Asked by: Claire Hanna (Social Democratic & Labour Party - Belfast South and Mid Down)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, if she will ensure funding is made available to support economically inactive beneficiaries in Northern Ireland into employment after the end of UK Shared Prosperity Fund.
Answered by Darren Jones - Chief Secretary to the Treasury
The UK Shared Prosperity Fund was extended at Autumn Budget 2024 at a level of £902m, providing support for local areas, including economic inactivity support in Northern Ireland. In 2025 – 2026, Northern Ireland was allocated £45.48 million under the UKSPF, of which £25.8m is expected to be spent on economic inactivity support. Further decisions on local growth funding are a matter for the Spending Review.
Wider employment support is the responsibility of the Northern Ireland Executive.
Asked by: Claire Hanna (Social Democratic & Labour Party - Belfast South and Mid Down)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what the service standard level time is for businesses to receive a UK Internal Market Scheme number.
Answered by James Murray - Exchequer Secretary (HM Treasury)
The UK Internal Market Scheme (UKIMS) was launched in June 2023, allowing businesses across the United Kingdom to apply, and HMRC has successfully encouraged over 10,000 traders to get authorised.
HMRC is required to take a decision regarding the outcome of a UKIMS application within 120 days days. Applications are typically processed much faster with an average turnaround time of 12 to 15 working days. HMRC must undertake a range of checks to verify eligibility for the scheme and, in certain cases, seek further information from businesses. We do not collect data on the time taken for traders to complete UKIMS applications.
Asked by: Claire Hanna (Social Democratic & Labour Party - Belfast South and Mid Down)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what the average time taken is for businesses to (a) apply for and (b) receive a UK Internal Market Scheme number.
Answered by James Murray - Exchequer Secretary (HM Treasury)
The UK Internal Market Scheme (UKIMS) was launched in June 2023, allowing businesses across the United Kingdom to apply, and HMRC has successfully encouraged over 10,000 traders to get authorised.
HMRC is required to take a decision regarding the outcome of a UKIMS application within 120 days days. Applications are typically processed much faster with an average turnaround time of 12 to 15 working days. HMRC must undertake a range of checks to verify eligibility for the scheme and, in certain cases, seek further information from businesses. We do not collect data on the time taken for traders to complete UKIMS applications.
Asked by: Claire Hanna (Social Democratic & Labour Party - Belfast South and Mid Down)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps she is taking to ensure that the forthcoming white paper on immigration (a) reflects the requirements of (i) the mushroom sector and (ii) other agricultural sectors in Northern Ireland and (b) addresses issues of Northern Ireland abutting the EU land border.
Answered by Seema Malhotra - Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State (Department for Education) (Equalities)
The Home Office actively and regularly engages with the Devolved Governments at Ministerial level, and the Devolved Governments were invited to submit suggestions for inclusion in the Immigration White Paper (IWP), with further engagement taking place ahead of its publication.
The IWP, which was published on 12 May 2025, links migration with skills policy for all parts of the UK, and we will continue to work with the Devolved Governments as we move forward. A copy of the IWP has been placed in the House of Commons Library.
Asked by: Claire Hanna (Social Democratic & Labour Party - Belfast South and Mid Down)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether she has had recent discussions with the Northern Ireland Executive on taking steps to ensure that the forthcoming white paper on immigration reflects Northern Ireland's border with an EU member state.
Answered by Seema Malhotra - Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State (Department for Education) (Equalities)
The Home Office actively and regularly engages with the Devolved Governments at Ministerial level, and the Devolved Governments were invited to submit suggestions for inclusion in the Immigration White Paper (IWP), with further engagement taking place ahead of its publication.
The IWP, which was published on 12 May 2025, links migration with skills policy for all parts of the UK, and we will continue to work with the Devolved Governments as we move forward. A copy of the IWP has been placed in the House of Commons Library.
Asked by: Claire Hanna (Social Democratic & Labour Party - Belfast South and Mid Down)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether she has had recent discussions with the Northern Ireland Executive on the forthcoming white paper on immigration.
Answered by Seema Malhotra - Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State (Department for Education) (Equalities)
The Home Office actively and regularly engages with the Devolved Governments at Ministerial level, and the Devolved Governments were invited to submit suggestions for inclusion in the Immigration White Paper (IWP), with further engagement taking place ahead of its publication.
The IWP, which was published on 12 May 2025, links migration with skills policy for all parts of the UK, and we will continue to work with the Devolved Governments as we move forward. A copy of the IWP has been placed in the House of Commons Library.
Asked by: Claire Hanna (Social Democratic & Labour Party - Belfast South and Mid Down)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what the value inclusive of accrued interest is of assets frozen by the UK that belonged to the Libyan Qaddafi regime.
Answered by Emma Reynolds - Economic Secretary (HM Treasury)
The Office for Financial Sanctions Implementation (OFSI), part of HM Treasury published in its 2023-2024 Annual Review that £13.4 billion in assets relating to the Libya sanctions regime have been reported as frozen as of September 2023. This is an aggregated total of all entities and individuals listed on the Consolidated List of Financial Sanctions Targets.
Interest accrued on frozen assets is still subject to an asset freeze to be frozen immediately by the person in possession or control of them, but there is no change in ownership of the frozen funds or economic resources, and they are not transferred to HM Treasury. As there is no obligation for a relevant institution to inform OFSI when it has credited interest to a frozen account, OFSI does not hold this information.
Asked by: Claire Hanna (Social Democratic & Labour Party - Belfast South and Mid Down)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what assessment he has made of the effectiveness of transporting aid to Gaza by sea.
Answered by Hamish Falconer - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
We assess that the delivery of aid through Ashdod Port presents the most viable maritime route at this time. The UK has previously worked with partners to operationalise a maritime aid corridor, but we have always been clear that this can never be a substitute for delivery by land, which remains the best way to get aid in at the scale needed.
The UK continues to call on the Government of Israel to abide by its international obligations to ensure full, rapid, safe and unhindered provision of humanitarian assistance to the population in Gaza.
Asked by: Claire Hanna (Social Democratic & Labour Party - Belfast South and Mid Down)
Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:
To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, whether Northern Ireland will receive funding from Cyber Local in 2025-26.
Answered by Feryal Clark - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
As of April 2025, the way that Devolved Administrations (DAs) receive funding for cyber security has changed. Previously ringfenced cyber budgets will be absorbed into departmental baselines and provided directly to DAs in their overall HM Treasury settlement.
The revised funding arrangements further support DAs, including the Northern Ireland Executive, to make their own choices about how to champion the cyber sector in each part of the UK. DSIT will continue to engage with the Northern Ireland Executive on how to assist the cyber sector, including through the Cyber Local programme.
DSIT continues to support the successful cyber ecosystem in Northern Ireland with key investments such as the Cyber AI Hub programme at Queen’s University Belfast.
Asked by: Claire Hanna (Social Democratic & Labour Party - Belfast South and Mid Down)
Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:
To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, what assessment his Department has made of the potential merits of including Northern Ireland as an eligible region for Cyber Local funding in 2025-26.
Answered by Feryal Clark - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
As of April 2025, the way that Devolved Administrations (DAs) receive funding for cyber security has changed. Previously ringfenced cyber budgets will be absorbed into departmental baselines and provided directly to DAs in their overall HM Treasury settlement.
The revised funding arrangements further support DAs, including the Northern Ireland Executive, to make their own choices about how to champion the cyber sector in each part of the UK. DSIT will continue to engage with the Northern Ireland Executive on how to assist the cyber sector, including through the Cyber Local programme.
DSIT continues to support the successful cyber ecosystem in Northern Ireland with key investments such as the Cyber AI Hub programme at Queen’s University Belfast.