Since July 2024, my Department has made several appointments of individuals from outside the civil service to public bodies and advisory roles.

Appointments made by the Northern Ireland Office generally fall within three categories: Public Appointments regulated by the Commissioner for Public Appointments, Unregulated Public Appointments and Direct Ministerial Appointments.

Regulated appointments follow the strict processes set out in the Governance Code on Public Appointments, while Direct Ministerial Appointments are made to provide short-term advisory functions, bringing specialist external expertise directly to Ministers.

In line with our transparency obligations, all such appointments are factually recorded and announced publicly on the Northern Ireland Office GOV.UK page:

https://www.gov.uk/government/organisations/northern-ireland-office

Appointments made since July 2024 are as follows:

Regulated Public Appointments:

Equality Commission for Northern Ireland

Nazia Latif was appointed as Commissioner on 1 September 2024.

Geraldine McGahey was reappointed as Chief Commissioner from 1 March 2025.

Maureen Brunt, Siobhan Cullen, Ellen Finlay, Monica Fitzpatrick, John McAllister and Preeti Yellamaty were reappointed as Commissioners and Harry Robinson was appointed as Commissioner, with each to commence from 1 June 2025.

Stephen Matthews and Lisa Caldwell were reappointed as Commissioners from 1 March 2026.

A short term extension to the appointment of Neil Anderson as Deputy Chief Commissioner was announced with effect from 1 March 2026.

Kevin Doherty was appointed as a Commissioner with effect from 5 March 2026.

Colin Kennedy was appointed as a Deputy Chief Commissioner with effect from 1 September 2026.

Kristel Miller was appointed as a Commissioner with effect from 1 September 2026.

Northern Ireland Human Rights Commission

Mairead Holder was appointed as Commissioner on 1 September 2024.

Northern Ireland Office Non-Executive Board Member

Fiona Ross was reappointed as a Non-Executive Director to the Northern Ireland Office on 1 March 2026.

A short term extension to the appointment of Les Philpott as Lead Non-Executive Director to the NIO was announced with effect from 30 September 2026.

Unregulated Public Appointments:

Civil Service Commissioners for Northern Ireland

David MacAnulty and Donald Leeson were appointed as Civil Service Commissioners for Northern Ireland with effect from 1 October 2025.

NI Veterans Commissioner's Office Commissioner Reappointment

David Johnstone was reappointed to a second term with effect from 1 September 2026.

Independent Reporting Commission

John McBurney, Mitchell Reis and Monica McWilliams had their appointments as Commissioners extended with effect from 1 October 2026.

Direct Ministerial Appointments:

Robert Hamill Inquiry

Sir John Evans was appointed as Chair on 7 October 2024.

Intertrade UK

Baroness Arlene Foster was appointed as Chair, and Dr Esmond Birnie, Kirsty McManus, Suzanne Wylie, Roger Pollen and Angela McGowan were appointed as Members on 28 February 2025.

Board of the International Fund for Ireland

Jointly appointed with the Irish Government, Shona McCarthy was appointed as Chair, alongside board members Janet McConkey, Katy Hayward, Angila Chada, and Bill Pauley on 1 March 2025. Anne Conaghan and Anne Carr were also reappointed to the Board on 1 March 2025.

Independent Expert Advisory Panel - Official History of UK Government Policy during the Troubles

Lord Paul Bew, Professor Caoimhe Nic Dháibhéid, Professor Henry Patterson, Professor Richard Bourke, Professor Helen Parr and Professor Ian McBride were appointed the independent expert advisory panel to make recommendations on key details of this project in April 2025.

Patrick Finucane Inquiry

Sir Gary Hickinbottom was appointed as Chair and Baroness Nuala O’Loan and Francesca Del Mese were appointed as Assessors on 13 June 2025.

Independent Expert on Paramilitary Group Transition to Disbandment

Fleur Ravensbergen was appointed on 23 September 2025, in a joint appointment with the Irish Minister for Justice, Home Affairs and Migration.

All appointments listed above have been published on the Northern Ireland Office GOV.UK page. Further details on all public and direct ministerial appointments are regularly published.

HMRC is responsible for enforcing the ban on imports of oil products refined in third countries from Russian-origin crude oil and investigating suspected offences.

HMRC uses a variety of proven methods to detect sanctions breaches, including: risk and intelligence-based checks on goods imported to the UK, auditing businesses involved in the trade of goods subject to sanctions; and collecting actionable intelligence from domestic and international law enforcement partners and the intelligence community.

Importers of diesel and jet fuel may be requested to present evidence of a good's supply chain. In some cases, HMRC officials may require the production of further information relating to the goods.

By convening an annual Joint Committee, the UK-Faroes FTA provides an effective channel for UK officials from the Department for Business and Trade (in collaboration with other relevant government departments), to review a range of issues with the Faroe Islands. These include animal welfare, which was indeed raised by the UK at the latest Joint Committee, held on 3 June 2026 in London. The Government does and will continue to advocate for the end of all cetacean hunting in the Faroe Islands at every appropriate opportunity.

Some time soon.

In recent years, UK Export Finance (UKEF) has supported several major infrastructure projects in Turkey, collaborating closely with Turkish contractors. This has enhanced Turkish contractors' awareness of the UK supply chain and has provided a strong base for implementing third-country collaboration between the two countries. UKEF has a Country Head based in Türkiye who can consider appropriate projects for potential UKEF engagement.

UKEF has a reinsurance agreement with Turk Eximbank to strengthen commercial cooperation by co-financing projects in third countries, combining financial support from both the UK and Türkiye to help British and Turkish exporters secure major global contracts.

UKEF is supporting UK and Turkish contractors to deliver deals around the world, including in Ukraine, Iraq, Serbia and Belgium.

UKEF recently co-hosted a project showcase event in London with 10 Turkish engineering, procurement and construction businesses to present global opportunities for the UK supply chain across a range of sectors such as building airports, bridges and rail projects.

In recent years, UK Export Finance (UKEF) has supported several major infrastructure projects in Turkey, collaborating closely with Turkish contractors. This has enhanced Turkish contractors' awareness of the UK supply chain and has provided a strong base for implementing third-country collaboration between the two countries. UKEF has a Country Head based in Türkiye who can consider appropriate projects for potential UKEF engagement.

UKEF has a reinsurance agreement with Turk Eximbank to strengthen commercial cooperation by co-financing projects in third countries, combining financial support from both the UK and Türkiye to help British and Turkish exporters secure major global contracts.

UKEF is supporting UK and Turkish contractors to deliver deals around the world, including in Ukraine, Iraq, Serbia and Belgium.

UKEF recently co-hosted a project showcase event in London with 10 Turkish engineering, procurement and construction businesses to present global opportunities for the UK supply chain across a range of sectors such as building airports, bridges and rail projects.

The Department for Business and Trade has not made a specific estimate of the economic value to UK exporters attributable solely to Türkiye's role as a transit corridor.

Goods take varied trade routes globally, including between the EU and Central Asia and the Middle East. Overland through Türkiye is one, and a number of major airlines passing through Türkiye also carry cargo. The value to the UK of trade flows will vary due to commercial factors at any one time.

As I told the House and the Business and Trade Select Committee, we are actively considering a ban on trade with and from the illegal settlements, but we have not commissioned such research.

Goods originating from illegal Israeli settlements are not entitled to tariff preferences under the UK–Israel Trade and Partnership Agreement. To ensure goods were not produced in any non-eligible settlement, HMRC requires importers claiming preference to make a legal declaration stating the goods’ origin. Where HMRC is not satisfied that the requirements are met, preferential tariff is denied and proportionate compliance action is taken (warning letters first, followed by monetary civil penalties).

HMRC takes an intelligence-led approach to verify the origin of goods but does not provide specific details regarding checks, as it may serve to undermine enforcement and compliance activities.

The UK Government also encourages accurate labelling of goods to avoid misleading consumers and promote transparency.

At the 8^th Joint Economic and Trade Committee (JETCO) in London on 8^th January 2026, the Secretary of State highlighted the UK’s continued commitment to partnership on UK–Türkiye cooperation in third-country markets before opening a separate discussion at a business roundtable to explore further opportunities for cooperation with Turkish counterparts. On his behalf, Sir Chris Bryant also focussed his exchanges with Turkish counterparts and relevant businesses on third-country cooperation (at the Turkish Contractors Association Construction Summit in Ankara) during the minister's most recent visit to Turkey on 16^th June 2026.

We take very seriously any allegations of UK military equipment ending up in Sudan in breach of the UK arms embargo. However, after extensive assessment, we have found no evidence of UK weapons or ammunition being used in Sudan.

We keep all our licensing decisions under close review, and we reviewed over 3,000 current and historic licences in recent months, considering any destinations where there are allegations of diversion to Sudan. We have not found any that required suspension or revocation.

Between 2021-2025, there were 29 refusals for Standard Individual Export Licences (SIELs) for the UAE, the majority of which were under Criteria 7 of the UK’s Strategic Export Licensing Criteria, which considers risk of diversion.

On 20 May 2026, the UK introduced a new sanctions package to further target Russian revenues and degrade its ability to wage its illegal war in Ukraine and for the first time processed oil products refined from Russian crude in third countries have been banned. The UK Government published an Impact Assessment alongside the Russia (Sanctions) (EU Exit) (Amendment) Regulations 2026, available on legislation.gov.uk.

Alongside this, a general trade licence, including for jet fuel processed in third countries from Russian crude, was issued to support a managed and phased implementation of complex restrictions, and to provide targeted, temporary flexibility to safeguard UK energy supply and global market stability.

The Government will continue to review the licence every two weeks. This involves continually assessing its impact on energy supply, market conditions and other relevant considerations, against our objective to revoke the licence as soon as is practicable. As part of this process, we have since set an end date of 1 January 2027.

The Secretary of State will consider each application for a trade licence on a case-by-case basis, with key consideration given to whether the proposed activity is consistent with the purposes of the sanctions as specified in Regulation 4 of the Russia (Sanctions) (EU Exit) Regulations 2019. The Secretary of State must act within the statutory framework Parliament has approved, the licensing power is exercised in a targeted and proportionate way.

The UK remains the only country to have secured a 10% tariff for automotives within quota - saving hundreds of millions of pounds on UK exports annually.

We will continue to engage with the US Administration, and with the UK autos industry, on how we can best deliver for them.

Supporting the sector remains a priority for this Government, and we will keep industry informed to support business planning and future investment decisions.

The UK's landmark economic deal with the US will protect thousands of jobs, support key British industries, and help drive economic growth.

No. An overview of the purpose of all ministerial meetings, rather than the minutes of meetings is provided as part of the transparency returns on GOV.UK.

Contrary to the implication of the question, through negotiations on the Economic Prosperity Deal (EPD), the UK is the only country to have achieved a 10% tariff for autos within quota, a 0% tariff for pharmaceuticals and a preferential 25% tariff on core steel and aluminium exports.

Furthermore, in April, President Trump announced the removal of tariffs on UK whisky exports, which is worth around £1bn each year.

Discussions on the EPD are ongoing, and the UK continues to engage with the US administration at all levels, working to benefit UK exporters.

We do not normally publish the details of non-legally binding agreements with other countries, including MoUs.

Officials work closely with HMRC, who are responsible for administrating the steel trade measures, but neither I nor any other Minister in this department has had direct discussions with HMRC on this.

This Government engages closely with businesses across the steel supply chain and will actively monitor implementation of the steel trade measure to ensure it operates as intended and remains responsible to emerging evidence and stakeholder feedback. To date, the department has not been informed that any delays at UK ports are attributed to the introduction of this measure.

We will continue engaging regularly across the supply chain, while working closely with HMRC to ensure effective the implementation and enforcement of the measure.

The Government has committed to reviewing the measure after 12 months to ensure it remains effective and proportionate.

We have designed the measure to strike the right balance for UK industry, strengthening protection for domestic producers while allowing a necessary volume of imports into the UK.

We have set quota levels to reflect the specific needs of the UK steel sector, calibrated against the UK’s production capability, capacity and demand levels and reflecting market conditions.

We will continue to monitor the measure, including the quota utilisation rates, and review it after 12 months.

This steel trade measure has been carefully designed to take account of UK industry needs, and to ensure continued supply of necessary imports to meet these aims.

An Explanatory Memorandum accompanying the relevant legislation was published on 30 June, setting out the expected impacts of this measure on different types of businesses.

We have engaged with downstream industries and will continue to do so as the measure is implemented. We will continue to monitor the measure and review it after 12 months.

The review has been completed and Government is considering its findings. We will publish the review and set out our plans soon.