Oral Answers to Questions

Robin Swann Excerpts

Monday 23rd February 2026 Commons Chamber

[Miatta Fahnbulleh]

The right hon. Member is completely right. Religious hatred has no place in our society. The tragedy at the moment is that it is on the rise; we are seeing it in our Jewish community, in our Muslim community, and in our Hindu and Sikh communities. It is beholden on us to make sure that we are doing our part to stand with these communities and stamp out religious hatred. I am proud that this Government are putting funding towards security. The work of the CST has been vital for the Jewish community and for supporting the community. The travesty is that we need security in our synagogues and places of worship. That cannot be a reality that any of us tolerate, and it is one that we must work together to stamp out.

[Robin Swann (South Antrim) (UUP)]

4. What plans he has for the delivery of the local growth fund in Northern Ireland.

[The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government (Miatta Fahnbulleh)]

With funding from the UK shared prosperity fund ending, we are committed to continuing local growth funding in Northern Ireland to boost productivity and growth. We are working closely with the Northern Ireland Executive and the Northern Ireland Office to design and deliver an investment plan that will support infrastructure, business growth, and skills and employment.

[Robin Swann]

I thank the Minister for meeting me to discuss the concerns raised by the voluntary community sector in Northern Ireland about how the fund will be split between capital and revenue. We are now looking at a fund that is more capital-heavy than revenue-heavy, and the Northern Ireland Commissioner for Children and Young People has said that the shift towards capital-heavy investment fails to recognise the reality that youth and community work is relational, intensive and people-driven, not infrastructure-driven. Will the Minister continue to work to shift the balance between capital and revenue, so that the funding supports the people who use it?

[Miatta Fahnbulleh]

I thank the hon. Gentleman for meeting me with people from parts of the voluntary sector. As he said, local growth funding will direct capital funding into the enabling infrastructure that is required for boosting the Northern Ireland economy. That sits alongside a £19.3 billion spending review settlement and £370 million in Budget funding to the Executive, which has the flexibility to support programmes delivered by the voluntary and community sector. But as we have heard, the voluntary and community sector is under huge pressure, and we are committed to working with the Northern Ireland Office and the Executive to find ways to support the sector through the transition.

Strategy for Elections

Robin Swann Excerpts

Thursday 17th July 2025 Commons Chamber

[Rushanara Ali]

It is crucial that we engage electors—both young electors and the millions who are not registered to vote. We will do careful work to move towards automated voter registration and to ensure that it is a success. It is about making sure that every citizen who is eligible to vote registers and is able to vote.

[Robin Swann (South Antrim) (UUP)]

A previous parliamentary inquiry into the funding of Northern Ireland political parties expressed a concern about the lack of visibility on how cross-border parties—the likes of Sinn Féin—manage their fundraising and the difficulty for regulators in verifying that no Republic of Ireland, or indeed US-based, funds were used in UK elections. It recommended stronger audit requirements and a clear separation of cross-jurisdictional finances. Will the Minister assure me that these measures will apply equally across all parts of the United Kingdom and that regulators outside the United Kingdom will work together to ensure that we do not have those cross-jurisdictional moneys?

[Rushanara Ali]

I can reassure the hon. Gentleman that we are working through the interministerial group, which includes the relevant Northern Ireland Minister, to ensure that we introduce changes that are consistent with the Good Friday agreement and that recognise specific issues affecting different parts of the United Kingdom? I would be very happy to discuss our proposals further with him.

Oral Answers to Questions

Robin Swann Excerpts

Monday 9th June 2025 Commons Chamber

[Matthew Pennycook]

I thank the hon. Gentleman for raising that case. I recognise the problem that he alludes to. We want to bring in as soon as possible measures to standardise service charges in particular and make them more transparent. I wonder if he might write to me and the Under-Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, my hon. Friend the Member for Nottingham North and Kimberley (Alex Norris), who is responsible for building safety, with details of that case so that we can look into it further.

[Robin Swann (South Antrim) (UUP)]

Developers are now creating facility and management companies, with new homeowners and tenants finding themselves as shareholders without their consent. Will the Minister look at that issue across the country to protect those homeowners?

[Matthew Pennycook]

If I have understood the hon. Gentleman correctly, he pointed to how a variety of arrangements can be put in place under freehold estates; we need to capture that variety across the country. That is one of the challenges in looking at what measures we might bring forward to reduce the prevalence of such arrangements, and we certainly intend to do that.

Non-Domestic Rating (Multipliers and Private Schools) Bill

Robin Swann Excerpts

Consideration of Lords message
Monday 31st March 2025 Commons Chamber

[Kevin Hollinrake (Thirsk and Malton) (Con)]

I thank their noble lordships for their diligent further consideration of the Non-Domestic Rating (Multipliers and Private Schools) Bill and for the new amendments they have passed to address their concerns with the legislation. These changes shine a spotlight on Labour’s muddled priorities, exposing an approach that punishes aspiration, squeezes business, and increases the cost of living for consumers and the cost of doing business.

This very week, we will see the new jobs tax introduced and business rate hikes. The Employment Rights Bill is coming down the line, which is of great concern to many private sector businesses, and consumers will consequently see higher prices and lower wages. Tomorrow, we will also see a hike in council tax, energy prices, water bills, broadband and the BBC licence fee.

I will address the four primary groups of amendments in turn. First, Lords amendments 1B and 7B tackle the proposal to levy a higher multiplier on medical, dental and other healthcare settings. The amendments would prudently protect all healthcare premises—occupied or vacant—from the higher multiplier, addressing a glaring flaw in Labour’s Bill. For too long, we have cautioned against their detachment from practical governance, but now it is undeniable: rather than targeting the untaxed profits of internet giants as pledged, they are heaping costs on to hospitals and GP surgeries. It is baffling that Labour’s so-called reform of the rating system would burden healthcare at all, let alone doing so while they plan to hike national insurance on jobs tomorrow to fund the NHS—only to claw it back today by taxing those same health services.

Just yesterday, the Government pledged to funnel more cash into the NHS by taxing jobs through national insurance hikes, yet today they turn around and tax the NHS itself via business rates. It is a fiscal farce—a two-faced assault on healthcare that undermines their own rhetoric. As Conservative Members have mentioned in recent debates, Labour’s obsession with revenue grabs over sensible relief is choking the sectors we need most.

[Robin Swann (South Antrim) (UUP)]

Does the shadow Secretary of State agree that there seems to be a disjointed approach, where the Health Secretary is asking for more healthcare in the community, whereas we will be asking anybody who moves from a central location into the community to pay these additional taxes and rates?

Oral Answers to Questions

Robin Swann Excerpts

Monday 20th January 2025 Commons Chamber

[Matthew Pennycook]

As the hon. Gentleman will know, the previous Government consulted on making short-term lets a different use class, but did not consult on second homes becoming a use class. As part of our wider consideration about the additional powers we might give local authorities, I am more than happy to have a conversation with him. I understand that the pressures in his part of the world are particularly acute because of both second homes and short-term lets.

[Robin Swann (South Antrim) (UUP)]

5. What assessment she has made of the potential impact of the UK shared prosperity fund on local communities in Northern Ireland.

[The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government (Alex Norris)]

The UK shared prosperity fund supports people, businesses and communities across Northern Ireland, and is an important part of this Government’s local growth funding. The Department is committed to evaluating the impact of the fund, including in Northern Ireland. The UKSPF evaluation strategy is a publicly available document setting out our approach, and the Department is committed to publishing ongoing evaluation findings, as they become available.

[Robin Swann]

The voluntary and community sector in Northern Ireland has said that the reduction in shared prosperity funding available in the next financial year, coupled with the increase in employer national insurance contributions, presents a perfect storm at a time when even more is being asked of it. Will the Minister agree to meet me, members of the Northern Ireland Council for Voluntary Action and representatives of the voluntary and community sector to discuss those issues?

[Alex Norris]

We inherited a situation in which the previous Government had not made any money available for that work. I have no doubt that the transition year creates significant challenges for local organisations. I have visited the hon. Gentleman in South Antrim before and met representatives of some organisations, and I would be delighted to do so again.