Tag: Lord Empey

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Empey on 2015-11-04.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what communications they have had with the Northern Ireland Executive about the establishment of City Deals in Northern Ireland.

Lord Dunlop

The Government communicates with the Northern Ireland Executive frequently on a wide range of issues.

The Economic Pact between the Executive and the Government was modelled on some of the approaches the Government takes with City Deals but many of the policies included in City Deals in Great Britain are devolved in Northern Ireland and are the responsibility of the Executive.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Empey on 2016-03-01.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what discussions they have had with the EU, UN, and Interpol with regard to the pursuit of criminal gangs that exploit refugees and migrants in Europe.

Lord Bates

The Government takes a system-wide approach to tackling organised immigration crime and we are working with international partners to smash the criminal gangs that are fuelling this terrible trade in people. The UK has been at the forefront of calls in the EU for a robust approach to tackling organised immigration crime, including through Europol and encouraging all Member States to contribute intelligence to its Joint Operations Team Mare initiative.

In June 2015 the Prime Minister announced the creation of the Organised Immigration Crime Taskforce bringing together officers from the National Crime Agency, Border Force, Immigration Enforcement and the Crown Prosecution Service to exploit every opportunity at source, in transit countries and in Europe to tackle organised crime groups criminal operations. The Taskforce funding was subsequently expanded in November 2015 to increase resources to 100 dedicated officers until 2020. The Taskforce is working with international partners actively sharing intelligence and progressing criminal investigations.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Empey on 2016-05-19.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they have agreed the reduction to the Block Grant for the Northern Ireland Executive as a result of the decision to introduce a lower rate of Corporation Tax in Northern Ireland from April 2018, and if so, what is the new Block Grant figure.

Lord O’Neill of Gatley

In 2015 the government legislated to make a lower Northern Ireland Corporation Tax rate possible. The Northern Ireland Executive are committed to introducing a rate of 12.5%, to be introduced in 2018.

Now Northern Ireland’s own political leaders must press on with the reforms necessary to put the Executive’s finances on the sustainable footing required to complete Corporation Tax devolution.

As set out in the Stormont House Agreement, the Executive would then meet the direct and behavioural costs of any reduction in corporation tax in Northern Ireland, and we are continuing to work with the Executive on the funding arrangements which would deliver this outcome.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Empey on 2016-09-15.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what financial or other assistance they are making available to the Palestinian territories currently governed by the State of Israel.

Baroness Anelay of St Johns

DFID provided £72 million in financial year 2015/16 in support of Palestinian development to help build Palestinian institutions, deliver basic services and promote economic development.

As the Secretary of State has recently taken up her new role, she is conducting a full examination of our work in the Occupied Palestinian Territories (OPTs) to ensure UK taxpayers’ money is spent in the right places and in the right way.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Empey on 2015-11-20.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government how much was deducted from the Northern Ireland Executive’s budget in 2014–15 and 2015–16 due to its failure to implement welfare reforms.

Lord O’Neill of Gatley

As a result of the delays in implementing welfare reform in the Northern Ireland Assembly, the Northern Ireland Executive’s budget was reduced by £87m in 2014-15 and £114m in 2015-16 to reflect the additional costs to the Exchequer of the existing welfare system.

As a part of the ‘Fresh Start’ agreement to facilitate the implementation of the Stormont House Agreement, the government committed to returning a proportion of the deduction for 2015-16 when the Assembly gave legislative consent for the Northern Ireland (Welfare Reform) Act 2015. This will be added to the Executive’s allocations in 2016-17 and 2017-18.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Empey on 2016-03-01.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what is the age range and gender of the unaccompanied children currently resident in the refugee camps in northern France who are expressing a desire to come to the UK.

Lord Bates

The Government does not hold that information. However, Home Office migration statistics show that for all unaccompanied asylum seeker children applications in 2015, 62% were aged 16 or 17 at time of application, 26% were 14 or 15, and 8% were under 14. In this country the obligations under the Children Act mean that anyone aged under 18 will be taken into local authority care as a result of those duties.

Both Her Majesty’s Government and the French Government are clear that anyone who wants to claim asylum and has close family connections in the UK should first lodge a claim in France so they can be considered for reunification under the Dublin regulations. This is the best way to ensure these vulnerable children receive the protection and support they need and the quickest way to reunite them with any close family members in the UK where appropriate.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Empey on 2016-06-08.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what are the current borrowing limits imposed on (1) the Scottish Parliament, (2) the National Assembly for Wales, and (3) the Northern Ireland Assembly.

Lord O’Neill of Gatley

The Scotland Act 2014 permits the Scottish Government to borrow up to £2.2 billion for capital purposes and £0.5 billion to cover shortfalls in cash receipts. The Scotland Act 2016 provides for these to be revised in due course to £3bn and £1.75bn respectively.

The Welsh Government may borrow up to £500 million to cover shortfalls in the Welsh Consolidated Fund as set out in the Government of Wales Act 2006. The Wales Act 2014 confers aggregate capital borrowing powers of up to £500 million on the Welsh Government. In response to a specific request from the Welsh Government, the Government has also provided early access to these capital borrowing powers in order to support the delivery of the M4 relief road.

The Northern Ireland Executive has a statutory borrowing limit of £3 billion for capital purposes as set out in the Northern Ireland (Loans) Act 1975 as amended by the Northern Ireland (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 2006. The Northern Ireland Executive may borrow up to £250 million to cover shortfalls in the Northern Ireland Consolidated Fund as set out in the Northern Ireland Act 1998.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Empey on 2016-09-15.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of companies investing in projects located in the Palestinian territories currently governed by the State of Israel.

Lord Price

The Government’s Palestinian Market Development Programme (PMDP) works with Palestinian companies to improve their competitiveness and ability to attract investment and create jobs. PMDP also supports the Palestinian Investment Promotion Agency (PIPA) to deliver better services to potential investors including UK investors. PIPA offers a package of incentives to investors.

PMDP provides technical assistance to support the Palestinian Ministry of National Economy to improve the environment for trade and investment, and is working on an initiative to encourage UK businesses to outsource business in the Occupied Palestinian Territories, especially in the IT outsourcing sector.

No specific assessment has been made of companies investing in the Occupied Palestinian Territories (OPTs), or those parts of the West Bank, known as ‘Area C’, under full Israeli security and administrative control.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Empey on 2015-11-20.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government by how much they estimate the budget of the Northern Ireland Executive will be reduced annually as a consequence of the decision to introduce a reduced rate of Corporation Tax in Northern Ireland in 2018–19.

Lord O’Neill of Gatley

The government is committed to devolving corporation tax powers as provided for by the Corporation Tax (Northern Ireland) Act 2015, if the Northern Ireland parties meet their commitments in the Stormont House Agreement. This includes the Northern Ireland Executive demonstrating that its finances are on a sustainable footing for the long term.

The government is working closely with the Executive to agree a fair adjustment to the block grant covering both the direct and behavioural effects of devolution. Ultimately, however, the impact on the Executive’s budget will depend on the rate set by the Northern Ireland Assembly.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Empey on 2016-03-01.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of the part played by people traffickers in the arrival in northern France of large numbers of refugees and migrants seeking access to the UK.

Lord Bates

We are deeply concerned by the migration crisis in Europe. We believe that organised criminal gangs are operating in and around the camps in Northern France and fuelling organised immigration crime. We are working closely with our French counterparts through the Joint Operational Command and Control Centre which includes intelligence sharing and developing the intelligence picture and we will continue to assess this crime type.

In addition, the UK has provided specific financial assistance to fund a project aimed at protecting the most vulnerable people in the camps, agreed in the UK-France Declaration of August 2015. This project is setup to identify vulnerable people in the camps in Calais and is being delivered by a French non-Government organisation, France Terre D’Asile. It seeks to identify potential victims of trafficking and exploitation (including children), and direct them to existing protection, support and advice within France. The UK has contributed £530,000 (€750,000) towards the costs of this project.