Question to the Northern Ireland Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, for what reason the Government has provided ring-fenced funding for abortion services in Northern Ireland.

The UK Government has a clear statutory duty under section 9 of the Northern Ireland (Executive Formation etc.) Act 2019 to ensure that the recommendations in the Report of the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination Against Women (“the CEDAW Report”), are implemented in Northern Ireland.

The Government’s strong preference has always been for the Northern Ireland Department of Health to take responsibility for providing and funding abortion services.

Regrettably, the Department of Health failed to commission and fund abortion services in line with the framework set out in the Abortion (Northern Ireland) (No. 2) Regulations 2020, despite being under a statutory obligation to do so since July 2021. The UK Government was left with no option but to commission services and ensure that funding is available to enable Health and Social Care Trusts to recruit and train staff to support the development of high-quality and sustainable services.

It remains the responsibility of the Northern Ireland Executive to fund abortion services in Northern Ireland. The UK Government will continue to ensure funding is made available until the Department of Health takes full responsibility for the provision of that funding.