Question to the Northern Ireland Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, with reference to the policy papers entitled Spending Review 2025, published on 30 June 2025, and Budget 2025, published on 28 November 2025, what their Department’s capital Departmental Expenditure Limit (DEL) will be in each year of the Spending Review period; how much capital funding has been allocated to each of their Department’s programmes; and how much and what proportion of the capital DEL allocation remains unallocated in each year.

Answered by Hilary Benn - Secretary of State for Northern Ireland

The Northern Ireland Office’s Capital Departmental Expenditure Limit (DEL) settlements for the Spending Review period are set out below. Regarding the unallocated portion of the budget; currently, we have no unallocated CDEL in each year of the Spending Review period.

Question to the Northern Ireland Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, what steps his Department is taking to help reduce administrative burdens on businesses moving goods from Great Britain to Northern Ireland.

Answered by Hilary Benn - Secretary of State for Northern Ireland

The Government announced at the Autumn Budget a £16.6m package of measures to support businesses to move goods within the UK internal market, including a comprehensive ‘one stop shop’ regulatory support service and additional funding for Intertrade UK.

On 3 December, we announced with the EU that SPS identity checks on retail goods would now be reduced from 10% to 8%, further smoothing flows of trade. Looking ahead, the Government is also negotiating a new sanitary and phytosanitary (SPS) agreement with the EU that is set to remove routine checks on animal and plant products moving from Great Britain to Northern Ireland.

Question to the Northern Ireland Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, whether he has held discussions with the Northern Ireland Executive on the potential merits of a National Library for Northern Ireland.

Answered by Hilary Benn - Secretary of State for Northern Ireland

Responsibility for libraries in Northern Ireland is a devolved matter. My Ministerial colleagues in the Northern Ireland Office and I hold regular meetings with Northern Ireland Executive Ministers, including the Communities Minister, to discuss areas of mutual interest. I welcome discussion about the potential merits of a National Library for Northern Ireland, although thus far no discussions on this topic have been held.

Question to the Northern Ireland Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, what the (a) name, (b) job title, (c) annual remuneration, (d) time commitment and (e) expected end date is for each direct ministerial appointment in his Department.

Answered by Hilary Benn - Secretary of State for Northern Ireland

Within my Department, the following direct ministerial appointments have been made to non-statutory offices:

Intertrade UK - Chair and Members

Name and Job Title: Baroness Arlene Foster, Chair of Intertrade UK

Annual Remuneration: N/A

Time Commitment: Approximately 1 day per month

Expected End Date: 18 months from date of appointment. The Chair may be reappointed for no more than 18 months (so may serve for a maximum of three consecutive years).

Names and Job Title: Dr Esmond Birnie, Kirsty McManus, Suzanne Wylie, Roger Pollen, Angela McGowan - Members of Intertrade UK.

Annual Remuneration: N/A

Time Commitment: Approximately 1 day per month

Expected End Date: 18 months from date of appointment. Members may be reappointed for no more than 18 months (so may serve for a maximum of three consecutive years).

Windsor Framework Independent Monitoring Panel

Names and Job Title: Alastair Hamilton (Chair), Anna Jerzewska, Aidan Reilly - Chair and Panel Members of the Windsor Framework Independent Monitoring Panel.

Annual Remuneration: N/A

Time Commitment: The Panel is expected to report to the Government on a six-monthly basis and therefore Panelists should have the capacity to do so.

Expected End Date: 24 months from date of appointment with the possibility of an extension subject to Ministerial agreement.

Question to the Northern Ireland Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, what proportion of (a) named day questions and (b) ordinary written questions were responded to by her Department within the required timescale in (i) May 2025, (ii) June 2025, (iii) July 2025, (iv) August 2025, (v) September 2025, (vi) October 2025 and (vii) November 2025.

Answered by Hilary Benn - Secretary of State for Northern Ireland

The information requested is shown below:

The House of Commons Procedure Committee monitors departmental PQ performance and publishes a report of the government’s consolidated PQ data following the end of each session.

Question to the Northern Ireland Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, what steps he is taking to ensure that the Connect Fund reaches communities that have previously had lower application rates for grant funding across Northern Ireland.

Answered by Hilary Benn - Secretary of State for Northern Ireland

The £1m Connect Fund makes awards to strengthen civic ties between Northern Ireland and Great Britain across a range of sectors. I am encouraged by the high level of interest the Fund has received from community and voluntary groups to date. Early next year, a series of roadshows will be hosted across Northern Ireland, including areas with lower application rates, to advertise the Fund and support a broad geographical spread of applicants.

Question to the Northern Ireland Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, what assessment his Department has made of the potential merits of negotiating a UK-EU Customs Union deal for improving trade between (a) Northern Ireland and (b) Great Britain.

Answered by Hilary Benn - Secretary of State for Northern Ireland

Northern Ireland is part of the UK’s customs territory and benefits from the UK’s Free Trade Agreements. The Government is not seeking to negotiate a UK-EU Customs Union.

Question to the Northern Ireland Office:

To ask His Majesty's Government how many of the European Union acts which have been added to the relevant Annexes of the Windsor Framework since the UK-EU Withdrawal Agreement came into force have been (1) acts which were capable of having the Stormont Brake applied, and (2) acts to which the Stormont Brake was actually applied.

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

New EU legislation can only be added to the Windsor Framework by means of Joint Decisions by the UK and EU at the Withdrawal Agreement Joint Committee, and in line with the UK Government’s commitments in Schedule 6B to the Northern Ireland Act 1998. A record of those decisions can be found online on the Withdrawal Agreement Joint Committee page of the Government’s website. Since the Windsor Framework was agreed in 2023, 9 new EU acts have been added to its annexes - with 4 added in 2023, 1 in 2024, and 4 in 2025.

The scope of the Stormont Brake is also clearly set out in Schedule 6B to the Northern Ireland Act 1998. The Stormont Brake mechanism is provided for in relation to relevant EU replacement legislation, and any notification under it would be required to satisfy the requirements set down in law.

Question to the Northern Ireland Office:

To ask His Majesty's Government how many European Union acts falling within the scope of the Windsor Framework have been added to the relevant Annexes of the Windsor Framework in each year since the UK-EU Withdrawal Agreement came into force.

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

New EU legislation can only be added to the Windsor Framework by means of Joint Decisions by the UK and EU at the Withdrawal Agreement Joint Committee, and in line with the UK Government’s commitments in Schedule 6B to the Northern Ireland Act 1998. A record of those decisions can be found online on the Withdrawal Agreement Joint Committee page of the Government’s website. Since the Windsor Framework was agreed in 2023, 9 new EU acts have been added to its annexes - with 4 added in 2023, 1 in 2024, and 4 in 2025.

The scope of the Stormont Brake is also clearly set out in Schedule 6B to the Northern Ireland Act 1998. The Stormont Brake mechanism is provided for in relation to relevant EU replacement legislation, and any notification under it would be required to satisfy the requirements set down in law.

Question to the Northern Ireland Office:

To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the impact of regulatory divergence caused by the application of the European Union acts in the Annexes to the Windsor Framework to Northern Ireland but not to the rest of the United Kingdom.

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

The Government routinely sets out its assessment of the impacts and effects of regulations that apply in Northern Ireland via Explanatory Memoranda provided by the Government to scrutiny committees in Parliament and the Northern Ireland Assembly. The Windsor Framework includes a number of schemes and easements which help protect the UK’s internal market and facilitate Northern Ireland’s unique dual market access. Additionally, the Government frequently indicates where measures will be taken in the rest of the United Kingdom which will fulfil its manifesto commitment to protect the UK’s internal market.

Question to the Northern Ireland Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, pursuant to the Answer of 21 October to Question 82702, whether it remains the case that 9 inquests will be able to resume.

Answered by Hilary Benn - Secretary of State for Northern Ireland

The Northern Ireland Office has written to the families of 8 cases to inform them that those inquests will be able to resume under clause 84(3) of the Northern Ireland (Troubles) Bill. These cases are; Dillon, Duffy, McCord, Loughgall, Stalker-Sampson series, Moran, McDaid & Slane, and Patterson.

The inquest into the death of Mr Joseph Campbell is included in the ‘9 cases’ allowed to resume as it was part of the ‘Five Year Plan’ for Legacy Inquests, and had started before the Legacy Act came into force. The Government is aware that the coroner in this case has provisionally determined that it can continue as a ‘non Troubles-related’ inquest.

We believe the Troubles Bill contains provisions which current and former service personnel will find insulting and should not be proceeded with.

Give veterans the same protection from prosecution as given to suspected IRA terrorists by Tony Blair's amnesty.

Found: It was his predecessors and the Northern Ireland Office, who were involved in both policy and operational

Found: Genuine independence requires a clear structural separation from the SoSNI and the Northern Ireland Office

Found: Genuine independence requires a clear structural separation from the SoSNI and the Northern Ireland Office

Found: Remarkably the ECHR Memorandum concludes that the Northern Ireland Office considers the current Bill

Found: Memorandum concludes that the Northern Ireland Office considers the current Bill to be nevertheless

Found: an absolute prohibition that the Executive, specifically the Secretary of State for the Northern Ireland Office

Found: Enquiries Team, Ministry of Defence, Police Ombudsman, Coronial Service, An Garda Síochána, DFA and NIO

Found: https://publications.parliament.uk/pa/bills/cbill/59-01/0310/en/240310enlp.pdf [3] Northern Ireland Office

Found: www.parliament.uk/lords Rt Hon Hilary Benn MP Secretary of State for Northern Ireland Northern Ireland Office

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

Found: am not cutting across, but it might be helpful to mention obviously the Home Office, the MOJ, the NIO

Found: TOTAL DEL DEL ADMIN Northern Ireland Office X097A006 X097A006-NIO CORE (DEL ADMIN/VOTED) P101

Found: Part of role as the Lords Spokesperson for NIO.

Found: Part of role as the Lords Spokesperson for NIO.

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