Question to the Cabinet Office:

o ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what estimate he has made of the potential cost to the public purse of the introduction of national identity cards.

Answered by Josh Simons - Parliamentary Secretary (Cabinet Office)

The design and delivery of the national digital identity credential are subject to a public consultation, which will launch in the new year. The feedback received from members of the public and wider stakeholders will inform our final approach and enable a more accurate assessment of costs.

While an early multi-year estimate from the OBR has been reported, we do not recognise it as an accurate cost for the programme. The scope of the scheme, and therefore its cost, have yet to be decided.

Any costs in this Spending Review period will be met within existing settlements, and a full consultation will be launched in the new year.

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether individuals currently residing on a UK Ancestry visa and working towards Indefinite Leave to Remain under the existing five-year residency requirement will be required to meet the proposed ten-year residency rule in proposed changes to immigration rules.

Answered by Mike Tapp - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Home Office)

We are currently holding a public consultation on new settlement rules. Following that, we will provide details of how this initiative will work, including on any transitional arrangements for people already in the UK.

Question to the Ministry of Defence:

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, for what reasons part-time members of the Ulster Defence Regiment were not eligible for a pension under the terms of service at the time of their employment; and whether the Department has made any assessment of options for retrospective recognition or provision.

Answered by Louise Sandher-Jones - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Defence)

Full time members of the Ulster Defence Regiment (UDR) had an automatic entitlement to become members of the Armed Forces Pension Scheme (AFPS). Part-time members of the UDR were engaged under different terms to full- time, regular members of the Regiment and were not part of the AFPS. These terms were similar to those of the Territorial Army and reflected that part-time engagements were often on an irregular, intermittent and short-term basis.

The Ministry of Defence values greatly the contribution of all those who served within the UDR, but there are no plans to review the pension entitlement for part-time members.

New leadership of the Orange Order in Ireland

Christmas (No. 2)

Tackling Islamist extremism

Anniversary of the murder of Ken Smyth and Daniel McCormick

Phenylketonuria awareness and access to treatment (No. 2)

Welfare benefits for foreign nationals