Question to the Northern Ireland Office:

To ask His Majesty's Government how public safety in Northern Ireland will be secured in the absence of Ministers in the Northern Ireland Executive.

The Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI) continues to work to keep the people of Northern Ireland safe. The Police Ombudsman of Northern Ireland and the Northern Ireland Policing Board remain in place and provide independent oversight of the PSNI.

Ongoing work by the PSNI and security partners means that most people in Northern Ireland are not directly affected by the SUBSTANTIAL terrorist threat. Where terrorism and paramilitary style attacks endure, so too will our efforts to tackle them.

The Secretary of State for Northern Ireland will be introducing legislation to provide a short, straightforward extension to the period for Executive formation. This creates the time and space needed for talks between the UK and EU to develop and for the Northern Ireland parties to work together to restore the devolved institutions as soon as possible. The legislation will also enable Northern Ireland Departments to support public service delivery in the absence of Ministers.