Asked by: John Cooper (Conservative - Dumfries and Galloway)
Question to the Northern Ireland Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, what steps he is taking to replace the Northern Ireland Troubles (Legacy and Reconciliation) Act 2023.
Answered by Hilary Benn - Secretary of State for Northern Ireland
I introduced the Northern Ireland Troubles Bill on 14 October – a significant step in fulfilling our commitment to repeal and replace the Legacy Act.
The Bill received its Second Reading yesterday, and I look forward to continued debate and scrutiny as it progresses through Parliament.
Asked by: John Cooper (Conservative - Dumfries and Galloway)
Question to the Northern Ireland Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, how many permanent civil servants in his Department are staff without assigned posts; and how many are placed in an equivalent (a) people action team, (b) priority movers list, (c) redeployment register, (d) talent pool and (e) skills match hub in the most recent period for which data is available.
Answered by Hilary Benn - Secretary of State for Northern Ireland
At any point in time, there is likely to be a small number of individuals who have been displaced due to restructures within their cost centres or, for example, have returned from a loan from another department and their role no longer exists. The exact number changes on a day-to-day basis.
Asked by: John Cooper (Conservative - Dumfries and Galloway)
Question to the Northern Ireland Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, how much (a) his Department and (b) each of its Arm’s Length Bodies has spent on external public relations since 5 July 2024; and which firms that funding went to.
Answered by Hilary Benn - Secretary of State for Northern Ireland
Public relations activity is a subset of communication spend. As such, this data is not held. The Government Communication Service encourages the prioritisation of low and no cost public relations activities wherever possible.
It is recommended that all external communications support should be procured through approved government frameworks, with strict controls in place to ensure cost-effectiveness.
Asked by: John Cooper (Conservative - Dumfries and Galloway)
Question to the Northern Ireland Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, how much their Department spent on (a) media and (b) voice training for Ministers since 5 July 2024.
Answered by Hilary Benn - Secretary of State for Northern Ireland
The Northern Ireland Office has not incurred any spend on (a) media and (b) voice training for Ministers since 5 July 2024.