Question to the Northern Ireland Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, with reference to the Safeguarding the Union Command Paper, what steps he has taken to ensure the Independent Monitoring Committee is independent from Government.

The Windsor Framework Independent Monitoring Panel consists of independent experts who have been appointed in accordance with the Safeguarding the Union command paper.

The Panel will report to the UK Government bi-yearly and on the basis set out in the command paper. As part of this, I refer the Hon Gentleman to my Written Ministerial Statement (UIN HCWS463) of 24 February 2025.

Panellists are not employees of the UK Government and do not receive remuneration for this role. A Secretariat is provided by the UK Government to the Panel in accordance with paragraph 160 of the command paper.