Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, if he will take steps to ensure that representatives from the Executive Office in Northern Ireland who attend meetings of the Joint Consultative Working Group are briefed on the House of Lords European Affairs Committee report entitled The Windsor Framework, published on 25 July 2023.

The UK Government regularly engages with Northern Ireland officials on a range of issues, including with those who are part of the UK delegation at the Joint Consultative Working Group. While it is not for the UK Government to determine what reports or other materials Northern Ireland officials should consider, I [Minister Docherty] am of course happy to ensure that UK Government officials offer to brief their counterparts on the Committee's report of 25 July. Of course, were Northern Ireland power sharing arrangements operating as they should be, Executive ministers would be able to instruct their officials to request such briefings.