrastructure’s Urban Drainage project which is testing sustainable drainage systems to mitigate flood risk and alleviate pressure on wastewater capacity in Northern Ireland. This project is currently on track to deliver its intended milestones and I look forward to meeting with the Infrastructure Minister to discuss its progress.

The Government will continue to work collaboratively with the Northern Ireland Executive to ensure the sustainable delivery of public services in Northern Ireland.

Found: Report of the Criminal Justice Review in Northern Ireland (TSO 2000), paras 4.160- 4.163; Northern Ireland Office

Found: In the time since the Bill’s Second Reading, my officials have worked closely with the Northern Ireland Office

Found: Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government 66 Ministry of Justice 70 Northern Ireland Office

Found: Medium Yorkshire & The Humber 2021 Ninestiles an Academy Education 50-249 Medium West Midlands 2022 NIO

Found: the Guard (Lords Deputy Chief Whip) and Parliamentary Under- Secretary of State for the Northern Ireland Office

Found: the Guard (Lords Deputy Chief Whip) and Parliamentary Under- Secretary of State for the Northern Ireland Office

Found: the Guard (Lords Deputy Chief Whip) and Parliamentary Under- Secretary of State for the Northern Ireland Office

Found: applications relating to groups concerned in Northern Ireland-related terrorism sent to Northern Ireland Office

Found: applications relating to groups concerned in Northern Ireland-related terrorism sent to Northern Ireland Office

Found: Estimates of the population for the UK, England, Wales, Scotland, and Northern Ireland - Office for National

Found: Estimates of the population for the UK, England, Wales, Scotland, and Northern Ireland - Office for National

Found: Gower Street LONDON United Kingdom WC1E 6AR Wider Public Sector 10007439 Causeway Programme Northern Ireland Office

Found: Worker (A rating) Skilled Worker Ninthan Retail Ltd Northumberland Worker (A rating) Skilled Worker NIO

Found: Worker (A rating) Skilled Worker Ninthan Retail Ltd Northumberland Worker (A rating) Skilled Worker NIO

Found: Science, Innovation & Technology Welsh Govt Tier 3 (12) £155,000 to £175,000 Northern Ireland Office

Found: CULTURE, MEDIA AND SPORT 65 DEPARTMENT FOR ENVIRONMENT, FOOD AND RURAL AFFAIRS 69 NORTHERN IRELAND OFFICE

Found: m Pat of disused car way line am the norin and on the wesl of Ine properly $9 m Pasture land o2 Ine nio