Lord Weir of Ballyholme

Northern Ireland is a part of the United Kingdom customs territory and internal market. We are looking closely at the retaliatory tariffs announced by the EU and any impact these might have on Northern Ireland businesses.

Under the Windsor Framework, where US imports into NI do not subsequently enter the EU, traders can reclaim any additional duties through the Duty Reimbursement Scheme in full without any limit on total claims.

Northern Ireland is a part of the United Kingdom customs territory and internal market. We are looking closely at the retaliatory tariffs announced by the EU and any impact these might have on Northern Ireland businesses.

Under the Windsor Framework, where US imports into NI do not subsequently enter the EU, traders can reclaim any additional duties through the Duty Reimbursement Scheme in full without any limit on total claims.

Since Storm Éowyn made landfall, His Majesty’s Government’s focus has rightly been on making sure that requests for support in response to its impacts across the UK, were managed quickly and effectively and delivered to whichever part of the UK they were required. It is too early to say what the financial costs of the impacts of the Storm have been.

The information requested falls under the remit of the UK Statistics Authority.

Please see the letter attached from the National Statistician and Chief Executive of the UK Statistics Authority.

The Lord Weir of Ballyholme

House of Lords

London

SW1A 0PW

29 January 2025

Dear Lord Weir of Ballyholme,

As National Statistician and Chief Executive of the UK Statistics Authority, I am responding to your Parliamentary Question asking what assessment has been made of the financial quantity of trade for businesses dealing with chemical products between Northern Ireland and Great Britain (HL4282).

The Office for National Statistics (ONS) has published interregional trade in goods and services between UK regions at the International Territorial Level 1 (ITL1) geography, by grouped industry for the years 2019 and 2020[1]. The ONS do not currently publish interregional trade estimates for the chemical manufacturing industry, however this industry is estimated as part of the manufacturing industry interregional trade estimates. The manufacturing industry may not capture all businesses dealing with chemical products as industry allocation is based on the main activity of the business and so there will be businesses not in the manufacturing industry that purchase or sell chemical products.

The Northern Ireland Statistics and Research Agency (NISRA) also publish exports and imports between Northern Ireland and Great Britain between businesses in the manufacturing industry[2]. Variations between the ONS’s and NISRA’s estimates are due to methodological differences.

The ONS data on interregional trade within the manufacturing industry between Northern Ireland and Great Britain can be found in Table 1. NISRA data on trade within the manufacturing industry between Northern Ireland and Great Britain can be found in Table 2.

Yours sincerely,

Professor Sir Ian Diamond

Table 1: Interregional total trade, trade in goods and trade in services between Northern Ireland and Great Britain, manufacturing industry, exports and imports, 2019 and 2020.

£ million, current prices

Source: Office for National Statistics

Table 2: NISRA trade in goods and trade in services between Northern Ireland and Great Britain, manufacturing industry, exports and imports, 2016 and 2023.

£ million, current prices

Source: Northern Ireland Statistics and Research Agency

[1]https://www.ons.gov.uk/businessindustryandtrade/internationaltrade/datasets/interregionaltradeingoodsandservicesuk

[2]https://datavis.nisra.gov.uk/economy-and-labour-market/northern-ireland-economic-trade-statistics-2023.html

On Monday 20 January, in recognition of the deeply held and genuine concerns raised by Members of the Northern Ireland Assembly about a specific regulation on Chemical Classification, Labelling and Packaging, the Government set out its commitment to take any future steps necessary to avoid new barriers that would affect supplies of such products into Northern Ireland. This includes applying a consistent regime in this area of regulation across the whole of the UK where that is necessary to do so. We will consult as soon as possible, which will determine what regulatory or legislative changes may be necessary.

The Windsor Framework is not a barrier to trade deals. The United Kingdom has secured trade agreements with 73 countries and territories, plus the EU, while ensuring compliance with the Windsor Framework. These agreements include free trade agreements with Australia and New Zealand, which entered force on 31 May 2023, and the Comprehensive and Progressive Trans-Pacific Partnership, which the United Kingdom joined on 16 July 2023, and which came into effect on 15 December 2024.

The updated GPSR largely formalises the reality of how many businesses are already operating and the measures are therefore likely to have limited impact in practice. However, we understand that for some businesses, the regulation will require changes, and we take any concerns extremely seriously.

We have issued guidance, will keep this under review and continue to engage businesses directly to ensure we are supporting them to trade freely within the UK and with the EU. We have regular discussions with businesses and consumer representatives from across the UK to hear their concerns.

The updated GPSR largely formalises the reality of how many businesses are already operating and the measures are therefore likely to have limited impact in practice. However, we understand that for some businesses, the regulation will require changes, and we take any concerns extremely seriously.

We have issued guidance, will keep this under review and continue to engage businesses directly to ensure we are supporting them to trade freely within the UK and with the EU. We have regular discussions with businesses and consumer representatives from across the UK to hear their concerns.

We have set out in the Action Plan, which was developed by Matt Clifford, our intention to deliver growth across the UK, working with local stakeholders to devise strategies suited to the UK’s regions. We are committed to working in partnership with regional and local authorities on AI Growth Zones. We are already working with devolved administrations and local authorities across the UK, and will continue to do so, to ensure all parts of the UK benefit from the investment in critical AI infrastructure.

Most AI systems should be regulated at the point of use through our existing expert regulators. In response to the Plan, the government will support regulators evaluate their AI capabilities and understand how these can be strengthened. It will also encourage pro-innovation approaches by regulators, with the new Regulatory Innovation Office playing an important role.

This Government, and the previous one, has engaged extensively with a wide range of stakeholders as the policy set out in the Football Governance Bill has developed over the last 3 years. This includes engagement with UEFA.

These discussions have been constructive, and we continue to speak to the relevant football authorities on a regular basis.

The government’s impact note on the removal of eligibility of private schools for business rates charitable relief estimates an extremely limited impact from the business rates policy taking effect, with any movement estimated to represent 0.03% of the total state school pupil population in England. This impact note is attached and can be found here: https://publications.parliament.uk/pa/bills/cbill/59-01/0129/ImpactNote.pdf.

Removing the eligibility for business rates charitable relief from private schools will raise approximately £140 million per year. Based on average per-pupil spending in England for the 2024/25 financial year, the government expects the revenue costs of pupils entering the state sector as a result of the business rates measure in England to steadily increase to a peak of around £20 million per annum after several years.

Education is a devolved matter, and the response outlines the information for England only.

Providing free, universal breakfast clubs will remove barriers to opportunity by ensuring that every primary school child, no matter their circumstance, is well prepared with a supportive start to the school day.

Parents and carers can choose to take up the offer, although we encourage schools to promote the offer and drive take-up, particularly within disadvantaged groups.

The early adopter scheme is an important test and learn phase which will inform the national rollout. Through the scheme, the department will monitor delivery and collect data, including on take-up, to build our evidence base.

Education is a devolved matter, and the response outlines the information for England only.

The department is clear on the impact that breakfast clubs can have to support children to arrive at school ready to learn, which is why the government committed in its manifesto to introduce free breakfast clubs in every state-funded school with primary aged pupils. From April 2025, free breakfast clubs will be available in 750 early adopter schools, as part of a test and learn phase in advance on national roll out.

On 24 February 2025, the department published the list of schools that have been confirmed as early adopters of the free breakfast club scheme. The list is available at the following link: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/breakfast-clubs-early-adopters-schools-in-the-scheme.

As part of the scheme, around 180,000 children will have access to a free breakfast club, which equates to around 4% of the overall state-funded primary aged school population.

Education is a devolved matter, and the response outlines the information for England only.

The aim of the early adopter scheme is to test and learn what works in advance of national rollout on breakfast clubs to all primary schools. The schools taking part in the early adopter scheme were therefore selected to be broadly representative of the national picture. Across all primary schools, an estimated 22% have no breakfast club provision at all before school, and the remaining 78% have some provision, according to the 2022 School and College Panel. However, we know that provision is usually charged for or has limitations on the number of children who can attend. This figure will shortly be updated to reflect changes in provision since 2022.

Our new early adopter breakfast clubs are free, open to all pupils in the school, last at least 30 minutes and include food. This will save parents up to £450 per year, meaning more money in their pockets.

Education is a devolved matter, and the response outlines the information for England only.

As set out in HM Treasury’s government response to the technical note on applying VAT to private school fees and removing the business rates charitable rate relief, the government estimates that approximately 3,000 pupils will move from private schools to state schools in the 2024/25 academic year. The response can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/vat-on-private-school-fees-removing-the-charitable-rates-relief-for-private-schools.

The government predicts that in the long-term steady state, 37,000 pupils will leave or never enter the UK private school sector as a result of the removal of the VAT exemption applied to school fees. This represents around 6% of the current private school population.

Of those leaving or never entering the private sector, the government estimates an increase of 35,000 pupils in the state sector in the steady state following the VAT policy taking effect, with the other 2,000 either being international pupils who do not move into the UK state system, or domestic pupils moving into homeschooling. This state sector increase represents less than 0.5% of total UK state school pupils, of which there are over 9 million. This movement is expected to take place over several years. Additionally, the government expects approximately 2,900 pupils will move into state schools in England following the business rates policy taking effect.

As such, the impact on the state education system as a whole is expected to be very small.

Local authorities, devolved governments and schools have processes in place to support pupils moving between schools. Children move between and within the private sector and the state-funded sector every year, for a range of reasons.

The UK Government underlines its commitment to ensure the smooth flow of chemical products from Great Britain to Northern Ireland. This includes applying a consistent approach to the regulation of chemical products across the whole of the UK where it is necessary to do so.

The following table shows the tonnage of seed potatoes moved in the past five years broken down by seed classification (data from 2020 for Northern Ireland to Scotland is unavailable due to COVID related disruption):

Northern Ireland has unfettered access to the whole UK internal market, this ensures a smooth flow of goods, including in relation to chemical industries. The UK Government is steadfastly committed to continue protecting Northern Ireland’s unfettered access which has been guaranteed in perpetuity

£350m is currently allocated to the Access for All programme until 2028/29. A further £75m programme of works to install platform edge tactile strips on at stations that did not already have them is approaching its completion. These investments are in addition to accessibility enhancements delivered as part of other major projects or industry renewal activities.

Disabled people should be able to travel easily, confidently and with dignity. Ministers and officials have regular conversations with Transport for London on a variety of issues including accessibility of their network. Transport in London is devolved to the Mayor and TfL is responsible for managing the London Underground.

Improving health and work outcomes for the over 20 million people with musculoskeletal (MSK) conditions in the UK forms a key part of this government's missions to build an NHS fit for the future and kickstart economic growth.

Healthcare professionals play a vital prevention and early intervention role in supporting people to self-manage their musculoskeletal (MSK) condition and enabling them to get in and get on in work.

The 2025 Healthcare Professionals’ Consensus Statement for action on health and work, published 20 January 2025, commits to work over the next five years to support healthcare professionals, including allied health professionals, to engage more proactively with, and to promote ‘good work as a health outcome’ across the health and care sector. This will support patients, including with MSK conditions, to return and remain in good work.

To support people back into work, the Occupational Health Workforce Expansion Funding Scheme (launched July 2023) funded registered health professionals to undertake occupational health training and qualifications. To date, over 200 doctors and nurses have commenced training.

Government recognises the role complementary and alternative medicine treatments such as chiropractic can play in supporting people. NHS England does not currently support or commission chiropractic care in the NHS.

The Government is committed to ensuring that older people receive the support to which they are entitled. That’s why we are taking significant steps to maximise the take-up of Pension Credit. The Department’s campaign to promote Pension Credit has been running since September and has included TV, radio, social media such as Facebook and Instagram, on YouTube, on advertising screens, including on GP and Post Office screens as well as in the press.

The latest phase of the campaign ran from 8 November and was aimed at friends and family - especially adult children of eligible pensioners - asking them to tell people they know about Pension Credit, encourage them to check their eligibility, as well as help them make a claim.

In November we also wrote to around 120,000 pensioners who were in receipt of Housing Benefit but not Pension Credit. We invited these pensioners to claim Pension Credit in time to make a successful backdated Pension Credit claim and qualify for a Winter Fuel Payment.

In order to promote Pension Credit through as many channels as possible, we have also engaged with key stakeholders and partners, including other government departments, local councils, housing associations, community groups, local libraries and service providers as well as charities and third sector organisations.

Our campaign has seen DWP receive around 150,000 Pension Credit applications in the 16 weeks since the Winter Fuel Payment announcement. This is compared to around 61,300 Pension Credit applications in the 16 weeks preceding the announcement – a 145% increase in applications since the 29 July.

Over the coming weeks, as part of the annual State Pension uprating exercise, around 11 million pensioners will receive a leaflet promoting Pension Credit along with their State Pension uprating letter.

The next iteration of Pension Credit caseload statistics will be released on 18^th February, as part of the DWP Benefits Statistics quarterly release. This will contain data for the period from June 2024 to the end of August 2024.

Following release, the data can also be accessed at Stat-Xplore - Home.

The department estimate that up to 760,000 families who were entitled to receive Pension Credit did not claim the benefit in the financial year ending 2023. Further details can be found at Income-related benefits: estimates of take-up: financial year ending 2023 - GOV.UK.

The department estimates that the legislation to means-test Winter Fuel Payments would generate a net saving of £1.3 billion in England and Wales for 2024/25. This reflects an expected increase in Pension Credit take-up, estimated at five percentage points. This assumption reduced the overall saving by £0.3 billion in 2024-25 in England and Wales, but there is significant uncertainty around this element of the costing. For further details, please see Economic and fiscal outlook – CP 1169.

We are committed to ensuring that fewer lives are lost to the biggest killers, including from cardiovascular disease (CVD). That is why, in our Health Mission to build a National Health Service fit for the future, we have committed to reducing premature deaths from heart disease and strokes by 25% in the next 10 years.

The NHS Health Check programme, England’s CVD prevention programme, engages over 1.4 million people a year and, through behavioural and clinical interventions, prevents approximately 300 premature deaths, and 500 heart attacks or strokes a year. Data reported by local authorities shows that between April 2013 and December 2024, over 13.6 million NHS Health Checks have been delivered.

To improve access to the NHS Health Check, we are developing a new NHS Health Check Online service, which people can use at a time and place convenient to them, to understand and act on their risk of CVD.

For the 2025/26 contract year we have also brought in changes to shift care from sickness to prevention by incentivising general practitioners to focus on the most common killers, such as heart disease. Knowing that prevention is better than treatment, we have raised the upper threshold of CVD indicators in order to stimulate performance gains and improve CVD care for patients.

The Government is committed to tackling the biggest killers, such as cardiovascular disease (CVD). Improving early detection and diagnosis of the key risk factors for CVD, including high blood pressure and raised cholesterol levels, is vital to deliver on this commitment.

The Government continues to support the NHS Health Check, England’s CVD prevention programme. For every 1.4 million NHS Health Checks delivered annually, there are 343,000 cases of high blood pressure identified, resulting in 40,000 diagnoses of hypertension, as well as 900,000 people identified with raised cholesterol levels.

To improve access to the NHS Health Check, we are developing a new NHS Health Check Online service, which people can use at a time and place convenient to them, to understand and act on their risk of CVD.

Subject to the outcomes of the NHS Health Check Online pilot, starting in spring 2025, the aim is to roll it out nationally from spring 2026, delivering approximately one million checks in the first four years.

The Department is also piloting a new programme to deliver up to 130,000 lifesaving heart health checks in the workplace. These checks can be completed quickly and easily by people at work across 48 local authorities until 31 May 2025.

For the 2025/26 contract year we have also brought in changes to shift care from sickness to prevention by incentivising general practitioners to focus on the most common killers, such as heart disease. Knowing that prevention is better than treatment, we have raised the upper threshold of CVD indicators in order to stimulate performance gains and improve CVD care for patients.

Our approach to personalised prevention is through the NHS Health Check, England’s cardiovascular disease (CVD) prevention programme.

The Government continues to support this programme as it assesses the top seven risk factors for CVD in people aged 40 to 74 years old. Where an individual’s NHS Health Check indicates that further action is necessary, they may be referred to either behavioural support services and/or a clinical assessment, where appropriate.

To improve access to the NHS Health Check, we are developing a new NHS Health Check Online service, which people can use at a time and place convenient to them, to understand and act on their risk of CVD.

The Department is also piloting a new programme to deliver up to 130,000 lifesaving heart health checks in the workplace. These checks can be completed quickly and easily by people at work across 48 local authorities until 31 May 2025.

The Department does not hold data on the number of admissions for cardiovascular disease which are preventable. However, we know that up to 70% of cardiovascular disease is preventable and linked to behavioural, metabolic, and environmental risk factors such as high blood pressure, smoking, living with obesity, and air pollution.

The Government is tackling the root cause of preventable heart disease and stroke through the landmark Tobacco and Vapes Bill, implementing advertising regulations for less healthy food and drink to children on television and online, and giving councils stronger, clearer powers to block the development of new fast-food shops near schools.

Too many lives are lost prematurely to cardiovascular disease (CVD). In 2023, 29% of all CVD deaths in England occurred in people under 75 years old. The Government is committed to ensuring fewer lives are lost to the biggest killers, including CVD.

That is why the Health Mission set an ambition to reduce premature mortality from heart disease and stroke by 25% in the next 10 years. To deliver on this, the Department and NHS England are working together at pace to understand both the scale of the challenge and the opportunities for progress across the prevention, treatment, and management of CVD.

We know that CVD is one of the largest health condition contributors to economic inactivity in England. Of the 2.5 million working-age people who are economically inactive due to long-term sickness, 770,000 reported cardiovascular problems as a contributing factor. Estimates show that CVD costs the National Health Service £10 billion annually, and £24 billion annually to the wider economy.

We have not given any humanitarian funds to the interim Syrian authorities. We provide funding to non-governmental organisations and United Nations organisations operating in Syria to deliver assistance and meet the needs of the most vulnerable across the country. As with all our work, we have controls in place to ensure our aid reaches those who need it. In this financial year (2024/25), the UK provided £148 million to support people across Syria with food, healthcare, protection, agricultural support, education, and other lifesaving services.

As the Minister of State for Europe, North America and Overseas Territories announced in Parliament on 13 February, we are making changes to the Syrian sanctions regulations to support the Syrian people in re-building their country and promote security and stability while maintaining sanctions for those responsible for abuses committed during the conflict. On 6 March, the Government lifted asset freezes on 24 Syrian entities, including the Central Bank of Syria, that were previously used by the Assad regime to fund the oppression of the Syrian people. We keep our sanctions under close review to ensure they are used as a responsive tool. We do not comment on future designations as to do so lessens their potential impact.

As the Minister of State for Europe, North America and Overseas Territories announced in Parliament on 13 February, we are making changes to the Syrian sanctions regulations to support the Syrian people in re-building their country and promote security and stability while maintaining sanctions for those responsible for abuses committed during the conflict. On 6 March, the Government lifted asset freezes on 24 Syrian entities, including the Central Bank of Syria, that were previously used by the Assad regime to fund the oppression of the Syrian people. We keep our sanctions under close review to ensure they are used as a responsive tool. We do not comment on future designations as to do so lessens their potential impact.

The UK remains strongly committed to freedom of religion or belief (FoRB) for all abroad. It is our firm opinion that no one should live in fear because of what they do or do not believe in. We are championing the right to FoRB and promoting tolerance and mutual respect through our engagement in multilateral fora, our bilateral work, and our programme funding. This includes the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office's (FCDO) designated programme for FoRB-focused projects overseas, the John Bunyan Fund (JBF). The JBF supports a range of projects aimed at protecting and promoting FoRB. The FCDO works to ensure that Official Development Assistance (ODA) is allocated to those who are most vulnerable and most in need of this assistance irrespective of race, religion, or ethnicity. This includes minority religious or belief communities, who are assessed by our partners when determining those most in need of protection and assistance.

The UK Special Envoy for Women and Girls will work alongside the Foreign Secretary and Minister for Development, to progress the UK's foreign policy and international development objectives on women and girls. More information on the Special Envoy's responsibilities can be found at: Harriet Harman KC - GOV.UK. The UK Special Envoy for Women and Girls is an unremunerated role. The Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office will reimburse all reasonable expenses properly and necessarily incurred in respect of the appointment.