Question to the Northern Ireland Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, if he will hold discussions with the Treasury on the potential merits of providing additional funding for the Connect Fund for the 2027-2029 period

The Connect Fund has achieved significant success, as evidenced by its oversubscription in every funding round held to date. Consequently, a total of 46 projects were supported through Rounds 1 and 2.

To address this sustained demand, the Northern Ireland Office has approved two additional funding rounds: Round 3 (FY 27/28) with an allocation of £500,000, and Round 4 (FY 28/29) with an increased allocation of £1,000,000.