Asked by: Lord Rogan (Ulster Unionist Party - Life peer)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government what is their assessment of the European Court of Human Rights’ recognition of the Immovable Property Commission as an effective legal remedy for property disputes in Cyprus.
Answered by Baroness Chapman of Darlington - Minister of State (Development)
The European Court of Human Rights has issued several key judgments regarding the effectiveness of the Immovable Property Commission (IPC), including most recently in June 2025 where it judged the IPC to remain a valid legal remedy to domestic property disputes in Cyprus, although also noted procedural delays. The Government monitors closely the continued effectiveness of the IPC, including through the Committee of Ministers for Human Rights at the Council of Europe.
Asked by: Lord Rogan (Ulster Unionist Party - Life peer)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government what plans they have to establish a "coalition of the willing" in support of Taiwan against Chinese aggression.
Answered by Baroness Chapman of Darlington - Minister of State (Development)
The UK's longstanding position on Taiwan has not changed. The UK has a clear interest in peace and stability in the Taiwan Strait and considers the Taiwan issue one to be settled peacefully by the people on both sides of the Taiwan Strait through constructive dialogue, without the threat or use of force or coercion.
Asked by: Lord Rogan (Ulster Unionist Party - Life peer)
Question to the Northern Ireland Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government what discussions they have had with the Northern Ireland Executive about potential risks to national security resulting from the shortfall in Police Service of Northern Ireland officer numbers.
Answered by Baroness Anderson of Stoke-on-Trent - Baroness in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)
The Secretary of State for Northern Ireland meets frequently with the Northern Ireland Minister of Justice to discuss areas of mutual interest and concern.
A well-staffed and resourced PSNI is vital to the success and stability of Northern Ireland. It is for the Northern Ireland Executive to make decisions on the allocation of funding in line with its identified priorities and for the Northern Ireland Department of Justice to allocate funding to the PSNI.
The Government is providing the Executive with a record settlement over the Spending Review period, averaging £19.3bn per year. This is the largest in the history of devolution.
In addition to this, the Government is also providing the PSNI with £113 million over three years in Additional Security Funding to help address Northern Ireland’s specific security challenges and continue keeping people safe.
Asked by: Lord Rogan (Ulster Unionist Party - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask His Majesty's Government how much funding they have released to Northern Ireland under the Plan for Neighbourhoods; and what benefits they expect the initiative to deliver for the target areas.
Answered by Baroness Taylor of Stevenage - Baroness in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)
On 4 March 2025, the UK Government announced the Plan for Neighbourhoods, a £1.5 billion programme to deliver up to £20 million of funding and support over the next decade into 75 communities across the UK. These 75 areas, including Coleraine and Derry~Londonderry, will now be incorporated into the Pride in Place Programme, representing the first phase of the programme.
Asked by: Lord Rogan (Ulster Unionist Party - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:
To ask His Majesty's Government what plans they have to create an AI Growth Zone in Northern Ireland.
Answered by Baroness Lloyd of Effra - Baroness in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)
The formal application process for AIGZ opened in April 2025 and we recently announced an AI Growth Zone in North East England. We will be communicating to all formal applicants the outcome of their application shortly and we will move selected sites forward as soon as they are ready.
Asked by: Lord Rogan (Ulster Unionist Party - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask His Majesty's Government whether they plan to have discussions with the Northern Ireland Executive about the geographical distribution of successful applicants to the Northern Ireland Football Fund.
Answered by Baroness Twycross - Baroness in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)
As the Northern Ireland Football Fund is the responsibility of the Northern Ireland Executive, it is for them to decide how best to award and distribute this funding.
The Multi-Sport Grassroots Facilities Programme is delivering £3 million of investment into Northern Ireland through the Irish Football Association this financial year. As part of its delivery, there is ongoing engagement at official and Ministerial level to ensure the two funds complement each other.
Asked by: Lord Rogan (Ulster Unionist Party - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the impact of food inflation on household budgets.
Answered by Baroness Hayman of Ullock - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
UK consumer food prices depend on a range of factors including agri-food import prices, domestic agricultural prices, domestic labour and manufacturing costs, and Sterling exchange rates. Changes in food prices are dependent on changes in one or more of these factors.
The latest available OECD data (up to 2023) shows that food prices in the UK remained lower than in most advanced economies and the lowest among G7 countries. After the USA, UK households spend the lowest share of their income on food and non-alcoholic drinks in the G7. In fiscal year end 2024, households spent 11.3% of their income on food, rising to 14.3% for the lowest 20% by income. Over the last ten years these figures have been relatively stable, barring the impact of coronavirus in 2020-22.
Through our Plan for Change we are going further and faster to put more money in people's pockets.
Asked by: Lord Rogan (Ulster Unionist Party - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask His Majesty's Government what discussions they have had with the Bank of America about establishing a new Belfast operations facility, and what assessment they have made of the benefits that investment will have on the Northern Ireland economy.
Answered by Lord Leong - Lord in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)
The UK Government has been working with Bank of America over several years to support their growth in the UK.
Recognizing Northern Ireland’s offer as an investment destination, DBT officials - both in the UK and North America - held a succession of meetings with Bank of America leadership to facilitate an announcement ahead of the State Visit.
This significant investment cements Northern Ireland’s role in the global financial services sector, boosting growth and delivering high value, skilled roles for the people of Northern Ireland.
Asked by: Lord Rogan (Ulster Unionist Party - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask His Majesty's Government what support they are providing to increase the number of publicly available electric vehicle charging devices in Northern Ireland.
Answered by Lord Hendy of Richmond Hill - Minister of State (Department for Transport)
While transport is largely devolved to the Department for Infrastructure, the Department is supporting Northern Ireland’s transition to zero emission vehicles. Through Round 1 of the Levelling Up Fund, we are providing up to £3.27 million to upgrade and expand the EV charging network. Previously, two grants totalling £1.38 million were awarded under the On Street Residential Chargepoint Scheme.
Asked by: Lord Rogan (Ulster Unionist Party - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government what estimate they have made of the number of irregular migrants who have entered the United Kingdom through the land border between the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland in each of the past five years.
Answered by Lord Hanson of Flint - Minister of State (Home Office)
Journeys from Ireland to the UK are within the Common Travel Area (CTA). As part of the CTA arrangements, the UK does not operate routine immigration controls of individuals arriving in the UK by air or sea from within the CTA, and no immigration checks are undertaken at the land border with Ireland.
The UK does however operate intelligence-led operational activity on CTA routes - away from the land border. This is to detect those who intend to abuse CTA arrangements. Operational activity must be targeted and supported by specific intelligence of CTA abuse.
There is a high level of cooperation on migration and border security between all members of the CTA (UK, Ireland, and the Crown Dependencies) to identify and tackle migration trends as they emerge.
Everyone entering the UK, regardless of where they enter from, is required to meet UK's immigration requirements. Anyone identified attempting to circumvent UK border controls is liable to be detained and, if they are not lawfully present within the UK, removed.