The NI Office (Northern Ireland Office) has published a statement by Secretary of State for Northern Ireland Chris Heaton-Harris on the Northern Ireland Executive Formation Deadline. The NI Office has said that the deadline to elect a speaker to the Northern Ireland Assembly and put an Executive in place has now passed, and the Secretary of State is now subject to a legal duty to call an Assembly election. In his statement, Heaton-Harris has said that ‘urgent action… is required to address a whole range of issues facing Northern Ireland’. He has said that he intends to introduce new legislation which will ‘take a pragmatic, appropriate and limited approach to addressing the Executive Formation period and support Northern Ireland Departments to manage the… challenges they face in stabilising public services and finances’.

The Northern Ireland (NI) Office has published a statement from the Secretary of State, Chris Heaton-Harris MP, in relation to public sector strikes taking place across Northern Ireland. In the statement, Heaton-Harris has said that the UK government has offered a package worth over £3bn to address public sector pay. However, Heaton-Harris goes onto say that this package has not been taken up as the Northern Irish Assembly has not yet been able to elect a Speaker and Northern Ireland Executive.

1 See Nuclear Installations Act 1965 2 Nuclear Industry Association: The trade association and representative voice of Britain’s civil nuclear industry. It represents more than 270 companies including the operators and vendors of nuclear power stations, those engaged in decommissioning, waste management, nuclear liabilities management and all aspects of the nuclear fuel cycle, nuclear equipment suppliers, engineering and construction firms, nuclear research organisations, and legal, financial and consultancy companies. http://www.niauk.org/

The Northern Irish Assembly (NIA) has debated and voted on whether EU regulation 2023/2411 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 18 October 2023 on the protection of geographical indications for craft and industrial products and amending regulations (EU) 2017/1001 and (EU) 2019/1753 should be added to the Windsor Framework by the UK and the EU within the Joint Committee in accordance with article 13(4) of that Framework. The motion failed to secure cross-community consent and was accordingly negatived. This is the first time the NIA has considered whether a new EU regulation should apply in Northern Ireland (NI). A key argument made for the adoption of the regulations was that by allowing substantial expansion of EU intellectual property law to apply in NI, this would offer unique protections that could help to sell and protect Northern Irish products and in turn would provide local producers with recognition and a ‘leg-up’ in the European single market. However, some members were concerned that by adopting the legislation this would create a new regulatory border between NI and the UK, which could lead to new checks at ports and non-compliant products being removed from the local market, potentially limiting choice and increasing costs. The implication of this failed motion means that the UK government cannot now agree to the regulations applying in Northern Ireland unless they believe exceptionally that doing so is justified, and that the new EU law would not create a new internal UK regulatory border. If the UK and EU are unable to reach agreement on the way forward in the Withdrawal Agreement Joint Committee, then the EU will be entitled in due course to notify the UK that it is taking remedial measures.

The Northern Ireland Affairs Committee (NIAC) Chair, Sir Robert Buckland, has written a letter to the Northern Ireland Secretary, Chris Heaton-Harris, outlining concerns over the potential implications for Northern Ireland if the UK left the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR). The issues raised include: the withdrawal breaching the Belfast Agreement and Good Friday Agreement, the impact on cross-border criminal investigations and the practical implications for policing. The letter states that ‘if the UK were to withdraw from the ECHR it would have a detrimental impact on Northern Ireland.’

The Northern Ireland Affairs Committee (NIAC) has published a report recommending changes to Northern Ireland's (NI) public service funding mechanisms amid a continuing crisis affecting health, education, and justice systems. The report calls for the Block Grant baseline from 2026-2027 to be calculated according to assessed need. NIAC urged the UK Government and the Northern Ireland Executive to establish a Fiscal Framework that would create a pathway towards further fiscal devolution. This initiative is intended to improve the delivery of public services by focusing on long-term funding solutions rather than continued reliance on short-term funding arrangements.

Nuclear Industry Airwave Signal

The Nuclear Industry Council

The National Infrastructure Commission (NIC) has published its Infrastructure Progress Review report for 2024 which looks at progress within the sector over the last year and sets out areas to prioritise over the next five years. The report identified digital network deployment as an area that has made positive progress, with the government on track to deliver 85% gigabit capable broadband coverage by 2025, and revisions to national policy statements for energy, national networks and water resources. The report also identified areas that have not developed positively, such as late changes to heating policies which created uncertainty and reduced incentives to transition to renewable heat sources, and the government’s cancellation of the second leg of HS2, inhibiting economic growth in the regions affected.

The Chair of the National Infrastructure Commission (NIC), Sir John Armitt, has written a letter to the Chief Secretary to the Treasury, the Rt Hon Darren Jones MP, outlining the NIC's plan to support the government's upcoming ten-year infrastructure strategy, scheduled for publication in spring 2025. The NIC will conduct supplementary analysis in critical areas, including the role of transport in fostering economic growth, optimising public investment programmes, developing an effective infrastructure pipeline, integrating strategic and spatial planning, and flood risk management. In addition, the NIC will conduct a government-commissioned study on electricity distribution networks to ensure they can meet future demand. This work will build on recommendations from the NIC’s second National Infrastructure Assessment, aiming to align with key government priorities such as housing delivery, net zero targets, and industrial strategy objectives.

The National Infrastructure Commission (NIC) has published a baseline report, containing the key topics it will consider in its next major assessment of the UK’s long term infrastructure priorities. This will be published in 2023, following analysis of the current performance of key sectors. Its priorities will include: identifying the infrastructure needed for hydrogen and carbon capture and storage to decarbonise parts of the economy; improving recycling rates; and the long term investment needs for surface transport within and between cities and towns. The NIC has also launched a call for evidence designed to support the NIC in its 2023 assessment. The deadline for submissions is 4 February 2022.

This Practice Note outlines the role of the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE), explains the NICE clinical guidelines and provides examples of how to search and use those guidelines in practice. What is the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence and what does it do? The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) is an executive non-departmental public body established by the Health and Social Care Act 2012. It was originally established in 1999 as the National Institute for Clinical Excellence and in 2005 became NICE. NICE provides guidance to health, public health and social care practitioners and commissioners, develops quality standards and provides information services across health and social care. There are three main areas in which NICE provides guidance, namely technology appraisals, clinical guidance and interventional procedures. What is NICE clinical guidance? NICE clinical guidance is comprised of evidence-based recommendations to help improve and develop the diagnosis and treatment of specific diseases and conditions. The guidance covers a wide range of conditions including cardiovascular, cancer, ear, nose, throat, eye,