Written questions by Campbell.

Innovation and Technology, Pursuant to the Answer of 10 February 2025 to Question 28458 on Life Sciences: Northern Ireland, what the geographical spread was of the projects that received funding up to the summer of 2024.

The Life and Health Sciences Launchpad in Northern Ireland has so far funded 32 business-led projects. These were in the following local authorities:Armagh City, Banbridge and Craigavon (1 project)Antrim and Newtownabbey (1 project)Ards and North Down (1 project)Belfast (18 projects)Causeway Coast and Glens (1 project)Derry City and Strabane (2 project)Lisburn and Castlereagh (3 projects)Mid Ulster (2 projects)Mid and East Antrim (3 projects)

How many people were identified as not being in possession of a valid Electronic Travel Authorisation in Northern Ireland in the first two months since its introduction.

Electronic travel authorisations were introduced in October 2023 to enhance our ability to screen travellers upstream, and stop those who pose a threat from travelling to the United Kingdom. They were more recently expanded to eligible non-European nationals (in November 2024) and Europeans (on 5 March this year). The Home Office will provide regular updates in the months and years ahead on how the ETA requirement is being implemented and enforced.

Pursuant to the Answer of 12 March 2025 to Question 36365 on HM Coastguard: North West, if she will take steps to distribute copies of the (a) assessments and (b) consequent service level changes to relevant stakeholders.

HM Coastguard would not normally share any documentation relating to operational decisions pertaining to the capability and capacity of Coastal Response Teams. HM Coastguard does however proactively engage with all relevant local partners when there is a change to Coastal Response Teams operational skillset. HM Coastguard remains available to re-engage with any stakeholder that has a concern relative to Coastal Response Team operations. Further, HM Coastguard has never entered into a service level agreement with City of Derry airport, for the provision of mud rescue capability. An internal review of HM Coastguard Mud Rescue capability concluded that the changes would not impact on the statutory role of search and rescue. This includes the mobilisation, organisation and tasking of adequate resources to respond to persons in distress in the air, at sea, in tidal waters or at risk of injury or death on the sea cliffs and shoreline of the UK.

When the Financial Conduct Authority will publish revised guidance on politically exposed persons under the Money Laundering and Terrorist Financing (Amendment) Regulations 2023.

The Government has been working closely with the FCA to follow up on the findings of its review into the treatment of Politically Exposed Persons by financial institutions, and to ensure firms improve their practices where necessary. The FCA expects that the revised guidance will be published and brought into effect in the first half of 2025.

What steps she is taking to help reduce road (a) deaths and (b) serious injuries among young people.

The Government treats road safety seriously, and we are committed to reducing the numbers of those killed and injured on our roads. My department is developing our road safety strategy and will set out more details in due course. Road safety is devolved to Northern Ireland (as well as to Wales and Scotland).

What assessment he has made of the potential impact of the maritime decarbonisation plan on the UK economy by 2029.

We will shortly set out our next steps for reducing shipping emissions in a forthcoming maritime decarbonisation plan, which will include a package of policy and regulatory measures. Maritime has a key role to play in supporting the Governments missions, including to Kickstart Economic Growth, and our plans will ensure that we seize the green growth opportunity of maritime decarbonisation, whilst limiting any impacts to business. We will publish an impact assessment and consult the industry on individual measures, and economic impacts will form part of these assessments.

If she will make an assessment of the number of publicly accessible electric vehicle charging points per hundred thousand people in (a) England, (b) Scotland, (c) Wales, and (d) Northern Ireland on 1 December 2024.

The number of publicly available electric vehicle charging devices per 100,000 population by country of the UK is published as part of the department’s quarterly electric vehicle public charging infrastructure statistics. These statistics are published quarterly so an equivalent summary as of 1 December 2024 is not available. Data as of 1 January 2025 is given in the table below: CountryCharging devices per 100,000 populationEngland111.0Wales99.9Scotland112.7Northern Ireland35.6

If she will make an assessment of the adequacy of tax reliefs provided to charities who work in both Northern Ireland and the Irish Republic, but are physically based in Northern Ireland and constituted in the Irish Republic.

The UK tax regime for charities is among the most generous in the world with tax reliefs for charities and their donors worth over £6 billion for the tax year to April 2024. In March 2023, the UK Government announced that from April 2024 charitable tax reliefs would be restricted to UK-based charities. This means that, to be eligible for UK charity reliefs, a charity must fall under the jurisdiction of the High Court in England and Wales, Northern Ireland, or the Court of Session in Scotland. This can be achieved through registration with one of the UK charity Commissions or HMRC. Such a charity can continue to support charitable causes in both Northern Ireland and the Irish Republic.

What the value was of (a) exports and (b) imports between the UK and Ireland in (i) 2019 and (ii) 2024.

The information requested falls under the remit of the UK Statistics Authority. A response to the Hon gentleman or lady Parliamentary Question of 12th March is attached.

What the total amount paid per week is to people who have started claiming Pension Credit since the changes to the eligibility criteria for the Winter Fuel Payment were announced.

The latest available data shows that, for all Pension Credit recipients, at August 2024, the average weekly amount of Pension Credit paid was £83.01. (Source: Stat-Xplore). The next iteration of the DWP Benefit Statistics publication has a provisional release date of 13 May 2025 which will include data up to November 2024 and will be published on Stat-Xplore. DWP benefits statistics: May 2025 - Accredited official statistics announcement - GOV.UK.

Pursuant to the Answer of 23 January 2025 to Question 23268 on State Retirement Pensions, what information her Department holds on the number of people who are (a) eligible for the Category D pension payment and (b) live in the UK who have not yet applied for the pension.

DWP is responsible for the State Pension administered in Great Britain while the Department for Communities is responsible for the State Pension administered in Northern Ireland. As of the quarter ending August 2024, there were a total of 89,360 people in receipt of the Category D pension payment. This represents 87,938 people in Great Britain and 1,418 overseas. Source: DWP Stat-Xplore Please note that numbers do not sum due to rounding. No estimate is available for those living in the UK who have not yet applied for the Category D pension. Those who are ordinarily resident in Great Britain on their 80th birthday and who meet the required residency conditions will receive the increase automatically without having to make a claim if their basic State Pension is less than £101.55 a week (£105.70 from April 2025). Those who are getting no State Pension at age 80 or who get Graduated Retirement Benefit only, will need to make a claim.

Whether she made an assessment of the potential impact of relocating HM Coastguard's mud rescue capability from Coleraine to Bangor on the (a) North Coast and (b) North West.

An operational assessment of the impact of relocating HM Coastguard’s mud rescue capability from Coleraine, including the impact on the (a) North Coast and (b) North-West was undertaken both at Area and Divisional level.

Pursuant to the Answer of 13 January 2025 to Question 22254 on Pension Credit, how many new applications for Pension Credit were (a) made and (b) approved between 10 September 2024 and 10 February 2025.

On 27th February we published Pension Credit applications and award statistics. This publication provides application volumes up to 23 February 2025. This information can be found at Pension Credit Applications - February 2025

Whether he plans to amend the monitoring, analysis and reporting arrangements system for dealing with people who have been convicted of terror-related offences after their release from prison.

The Multi Agency Review Arrangements (MARA) are a devolved matter, led and co-ordinated by the Department of Justice. MARA makes provision for classification of and risk management of Terrorist Risk Offenders following their release from prison. Any changes to MARA would be a matter for the Department of Justice. Individuals released under the Northern Ireland (Sentences) Act 1998 are not managed under MARA, unless they are subject to other sentences which bring them within the MARA arrangements. I am not planning any changes to the arrangements under the Northern Ireland (Sentences) Act 1998.

Pursuant to the Answer of 11 February 2025 to Question 29418 on NATO: Finance, if he will have discussions with his NATO counterparts on the role of non-NATO countries with land borders with NATO countries in dealing with international threats.

We regularly discuss with Allies efforts to secure peace, security, and stability in the Euro-Atlantic area. NATO works with numerous partners in Europe to build up their capabilities, deepen interoperability, and strengthen resilience. NATO has formal partnerships with 36 countries, many of which share a border with the Alliance. We are committed to stepping up support to partners most at risk from Russian aggression, so they are better able to protect their own sovereignty.

Pursuant to the Answer of 27 February 2025 to Question 32942 on Northern Ireland: Investment, what estimate he has made of the private sector investment in addition to the fund.

The British Business Bank periodically publishes updated milestone figures on the Nations and Regions Investment Funds. Updated figures for the Investment Fund for Northern Ireland will be published by the end of Q2, which will include private sector investment.

How many (a) Electronic Travel Authorisations (ETA) were issued and (b) persons were identified as having visited the UK without a valid ETA between 8 January and 8 February 2025.

The Home Office publishes data on Electronic Travel Authorisations (ETAs) in the ‘Immigration System Statistics Quarterly release’. Data on outcomes of ETAs are published in table ‘ETA_D02’ of the Detailed Electronic Travel Authorisation dataset. Information on how to use the dataset can be found in the ‘Notes’ page of the workbook. Data covers up to the end of 2024.Information on future Home Office statistical release dates can be found in the ‘Research and statistics calendar’.The requested information is not held in a reportable format. To provide this information for the purpose of answering this question would incur disproportionate cost.

Media and Sport, what discussions she has had with the BBC Board on the airing of the documentary entitled Gaza - How to survive a warzone.

It is essential that the BBC maintains the highest standards of reporting and governance that the public rightly expects. As set out her response to a recent Urgent Parliamentary Question, the Culture Secretary has spoken to the BBC Director General and expressed deep concern about the issues around their recent documentary on Gaza, and pressed for answers on the checks and due diligence that the BBC carried out. The Culture Secretary also subsequently discussed this matter with the BBC Chair where she sought assurances that no stone will be left unturned by the fact-finding review.While she appreciates that the BBC apologised for its failings, and the BBC Board acknowledged that the mistakes were “significant and damaging”, it is vital that the BBC now takes action so that trust is restored and a serious error of this magnitude is not repeated.Following requests, the BBC has provided the Secretary of State with further information on their approach to enhanced compliance procedures, and the Secretary of State will update Parliament in due course.

Pursuant to the Answer of 24 February to Question 29416 on Investment: Northern Ireland, how much of the funding already deployed is from the private sector; and over what period he expects the total amount to be spent.

The £10 million already deployed is solely from the fund, private sector investment is in addition to that. The fund expects to deploy the £70m over 5 years, until November 2028.

What assessment he has made of the potential merits of making atropine eye drops available on the NHS for pre-myopic children.

Decisions on whether medicines should be routinely funded by the National Health Service are for integrated care systems, considering relevant national guidance where available, including from the National Institute of Health and Care Excellence (NICE). NICE is currently considering whether to develop guidance for the NHS on the use of low-dose atropine eye drops for treating myopia in children aged between three and 14 years old through its established prioritisation process.