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Written Question
Health: Disadvantaged
Monday 21st June 2021

Asked by: Jeffrey M Donaldson (Democratic Unionist Party - Lagan Valley)

Question to the Northern Ireland Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, what discussions he has had with the Northern Ireland Executive on the commitment in the New Decade New Approach Agreement to tackle health inequalities and provide sustainable funding for investment in and reform of the health and social care system through the Elective Care Framework announced by the Northern Ireland Minister of Health.

Answered by Robin Walker

The UK Government recognises the importance of ensuring proper provision of, and access to, health services right across the UK. That is why it is important we continue to see a functioning Executive delivering for all the people of Northern Ireland and tackling these crucial issues.

The Executive’s focus over the past year has been on responding to the Covid-19 pandemic but as we now recover, the Executive must ensure that they Build Back Better to deliver the public services that the people of Northern Ireland deserve.

I welcome the plan to address waiting times in Northern Ireland and reform the health and social care system through the Elective Care Framework announced by the Executive’s Health Minister and I look forward to engaging with him on it in the near future.

The UK Government is providing substantial funding to the Executive of £15.6bn in 2021/22 to enable it to deliver excellent public services. This is in addition to the £445m explicitly to support the transformation of public services from NDNA and Confidence and Supply. It is for the Executive to make the necessary decisions to ensure this funding is used effectively.


Written Question
Free Zones: Northern Ireland
Thursday 11th March 2021

Asked by: Jeffrey M Donaldson (Democratic Unionist Party - Lagan Valley)

Question to the Northern Ireland Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, what discussions he has had with (a) Cabinet colleagues and (b) the Northern Ireland Executive on a freeport designation for Northern Ireland.

Answered by Robin Walker

Freeports will be national hubs for international trade, innovation and commerce, regenerating communities across the UK; attracting new businesses, spreading jobs, investment and opportunity to towns and cities across the country.

We want to ensure that the whole of the UK can benefit, and we are working with HM Treasury and the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government, as well as working constructively with the Northern Ireland Executive, to establish at least one Freeport in Northern Ireland as soon as possible.


Written Question
Terrorism: Northern Ireland
Thursday 11th March 2021

Asked by: Jeffrey M Donaldson (Democratic Unionist Party - Lagan Valley)

Question to the Northern Ireland Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, what recent progress the Government has been made on bringing forward legislative proposals on legacy issues in Northern Ireland; and if he will make a statement.

Answered by Robin Walker

The Government has been clear that it will bring forward legislation to address the legacy of the troubles that focuses on reconciliation, delivers for victims, and ends the cycle of investigations.


We continue to engage with victims groups and civic society stakeholders, as well as the Irish Government and Northern Ireland parties in order to find a way forward as soon as possible. We will provide further details in due course.



Written Question
Regional Planning and Development: Northern Ireland
Thursday 11th March 2021

Asked by: Jeffrey M Donaldson (Democratic Unionist Party - Lagan Valley)

Question to the Northern Ireland Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, what discussions he has had with (a) Cabinet colleagues and (b) the Northern Ireland Executive on the inclusion of Northern Ireland infrastructure projects for support under the Levelling Up Fund.

Answered by Robin Walker

I have held, and will continue to hold, engagements with colleagues across the UK Government, the Northern Ireland Executive and with other stakeholders in Northern Ireland on the Levelling Up Fund.

The Levelling Up Fund will invest in local infrastructure that has a visible impact on people and their communities. It will run from 2021/22 to 2024/25, and drive regeneration in places in need. The prospectus for the Levelling Up Fund was published last week and sets out that the Fund will focus on three themes in its first year: smaller transport projects that make a genuine difference to local areas; town centre and high street regeneration; and support for maintaining and expanding the UK’s world-leading portfolio of cultural and heritage assets.

The Fund is being delivered as part of a broad package of complementary UK-wide interventions, including the UK Community Renewal Fund and the UK Community Ownership Fund.


Written Question
Terrorism: Northern Ireland
Tuesday 29th September 2020

Asked by: Jeffrey M Donaldson (Democratic Unionist Party - Lagan Valley)

Question to the Northern Ireland Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, when he plans to publish further proposals on dealing with legacy issues in Northern Ireland.

Answered by Robin Walker

The Government has been clear that we will introduce legislation to address the legacy of the Troubles in Northern Ireland in a way that focuses on reconciliation, delivers for victims, and ends the cycle of reinvestigations that has failed victims and veterans alike.

We remain committed to making progress and engaging on these issues with the Northern Ireland parties, the Irish Government, and stakeholders from across the community including victims groups as quickly as possible.


Written Question
Free Zones: Northern Ireland
Tuesday 29th September 2020

Asked by: Jeffrey M Donaldson (Democratic Unionist Party - Lagan Valley)

Question to the Northern Ireland Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, what discussions he has had with Cabinet colleagues on granting Northern Ireland ports freeport status.

Answered by Robin Walker

The Government plans to introduce up to 10 Freeports across the UK. Freeports will unleash the potential of our ports, regenerating communities across the UK. We are working with the Devolved Administrations, including the Northern Ireland Executive, to enable the creation of Freeports across all four nations of the UK. We will shortly be publishing the Government’s response to the Freeports consultation, launched In February 2020, which will set out our plans for the delivery of Freeports across the UK, including in Northern Ireland.

A number of ports in Northern Ireland submitted responses to the consultation.


Written Question
Armed Forces Covenant: Northern Ireland
Tuesday 29th September 2020

Asked by: Jeffrey M Donaldson (Democratic Unionist Party - Lagan Valley)

Question to the Northern Ireland Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, what recent progress has been made on full implementation of the Armed Forces Covenant in Northern Ireland.

Answered by Robin Walker

We have been making good progress on implementation of the Armed Forces Covenant in Northern Ireland, in line with my party’s manifesto pledges and UK Government commitments in the New Decade, New Approach Agreement.

The Secretary of State for Northern Ireland has appointed Danny Kinahan as the first ever Northern Ireland Veterans Commissioner, to act as a voice and advocate for veterans as they make the transition to civilian life. Moreover, we have secured additional funding for the Veterans’ Support Office to assist them in delivery of the Covenant at ground level in Northern Ireland.

Elsewhere, a review of the Aftercare Service will consider whether their remit can be extended to cover all HM Forces veterans living in Northern Ireland with service-related injuries and conditions.

Finally, our Armed Forces Covenant legislation will mandate local authorities to pay due regard to the experience of veterans so that they suffer no disadvantage in society. This will apply UK-wide, and the Ministry of Defence is working closely with the territorial offices and devolved administrations to ensure it is implemented effectively across the four nations.


Written Question
Terrorism: Northern Ireland
Thursday 4th June 2020

Asked by: Jeffrey M Donaldson (Democratic Unionist Party - Lagan Valley)

Question to the Northern Ireland Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, what discussions he has had with the Chancellor of the Exchequor on the funding of a Payments Scheme for Victims and Survivors in Northern Ireland.

Answered by Robin Walker

The UK Government’s position has always been that the Victims Payment Scheme - which we legislated for in line with commitments placed on it by the Northern Ireland (EF) Act 2019 - should be funded from the NI Executive budget. The Executive committed to delivering such a scheme 6 years ago, so it is right that they fund these provisions as a priority for the benefit of all victims who have waited for this too long already.

The UK Government is providing £2 billion of additional financial support as part of the New Decade, New Approach agreement. It is open to the Executive to raise broader budgetary pressures with the Government; but it has received generous allocations and should now make funding available.


Written Question
Abortion: Northern Ireland
Monday 16th March 2020

Asked by: Jeffrey M Donaldson (Democratic Unionist Party - Lagan Valley)

Question to the Northern Ireland Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, what assessment he has made of the implications of his policies of the request made by the Department of Health in Northern Ireland for additional funding to implement changes to the law on abortion.

Answered by Robin Walker

I recently met the Northern Ireland Health Minister, Robin Swann MLA, to discuss the abortion regulations which will be laid in Parliament shortly.

Once the law comes into force on 31 March 2020 it will be for the Northern Ireland Department of Health to commission abortion services through the health and social care system.

The Northern Ireland Department of Health is continuing to work to explore the full costs of commissioning and operating the new services.


Written Question
Broadband: Northern Ireland
Tuesday 21st January 2020

Asked by: Jeffrey M Donaldson (Democratic Unionist Party - Lagan Valley)

Question to the Northern Ireland Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, what discussions he has had with Cabinet colleagues on (a) retaining and (b) ring fencing under the proposed new financial package for the Northern Ireland Executive the funding that was allocated under the previous confidence and supply agreement for the extension of broadband coverage in Northern Ireland.

Answered by Julian Smith

The Government committed to providing £1bn to Northern Ireland in the Confidence and Supply financial annex. So far in 2017-18, 2018-19 and 2019-20, £763m has been released. The decision to release any further funding will be taken in due course as part of the normal Estimates process, which sets Departments’ budgets and devolved administrations’ block grants for the year