The Chancellor spoke with the First Minister and deputy First Minister on his second day in office as part of the Government's ongoing engagement with Northern Ireland, and ministers and officials regularly engage with hospitality businesses and representative bodies on issues affecting the sector, including taxation.

Animal and Plant Health Agency (APHA) officers would only dispatch animals by shooting in rare and complex animal welfare cases and during depopulation.

There are no central records of cattle or sheep killed by shooting by APHA for animal welfare reasons in the last 3 years.

The Government is continuing to implement the Safeguarding the Union command paper and to support Northern Ireland's place in the Union.

Part of that commitment is regular meetings of the East-West Council. We intend that the Council will next meet in autumn 2026.

The Government is continuing to implement the Safeguarding the Union command paper and to support Northern Ireland's place in the Union.

Part of that commitment is regular meetings of the East-West Council. The Council last met in January 2026, with representatives from the UK Government and Northern Ireland Executive in attendance.

The wearing of the sgian dubh is permitted where it is being worn as part of a national costume. There are no plans to change this.

However, we are clear that if any bladed or pointed article is used to threaten or harm others, this will be met with the full force of the law.

This strikes the balance between protecting public safety and protecting freedoms.

With the exception of salary paid to the Secretary of State for Defence, and Defence Ministers, it is not possible to identify whether any other direct payments have been made to current or former Members of Parliament as a cohort. Whether the recipient of any type of payment for any reason is a Member of Parliament, is not centrally recorded and could only be provided at disproportionate cost.

The ‘Product regulation: fire safety of domestic upholstered furniture’ consultation sets out proposals to reform the Furniture and Furnishings (Fire) (Safety) Regulations 1988 (FFRs), which set flammability requirements for domestic upholstered furniture. Proposals include ending mandatory open-flame testing, moving to a smoulder-based test consistent with the approaches adopted internationally.

In developing these proposals, the Government considered a wide range of evidence, including comparative international fire data. This shows that while UK fire deaths have declined since the 1980s, this trend has also occurred in other European countries that did not adopt the same flammability testing as the UK.

There have been no detected cases of domestically acquired infestation with Cochliomyia hominivorax in the UK to date.

The Open Book review of the Northern Ireland Executive’s budget identified up to £3.3 billion in potential annual savings and additional spending power.

It is now vital the Executive consider these findings and take the necessary decisions to place its finances on a sustainable footing.

The Secretary of State for Northern Ireland and I are keen to support the Executive in this work, and I have met with the Finance Minister to discuss the budget.

No discussions have taken place at Ministerial level, however Defra and DAERA officials work closely together on a range of biosecurity issues as necessary.

The UK Government is investing £235m to transform public services in Northern Ireland. The Northern Ireland Department of Justice has been allocated a total of £22.64m of this funding, following recommendations from the Public Sector Transformation Board, for two projects:

• £20.45m for “Speeding Up and Transforming the Criminal Justice System” which will reduce delay and maximise efficiencies through more timely engagement between the Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI), as well as the prosecution and defence; and

• £2.19m for “Modernisation of Electronic Monitoring” which will provide a more accurate, real‑time, way to track movement and compliance of individuals who are released into the community, through the introduction of GPS monitoring.

The PSNI will also benefit from the funding for these projects, with 4,000 hours of police time saved in the first year alone.

The provision of Mutual Aid between constabularies in the UK is routine and is coordinated by the National Police Coordination Centre (NPoCC) which is a body of the National Police Chiefs’ Council (NPCC). There is no role for the Secretary of State.

The provision of Mutual Aid between constabularies in the UK is coordinated by the National Police Coordination Centre (NPoCC) which is a body of the National Police Chiefs’ Council (NPCC). There is no role for the Secretary of State.

The host force is strictly liable for all costs associated with the receipt of aid.

The PSNI’s main budget is allocated by the Northern Ireland Department of Justice (DoJ). The UK Government is providing the PSNI with £37.8m in additional security funding each financial year until 2028/29.

Changing the Coastguard Rescue Service operating model was not something which we wanted to do but is a mandated consequence of the Court of Appeal ruling. His Majesty’s Coastguard has 3000+ Coastguard Rescue Officers, all with unique personal circumstances and all potential options for a revised model would have affected individuals differently. After careful consideration of the legal position, operational and organisational implications, and feedback from members, moving to a volunteer model with expenses but not hourly remuneration was the best option to protect the service. Alternative models would have had significant complexities, including impacting people’s ability to serve alongside their primary employment.