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.
Asked by: Lord Rogan (Ulster Unionist Party - Life peer)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask His Majesty's Government how much funding they have allocated to Northern Ireland under the Barnett Formula as a consequence of spending on HS2; and how much additional funding they expect to allocate to Northern Ireland as a consequence of the project in each of the next five years.
Answered by Lord Livermore - Financial Secretary (HM Treasury)
The Block Grant Transparency publication breaks down all changes in the devolved governments’ block grant funding from the 2015 Spending Review up to and including Main Estimates 2023-24. Where funding for HS2 has been allocated at a fiscal event or Estimates, the publication will confirm the total Barnett consequentials received by the Northern Ireland Executive. The most recent report was published in July 2023 [1]. An updated report will be published in due course.
At Spending Reviews, the Barnett formula is applied to the overall change in a department’s settlement using departmental comparability factors. This means that Barnett consequentials generated in relation to HS2 specifically cannot be determined.
[1] You can access this report via the following link: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/block-grant-transparency-july-2023
Asked by: Lord Rogan (Ulster Unionist Party - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask His Majesty's Government how much of the £400 million investment in UK sport facilities outlined in the Spending Review will be allocated to Northern Ireland; what is the eligibility criteria; and who will make the final decisions on specific funding allocations.
Answered by Baroness Twycross - Baroness in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)
The Government is determined to ensure that everyone has access to quality sport and physical activity opportunities. That is why we have committed another £400 million to transform facilities across the whole of the nation.
This funding builds upon the £6.66 million already invested in Northern Ireland since 2024 as part of our Multi-Sport Grassroots Facilities Programme.
We will now work closely with sporting bodies and local leaders to establish what communities need, and then set out further plans on how future funding will be allocated across the UK.
Asked by: Lord Rogan (Ulster Unionist Party - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask His Majesty's Government what role they envisage the Northern Ireland defence sector playing in delivering the AUKUS agreement between the United Kingdom, the United States and Australia.
Answered by Lord Coaker - Minister of State (Ministry of Defence)
AUKUS is a landmark security and defence partnership with two of our closest allies. It is one of the most strategically important partnerships in decades, supporting peace and security in the Indo-Pacific and Euro-Atlantic, while also delivering jobs and economic growth in communities across all three nations.
AUKUS benefits the entire UK, including Northern Ireland, by strengthening our defence industry, generating thousands of new jobs. We expect over 21,000 people to be working on SSN-AUKUS programmes at its peak, both in UK shipyards and across the supply chain.
The commitments made in the Strategic Defence Review will only serve to enhance AUKUS and continue to contribute to jobs creation and economic growth.
Asked by: Lord Rogan (Ulster Unionist Party - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the potential benefits to Northern Ireland of the UK–India free trade agreement.
Answered by Baroness Gustafsson - Minister of State (Department for Business and Trade)
The UK–India Free Trade Agreement is estimated to increase bilateral trade by £25.5 billion, boost UK GDP by £4.8 billion and raise wages by £2.2 billion annually in the long term.
Northern Ireland is expected to benefit from enhanced export opportunities, job creation, and reduced costs. Advanced manufacturing will benefit from eliminated tariffs on aerospace, medical technologies and electronics products. Irish whiskey will see tariffs fall from 150% to 40% over 10 years. Northern Ireland’s services and tech sectors will benefit from improved market access.
An Impact Assessment will be published at signature, which details the benefits to Northern Ireland.
Asked by: Lord Rogan (Ulster Unionist Party - Life peer)
Question
To ask the Senior Deputy Speaker what the tender process was used before the contract for the supply and installation of the door at Peers' Entrance was finalised; how many tenders were submitted; which contractor was successful in securing the contract; and who made the final decision to award that contract.
Answered by Lord Gardiner of Kimble
The tender processes that were used are as follows:
Security Portal Contract
The Authority tendered to and contracted with Meesons A.I Ltd for the supply of a mobility accessible security portal and a secure revolving door portal which conforms with nationally recognised standards. Meesons A.I Ltd were identified as the only approved distributor capable of meeting Parliament’s requirements.
Main Works Contract
Three contractors were given the opportunity to be issued an invitation to tender for the main works contract (including the installation and commissioning of the portal and revolving door) at Peers’ Entrance through a mini-competition on a Parliamentary Framework. Two contractors confirmed they wanted to bid for the works and were issued an invitation to tender. Both contractors submitted tenders which were evaluated. The procurement was conducted in line with standard Parliament procurement procedures, where tenders are evaluated against a comprehensive set of criteria. The tender included a technical weighting (quality aspects) of 60% and a commercial element (cost) of 40%. The highest scoring contractor was awarded the contract.
The contractor that was successful in securing the installation Works Contract was DBR (London) Limited. The contractor that was awarded the supply contract was Meesons A.I Ltd.
Authorisation to award both contracts followed Parliament’s existing contract award and governance process, including approval of the project business case by the Accounting Officers of both Houses.
Asked by: Lord Rogan (Ulster Unionist Party - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government what discussions they have had with the government of Portugal about allowing UK passport holders to use e-gates at Portuguese airports.
Answered by Lord Hanson of Flint - Minister of State (Home Office)
We have secured confirmation that there will be no legal barriers to eGates use for UK nationals travelling to and from EU Member States after the introduction of the EU's Entry/Exit System.
But the Prime Minister has been clear that we believe European countries should go further and faster now.
We are therefore working with individual Member States at pace to make that transition happen as soon as possible. This includes discussions with Portugal.
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 whether the removal of regulatory barriers on the supply of veterinary medicines from Great Britain to Northern Ireland is a priority issue in their discussions with the European Union; and when they expect an agreement on that issue to be reached.
Answered by Baroness Hayman of Ullock - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Ensuring the continued supply of veterinary medicines into Northern Ireland remains a priority for His Majesty’s Government. On 19 May, the UK and the EU committed to negotiating an SPS Agreement, and while we do not expect this to cover veterinary medicinal products, the Government remains committed to protecting animal health and welfare in Northern Ireland by safeguarding supply. Officials continue to engage regularly with the EU, and the Government will be setting out its approach on this in due course.
Asked by: Lord Rogan (Ulster Unionist Party - Life peer)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the remarks by Lord Timpson on 13 May (HL Deb col 2055), how much of the extra £1 billion for policing will be allocated to Northern Ireland.
Answered by Lord Livermore - Financial Secretary (HM Treasury)
As set out in the 2025-26 final police funding settlement, overall funding for the policing system in England and Wales will be up to £19.6 billion, an increase of up to £1.1 billion when compared to the 2024-25 funding settlement
This funding is for England and Wales. Policing is devolved in Northern Ireland and so the Barnett formula was applied in the normal way to the Home Office DEL budget, providing Barnett consequentials to the Northern Ireland Executive.
The Northern Ireland Executive's Phase 1 Spending Review settlement is the largest in real terms of any settlement since devolution, at £18.2 billion in 2025-26, including an additional £1.5 billion through the operation of the Barnett formula.