Tag: Nigel Dodds

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Nigel Dodds on 2015-11-25.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what cooperation arrangements are in place to tackle the potential utilisation of the land border between Northern Ireland and the Irish Republic by Islamist terrorists.

Mr John Hayes

The UK and the Republic of Ireland have long enjoyed a Common Travel Area (CTA) free of routine border controls. However, there are long-established and effective working relationships between the police and intelligence agencies in both the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland to mitigate threats. The Government takes protecting our border security very seriously, and there is also a high level of collaboration on work with the Irish Government on strengthening of CTA’s external border.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Nigel Dodds on 2015-12-10.

To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what recent discussions his Department has had with the Northern Ireland Executive on Small Business Saturday and its benefits to promoting the value of small businesses to the economy.

Anna Soubry

Officials in the department meet with their counterparts in the Northern Ireland Executive on a regular basis, to discuss a range of matters connected to small business, including Small Business Saturday.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Nigel Dodds on 2016-06-07.

To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, if she will estimate the average reduction in electricity bills in Great Britain for households in receipt of the Warm Home Discount Scheme.

Andrea Leadsom

In 2014/15 over 2.1m households received £140 off their electricity bills as a result of the Warm Home Discount.

Under the Industry Initiatives element of the scheme nearly 28,000 households received an average of £548 debt assistance with their energy bills in 2014/15.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Nigel Dodds on 2016-07-06.

To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, what recent discussions she has had with the Police Federation of Northern Ireland on levels of recruitment to the Police Service of Northern Ireland.

Mrs Theresa Villiers

I met representatives from the Police Federation of Northern Ireland (PFNI) in December 2015 to discuss a range of issues. The Parliamentary Under Secretary of State for Northern Ireland also met the PFNI in March 2016.

Levels of recruitment are an operational matter for the Chief Constable of the Police Service of Northern Ireland.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Nigel Dodds on 2015-11-03.

To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what recent discussions he has had with his counterparts in devolved administrations on the merger of income tax and national insurance.

Mr David Gauke

The Scotland Bill introduces significant new powers for the Scottish Government to set income tax rates and thresholds. As recommended by the Smith Commission, National Insurance remains a UK wide contributory system.

The Government is committed to simplifying the tax system. We have asked the Office of Tax Simplification (OTS) to look at alignment of income tax and National Insurance. The terms of reference for the OTS review can be found at: www.gov.uk/government/publications/ots-review-of-income-tax-and-national-insurance-tor. The focus is on looking to simplifying the underlying rules in the way the two charges operate which remain a reserved matter.

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The below Parliamentary question was asked by Nigel Dodds on 2015-11-25.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what discussions the Government has had with the Irish government on the control of foreign nationals entering the Irish Republic who seek to enter the UK from that country.

James Brokenshire

Home Office Ministers and Officials have regular contact with their Irish counterparts; there is excellent government and operational level co-operation. In particular, we are working together to further align our respective border and visa policy processes in order to strengthen the external CTA border.

Immigration Enforcement and Border Force conduct intelligence-led operations to identify and take action against individuals who are seeking to or have entered the UK from the Republic of Ireland without the necessary leave.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Nigel Dodds on 2015-12-16.

To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, how many visits Ministers have made to the Northern Ireland Office in Brussels since 2010.

Mrs Theresa Villiers

I have made one visit to the Northern Ireland Executive office in Brussels.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Nigel Dodds on 2016-06-07.

To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, what recent representations she has received on the extension of the Warm Home Discount Scheme to Northern Ireland.

Andrea Leadsom

During the recent public consultation on the Warm Home Discount Scheme, there were six responses asking for the scheme to be extended to Northern Ireland.

We will publish the response to the consultation as soon as we can.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Nigel Dodds on 2016-09-13.

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what recent assessment he has made of the prospects of talks on North Korea under the Six Party talks format.

Alok Sharma

The UK is not a member of the Six Party talks, but we maintain a close dialogue with all participants, including the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK). Through our bilateral engagement with DPRK we have made clear to the regime that their nuclear and ballistic missile programmes are in violation of United Nations Security Council Resolutions and that the DPRK should return to credible and authentic multilateral talks on denuclearisation. We assess that the resumption of Six Party talks is unlikely given the current situation and only if the DPRK agrees to discuss denuclearisation.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Nigel Dodds on 2015-11-03.

To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, what recent assessment she has made of the performance of the Warm Homes Discount Scheme.

Andrea Leadsom

The Warm Home Discount Scheme helps over 2 million low income and vulnerable households each year and has provided a total of £1.1bn of direct assistance since the scheme began. A detailed review of the Warm Home Discount scheme is due to be completed later this year. The report of this review will be published the New Year.