Question to the Ministry of Defence:

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what steps his Department is taking to implement increased defence expenditure to improve the preparedness and readiness of the armed forces.

Answered by Luke Pollard - Minister of State (Ministry of Defence)

As outlined in the 2025 Strategic Defence Review, Defence will increase expenditure to transform the Armed Forces into a more lethal integrated force, equipped for the future. On 25 February 2025, the Prime Minister announced the largest sustained increase to defence spending since the end of the Cold War—rising to 2.5% of GDP by 2027, and to 3% in the next Parliament when fiscal and economic conditions allow. We have already boosted defence by £5 billion this year. The Defence Investment Plan will set out how the Ministry of Defence will deliver the vision of the Strategic Defence Review including steps to improve preparedness and readiness of the Armed Forces.

Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment her Department has made of the potential impact of duty-free sales arrangements under the Windsor Framework on Northern Ireland’s airports; and whether she has had discussions with the Northern Ireland Executive on enabling passengers travelling from Northern Ireland airports to (a) Great Britain and (b) third countries to access duty-free sales on the same basis as passengers travelling from other UK airports.

Answered by Dan Tomlinson - Exchequer Secretary (HM Treasury)

Excise duty is due on excise goods due to be consumed in the UK. There are no plans to allow individuals moving from one part of the UK to another to purchase duty free goods.

Passengers travelling from Northern Ireland to a place outside the UK and the EU are entitled to purchase duty free goods in the same way as passengers travelling from Great Britain to a place outside the UK. Duty free shopping between Northern Ireland and the EU would require the application of personal allowances, to prevent the uncontrolled flow of tax-free goods into either Northern Ireland or the EU. The enforcement controls required for this would run counter to the shared ambitions of the UK and the EU set out in the Windsor Framework and the principle of the frictionless movement of people and goods between Northern Ireland and Ireland.

Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, with reference to (a) the report of the Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman on communication of changes to women’s State Pension age and (b) the Work and Pensions Committee’s recommendations of May 2024 on compensation for women born in the 1950s affected by those changes, what the Government's policy is on establishing a compensation scheme for that cohort; and what assessment has been of the implications for Government policy of recent legal challenges regarding the basis on which compensation was declined.

Answered by Torsten Bell - Parliamentary Secretary (HM Treasury)

The Secretary of State announced in his Oral Statement of 11 November that we will retake the decision made last December as it relates to the communications on state pension age. Information that was not considered at the time of the original decision has come to light. In retaking the decision, we will review the evidence alongside evidence previously considered.

The process to retake the decision is underway and we will update the House on the decision as soon as a conclusion is reached.

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether her Department holds information on whether accommodation providers or subcontractors have used third-party agencies to purchase residential properties in Northern Ireland intended for use in accommodating asylum seekers.

Answered by Alex Norris - Minister of State (Home Office)

Home Office accommodation Providers procure accommodation on behalf of the Home Office for use as asylum accommodation, this can be either via purchasing or letting accommodation available on the property market and they work with a range of landlords and agents to do so.

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment her Department has made of the potential impact of procuring residential accommodation for asylum seekers in Northern Ireland on (a) the availability of and (b) waiting times for social housing.

Answered by Alex Norris - Minister of State (Home Office)

Accommodation for people seeking asylum in Northern Ireland is procured by Home Office Asylum Accommodation and Support Contract providers from the private rented sector and does not draw on social housing stock. Northern Ireland is not part of the Full Dispersal arrangements, so only those who claim asylum in Northern Ireland are accommodated there. On that basis, the Department does not assess a direct impact on either the availability of, or waiting times for, social housing.

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