Lady Hermon

The Northern Ireland Executive and other organisations in Northern Ireland work closely with counterparts in the British Business Bank. The Bank is engaged on the Joint Ministerial Taskforce on Banking and Access to Finance between HM Government and the Northern Ireland Executive, most recently meeting on 15 October 2014; in February 2014, Invest NI hosted a Roadshow for the British Business Bank to promote its solutions to financial intermediaries; and in September 2014, the British Business Bank presented at an event hosted by the Federation of Small Businesses in Belfast which looked at how to harness the power of SMEs in Northern Ireland. The British Business Bank will also be hosting a road show in Northern Ireland in early 2015.

In Northern Ireland, the Business Bank works through delivery partners to deliver the Enterprise Finance Guarantee, the Investment Programme (including its predecessor Business Finance Partnership), and the Start Up Loans Programme. This activity complements the venture capital programmes run by Invest NI.

The Enterprise Finance Guarantee has unlocked more than £38 million of lending in Northern Ireland since its launch in 2009. Currently, the programme supports over 130 businesses with £13 million of loans.

The Investment Programme builds upon the success of the Business Finance Partnership, and is open to applications from finance providers in Northern Ireland. The combined Investment Programmes supported £2 million of lending to businesses in Northern Ireland between July and September 2014.

The British Business Bank has signed up four Start Up Loans providers which are active in Northern Ireland and are making progress in delivering the programme. The programme has now provided Start Up Loans worth nearly £900,000 in Northern Ireland.

The Warm Home Discount is an obligation on energy suppliers operating in the GB-wide market for domestic customers.

The scheme does not apply in Northern Ireland as fuel poverty is devolved to the Northern Ireland Executive, which decides its own fuel poverty objectives and policies.

As Companies House does not maintain statistics on Company ownership, it is unable to tell how many Russian owned companies are located in the UK.

The origin of natural gas imports are published on a monthly basis at

https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/347812/et4_4.xls.

The origins of oil imports are published on an annual basis at

https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/338448/dukes3_9.xlsx.

Details of my visits within the United Kingdom are published on the gov.uk website.

I regularly meet Members from all parties.

I refer the hon. Member to my speech at Stormont House on 12 February and which is available on the gov.uk website: https://www.gov.uk/government/speeches/prime-ministers-statement-at-stormont-house

I discuss a range of issues with Ministerial colleagues. It has been the practice of successive Governments not to disclose information relating to internal discussions.

I am closely engaged in efforts to restore devolved government in Northern Ireland. I am kept fully appraised by the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, my right hon. Friend the Member for Old Bexley and Sidcup (Mr Brokenshire) who is working with the parties and, as appropriate, the Irish Government in Belfast. I have had several recent discussions with the party leaders, building on meetings I had with all five main party leaders in Downing Street in the summer.

Pursuant to the Answer of 3 July 2017 to Question 2657, the modus operandi of the coordination committee will be agreed between the Conservative party and the Democratic Unionist party.

The modus operandi of the coordination committee will need to be agreed between the Conservative party and the Democratic Unionist party.

The modus operandi of the coordination committee will be agreed between the Conservative party and the Democratic Unionist party. It will be attended by members of the Conservative Party and the DUP to support the agreement made between the two parties.

The Coordination Committee will be established to support the political agreement made between the Conservative party and the Democratic Unionist party.

The modus operandi of the coordination committee will need to be agreed between the Conservative party and the Democratic Unionist party. It will be attended by members of the Conservative Party and the DUP to support the agreement made between the two parties.

The terms of the deal between the Conservative party and the DUP have been set out in the agreement.

The rules about transparency of political donations are set out in the Political Parties, Elections and Referendums Act 2000. The Government intends to bring forward legislation to extend transparency that already exists for political parties in Great Britain to also cover donations and loans received by Northern Ireland parties on or after 1 July 2017.

I visit all parts of the United Kingdom regularly. Details of my visits within the United Kingdom are published on the gov.uk website.

The British Irish Council provides a unique opportunity for the eight member administrations to work together on matters of mutual interest. The composition of the UK Government's delegation to the Council will be announced in due course.

The Government is committed to tackling fraud and making our electoral process more secure. We have already taken steps to improve the security of UK polls through the introduction of Individual Electoral Registration (IER).

The Government has welcomed Sir Eric Pickles’ report on his review into electoral fraud. The report sets out a number of findings and recommendations including in relation to voter identification. We are considering these carefully and will respond shortly.

Charity law is a devolved matter in Northern Ireland. Officials in the Office for Civil Society kept their counterparts in the Department for Social Development, Northern Ireland, informed of progress as the measures which are now contained in the Charities (Protection and Social Investment) Bill were consulted on and developed.

I have written to Lord Morrow MLA, Minister for Social Development, following the Third Reading of the Charities (Protection and Social Investment) Bill, to draw his attention to the debate and the provisions of the Bill.

Charity regulation is a devolved matter in Scotland and Northern Ireland.

The annual accounts of charities in England and Wales are available on the Charity Commission’s website but the data requested on funding sources is not routinely held. Some charities may include information about the source of their donations in their accounts but they are not required to do so.

The Charity Commission is alert to the potential abuse of humanitarian aid efforts through facilitating travel for individuals for other purposes, particularly to conflict zones where terrorist groups are known to operate or exert control, including in Syria and Iraq.

There is a risk that charities working in certain areas, including those where so-called Islamic State militants operate, may be abused for non-charitable purposes. This is of serious concern to the Charity Commission. The Charity Commission has issued alerts to charities operating in these areas and advice to members of the public of how to give safely to ensure that their donations reach the intended charitable target. This information is available on the Charity Commission’s website.

Where there are concerns about suspected terrorist or extremist abuse connected to a charity the Charity Commission will support the Police in conducting criminal investigations.

The information requested falls within the responsibility of the UK Statistics Authority. I have asked the Authority to reply.

Charity regulation is a devolved matter in Scotland and Northern Ireland.

The annual accounts of charities in England and Wales are available on the Charity Commission’s website but the data requested on funding sources is not routinely held. Some charities may include information about the source of their donations in their accounts but they are not required to do so.

The Charity Commission is alert to the potential abuse of humanitarian aid efforts through facilitating travel for individuals for other purposes, particularly to conflict zones where terrorist groups are known to operate or exert control, including in Syria and Iraq.

There is a risk that charities working in certain areas, including those where so-called Islamic State militants operate, may be abused for non-charitable purposes. This is of serious concern to the Charity Commission. The Charity Commission has issued alerts to charities operating in these areas and advice to members of the public of how to give safely to ensure that their donations reach the intended charitable target. This information is available on the Charity Commission’s website.

Where there are concerns about suspected terrorist or extremist abuse connected to a charity the Charity Commission will support the Police in conducting criminal investigations.

The Government supports the development of new interconnection where it delivers benefits to the consumer, and our approach is designed to deliver those benefits in the most efficient way. We have a developer-led approach to interconnection where the market identifies the best projects and applies to Ofgem to assess their merits. In the 2016 Budget the Government said that it supports the increase of interconnection capacity to at least 9GW; if a developer was to propose additional capacity between Northern Ireland and the GB market, Ofgem would assess it on its merits.

We are pleased that the Moyle interconnector is back up to full strength after a period of reduced capacity. This will help with security of supply, and the stability and flexibility of the grid in Northern Ireland.

One of the issues for the Moyle interconnector is that imports into Scotland are constrained by wider constraints on the Scottish grid and on the border between Scotland and England. A number of measures are being taken to strengthen the Scottish grid and grid connections to England. These include the Western HVDC link, which is due for completion in mid-2017 and will provide an additional 2.2GW of capacity.

An EU national can be employed in an apprenticeship in England, and will be eligible for funding for their apprenticeship provided they meet set eligibility criteria.

These criteria are set out in the Skills Funding Agency: common funding rules for the 2016 to 2017 funding year.

The Skills Funding Agency (SFA) funds apprenticeships training in England. The devolved administrations of Northern Ireland (NI), Wales, and Scotland have their own funding arrangements for apprenticeships. Employers and training providers must not actively recruit learners who live or work outside of England.

Residents in NI can apply for English Apprenticeships provided they want to live in, or travel to, England to work and study. The SFA will only apply funding under these circumstances.

The SFA will not fund individuals whose main employment or normal place of work is not in England.

Skills is a devolved matter to NI and are funded by the Department for Employment and Learning (DEL) in NI.

The national campaign for apprenticeships will target a range of audiences including young people, employers and parents.

Advertising will be through a number of different media channels including television, out of home advertising (e.g. posters), radio, digital and social media.

Education and skills policy (including Apprenticeships) is a devolved matter. It is for the devolved administrations of Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales to determine how they manage their own programmes. This includes any advertising campaigns.