Asked by: Lord McCrea of Magherafelt and Cookstown (Democratic Unionist Party - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the Post Office Horizon IT Inquiry Report Volume 1 (HC 1119), published on 8 July, what action they are taking to ensure that compensation claims are urgently paid to victims in full.
Answered by Baroness Jones of Whitchurch - Baroness in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)
We welcome the publication of the first volume of the Horizon IT Inquiry report and are actively considering Sir Wyn William’s 19 recommendations; a formal response will be provided by the 10 October 2025 deadline. We have however already accepted 2 recommendations: to extend redress to family members, and to ensure claimants have access to the ‘best offer’ before appealing to the independent panel.
We continue to seek options to speed up redress, in discussion with the Horizon Compensation Advisory Board. As of 30 June 2025, approximately £1,098 million has been paid in total redress to over 7,900 claimants. This represents a fourfold increase since July 2024, with more than 5,000 victims receiving compensation for the first time. There is however, a lot more to still do.
Asked by: Lord McCrea of Magherafelt and Cookstown (Democratic Unionist Party - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to revive business confidence across the United Kingdom after the budget.
Answered by Baroness Jones of Whitchurch - Baroness in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)
Growth is the number one mission of the government. We have taken action including: progressing planning reforms; boosting capital investment by over £100 billion over the next five years; creating the National Wealth Fund; publishing the Corporate Tax Roadmap; announcing the Business Growth Service; and setting out pension reform proposals to unlock new investment.
Our modern Industrial Strategy will be unreservedly pro-business, and our Green Paper set out our vision for a credible, 10-year plan to deliver the certainty and stability businesses need to invest across the UK. We are engaging widely, and have appointed a diverse group of the UK’s top business leaders, policy experts and trade union leaders to the Industrial Strategy Advisory Council to drive this forward.
Asked by: Lord McCrea of Magherafelt and Cookstown (Democratic Unionist Party - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask His Majesty's Government whether they plan to introduce legislation to deliver unfettered access for goods between Northern Ireland and the rest of the UK, and to remove the Irish Sea border, custom, and sanitary and phytosanitary checks, under the Windsor Framework.
Answered by Lord Johnson of Lainston
Following the agreement of the Windsor Framework, the Border Target Operating Model sets out that we will begin phasing in checks and controls for Irish goods and non-qualifying goods moving from the island of Ireland to Great Britian from 31 January 2024.
With this approach, the Government fully preserves its longstanding commitments to ensure Northern Ireland’s businesses have full unconditional and unfettered access to their most important market in Great Britain.