Asked by: Gregory Campbell (Democratic Unionist Party - East Londonderry)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many people were identified as not being in possession of a valid Electronic Travel Authorisation in Northern Ireland in the first two months since its introduction.
Answered by Seema Malhotra - Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State (Department for Education) (Equalities)
Electronic travel authorisations were introduced in October 2023 to enhance our ability to screen travellers upstream, and stop those who pose a threat from travelling to the United Kingdom. They were more recently expanded to eligible non-European nationals (in November 2024) and Europeans (on 5 March this year). The Home Office will provide regular updates in the months and years ahead on how the ETA requirement is being implemented and enforced.
Asked by: Gregory Campbell (Democratic Unionist Party - East Londonderry)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what the value was of (a) exports and (b) imports between the UK and Ireland in (i) 2019 and (ii) 2024.
Answered by Georgia Gould - Parliamentary Secretary (Cabinet Office)
The information requested falls under the remit of the UK Statistics Authority.
A response to the Hon gentleman or lady Parliamentary Question of 12th March is attached.
Asked by: Gregory Campbell (Democratic Unionist Party - East Londonderry)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment he has made of the potential impact of the maritime decarbonisation plan on the UK economy by 2029.
Answered by Mike Kane - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
We will shortly set out our next steps for reducing shipping emissions in a forthcoming maritime decarbonisation plan, which will include a package of policy and regulatory measures. Maritime has a key role to play in supporting the Governments missions, including to Kickstart Economic Growth, and our plans will ensure that we seize the green growth opportunity of maritime decarbonisation, whilst limiting any impacts to business. We will publish an impact assessment and consult the industry on individual measures, and economic impacts will form part of these assessments.
Asked by: Gregory Campbell (Democratic Unionist Party - East Londonderry)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, when the Financial Conduct Authority will publish revised guidance on politically exposed persons under the Money Laundering and Terrorist Financing (Amendment) Regulations 2023.
Answered by Emma Reynolds - Economic Secretary (HM Treasury)
The Government has been working closely with the FCA to follow up on the findings of its review into the treatment of Politically Exposed Persons by financial institutions, and to ensure firms improve their practices where necessary. The FCA expects that the revised guidance will be published and brought into effect in the first half of 2025.
Asked by: Gregory Campbell (Democratic Unionist Party - East Londonderry)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps she is taking to help reduce road (a) deaths and (b) serious injuries among young people.
Answered by Lilian Greenwood - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
The Government treats road safety seriously, and we are committed to reducing the numbers of those killed and injured on our roads. My department is developing our road safety strategy and will set out more details in due course.
Road safety is devolved to Northern Ireland (as well as to Wales and Scotland).
Asked by: Gregory Campbell (Democratic Unionist Party - East Londonderry)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, pursuant to the Answer of 12 March 2025 to Question 36365 on HM Coastguard: North West, if she will take steps to distribute copies of the (a) assessments and (b) consequent service level changes to relevant stakeholders.
Answered by Mike Kane - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
HM Coastguard would not normally share any documentation relating to operational decisions pertaining to the capability and capacity of Coastal Response Teams. HM Coastguard does however proactively engage with all relevant local partners when there is a change to Coastal Response Teams operational skillset. HM Coastguard remains available to re-engage with any stakeholder that has a concern relative to Coastal Response Team operations.
Further, HM Coastguard has never entered into a service level agreement with City of Derry airport, for the provision of mud rescue capability. An internal review of HM Coastguard Mud Rescue capability concluded that the changes would not impact on the statutory role of search and rescue. This includes the mobilisation, organisation and tasking of adequate resources to respond to persons in distress in the air, at sea, in tidal waters or at risk of injury or death on the sea cliffs and shoreline of the UK.
Asked by: Gregory Campbell (Democratic Unionist Party - East Londonderry)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, if she will make an assessment of the number of publicly accessible electric vehicle charging points per hundred thousand people in (a) England, (b) Scotland, (c) Wales, and (d) Northern Ireland on 1 December 2024.
Answered by Lilian Greenwood - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
The number of publicly available electric vehicle charging devices per 100,000 population by country of the UK is published as part of the department’s quarterly electric vehicle public charging infrastructure statistics.
These statistics are published quarterly so an equivalent summary as of 1 December 2024 is not available. Data as of 1 January 2025 is given in the table below:
Country | Charging devices per 100,000 population |
England | 111.0 |
Wales | 99.9 |
Scotland | 112.7 |
Northern Ireland | 35.6 |
Asked by: Gregory Campbell (Democratic Unionist Party - East Londonderry)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, if she will make an assessment of the adequacy of tax reliefs provided to charities who work in both Northern Ireland and the Irish Republic, but are physically based in Northern Ireland and constituted in the Irish Republic.
Answered by James Murray - Exchequer Secretary (HM Treasury)
The UK tax regime for charities is among the most generous in the world with tax reliefs for charities and their donors worth over £6 billion for the tax year to April 2024.
In March 2023, the UK Government announced that from April 2024 charitable tax reliefs would be restricted to UK-based charities. This means that, to be eligible for UK charity reliefs, a charity must fall under the jurisdiction of the High Court in England and Wales, Northern Ireland, or the Court of Session in Scotland. This can be achieved through registration with one of the UK charity Commissions or HMRC. Such a charity can continue to support charitable causes in both Northern Ireland and the Irish Republic.
Asked by: Gregory Campbell (Democratic Unionist Party - East Londonderry)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what the total amount paid per week is to people who have started claiming Pension Credit since the changes to the eligibility criteria for the Winter Fuel Payment were announced.
Answered by Torsten Bell - Parliamentary Secretary (HM Treasury)
The latest available data shows that, for all Pension Credit recipients, at August 2024, the average weekly amount of Pension Credit paid was £83.01. (Source: Stat-Xplore).
The next iteration of the DWP Benefit Statistics publication has a provisional release date of 13 May 2025 which will include data up to November 2024 and will be published on Stat-Xplore. DWP benefits statistics: May 2025 - Accredited official statistics announcement - GOV.UK.
Asked by: Gregory Campbell (Democratic Unionist Party - East Londonderry)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, pursuant to the Answer of 23 January 2025 to Question 23268 on State Retirement Pensions, what information her Department holds on the number of people who are (a) eligible for the Category D pension payment and (b) live in the UK who have not yet applied for the pension.
Answered by Torsten Bell - Parliamentary Secretary (HM Treasury)
DWP is responsible for the State Pension administered in Great Britain while the Department for Communities is responsible for the State Pension administered in Northern Ireland.
As of the quarter ending August 2024, there were a total of 89,360 people in receipt of the Category D pension payment. This represents 87,938 people in Great Britain and 1,418 overseas.
Source: DWP Stat-Xplore Please note that numbers do not sum due to rounding.
No estimate is available for those living in the UK who have not yet applied for the Category D pension. Those who are ordinarily resident in Great Britain on their 80th birthday and who meet the required residency conditions will receive the increase automatically without having to make a claim if their basic State Pension is less than £101.55 a week (£105.70 from April 2025). Those who are getting no State Pension at age 80 or who get Graduated Retirement Benefit only, will need to make a claim.