Asked by: Claire Hanna (Social Democratic & Labour Party - Belfast South)
Question to the Northern Ireland Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, what steps his Department took to ensure the equality impact assessment requirement under Schedule 9(4)(2)(b) of the Northern Ireland Act 1998 was carried out for the Northern Ireland Budget Act 2023.
Answered by Steve Baker - Minister of State (Northern Ireland Office)
Northern Ireland departments completed indicative assessments with regard to the Section 75 statutory equality duty under the Northern Ireland Act 1998 as part of the 2022-23 budget setting process which informed the budget allocations placed on a statutory footing through the Northern Ireland Budget Act 2023.
It was the responsibility of the Northern Ireland departments to consider what further equality impact assessments were required in accordance with the statutory equality duty under the Northern Ireland Act 1998 on the spending decisions which were needed to live within their final budget allocations.
Asked by: Claire Hanna (Social Democratic & Labour Party - Belfast South)
Question to the Northern Ireland Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, what discussions his Department has had with (a) the British-Irish Intergovernmental Conference and (b) its secretariat on the spending arrangements for Northern Ireland departments set out in the Northern Ireland Budget Act 2023.
Answered by Steve Baker - Minister of State (Northern Ireland Office)
The joint communiqué from the most recent meeting of the British-Irish Intergovernmental Conference, held on 19 June 2023, can be found on gov.uk.
Asked by: Claire Hanna (Social Democratic & Labour Party - Belfast South)
Question to the Northern Ireland Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, with reference to his Written Statement of 11 May on Update on the Implementation of the Independent Commission for Reconciliation and Information Recovery, HCWS767, if he will set out the process by which staff appointments were made to the secretariat of the Commission; and whether such staff remain employees of his Department.
Answered by Steve Baker - Minister of State (Northern Ireland Office)
As set out at the time of the announcement that the Rt Hon Sir Declan Morgan had been identified, and in line with the Cabinet Office Public Bodies Guidance, a dedicated secretariat, supporting the preparatory work being undertaken by Sir Declan, has been established as a separate business unit of the Northern Ireland Office. It has a separate budget and staffing and does not report to Northern Ireland Office Ministers.
Civil Servants are appointed in line with the requirements of the Constitutional Reform and Governance Act 2010. As with all civil servants, those working in the secretariat must adhere to the requirements of the Civil Service Code to act with honesty, integrity, impartiality and objectivity.
On legal establishment, the ICRIR will - as it sees fit - be able to employ persons to be officers of the ICRIR and/or make arrangements for persons to be seconded to serve as officers of the ICRIR.
Asked by: Claire Hanna (Social Democratic & Labour Party - Belfast South)
Question to the Northern Ireland Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, if he will take steps to help ensure the retention of Belfast Citywide Tribunal Service.
Answered by Steve Baker - Minister of State (Northern Ireland Office)
The provision of advice services, such as the Belfast Citywide Tribunal Service, is a devolved matter. The Northern Ireland Department for Communities, has responsibility for the delivery and sponsorship of such organisations in partnership with local councils.
The right people to make decisions on funding these services are locally elected politicians in a fully functioning Northern Ireland Executive and Northern Ireland Assembly. In the absence of these institutions, it will be for the relevant Northern Ireland department, in this case, the Department for Communities, and by extension Belfast City Council, to manage funding, including provision for the Belfast Citywide Tribunal Service.
Asked by: Claire Hanna (Social Democratic & Labour Party - Belfast South)
Question to the Northern Ireland Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, with reference to his announcement on Electronic Travel Authorisation (ETA) on 9 March 2023, whether he has had further discussions with Cabinet colleagues on the potential impact of the ETA scheme on the tourism industry in Northern Ireland.
Answered by Steve Baker - Minister of State (Northern Ireland Office)
The Government remains committed to working with a wide range of stakeholders, including Tourism Ireland and Tourism Northern Ireland, to ensure the ETA requirement is communicated effectively. We will achieve this through targeted messaging, using a variety of channels, thereby mitigating against any risk of it being seen as an increased barrier to cross-border tourism on the island of Ireland
Those entering the UK, including those crossing the land border into Northern Ireland, will continue to be required to follow the UK’s immigration rules. This includes any ETA requirement when it is introduced, if it is applicable to them.
Asked by: Claire Hanna (Social Democratic & Labour Party - Belfast South)
Question to the Northern Ireland Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, what assessment he has made of the potential impact of the Illegal Migration Bill on travel on the island of Ireland.
Answered by Steve Baker - Minister of State (Northern Ireland Office)
Those entering the UK, including those crossing the land border into Northern Ireland, will continue to be required to follow the UK’s immigration rules.
As now, the UK will not operate routine immigration controls on the Common Travel Area, with none whatsoever on the Ireland-Northern Ireland land border.
Asked by: Claire Hanna (Social Democratic & Labour Party - Belfast South)
Question to the Northern Ireland Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, whether his Department is taking steps to help minimise the number of staff in voluntary organisations who have been given a protective notice due to the ceasing of funding from EU programmes at the end of the 2022-23 financial year.
Answered by Steve Baker - Minister of State (Northern Ireland Office)
The UK Government, led by the Department of Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, has worked extensively with stakeholders in Northern Ireland to develop a UK Shared Prosperity Fund (UKSPF) Investment Plan for Northern Ireland. The UKSPF is not a like-for-like replacement for EU structural funding. It will allow us to invest in social programmes that target people and places most in need.
Over the next two years, the UKSPF will invest £127m in Northern Ireland, allowing voluntary and community organisations to deliver for their communities. A project competition is running until 27 January, and the Government aims to release funding for successful bidders from 1 April 2023.
Asked by: Claire Hanna (Social Democratic & Labour Party - Belfast South)
Question to the Northern Ireland Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, if his Department will take steps to replace EU funding to voluntary organisations in Northern Ireland which are due to lose that funding at the end of the 2022-23 financial year.
Answered by Steve Baker - Minister of State (Northern Ireland Office)
The UK Government, led by the Department of Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, has worked extensively with stakeholders in Northern Ireland to develop a UK Shared Prosperity Fund (UKSPF) Investment Plan for Northern Ireland. The UKSPF is not a like-for-like replacement for EU structural funding. It will allow us to invest in social programmes that target people and places most in need.
Over the next two years, the UKSPF will invest £127m in Northern Ireland, allowing voluntary and community organisations to deliver for their communities. A project competition is running until 27 January, and the Government aims to release funding for successful bidders from 1 April 2023.
Asked by: Claire Hanna (Social Democratic & Labour Party - Belfast South)
Question to the Northern Ireland Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, whether his Department is taking steps to help minimise the number of staff in voluntary organisations who have been given a protective notice due to the ceasing of funding from Northern Ireland Departments at the end of the 2022-23 financial year.
Answered by Steve Baker - Minister of State (Northern Ireland Office)
As the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland set out in his statement to Parliament on 24 November 2022, he is disappointed to have inherited a budget with a funding gap of some £660 million. The Secretary of State did not want to be in the position of having to set the Budget, but he has done so to protect Northern Ireland’s finances and maintain delivery of public services. The Budget is the best outcome deliverable at this late stage of the financial year and it means that difficult decisions have to be made in very difficult circumstances.
I want to acknowledge the excellent work of voluntary organisations and the important services that they provide for communities in Northern Ireland. However, the decisions regarding the specific funding allocations for these organisations are a matter for the Department of Communities in Northern Ireland.
We remain firmly convinced that a restored devolved, power-sharing government, in line with the vision of the Belfast/Good Friday Agreement, should take the decisions on the issues that matter most to the people of Northern Ireland, including on funding for voluntary organisations.
Asked by: Claire Hanna (Social Democratic & Labour Party - Belfast South)
Question to the Northern Ireland Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, if he will have urgent discussions with the Department of Health and Public Health Agency in Northern Ireland on ensuring a robust plan to deal with Strep A cases.
Answered by Steve Baker - Minister of State (Northern Ireland Office)
I am aware of the recent outbreak of strep A among children in Northern Ireland and across the UK.
This is a devolved matter for the Northern Ireland Department of Health and the Public Health Agency in Northern Ireland to respond to.
In the absence of an Executive, the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland has passed legislation that clarifies the powers for Northern Ireland Departments to maintain delivery of public services, including health services.