Asked by: Robin Swann (Ulster Unionist Party - South Antrim)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, with reference to the Farming Profitability Review, which stakeholders in Northern Ireland gave evidence to the Review.
Answered by Angela Eagle - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Under the Terms of Reference, Baroness Batters’s Farming Profitability Review is an England-only review. Baroness Batters wrote an open letter to stakeholders and received responses from organisations that represent farmers in Northern Ireland. This included Northern Ireland-specific organisations, and organisations covering the whole of the UK. The department is considering her recommendations carefully.
Asked by: Robin Swann (Ulster Unionist Party - South Antrim)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, pursuant to the Answer of 4 November 2025 to Question 85623 on Bovine Tuberculosis: Vaccination, for what reason Northern Ireland was not included in the marketing authorisation.
Answered by Angela Eagle - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
To maintain Northern Ireland’s full access to the EU’s single market, from 1 January 2026, the movement of veterinary medicines into Northern Ireland must comply with relevant EU rules under the Windsor Framework. This includes the current EU-wide prohibition on the use of the bovine tuberculosis vaccine in cattle.
Asked by: Robin Swann (Ulster Unionist Party - South Antrim)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, pursuant to the Answer of 23 October 2025 to Question 81693 on General Practitioners: Insurance, answered on 12th October 2025, how many GPs are covered under the professional indemnity insurance; and what the cost to the public purse of this insurance was in the last 12 months.
Answered by Zubir Ahmed - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The cost to the public purse of the state clinical indemnity schemes, such as the Clinical Negligence Scheme for General Practice and the Existing Liabilities Scheme for General Practice, for 2024/2025 is outlined in NHS Resolution’s corporate accounts, which are available at the following link:
https://resolution.nhs.uk/about/corporate-reports-and-publications/
State funded schemes for clinical indemnity cover general practice (GP) activities under National Health Service contracts, such as the General Medical Services contact, the Personal Medical Services contact, and the Alternative Provider Medical Services contact. Costs incurred under the state funded clinical indemnity schemes therefore include GPs, practice nurses, and other staff carrying out activities in connection with GP activities under NHS contracts. We do not hold information on these costs which are disaggregated by GPs.
Asked by: Robin Swann (Ulster Unionist Party - South Antrim)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment she made of the potential merits of reducing Corporation Tax in Northern Ireland.
Answered by Dan Tomlinson - Exchequer Secretary (HM Treasury)
This is a matter for the NI Executive. The 2014 Stormont House Agreement between the UK Government and the Northern Ireland Executive agreed, in principle, for the power to set the rate of Corporation Tax in Northern Ireland on certain trading profits to be devolved to the Northern Ireland Assembly.
The Agreement set out that the Executive would need to formally request the power to change the Corporation Tax rate in Northern Ireland. The Executive would also need to demonstrate that its finances were on a sustainable footing, and that the Executive’s block grant would need to be adjusted to reflect the Corporation Tax revenues foregone if the devolved power were exercised.
Asked by: Robin Swann (Ulster Unionist Party - South Antrim)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether the cattle vaccine against bovine tuberculosis undergoing Phase 3 trials by the Animal and Plant Health Agency will be available in Northern Ireland.
Answered by Angela Eagle - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The field trials and the cattle vaccine will not be available in Northern Ireland. Defra and the Animal and Plant Health Agency are only seeking marketing authorisation in Great Britain at this stage.
Asked by: Robin Swann (Ulster Unionist Party - South Antrim)
Question to the Northern Ireland Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, pursuant to the Answer of 27 October 2025 to Question 84511 on Business: Northern Ireland, of the £235 million ring-fenced transformation funding (a) how much has been allocated to each Northern Ireland Department and (b) what is the time scale for future allocations before the funding is withdrawn.
Answered by Hilary Benn - Secretary of State for Northern Ireland
A full breakdown of the funds allocated through the Transformation Fund is available via the Department of Finance’s website:
Annual Profiling of Transformation Projects
The Public Sector Transformation Board is currently considering further transformation bids from departments with the aim of making recommendations to the Northern Ireland Executive on the allocation of remaining funds in the months ahead.
Asked by: Robin Swann (Ulster Unionist Party - South Antrim)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, pursuant to the Answer of 27 October 2025 to Question 83992 on Defence: Northern Ireland, did the officials in the Northern Ireland Executive include (a) the Northern Ireland Economy Minister and (b) officials from the Department of the Economy in Northern Ireland.
Answered by Luke Pollard - Minister of State (Ministry of Defence)
Ministry of Defence officials have engaged several stakeholders in Northern Ireland regarding the proposed Defence Growth Deal that was announced in the Defence Industrial Strategy. This has included officials in the Department for Economy and the Executive Office.
Asked by: Robin Swann (Ulster Unionist Party - South Antrim)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, pursuant to the Answer of 20 October 2025 to Question 80771 on Defence: Industry, whether he has had decisions with (a) the Northern Ireland Economy Minister and (b) Invest Northern Ireland on the Northern Ireland Defence Growth Deal.
Answered by Luke Pollard - Minister of State (Ministry of Defence)
Ministry of Defence officials have engaged several stakeholders in Northern Ireland regarding the proposed Defence Growth Deal that was announced in the Defence Industrial Strategy. This has included officials in the Northern Ireland Executive as well as industry and academia. Engagement on the development of the growth deal will continue over the coming months.
Asked by: Robin Swann (Ulster Unionist Party - South Antrim)
Question to the Northern Ireland Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, what recent discussions he has had with the Northern Ireland Executive on the Transformation Fund.
Answered by Hilary Benn - Secretary of State for Northern Ireland
The Northern Ireland Office, and Ministers, regularly engage with the Northern Ireland Executive on the Transformation Fund. In particular, through its membership of the Public Sector Transformation Board whose role is to advise and make recommendations on how to use the £235m ring-fenced transformation funding.
Work is on going to identify and allocate remaining funds to further transformative projects in the months ahead.
Asked by: Robin Swann (Ulster Unionist Party - South Antrim)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, whether he has had discussions with the Minister for the Economy in Northern Ireland on the inclusion of businesses in Northern Ireland in UK Government trade talks with Israel.
Answered by Chris Bryant - Minister of State (Department for Business and Trade)
The UK Government is responsible for negotiating international trade agreements on behalf of all the nations and regions in the UK. DBT understands that the devolved governments have a significant interest in international trade policy and works closely with them to deliver policy that reflects the interests of all parts of the UK.
The UK Government, however, suspended trade negotiations with Israel on 20th May, owing to the actions of this Israeli Government in Gaza and the West Bank. It will take a sustained shift in the positions of this Israeli government for the UK to consider restarting the FTA negotiations.