Asked by: Lord Elliott of Ballinamallard (Ulster Unionist Party - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask His Majesty's Government what financial commitment there is to the Reserve Forces and Cadet Associations to ensure their positive roles are enhanced.
Answered by Lord Coaker - Minister of State (Ministry of Defence)
The Reserve Forces’ and Cadets’ Associations (RFCAs) provide a vital role in supporting Defence activity. Their future funding is assured as part of the Ministry of Defence’s Annual Budget Cycle processes. Financial information for the RFCAs can be found in the published Consolidated Financial Statements in their Annual Reports and Accounts, the latest three of which were placed in the Library of the House on 22 October 2024. These documents extend to Financial Year (FY) 2022-23 and can be found as Deposited Papers at the following website: https://depositedpapers.parliament.uk/depositedpaper/2286623/details.
Asked by: Lord Elliott of Ballinamallard (Ulster Unionist Party - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask His Majesty's Government what plans they have to strengthen the current structures of the Reserve Forces' and Cadets' Associations.
Answered by Lord Coaker - Minister of State (Ministry of Defence)
The 2019 Review of the Reserve Forces’ and Cadets’ Associations (RFCAs) recommended that the Council of RFCAs (CRFCA) and the 13 RFCAs should be merged into a single Executive Non-Departmental Public Body (NDPB). The Ministry of Defence is currently developing the requisite NDPB operating structure which will preserve the voice and influence of the membership, both at the national and regional level, and will also ensure that structures are consistent throughout the organisation.
Asked by: Lord Elliott of Ballinamallard (Ulster Unionist Party - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask His Majesty's Government whether they have made representations to BBC Northern Ireland after it described the Special Air Service in an article published on 11 January as “one of the British Army's most infamous regiments”.
Answered by Lord Coaker - Minister of State (Ministry of Defence)
While I am unable to comment on UK Special Forces specifically, I can say that our military is respected worldwide for the highest standards of conduct and excellence on operations.
Asked by: Lord Elliott of Ballinamallard (Ulster Unionist Party - Life peer)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government whether they will provide any consular support to citizens of Israel in the Republic of Ireland, following the closure of Israel’s Embassy in Dublin.
Answered by Baroness Chapman of Darlington - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
The Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office (FCDO) and UK embassies, high commissions and consulates provide consular assistance to British nationals abroad who need our support. An Israeli national would only be eligible for FCDO consular support in Ireland if they also held British nationality. Israeli/British dual nationals would be entitled to full FCDO consular services in Ireland.
Asked by: Lord Elliott of Ballinamallard (Ulster Unionist Party - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask His Majesty's Government what plans they have to assist in the introduction of a renewable energy support scheme in Northern Ireland.
Answered by Lord Hunt of Kings Heath - Minister of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
Energy policy is devolved to Northern Ireland. The Department for Energy Security and Net Zero is engaging closely with the Northern Ireland Department for the Economy (DfE) in the development of a renewable electricity support scheme. Officials and I engage regularly with ministerial counterparts from the DfE. The DfE published information last year on the scheme’s high-level design considerations[1] .
Asked by: Lord Elliott of Ballinamallard (Ulster Unionist Party - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government how many migrants in 2024 were (1) returned from the Republic of Ireland to the UK, and (2) returned from the UK to the Republic of Ireland.
Answered by Lord Hanson of Flint - Minister of State (Home Office)
The Home Office does not hold data on returns to the UK.
Data on returns from the UK are published in the 'Immigration System Statistics Quarterly Release'. Data on returns to the Republic of Ireland are published in table Ret_D02 of the Returns detailed datasets accompanying the release. Information on how to use the dataset can be found in the ‘Notes’ page of the workbook. The latest data relates to the end of September 2024. Data up to the end of December 2024 will be released in February 2025.
Asked by: Lord Elliott of Ballinamallard (Ulster Unionist Party - Life peer)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask His Majesty's Government how many farms, if transferred in (1) England, (2) Wales, (3) Scotland, and (4) Northern Ireland, are eligible for the payment of inheritance tax following the Budget of 30 October.
Answered by Lord Livermore - Financial Secretary (HM Treasury)
The Government published information about the reforms to agricultural property relief and business property relief [1].
It is expected that up to around 2,000 estates will be affected by the changes to APR and BPR. Up to around 520 of these are expected to relate to claims for APR (including those that also claim for BPR), and this number falls to around 430 when claims that include AIM shares are excluded. Almost three-quarters of estates claiming agricultural property relief (or those claiming agricultural property relief and business property relief together) each year are expected to be unaffected by these reforms.
Estates claiming agricultural property relief are required to provide HMRC with the value of agricultural assets, and this is used when calculating whether tax is due. However, it is not possible to provide constituency level analysis on claims which may be made in the future.
[1] www.gov.uk/government/publications/agricultural-property-relief-and-business-property-relief-reforms
Asked by: Lord Elliott of Ballinamallard (Ulster Unionist Party - Life peer)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they plan to take to ensure a fair distribution of finance to the Northern Ireland agricultural sector following the decision not to ring-fence the farm support package.
Answered by Lord Livermore - Financial Secretary (HM Treasury)
The Northern Ireland Executive’s (NIE) Spending Review settlement for 2025-26 is the largest in real terms of any settlement since devolution. The NIE is receiving £18.2 billion in 2025-26, including an additional £1.5 billion through the operation of the Barnett formula.
The NIE is responsible for the allocation of its settlement to its devolved responsibilities, including the agricultural sector in Northern Ireland. To support this principle, the Chief Secretary to the Treasury has agreed to baseline into 2025-26 the full amount provided to farmers, land managers, and fisheries in 2024-25.
Asked by: Lord Elliott of Ballinamallard (Ulster Unionist Party - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government whether workers and short-term travellers will be able to travel from the Republic of Ireland to Northern Ireland using an electronic travel authorisation.
Answered by Lord Hanson of Flint - Minister of State (Home Office)
The ETA scheme applies to passengers visiting or transiting the UK, who do not currently need a visa for short stays and who do not have a valid UK immigration status prior to travelling.
British and Irish nationals do not require an ETA, and an exemption also exists for legal residents of Ireland entering the UK from Ireland.
Other individuals crossing the land border into Northern Ireland will need to continue to enter in accordance with the UK’s immigration framework, including the requirement to obtain an ETA when the scheme is fully rolled out.
Asked by: Lord Elliott of Ballinamallard (Ulster Unionist Party - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the Migration Advisory Committee Review of the Seasonal Worker visa, published on 16 July, what is the status of the future of the Seasonal Workers Scheme.
Answered by Lord Hanson of Flint - Minister of State (Home Office)
The Government is carefully considering the Migration Advisory Committee’s review of the Seasonal Worker route and will announce a detailed response in due course.
On 21 October 2024, the Government underlined its commitment to the horticultural and poultry sectors by confirming that the quota of visas for Seasonal Workers would be 43,000 visas for the horticultural sector in 2025, with 2,000 visas for the poultry sector.