Steven Baker: I have stood on the shores of Lough Neagh and been conscious of the condition of that enormous body of water, which is beautiful. The reality is that the responsibility for it is devolved, and we did not have an Executive for a period. We are absolutely delighted that it is back and being carried forward in a constructive spirit. As I say, I will continue to work with Minister Muir. I do not...
Steven Baker: I am most grateful to my right hon. and learned Friend for his question, and I agree with him on the pensions point. On nature-based solutions, I would love to have that conversation with him, perhaps in the Tea Room. It is not my specialist area of expertise, and I am confident that Minister Muir would be interested to hear my right hon. and learned Friend’s ideas. If he wishes to share...
Steven Baker: The Government remain committed to supporting integrated education in Northern Ireland and have already made funds available to support more schools than ever to convert to integrated status. I and my noble Friend Lord Caine look forward to engaging with the new Education Minister, Paul Givan, to make progress on this important issue.
Steven Baker: The House may not know that only 7% of schoolchildren in Northern Ireland can be said to be attending an integrated school, which we would like to see change. The period over which Fresh Start funding was released would have ended at the end of March 2025, so we have repurposed £150 million of that funding to provide additional flexibility to the Northern Ireland Executive in respect of that...
Steven Baker: My right hon. Friend is absolutely right to raise this issue and I am grateful to her for putting it on the agenda. Certainly we will engage with the Executive on this point. She is right to mention revenue raising. It is a fact that the Executive need to both transform public services and improve revenue raising, so that everything in Northern Ireland can be delivered on a sustainable basis.
Steven Baker: I hear the hon. Lady. My right hon. Friend the Secretary of State and I understand people’s concerns and we too have visited schools; I certainly have and I think my right hon. Friend has too.
Steven Baker: I repeat that we have repurposed the money so that it can endure and be available to the Executive to be used for purposes as they decide. If we had not repurposed it, the money would have expired at the end of March next year. I am proud that we have taken the steps necessary, with the Treasury, to enable that money to continue to be available to the Executive. It is for them to decide how...
Steven Baker: The table below summarises the published Civil Service Statistics which includes the number of civil servants who have left the Northern Ireland Office since 2015. The Cabinet Office has recently launched the new Civil Service People Plan 2024 - 2027, which demonstrates our commitment to developing and retaining the key skills the Civil Service needs, both now and in the future. Total...
Steven Baker: My Department collects diversity information in line with its equality duties and the requirements of the Governance Code on Public Appointments for all public appointments set out in the Schedule to the Public Appointments Order in Council. Information collected on appointments and reappointments is published annually by the Cabinet Office in the Public Appointments Data Report and can be...
Steven Baker: The General Register Office within the Northern Ireland Department of Finance is responsible for the administration of marriage and civil partnership law in Northern Ireland. They should be contacted for further information regarding this matter.
Steven Baker: The forecast number of Safety & Security (S&S) declarations includes declarations for those goods which will also be subject to sanitary and phytosanitary (SPS) requirements. The numbers referred to by the Hon Lady are not directly comparable, as a single S&S declaration may correspond with multiple SPS requirements for the same shipment. All goods, including those not subject to SPS...
Steven Baker: The Government published full details of the Border Target Operating Model in August 2023 and the third stage, which involves the single trade window, is scheduled for 30 October, with the arrangements being made by Statutory Instrument rather than primary legislation. The Cabinet Office is considering whether a response to the UK Single Trade Window: Consultation on Features to Inform Design...
Steven Baker: The Government has today laid the Windsor Framework (Implementation) Regulations 2024. The Regulations will enable the Government to give direction to Northern Ireland departments when delivering aspects of the Windsor Framework, and the commitments made in the Safeguarding the Union command paper. These include the requirement to eliminate any physical checks when goods move within the UK...
Steven Baker: While policies on this matter are ultimately devolved to the Northern Ireland Executive, the Secretary of State is committed to continuing to engage with groups across all sectors of society in Northern Ireland to discuss how the UK Government can support them.
Steven Baker: On a point of order, Mr Deputy Speaker. If I may, I will take a moment to recognise that the United Nations has made today International Day to Combat Islamophobia. The Government condemn anti-Muslim hatred, just as we condemn antisemitism and all forms of racism and hatred, and I would like to put on the record that it is a matter of profound regret to us all that people are still judged by...
Steven Baker: The hon. Lady makes a very good case, and I think she knows that the Government have quite a lot of common ground with her policy intent. She may know that officials in the Cabinet Office are preparing for a new national procurement policy statement to set out the Government’s strategic priorities. May I offer her and her task group, as well as my hon. Friend the Member for Colchester...
Steven Baker: I am delighted to serve under your chairmanship, Mr Sharma. Alas, not every debate in the House inspires the same spirit of collegiality and a shared celebration as this one. It is a sign of its quality and pleasure that the hon. Member for Mitcham and Morden (Dame Siobhain McDonagh) has stayed in the Chamber to listen to the rest of it. I am grateful to her for chairing the earlier part. It...
Steven Baker: I beg the hon. Gentleman’s pardon?
Steven Baker: I am so sorry; I do beg the hon. Gentleman’s pardon. I have a temporary Parliamentary Private Secretary, but he has become temporary in more than one way. I apologise to the hon. Gentleman unreservedly, but he made a very good and important speech, and I was grateful to hear it. I have often stood in Northern Ireland looking across to Donegal, and he reminds me that I should visit. The...
Steven Baker: Did I miss it? She mentioned that Kerrygold is packaged in her constituency in Staffordshire, and another example is of course Guinness being packaged in Belfast and Runcorn. The impact of Irish people on UK public life has been profound, and I am very grateful that a number of Members set out how. I was planning to mention two former British Prime Ministers, the Earl of Shelburne and the...
