Lord Weir of Ballyholme

Since Storm Éowyn made landfall, His Majesty’s Government’s focus has rightly been on making sure that requests for support in response to its impacts across the UK, were managed quickly and effectively and delivered to whichever part of the UK they were required. It is too early to say what the financial costs of the impacts of the Storm have been.

The information requested falls under the remit of the UK Statistics Authority.

Please see the letter attached from the National Statistician and Chief Executive of the UK Statistics Authority.

The Lord Weir of Ballyholme

House of Lords

London

SW1A 0PW

29 January 2025

Dear Lord Weir of Ballyholme,

As National Statistician and Chief Executive of the UK Statistics Authority, I am responding to your Parliamentary Question asking what assessment has been made of the financial quantity of trade for businesses dealing with chemical products between Northern Ireland and Great Britain (HL4282).

The Office for National Statistics (ONS) has published interregional trade in goods and services between UK regions at the International Territorial Level 1 (ITL1) geography, by grouped industry for the years 2019 and 2020[1]. The ONS do not currently publish interregional trade estimates for the chemical manufacturing industry, however this industry is estimated as part of the manufacturing industry interregional trade estimates. The manufacturing industry may not capture all businesses dealing with chemical products as industry allocation is based on the main activity of the business and so there will be businesses not in the manufacturing industry that purchase or sell chemical products.

The Northern Ireland Statistics and Research Agency (NISRA) also publish exports and imports between Northern Ireland and Great Britain between businesses in the manufacturing industry[2]. Variations between the ONS’s and NISRA’s estimates are due to methodological differences.

The ONS data on interregional trade within the manufacturing industry between Northern Ireland and Great Britain can be found in Table 1. NISRA data on trade within the manufacturing industry between Northern Ireland and Great Britain can be found in Table 2.

Yours sincerely,

Professor Sir Ian Diamond

Table 1: Interregional total trade, trade in goods and trade in services between Northern Ireland and Great Britain, manufacturing industry, exports and imports, 2019 and 2020.

£ million, current prices

Source: Office for National Statistics

Table 2: NISRA trade in goods and trade in services between Northern Ireland and Great Britain, manufacturing industry, exports and imports, 2016 and 2023.

£ million, current prices

Source: Northern Ireland Statistics and Research Agency

[1]https://www.ons.gov.uk/businessindustryandtrade/internationaltrade/datasets/interregionaltradeingoodsandservicesuk

[2]https://datavis.nisra.gov.uk/economy-and-labour-market/northern-ireland-economic-trade-statistics-2023.html

On Monday 20 January, in recognition of the deeply held and genuine concerns raised by Members of the Northern Ireland Assembly about a specific regulation on Chemical Classification, Labelling and Packaging, the Government set out its commitment to take any future steps necessary to avoid new barriers that would affect supplies of such products into Northern Ireland. This includes applying a consistent regime in this area of regulation across the whole of the UK where that is necessary to do so. We will consult as soon as possible, which will determine what regulatory or legislative changes may be necessary.

The Windsor Framework is not a barrier to trade deals. The United Kingdom has secured trade agreements with 73 countries and territories, plus the EU, while ensuring compliance with the Windsor Framework. These agreements include free trade agreements with Australia and New Zealand, which entered force on 31 May 2023, and the Comprehensive and Progressive Trans-Pacific Partnership, which the United Kingdom joined on 16 July 2023, and which came into effect on 15 December 2024.

The updated GPSR largely formalises the reality of how many businesses are already operating and the measures are therefore likely to have limited impact in practice. However, we understand that for some businesses, the regulation will require changes, and we take any concerns extremely seriously.

We have issued guidance, will keep this under review and continue to engage businesses directly to ensure we are supporting them to trade freely within the UK and with the EU. We have regular discussions with businesses and consumer representatives from across the UK to hear their concerns.

The updated GPSR largely formalises the reality of how many businesses are already operating and the measures are therefore likely to have limited impact in practice. However, we understand that for some businesses, the regulation will require changes, and we take any concerns extremely seriously.

We have issued guidance, will keep this under review and continue to engage businesses directly to ensure we are supporting them to trade freely within the UK and with the EU. We have regular discussions with businesses and consumer representatives from across the UK to hear their concerns.

We have set out in the Action Plan, which was developed by Matt Clifford, our intention to deliver growth across the UK, working with local stakeholders to devise strategies suited to the UK’s regions. We are committed to working in partnership with regional and local authorities on AI Growth Zones. We are already working with devolved administrations and local authorities across the UK, and will continue to do so, to ensure all parts of the UK benefit from the investment in critical AI infrastructure.

Most AI systems should be regulated at the point of use through our existing expert regulators. In response to the Plan, the government will support regulators evaluate their AI capabilities and understand how these can be strengthened. It will also encourage pro-innovation approaches by regulators, with the new Regulatory Innovation Office playing an important role.

This Government, and the previous one, has engaged extensively with a wide range of stakeholders as the policy set out in the Football Governance Bill has developed over the last 3 years. This includes engagement with UEFA.

These discussions have been constructive, and we continue to speak to the relevant football authorities on a regular basis.

Every year, the department uses the schools national funding formula (NFF) to distribute core funding for 5 to 16-year-old pupils (reception to year 11) in respect of mainstream state-funded schools in England. The NFF determines how much funding will be available for schools in each local area. The precise sum received by an individual school is then determined by the local formula set by the appropriate local authority.

In the current NFF, the vast majority of funding is distributed on the basis of pupil numbers and pupils’ characteristics. In 2025/26, 74.2% (£36.0 billion) of the schools NFF has been allocated through basic entitlement funding, which every pupil attracts. A further 17.8% (£8.6 billion) of all funding has been allocated through additional needs factors based on deprivation, low prior attainment, English as an additional language and mobility. Therefore, the amount of additional funding a school attracts through the NFF for each additional pupil depends on the characteristics of that pupil. For example, in 2025/26, every primary age pupil attracts £3,847 in basic entitlement funding but would also attract an additional £495 if they were entitled to free school meals. The factor values for 2025/26 are attached and can be accessed here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/national-funding-formula-for-schools-and-high-needs-2025-to-2026.

Through the dedicated schools grant, we are allocating a national average of £6,466 per pupil in 2025/26 in mainstream schools, compared to £6,330 in 2024/25 (including premises and growth funding). This represents a 2.15% increase per pupil on average in 2025/26 compared to 2024/25.

Education is a devolved matter, and the response outlines the information for England only.

As set out in HM Treasury’s government response to the technical note on applying VAT to private school fees and removing the business rates charitable rate relief, the government estimates that approximately 3,000 pupils will move from private schools to state schools in the 2024/25 academic year. The response can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/vat-on-private-school-fees-removing-the-charitable-rates-relief-for-private-schools.

The government predicts that in the long-term steady state, 37,000 pupils will leave or never enter the UK private school sector as a result of the removal of the VAT exemption applied to school fees. This represents around 6% of the current private school population.

Of those leaving or never entering the private sector, the government estimates an increase of 35,000 pupils in the state sector in the steady state following the VAT policy taking effect, with the other 2,000 either being international pupils who do not move into the UK state system, or domestic pupils moving into homeschooling. This state sector increase represents less than 0.5% of total UK state school pupils, of which there are over 9 million. This movement is expected to take place over several years. Additionally, the government expects approximately 2,900 pupils will move into state schools in England following the business rates policy taking effect.

As such, the impact on the state education system as a whole is expected to be very small.

Local authorities, devolved governments and schools have processes in place to support pupils moving between schools. Children move between and within the private sector and the state-funded sector every year, for a range of reasons.

Education is a devolved matter, and the response outlines information for England only.

The government supports the teaching of Holocaust education by funding teachers’ professional development in this subject through University College London’s Centre for Holocaust Education (CfHE), and the Holocaust Educational Trust’s (HET) Lessons from Auschwitz project, which gives students aged 16 to 18 the opportunity to visit Auschwitz-Birkenau. In the 2024/25 financial year, CfHE will receive £500,000 in government funding, match funded by the Pears Foundation, and HET will receive £2.3 million. Funding for 2025/26 has been committed at broadly the same level.

In addition, a further £2 million funding for Holocaust remembrance and education was committed in the Autumn Budget on 30 October 2024. This will be used to support the ambition set by my right hon. Friend, the Prime Minister, for all students to have the opportunity to hear a recorded survivor testimony. The department is currently exploring how we can support schools to fulfil this ambition.

The government has also committed £7 million to tackle antisemitism in education. £500,000 has already been awarded to the University Jewish Chaplaincy and a £4.15 million procurement is currently being evaluated with delivery commencing from spring 2025. The remaining funding will go towards a future Tackling Antisemitism in Education innovation fund.

As with all programmes, funding for the 2026/27 financial year onwards is subject to the spending review.

Education is a devolved matter, and the response outlines the information for England only.

The government has established an independent Curriculum and Assessment Review, which will be driven by evidence, from the UK and abroad, and a commitment to high standards for all young people.

Education is a devolved matter, and the response outlines the information for England only.

The statutory curriculum for health education requires all pupils in state-maintained schools to be taught the facts about legal and illegal harmful substances and the associated risks to physical and mental wellbeing, including smoking, alcohol use and drug taking. This complements content about substances within the national curriculum for science. Schools can teach about the dangers of taking ketamine in these lessons.

In further education (FE) and higher education (HE) the government works through sector bodies and partner organisations.

The government supports activity by universities, sector bodies and other partners to discourage substance abuse by young people in further and higher education and to raise awareness of the harms of illicit drugs.

For HE, Universities UK set up a Drugs Taskforce that published its recommendations in late 2023. The recommendations are attached and available at the following link: https://www.universitiesuk.ac.uk/sites/default/files/field/downloads/2024-06/Enabling-student-health-and-success.pdf. As autonomous institutions, HE providers are responsible for their own policies in relation to illegal drugs as the government has no remit to intervene.

In FE the Association of Colleges ‘Take back our Streets’ mission works to educate FE students by hosting charity talks on the dangers of drugs and addiction and works with organisations to build students’ trust and confidence in the police. The ‘Take back our Streets’ mission is available here: https://www.aoc.co.uk/news-campaigns-parliament/mission-accepted/mission-three-take-back-our-streets.

Disabled people should be able to travel easily, confidently and with dignity. Ministers and officials have regular conversations with Transport for London on a variety of issues including accessibility of their network. Transport in London is devolved to the Mayor and TfL is responsible for managing the London Underground.

£350m is currently allocated to the Access for All programme until 2028/29. A further £75m programme of works to install platform edge tactile strips on at stations that did not already have them is approaching its completion. These investments are in addition to accessibility enhancements delivered as part of other major projects or industry renewal activities.

Improving health and work outcomes for the over 20 million people with musculoskeletal (MSK) conditions in the UK forms a key part of this government's missions to build an NHS fit for the future and kickstart economic growth.

Healthcare professionals play a vital prevention and early intervention role in supporting people to self-manage their musculoskeletal (MSK) condition and enabling them to get in and get on in work.

The 2025 Healthcare Professionals’ Consensus Statement for action on health and work, published 20 January 2025, commits to work over the next five years to support healthcare professionals, including allied health professionals, to engage more proactively with, and to promote ‘good work as a health outcome’ across the health and care sector. This will support patients, including with MSK conditions, to return and remain in good work.

To support people back into work, the Occupational Health Workforce Expansion Funding Scheme (launched July 2023) funded registered health professionals to undertake occupational health training and qualifications. To date, over 200 doctors and nurses have commenced training.

Government recognises the role complementary and alternative medicine treatments such as chiropractic can play in supporting people. NHS England does not currently support or commission chiropractic care in the NHS.

The Government is committed to ensuring that older people receive the support to which they are entitled. That’s why we are taking significant steps to maximise the take-up of Pension Credit. The Department’s campaign to promote Pension Credit has been running since September and has included TV, radio, social media such as Facebook and Instagram, on YouTube, on advertising screens, including on GP and Post Office screens as well as in the press.

The latest phase of the campaign ran from 8 November and was aimed at friends and family - especially adult children of eligible pensioners - asking them to tell people they know about Pension Credit, encourage them to check their eligibility, as well as help them make a claim.

In November we also wrote to around 120,000 pensioners who were in receipt of Housing Benefit but not Pension Credit. We invited these pensioners to claim Pension Credit in time to make a successful backdated Pension Credit claim and qualify for a Winter Fuel Payment.

In order to promote Pension Credit through as many channels as possible, we have also engaged with key stakeholders and partners, including other government departments, local councils, housing associations, community groups, local libraries and service providers as well as charities and third sector organisations.

Our campaign has seen DWP receive around 150,000 Pension Credit applications in the 16 weeks since the Winter Fuel Payment announcement. This is compared to around 61,300 Pension Credit applications in the 16 weeks preceding the announcement – a 145% increase in applications since the 29 July.

Over the coming weeks, as part of the annual State Pension uprating exercise, around 11 million pensioners will receive a leaflet promoting Pension Credit along with their State Pension uprating letter.

The next iteration of Pension Credit caseload statistics will be released on 18^th February, as part of the DWP Benefits Statistics quarterly release. This will contain data for the period from June 2024 to the end of August 2024.

Following release, the data can also be accessed at Stat-Xplore - Home.

The department estimate that up to 760,000 families who were entitled to receive Pension Credit did not claim the benefit in the financial year ending 2023. Further details can be found at Income-related benefits: estimates of take-up: financial year ending 2023 - GOV.UK.

The department estimates that the legislation to means-test Winter Fuel Payments would generate a net saving of £1.3 billion in England and Wales for 2024/25. This reflects an expected increase in Pension Credit take-up, estimated at five percentage points. This assumption reduced the overall saving by £0.3 billion in 2024-25 in England and Wales, but there is significant uncertainty around this element of the costing. For further details, please see Economic and fiscal outlook – CP 1169.

The National Institute of Health and Care Excellence (NICE) published guidance in 2019 that recommended cerliponase alfa, brand name Brineura, for treating neuronal ceroid lipofuscinosis type 2, within a managed access agreement. This was due to the uncertainty in the evidence base, particularly around the long-term clinical benefits and assumptions about disease stabilisation.

During this period of managed access, cerliponase alfa has been available to eligible patients while further data was collected to address the clinical uncertainties. The NICE is now carrying out a new evaluation of cerliponase alfa to determine whether it can be recommended for routine National Health Service funding, taking account of the real-world evidence collected during the managed access period. If this evaluation shows that the treatment is a clinically effective and cost-effective use of NHS resources, it will be recommended for routine use in the NHS. All parties are working together to ensure a conclusion to the ongoing evaluation as swiftly as possible.

The National Institute of Health and Care Excellence (NICE) published guidance in 2019 that recommended cerliponase alfa, brand name Brineura, for treating neuronal ceroid lipofuscinosis type 2, within a managed access agreement. This was due to the uncertainty in the evidence base, particularly around the long-term clinical benefits and assumptions about disease stabilisation.

During this period of managed access, cerliponase alfa has been available to eligible patients while further data was collected to address the clinical uncertainties. The NICE is now carrying out a new evaluation of cerliponase alfa to determine whether it can be recommended for routine National Health Service funding, taking account of the real-world evidence collected during the managed access period. If this evaluation shows that the treatment is a clinically effective and cost-effective use of NHS resources, it will be recommended for routine use in the NHS. All parties are working together to ensure a conclusion to the ongoing evaluation as swiftly as possible.

The Department takes the threat of ketamine and other drugs seriously, and is working with partners across Government to respond to existing and new drug threats, and to reduce and prevent the health harms. We are committed to ensuring that anyone with a drug problem can access the help and support they need. We know that drug treatment is protective, and the number of places in treatment for people who use drugs, other than opiates, is being increased by 30,000.

The Government has a drug information and advice service called Talk to FRANK, which aims to reduce drug misuse and its harms by increasing awareness, particularly for young people and parents. FRANK offers easy to read information on the risks of using ketamine and mixing it with other substances, and basic harm reduction advice.

The Office for Health Improvement and Disparities (OHID) has developed a briefing on ketamine for local areas, many of which are already mobilising in response to local need. The OHID also commissions drug education materials to be used by schools in personal, social, health, and economic education.

The UK Government's future bilateral Official Development Assistance (ODA) funding strategy and country level allocations will be determined through the forthcoming Spending Review. Parliament will be informed of the bilateral country budget allocations in the normal way when the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) Annual Report and accounts are laid before Parliament. The Minister for the Middle East is determined that all allocations within the Middle East will support the Foreign Secretary's priorities to prevent conflict, support stability, and lift vulnerable people out of crisis. The UK continues to do all we can to address humanitarian need, ensuring we mobilise sufficient support to respond to crises. This financial year we are providing over 70 per cent of our bilateral aid budget for the Middle East and North Africa on humanitarian aid to support the most vulnerable across the Middle East, and most recently on 20 January The Minister for the Middle East announced a £5 million uplift in humanitarian aid to Yemen, supporting nearly 900,000 people to buy food and provide vital supplies for 700 health facilities. We continue to work closely with the UN and other partners to increase the amount of humanitarian aid going into Gaza, under the terms of the ceasefire agreement, and in Syria, following the fall of the Assad regime, to push for an immediate surge of humanitarian assistance.

The UK will continue engaging, at the highest levels, to enable early recovery and reconstruction. A step change will be needed to get goods and materials in at the required pace and scale and allow civil society and international organisations to work. Early recovery is crucial to lay the groundwork for inclusive Palestinian governance in Gaza. Civil society-led recovery will support re-establishment of local order and preserve the space for future Palestinian Authority (PA) governance.

We are funding two roles in the PA's Recovery, Reconstruction and Development team. We have already begun convening partners on the financing and coordination of recovery and reconstruction, to promote coherent and effective donor support. Given the immense scale of needs, we are exploring how to scale up financing mechanisms for reconstruction. A sustainable recovery needs sustainable financial flows.

The UK has now announced £112 million for the Occupied Palestinian Territories this financial year, including £41 million for the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA), providing vital services to civilians in Gaza, the West Bank, and Palestinian refugees across the region delivered through partner agencies. This includes healthcare delivery. As part of this total, since July 2024 we have announced £5.5 million for UK-Med to operate field hospitals in Gaza, £6 million for UNICEF to support vulnerable families in Gaza by restoring water supply and sanitation systems, in addition to £1 million to support the Egyptian Ministry of Health to care for medically evacuated Palestinians, and £6 million to both United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs and the World Food Programme to support lifesaving health, food, water, sanitation and protection services for Palestinians. Our funding to UK-Med has allowed them to treat over 300,000 people since the start of the conflict.

The UK has now announced £112 million for the Occupied Palestinian Territories this financial year, including £41 million for the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA), providing vital services to civilians in Gaza, the West Bank, and Palestinian refugees across the region delivered through partner agencies. This includes healthcare delivery. As part of this total, since July 2024 we have announced £5.5 million for UK-Med to operate field hospitals in Gaza, £6 million for UNICEF to support vulnerable families in Gaza by restoring water supply and sanitation systems, in addition to £1 million to support the Egyptian Ministry of Health to care for medically evacuated Palestinians, and £6 million to both United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs and the World Food Programme to support lifesaving health, food, water, sanitation and protection services for Palestinians. Our funding to UK-Med has allowed them to treat over 300,000 people since the start of the conflict.

Since the start of the conflict, we have provided £5.5 million in funding to UK-Med, enabling it to provide vital care to over 300,000 Gazans, including critical limb and life-saving surgeries, physiotherapy, and rehabilitation. The UK also supported delivery of the Polio vaccination campaign, both through advocacy and our core funding to the Global Polio Eradication Initiative (GPEI), protecting thousands of vulnerable children across Gaza. We have pressed Israel at senior levels to urgently improve healthcare provision, including significantly increasing medical supplies, and to establish sustained, safe and timely passage for patients who need medical or surgical interventions not available in Gaza.

The UK Government recognises the significant impact that severe weather events can have on communities across the country and pays tribute to the incredible efforts of all those involved in the response to Storm Éowyn.

Responding to weather events in their respective nations is one of the responsibilities of the devolved governments but the UK Government has provided operational support to the Northern Ireland Executive following the damage caused by Storm Éowyn. Officials from across the UK Government have been working hard, including with industry partners, to provide the practical support needed to speed up the recovery effort in Northern Ireland. Additional staff have been redeployed to Northern Ireland, alongside helicopters, drones, generators, and replacement parts from stockpiles in other parts of the UK. The UK Government is continuing to work closely with the Executive to understand the scale of the damage and support the recovery efforts in Northern Ireland.

As part of the NATO Status of Forces Agreement (SOFA), visiting NATO personnel have access to Visiting Forces Relief (VFR), for example the VAT free purchase scheme which provides relief on goods and services to US personnel in the UK. VFR is a reciprocal agreement, only available to the NATO Forces visiting another country and not to those of the Host Nation.

The Government greatly values the contribution of our serving military personnel. The Ministry of Defence has increased the funding allocated to the Continuity of Education Allowance (CEA) to account for the impact of any private school fee increases on the proportion of fees covered by the CEA in line with how the allowance normally operates.

The estimated revenue from the introduction of VAT on private school fees, as set out at Autumn Budget 2024, is as follows:

The assumptions and methodology used for this costing are set out in the Annex to the Summary of Responses to the Technical Note on Applying VAT to Private School Fees, published alongside the Budget.

As stated in the policy paper published at Budget, alongside the revenue raised, this policy will result in some additional costs on state schools due to pupil moves. Based on average 2024 to 2025 per-pupil spending in England, the government expects the revenue costs of pupils entering the state sector as a result of the VAT policy across the UK to steadily increase to a peak of around £270 million per annum after several years.

Overall, this means that expected revenue will substantially outweigh additional cost pressures. The funding raised by this measure will help deliver the government’s commitments relating to education and young people.

The Office for Budget Responsibility has certified the government’s costing of this policy.

The estimated revenue from the introduction of VAT on private school fees, as set out at Autumn Budget 2024, is as follows:

The assumptions and methodology used for this costing are set out in the Annex to the Summary of Responses to the Technical Note on Applying VAT to Private School Fees, published alongside the Budget.

As stated in the policy paper published at Budget, alongside the revenue raised, this policy will result in some additional costs on state schools due to pupil moves. Based on average 2024 to 2025 per-pupil spending in England, the government expects the revenue costs of pupils entering the state sector as a result of the VAT policy across the UK to steadily increase to a peak of around £270 million per annum after several years.

Overall, this means that expected revenue will substantially outweigh additional cost pressures. The funding raised by this measure will help deliver the government’s commitments relating to education and young people.

The Office for Budget Responsibility has certified the government’s costing of this policy.

At the Budget, the Chancellor provided funding to the public sector to support them with the additional cost associated with changes to employer National Insurance Contributions.

The devolved governments will receive funding through the Barnett formula in the usual way in 2025-26.

Devolved government settlements are growing in real terms in 2025-26 and are the largest settlements in real terms of any since devolution. Overall, the devolved governments receive at least 20% more funding per person than equivalent UK Government spending in the rest of the UK. That translates into over £16 billion more in 2025-26.