Written Answers

Shailesh responds to Written Questions from back bench MPs.

136119 - Northern Ireland Office: Cybercrime (Answered)

24th April 2018

Jon Trickett
To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, what discussions she has had with key infrastructure providers on the steps they are taking to protect themselves from cyber-attack.

Mr Shailesh Vara

Government Departments and the National Cyber Security Centre have regular discussions with key infrastructure providers on their management of cyber risk.

136202 - Mr Laurence Robertson - 17-Apr-2018 (Answered)

23rd April 2018

Mr Laurence Robertson
To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, what recent estimate she has made of the proportion of pupils attending integrated schools in Northern Ireland.

Mr Shailesh Vara

The Government is committed to supporting shared and integrated education in Northern Ireland, as demonstrated by the £500 million dedicated funding allocated under the Stormont House and Fresh Start Agreements.

135501 - Northern Ireland Office: Public Expenditure (Answered)

20th April 2018

Tom Brake
To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, with reference to the Written Statement of 13 March 2018, Spring Statement, HCWS 540, if he will publish a list of where the £0.4 million in EU exit funding for his Department will be allocated.

Mr Shailesh Vara

135590 - Northern Ireland Office: Recruitment (Answered)

20th April 2018

Ben Lake
To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, what her Department's implementation plan is for banning the box on job applications.

Mr Shailesh Vara

The Department uses the recruitment services of the Ministry of Justice who implemented banning the box on job applications in October 2016.

135703 - Northern Ireland Office: Living Wage (Answered)

20th April 2018

Frank Field
To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, how many (a) direct employees, (b) agency staff and (c) outsourced staff working for (i) her Department and (ii) agencies of her Department are paid less than the living wage, as defined by the Living Wage Foundation.

Mr Shailesh Vara

135784 - Northern Ireland Office: Travellers (Answered)

20th April 2018

Kate Green
To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, with reference to the oral contribution of the Minister for the Cabinet Office and Paymaster General of 2 November 2016, Official Report, column 879, what progress his Department has made in using the 2011 census classifications that differentiate Gypsies and Travellers.

Mr Shailesh Vara

135785 - Northern Ireland Office: Travellers (Answered)

20th April 2018

Kate Green

136275 - Electronic Voting: Northern Ireland (Answered)

20th April 2018

Nigel Dodds
To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, whether her Department has assessed the viability of online voting in Northern Ireland elections.

Mr Shailesh Vara

The Government made a firm commitment in its 2017 manifesto to retain the traditional method of voting by pencil and paper.

135585 - Northern Ireland Office: Recruitment (Answered)

20th April 2018

Ben Lake
To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, what proportion of job roles advertised within her Department in (a) 2016 and (b) 2017 excluded the box under the Ban the Box initiative.

Mr Shailesh Vara

134427 - Northern Ireland Office: Official Hospitality (Answered)

16th April 2018

Deidre Brock
To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, how much money her Department has spent on hospitality in each of the last five years.

Mr Shailesh Vara

My Department has spent the following on hospitality in each of the last five years;

2013/14 - £67,492

2014/15 - £53,769

2015/16 - £34,841

2016/17 - £59,755

2017/18 - £94,085

134488 - Northern Ireland Office: Cambridge Analytica and SCL Group (Answered)

16th April 2018

Neil Gray
To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, whether her Department or any of its agencies or associated bodies has had contracts with SCL group or Cambridge Analytica.

Mr Shailesh Vara

Neither my Department or any of its associated bodies has had contracts with SCL Group or Cambridge Analytica.

134660 - GCSE: Agriculture and Land Use (Answered)

16th April 2018

Julian Sturdy
To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, how many schools offered a GCSE in Agriculture and Land Use in 2017.

Mr Shailesh Vara

Education policy is a devolved matter in Northern Ireland and the information requested is not held by the Northern Ireland Office.

134659 - GCSE: Agriculture and Land Use (Answered)

16th April 2018

Julian Sturdy
To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, how many students took a GCSE in Agriculture and Land Use in each of the last three years.

Mr Shailesh Vara

Education policy is a devolved matter in Northern Ireland and the information requested is not held by the Northern Ireland Office.

132652 - Roads: Belfast (Answered)

3rd April 2018

David Simpson
To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, whether the Government plans to release the funding for the Yorkgate Interchange project.

Mr Shailesh Vara

132723 - Public Expenditure: Northern Ireland (Answered)

3rd April 2018

Lady Hermon
To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, pursuant to her oral contribution of 12 March 2018, Official Report, columns 641 to 642, whether she plans to set the budget for Northern Ireland through an Order-in-Council; and if she will make a statement.

Mr Shailesh Vara

133043 - Children: Day Care (Answered)

3rd April 2018

Angela Rayner
To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, pursuant to the oral contribution of the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions of 13 March 2018, Official Report, column 768, what plans she has to discuss with Northern Ireland political parties the roll out of childcare support in Northern Ireland similar to 30 hours of funded childcare in England.

Mr Shailesh Vara

133612 - Northern Ireland Office: Buildings (Answered)

3rd April 2018

Jon Trickett
To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, pursuant to the Answer of 20 March 2018 to Question 132223, on Northern Ireland Office: Buildings, what the annual cost to the public purse is of the use of each of those sites by her Department.

Mr Shailesh Vara

The annual cost to the public purse of the use of the buildings identified in the previous answer to question 132223 is shown below:

134268 - Hillsborough Castle (Answered)

29th March 2018

Tommy Sheppard
To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, how much has been spent on repairs to Hillsborough Castle in each of the past 10 years.

Mr Shailesh Vara

Expenditure on repairs to Hillsborough Castle in each of the past 10 years is shown below:

10-11

11-12

12-13

13-14

134267 - Hillsborough Castle (Answered)

29th March 2018

Tommy Sheppard
To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, how much funding has been allocated to Historic Royal Palaces for the (a) management, (b) maintenance, and (c) running of Hillsborough Castle in each year since 2014.

Mr Shailesh Vara

The funding allocated to Historic Royal Palaces in each year since 2014 for expenditure at Hillsborough Castle is shown below:

Expenditure

134099 - Northern Ireland Office: Cambridge Analytica and SCL Group (Answered)

28th March 2018

Dr Philippa Whitford
To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, whether she has met with representatives of (a) SCL Group or (b) Cambridge Analytica.

Mr Shailesh Vara

Departments publish quarterly details of Ministers’ meetings with external organisations on GOV.UK. These can be found at the following link:

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications