Asked by: Lord Empey (Ulster Unionist Party - Life peer)
Question to the Northern Ireland Office:
To ask Her Majesty's Government whether they have reached agreement with the Electoral Office for Northern Ireland on its long-term budget; and what is the amount of that budget.
Answered by Lord Duncan of Springbank
Northern Ireland Office officials continue to work with the Chief Electoral Officer to confirm the final allocation for the next financial year. I expect that this will be determined in Spring 2019.
Asked by: Lord Empey (Ulster Unionist Party - Life peer)
Question to the Northern Ireland Office:
To ask Her Majesty's Government whether they have determined the budget for the Electoral Office for Northern Ireland for the financial year 2019–20; and if so, what settlement has been agreed.
Answered by Lord Duncan of Springbank
The Northern Ireland Office is committed to ensuring that all of its sponsored bodies have the necessary resources to deliver their statutory functions and budgets are therefore reviewed annually.
Northern Ireland Office officials are currently engaging with the Chief Electoral Officer to confirm the allocation for the next financial year and I expect that this will be determined in early 2019.
Asked by: Lord Empey (Ulster Unionist Party - Life peer)
Question to the Northern Ireland Office:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what plans they have temporarily to return health powers from the Northern Ireland Assembly to Westminster to avoid any winter health crisis.
Answered by Lord Duncan of Springbank
The Government has no plans to temporarily return health powers to Westminster. As the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland stated in Parliament on 6 September, the Government intend to bring forward legislation to support Northern Ireland Departments to continue making decisions in the absence of Ministers where it is in the public interest to do so.
Asked by: Lord Empey (Ulster Unionist Party - Life peer)
Question to the Northern Ireland Office:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what representations they have received from the Electoral Office for Northern Ireland regarding the implications of the current budget allocation for its activities.
Answered by Lord Duncan of Springbank
Officials regularly hold discussions with the Chief Electoral Officer and her staff on this and a range of other issues.
Asked by: Lord Empey (Ulster Unionist Party - Life peer)
Question to the Northern Ireland Office:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what discussions they have had with local councils in Northern Ireland about the transfer of some of the functions of the Electoral Office for Northern Ireland to local authorities.
Answered by Lord Duncan of Springbank
The delivery of elections in Northern Ireland is the responsibility of the Chief Electoral Officer for Northern Ireland and there is no suggestion that that will change. If the Chief Electoral Officer wishes to pursue the possibility of local authorities assisting in the delivery of some aspects of elections, under her direction, that will in the first instance be a matter for her.
Asked by: Lord Empey (Ulster Unionist Party - Life peer)
Question to the Northern Ireland Office:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the effectiveness and uptake of the new system of online registration of voters in Northern Ireland.
Answered by Lord Duncan of Springbank
Electoral registration is an operational matter for the Chief Electoral Officer for Northern Ireland.
The Electoral Office report that for the first month of the digital service being in operation, 18 June to 17 July 2018, approximately 79% of all applications to register to vote in Northern Ireland were made using the online service.
Asked by: Lord Empey (Ulster Unionist Party - Life peer)
Question to the Northern Ireland Office:
To ask Her Majesty's Government when they intend to make a determination on the salary levels of Members of the Northern Ireland Assembly.
Answered by Lord Duncan of Springbank
The Secretary of State for Northern Ireland has made clear that she is carefully considering all the details and will set out the next steps on this matter in due course.
Asked by: Lord Empey (Ulster Unionist Party - Life peer)
Question to the Northern Ireland Office:
To ask Her Majesty's Government how many people have applied to join the electoral register in Northern Ireland by online registration in each of the eighteen Parliamentary constituencies.
Answered by Lord Duncan of Springbank
Between 18 June 2018 and 29 June 2018, 4,439 people applied online to join the electoral register in Northern Ireland.
The following information shows the figures for the number of people who have applied online by constituency. These figures have been provided by the Electoral Office for Northern Ireland.
Number of online applications received between 18 June 2018-29 June 2018
Constituency | Number of online applications |
Belfast East | 280 |
Belfast North | 334 |
Belfast South | 331 |
Belfast West | 300 |
East Antrim | 209 |
East Londonderry | 150 |
Fermanagh and South Tyrone | 167 |
Foyle | 245 |
Lagan Valley | 242 |
Mid Ulster | 161 |
North Antrim | 201 |
North Down | 224 |
Newry and Armagh | 233 |
South Antrim | 304 |
South Down | 253 |
Strangford | 192 |
Upper Bann | 248 |
West Tyrone | 177 |
Not yet associated to a constituency* | 188 |
Total | 4,439 |
*This figure relates to applications received relating to new properties in NI which need to be added to the system or where applicants have incorrectly filled in address fields in application and the system has not automatically recognised the constituency. EONI are working to confirm the constituencies.
Asked by: Lord Empey (Ulster Unionist Party - Life peer)
Question to the Northern Ireland Office:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what discussions they have had with the Northern Ireland Executive about the establishment of a children's fund for Northern Ireland.
Answered by Lord Duncan of Springbank
Children’s funding in Northern Ireland is a devolved matter. The Government have therefore not held discussions on the establishment of a Children's fund for Northern Ireland.
Asked by: Lord Empey (Ulster Unionist Party - Life peer)
Question to the Northern Ireland Office:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what discussions they have had with European bodies regarding the application of Article 2 of the European Convention on Human Rights in relation to deaths related to terrorism in Northern Ireland.
Answered by Lord Duncan of Springbank
The UK Government provides regular updates to the Council of Europe’s Committee of Ministers on legacy cases in Northern Ireland, most recently on 6 June.