United Kingdom Government-Northern Ireland Executive Joint Board

Lord Lexden Excerpts

Monday 16th March 2020 Lords Chamber

Asked by

[Lord Lexden]

To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether the United Kingdom Government-Northern Ireland Executive Joint Board, announced on 15 January, will publish reports on its work; and if so, how frequently.

[Viscount Younger of Leckie (Con)]

My Lords, the UK Government/Northern Ireland Executive joint board will regularly review UK government funding provided under the New Decade, New Approach agreement, and the implementation of all agreements. The terms of reference and reporting arrangements will be agreed between the Secretary of State and the First Minister and Deputy First Minister at the first joint board. There will be quarterly implementation review meetings, and updates on the implementation of the agreement will be published alongside these meetings.

[Lord Lexden (Con)]

My Lords, the union with Northern Ireland badly need strengthening. Is it the Government’s view that the new board will help to achieve that? Are the Government confident that their substantial extra spending can be overseen by the new board? Will it undo the damage that was inflicted upon the public services, particularly the health service, in Northern Ireland during the long period of the Assembly suspension?

I would also like to raise a point about the renewable heat incentive scheme, which has been in the news the last few days. Will the Government honour in full the undertaking, given in this House on 19 March last year by my noble friend Lord Duncan of Springbank, to help to mitigate the hardship that has been inflicted on many of those who entered the scheme in good faith when it was started and who have been adversely affected, often greatly so, by the subsequent changes made to the scheme?

[Viscount Younger of Leckie]

My noble friend is right: after three years of no Assembly, there is much work to be done. The UK Government will work with the restored Executive in fora such as the joint board to continue making Northern Ireland a great place to live, work and do business. I believe that this is one of the best ways in which we can strengthen Northern Ireland’s place in the union. On his point on spending, the Government have provided the Executive with a substantial financial package, with necessary checks and balances, to deliver for the people of Northern Ireland. This includes boosting infrastructure and transforming public services. On RHI, very briefly, we will be looking very carefully at the 44 recommendations from Sir Patrick Coghlin’s report.