Asked by: Hilary Benn (Labour - Leeds South)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, for what reason Blue, 3 Little Neville Street, Leeds LS1 4ED has been safeguarded in connection with potential future development of Leeds Station in the context of the rejection of the blight notice by her Department.
Answered by Justin Madders - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
Department for Transport safeguarding remains in place in a small area south of Leeds station, including the Blue Apartments site, to allow for potential enhancements to the existing station, including for onward travel. Leeds City Council has now completed the initial phase of an Onward Travel Study and the findings will inform future decisions on safeguarding for this location.
Asked by: Hilary Benn (Labour - Leeds South)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, when she next plans to review the safeguarding of Blue, 3 Little Neville Street, Leeds LS1 4ED in connection with the potential future development of Leeds station.
Answered by Justin Madders - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
The Department for Transport is working closely with Leeds City Council to understand the implications of their Onward Travel work programme. This work is being progressed at pace to ensure that any land not required is removed from safeguarding as soon as practicable.
Asked by: Hilary Benn (Labour - Leeds South)
Question to the Northern Ireland Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, what steps his Department is taking to ensure legal representation is made available to police veterans called to the Omagh Bombing Inquiry.
Answered by Chris Heaton-Harris
Policing in Northern Ireland is a devolved matter but we understand PSNI will be providing legal support to retired police officers called to give evidence to the Omagh Bombing Inquiry.
Asked by: Hilary Benn (Labour - Leeds South)
Question to the Northern Ireland Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, what steps his Department is taking to ensure mental health support is available to police veterans in relation to the Omagh Bombing Inquiry.
Answered by Chris Heaton-Harris
The Government has the deepest sympathy for all of those affected by the Omagh bomb in August 1998, including those members from the uniformed services who were present on the day.
I met with representatives of the Military and Police Support of West Tyrone and Omagh Bomb Inquiry Police Support Group when I visited Omagh last week, and they very clearly set out their concerns about the toll that participation in the Inquiry may take on former officer’s mental health and wellbeing.
While I was grateful to hear their views - and look forward to doing so again in the future - support for former police officers in respect of their mental health is a devolved issue so is a matter for the Northern Ireland Executive.
Asked by: Hilary Benn (Labour - Leeds South)
Question to the Northern Ireland Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, what discussions he has had with Iain Livingstone on the publication timetable for the final report from Operation Kenova.
Answered by Chris Heaton-Harris
I met with Sir Iain Livingstone on 6 March 2024 and updated him on the Government’s plans to make transitional provision to clarify that final administrative tasks related to a criminal investigation (including, for example, report-writing and publication of reports, such as the Kenova report) can be retained and completed by their original owners on and after 1 May 2024.
As Kenova is operationally independent of the Government, I am not in a position to confirm the publication date of its reports.
Asked by: Hilary Benn (Labour - Leeds South)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, how much and what proportion of total Shared Prosperity Fund funding has been allocated to projects in Northern Ireland as of 4 March 2024.
Answered by Jacob Young
We are investing £15 billion in a suite of complementary Levelling Up projects across the UK to help grow the economy, create jobs, improve transport, provide skills training and support local businesses.
The Levelling Up Fund has invested a total of £4.8 billion into infrastructure that improves everyday life for local residents across the UK. Projects in Northern Ireland received £120 million across rounds one and two of the Levelling Up Fund. In Round three a further £30 million was set aside for Northern Ireland. This means that at least 3% of total Levelling Up Fund allocations have gone to Northern Ireland, in line with our commitments.
The Community Renewal Fund provided £186 million of funding, supporting outputs for 23,000 organisations. Northern Ireland benefitted from just over £12 million of investment, meaning it enjoyed a proportion of 6.45% of the total funding allocated.
The UK Shared Prosperity Fund in Northern Ireland has a total budget of £126 million which represents 4.8% of the total UKSPF budget of £2.6 billion. As of 4 March 2024, £76 million of UKSPF funding has been allocated to 30 projects in Northern Ireland with further investments to follow. We continue to be committed to levelling up all parts of the UK, including Northern Ireland.
Asked by: Hilary Benn (Labour - Leeds South)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, what proportion of total UK Community Renewal Fund funding was allocated to Northern Ireland.
Answered by Jacob Young
We are investing £15 billion in a suite of complementary Levelling Up projects across the UK to help grow the economy, create jobs, improve transport, provide skills training and support local businesses.
The Levelling Up Fund has invested a total of £4.8 billion into infrastructure that improves everyday life for local residents across the UK. Projects in Northern Ireland received £120 million across rounds one and two of the Levelling Up Fund. In Round three a further £30 million was set aside for Northern Ireland. This means that at least 3% of total Levelling Up Fund allocations have gone to Northern Ireland, in line with our commitments.
The Community Renewal Fund provided £186 million of funding, supporting outputs for 23,000 organisations. Northern Ireland benefitted from just over £12 million of investment, meaning it enjoyed a proportion of 6.45% of the total funding allocated.
The UK Shared Prosperity Fund in Northern Ireland has a total budget of £126 million which represents 4.8% of the total UKSPF budget of £2.6 billion. As of 4 March 2024, £76 million of UKSPF funding has been allocated to 30 projects in Northern Ireland with further investments to follow. We continue to be committed to levelling up all parts of the UK, including Northern Ireland.
Asked by: Hilary Benn (Labour - Leeds South)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, how much and what proportion of total Levelling Up Fund funding has been allocated to Northern Ireland as of 4 March 2024.
Answered by Jacob Young
We are investing £15 billion in a suite of complementary Levelling Up projects across the UK to help grow the economy, create jobs, improve transport, provide skills training and support local businesses.
The Levelling Up Fund has invested a total of £4.8 billion into infrastructure that improves everyday life for local residents across the UK. Projects in Northern Ireland received £120 million across rounds one and two of the Levelling Up Fund. In Round three a further £30 million was set aside for Northern Ireland. This means that at least 3% of total Levelling Up Fund allocations have gone to Northern Ireland, in line with our commitments.
The Community Renewal Fund provided £186 million of funding, supporting outputs for 23,000 organisations. Northern Ireland benefitted from just over £12 million of investment, meaning it enjoyed a proportion of 6.45% of the total funding allocated.
The UK Shared Prosperity Fund in Northern Ireland has a total budget of £126 million which represents 4.8% of the total UKSPF budget of £2.6 billion. As of 4 March 2024, £76 million of UKSPF funding has been allocated to 30 projects in Northern Ireland with further investments to follow. We continue to be committed to levelling up all parts of the UK, including Northern Ireland.
Asked by: Hilary Benn (Labour - Leeds South)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many officials in his Department held roles that required them to provide information to Troubles-era inquests in Northern Ireland in each of the last five years.
Answered by Andrew Murrison
There are 18 officials in roles within the Ministry of Defence’s (MOD) Directorate of Judicial Engagement Policy (DJEP) that support the provision of information to Troubles-era inquests in Northern Ireland as all or part of their duties. In addition, there are other teams across MOD providing specialist support to DJEP in providing information to inquests.
We do not hold information on historical staffing records and cannot provide figures in the format requested.
Asked by: Hilary Benn (Labour - Leeds South)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many officials in his Department are in roles that support the provision of information to Troubles-era inquests in Northern Ireland.
Answered by Andrew Murrison
There are 18 officials in roles within the Ministry of Defence’s (MOD) Directorate of Judicial Engagement Policy (DJEP) that support the provision of information to Troubles-era inquests in Northern Ireland as all or part of their duties. In addition, there are other teams across MOD providing specialist support to DJEP in providing information to inquests.
We do not hold information on historical staffing records and cannot provide figures in the format requested.