Asked by: Carla Lockhart (Democratic Unionist Party - Upper Bann)
Question to the Northern Ireland Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, what support the Government is providing to the Electoral Office in Northern Ireland to raise awareness of the local elections.
Answered by Steve Baker - Minister of State (Northern Ireland Office)
Raising awareness of elections is the responsibility of the Electoral Commission which runs a variety of media and social media campaigns, as well as providing resources to interested groups to inform the public about elections and encourage engagement. The Northern Ireland Office highlighted the date change of the local elections in Northern Ireland through social media channels and the UK Government continues to use social media to support the work of the Electoral Commission to raise awareness of elections in Northern Ireland.
Asked by: Carla Lockhart (Democratic Unionist Party - Upper Bann)
Question to the Northern Ireland Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, what steps he is taking to help the Department of Education in Northern Ireland to maintain the (a) Engage and (b) Healthy Happy Minds programme.
Answered by Steve Baker - Minister of State (Northern Ireland Office)
Education is a devolved matter in Northern Ireland. The Northern Ireland Department of Education has the responsibility for matters relating to the provision of the Engage and Healthy Happy Minds programmes in Northern Ireland.
In the absence of functioning devolved institutions, Northern Ireland Office officials are working with their counterparts in the Northern Ireland Department of Finance to set the Northern Ireland budget for the 2023-24 financial year.
The right people to make these decisions are locally elected politicians in a fully functioning Northern Ireland Executive and Northern Ireland Assembly. In the absence of these, it will be for the relevant Northern Ireland department, in this case the Department of Education, to manage its funding, including provision for the Engage and Health Happy Minds programmes.
Asked by: Carla Lockhart (Democratic Unionist Party - Upper Bann)
Question to the Northern Ireland Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, how many times he has visited Northern Ireland since his appointment to his post.
Answered by Chris Heaton-Harris - Secretary of State for Northern Ireland
I have visited Northern Ireland 22 times since my appointment.
Asked by: Carla Lockhart (Democratic Unionist Party - Upper Bann)
Question to the Northern Ireland Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, on how many occasions he has met with the Permanent Secretaries in each Department in Northern Ireland, since the collapse of the Northern Ireland Executive in 2022.
Answered by Chris Heaton-Harris - Secretary of State for Northern Ireland
I have held a roundtable with the Permanent Secretaries and their representatives. I have had three meetings with the Department for Finance Permanent Secretary and met with the head of the NI Civil Service numerous times.
Asked by: Carla Lockhart (Democratic Unionist Party - Upper Bann)
Question to the Northern Ireland Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, how much the Government has spent so far on defending the legal case on the lawfulness of the Northern Ireland Protocol.
Answered by Steve Baker - Minister of State (Northern Ireland Office)
The Government has spent £196,567 on fees associated with the legal challenges of Clifford Peeples and Jim Allister and others.
Asked by: Carla Lockhart (Democratic Unionist Party - Upper Bann)
Question to the Northern Ireland Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, further to the Answer of 20 December to Question 109699, on Belfast Agreement, how much has been identified under the budgetary arrangements for Government activity to mark the 25th anniversary of the Belfast Agreement.
Answered by Steve Baker - Minister of State (Northern Ireland Office)
The Government is steadfast in its commitment to the Belfast/Good Friday Agreement and the hard-won gains of the peace process and to marking the Agreement’s 25th anniversary appropriately. At this time, a core budget of £575,671 has been allocated to deliver the Northern Ireland Office’s own programme of activity.
In Autumn Statement 2022, the Chancellor announced a fund of up to £2 million for the Department for International Trade (now known as The Department for Business and Trade) to: “work with local partners including Invest Northern Ireland to host a trade and investment event in Northern Ireland in 2023.” This is designed to be part of events to mark the 25th anniversary.
The UK Government’s wider programme of activity in the anniversary year also includes programming taking place in the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office diplomatic network.
Asked by: Carla Lockhart (Democratic Unionist Party - Upper Bann)
Question to the Northern Ireland Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, pursuant to the Answer of 14 November 2022 to Question 80975, whether the findings in the 2015 report entitled Paramilitary Groups in Northern Ireland still reflects his assessment of links between the Provisional IRA and Sinn Fein in 2023.
Answered by Steve Baker - Minister of State (Northern Ireland Office)
This Government’s first priority is to keep people safe and secure across the United Kingdom. The Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI) and security partners continue to work to keep the people of Northern Ireland safe, including monitoring the continuing threat from paramilitary and terrorist groups.
Asked by: Carla Lockhart (Democratic Unionist Party - Upper Bann)
Question to the Northern Ireland Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, with reference to the New Decade, New Approach deal, published on 8 January 2022, what recent progress his Department has made on attracting a portfolio of national and international events to Northern Ireland.
Answered by Steve Baker - Minister of State (Northern Ireland Office)
It is important that Northern Ireland continues to play a role on both the domestic and international stage, as part of our commitment under the New Decade, New Approach Agreement.
We are in regular contact with colleagues in the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport around the bid to host Euro 2028. I am pleased that Casement Park was part of the preliminary bid announced last month. If the bid is successful this will provide a welcome opportunity to help drive economic growth in local communities in Northern Ireland.
I am also pleased that Belfast is the host city for Cyber UK in April 2023, which is the UK’s flagship cyber security event. This will provide an excellent opportunity for Northern Ireland to showcase its growing cyber industry and continue to place the region as a hub for cyber security. This will also further support our commitment in New Decade, New Approach to achieve 5,000 cyber security professionals working in Northern Ireland by 2030.
In the Chancellor of the Exchequer’s Autumn Statement, it was also announced that £2 million would be provided for the Department for International Trade to work with local partners to host a trade and investment event in Northern Ireland in 2023. This will demonstrate Northern Ireland as an attractive and vibrant place to do business and help drive new mobile investment into its economy.
I look forward to both attending and supporting events promoting Northern Ireland over the coming months.
Asked by: Carla Lockhart (Democratic Unionist Party - Upper Bann)
Question to the Northern Ireland Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, if the Government will take steps to provide funding to help increase the level of understanding of Ulster-Scots language.
Answered by Steve Baker - Minister of State (Northern Ireland Office)
The Government firmly believes that Northern Ireland’s tapestry of identities and cultures is a strength of the Union, and is proud of its strong track record of delivering for the Ulster Scots. The Government has already met its specific funding commitments to support Ulster Scots broadcasting set out in New Decade, New Approach, which was referred to in my answer of 21 November, UIN 85057.
In addition to this New Decade, New Approach funding and the recognition of the Ulster Scots as a National Minority, the Government has delivered the Identity & Language (NI) Act which will establish a specific Commissioner for the benefit of the Ulster Scots. We also secured agreement for the BBC Framework Agreement to include a specific clause that provides a clear commitment to BBC output in the Ulster Scots language.
The Government will continue this important work to support linguistic diversity across the UK.
Asked by: Carla Lockhart (Democratic Unionist Party - Upper Bann)
Question to the Northern Ireland Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, if he will take steps to remove the payment of allowances to hon. Members representing Sinn Fein in the context of those Members not taking their seats.
Answered by Steve Baker - Minister of State (Northern Ireland Office)
The Government has previously set out its position that all Members of Parliament should play a full part in the business of the House of Commons.
However, the level of expenses received by Members of this House is a matter for the Independent Parliamentary Standards Authority and not for the Government.