Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:

To ask Her Majesty's Government which parts of the Subsidy Control Bill are not intended to apply to Northern Ireland because of the Protocol on Ireland/Northern Ireland.

Clause 48(2)(a) provides that the subsidy control requirements contained in the Bill do not apply to subsidies given, or schemes made, in accordance with Article 10 of the Northern Ireland Protocol.

Article 10 of the Northern Ireland Protocol provides that EU State aid rules continue to apply to aid which affects trade in goods and electricity between NI and the EU.

All parts of the Subsidy Control Bill apply to subsidies for services in Northern Ireland.

The Government is currently in intensive discussions with the EU, with the aim of delivering significant changes to the Protocol. As outlined in the Command Paper of 21 July 2021, the UK’s proposal is that all types of subsidy would in the future be within scope of the domestic regime, with some enhanced arrangements for subsidies of significant scale in Northern Ireland.