This publication contains the written answers to questions tabled by Members. The content of the responses is as received at the time from the relevant Minister or representative of the Assembly Commission and has not been subject to the official reporting process or changed in any way.
NORTHERN IRELAND ASSEMBLY
Friday 05 October 2007
Written Answers to Questions
Office of the First Minister and deputy First Minister
Agriculture and Rural Development
Culture, Arts and Leisure
Education
Employment and Learning
Enterprise , Trade and Investment
Environment
Finance and Personnel
Health, Social Services and Public Safety
Regional Development
Social Development
Assembly Commission
Office of the First Minister and deputy First Minister
Sustainable Development Strategy
Mr Pat Ramsey asked the Office of the First Minister and Deputy First Minister if it will make a statement confirming the Executive's commitment to targets set out in the Sustainable Development Strategy for Northern Ireland.
(AQW 119/08)
The First Minister and deputy First Minister (Rt Hon Dr Paisley and Mr McGuinness): We are fully committed to the overall principles contained in the Sustainable Development Strategy for Northern Ireland. They are also considering, along with Executive colleagues, how best sustainable development can be taken into account in the forthcoming Programme for Government.
In developing a further Implementation Plan to cover the period 2008-11, we will wish to review carefully the targets contained in the Sustainable Development Strategy to ensure that they are still appropriate.
European Directives
Mr Stephen Moutray asked the Office of the First Minister and Deputy First Minister what assessment it has made of the way in which other countries have (i) implemented European Directives on equality; and (ii) legislated on equality issues, over the last five years; and to outline how this has informed the implementation of European Directives in Northern Ireland.
(AQW 137/08)
Rt Hon Dr Paisley and Mr McGuinness: OFMDFM has not conducted a formal assessment of the way other countries have implemented EU Directives on equality or legislated on equality issues. Each Member State has an obligation under EU law to implement EU Directives. Failure to implement will lead to infraction proceedings and the imposition of fines until implementation is achieved in full. Given that equality is a devolved matter, it is the responsibility of the devolved administration to bring forward legislation to implement EU Equality Directives.
Comprehensive Spending Review
Mr Gregory Campbell asked the Office of the First Minister and Deputy First Minister to outline how it will ensure that each Government Department addresses poverty and social exclusion within its Comprehensive Spending Review bid, as outlined in the 'Lifetime Opportunities' Anti-Poverty and Social Inclusion Strategy for Northern Ireland, and in anticipation of the Programme for Government.
(AQW 204/08)
Rt Hon Dr Paisley and Mr McGuinness: We, and our Department, are determined to properly address poverty and social inclusion. ‘Lifetime Opportunities’ has not yet been formally adopted by the Executive Committee. Section 16 of the Northern Ireland St Andrews Agreement Act 2006 places a statutory obligation on the Northern Ireland Executive Committee to adopt a strategy setting out how it proposes to tackle poverty, social exclusion and patterns of deprivation based on objective need. This process has already begun and proposals are currently being prepared at official level with a view to the Executive Committee considering the adoption of an Anti-poverty and Social Inclusion Strategy later this year.
Part of that process will be the consideration by the Executive of how in the implementation of an agreed strategy, tackling poverty and social exclusion will be prioritised within the public expenditure and Programme for Government planning process.
Lifetime Opportunities
Mrs Dolores Kelly asked the Office of the First Minister and Deputy First Minister what assessment it has made of Northern Ireland's progress towards the targets contained in the 'Lifetime Opportunities' document, published by the Secretary of State in November 2006.
(AQW 524/08)
Rt Hon Dr Paisley and Mr McGuinness: Section 16 of the Northern Ireland St Andrews Agreement Act 2006 places a statutory obligation on the Northern Ireland Executive Committee, to adopt a strategy setting out how it proposes to tackle poverty, social exclusion and patterns of deprivation based on objective need.
The process to obtain Executive Committee agreement on an anti-poverty strategy has begun. Proposals are currently being cleared at official level, with a view to the Executive Committee considering the adoption of an agreed strategy later this year.
Considerations will inevitably include an assessment of the implementation of a strategy as well as examining the adequacy of existing targets in ensuring that major goals and objectives within the adopted strategy can be achieved.
No formal assessment of progress made towards targets currently outlined in ‘Lifetime Opportunities’ therefore has yet occurred.
Agriculture and Rural Development
Rural Development Council
Mr Allan Bresland asked the Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development to outline the role of the Rural Development Council in relation to the delivery of the new Rural Development Programme.
(AQW 301/08)
The Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development (Ms Gildernew): There will be no formal role for the Rural Development Council (RDC) in relation to delivery of the new Rural Development Programme.
DARD funding for the RDC expires in March 2009 after which the RDC will become an independent voluntary organisation.
The delivery of an element of the new Rural Development Programme will be based on the LEADER methodology of "bottom up" working and will involve self defining Council clusters working in partnership with new Local Action Groups (LAGs). The Council clusters will establish the LAGs by way of an open call, and, together with LAGs, will be responsible for developing a strategy that will meet the needs of the area.
Tullaghoge Fort
Mr Patsy McGlone asked the Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development if she will ensure that no land surrounding Tullaghoge Fort will be disposed of by her department, if it is required for the future development of this historic monument.
(AQW 320/08)
Ms Gildernew: My Department is working closely with the Environment and Heritage Service (Department of the Environment) and Cookstown District Council regarding their land requirements to safeguard the future of Tullaghoge Fort and to facilitate public access to it. No firm decision has been taken on the future of any land not transferred to Department of the Environment and Cookstown District Council for this purpose
Dogs (Amendment) Act (Northern Ireland) 2001
Mr Thomas Burns asked the Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development what plans she has for a review of the Dogs (Amendment) Act (Northern Ireland) 2001.
(AQW 322/08)
Ms Gildernew: I am currently discussing with my officials a number of options on how to tackle a range of dog control issues, including the enforcement of the current legislation and the All-Island dimension. Once I have decided on how best to proceed, I will bring my proposals to the Executive and the Agriculture and Rural Development Committee.
Staff Team Building Days
Mr Stephen Moutray asked the Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development to detail the total cost of (i) staff away days; and (ii) staff team building exercises carried out by her department, in each of the last three years.
(AQW 333/08)
Ms Gildernew: The table below shows the total cost of staff away days and staff team building exercises carried out by the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development, in each of the last three years.
Year |
Total Cost of Staff Away Days |
Total Cost of Staff Team Building Exercises |
|---|---|---|
| 2004/05 | £53,698 | £14,400 |
| 2005/06 | £28,572 | £400 |
| 2006/07 | £28,023 | £11,055 |
Fraud
Mr David McNarry asked the Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development to detail the total number of staff in her department who are involved in the investigation of fraud cases; and to outline her department's expenditure on such investigations, over the past three years.
(AQW 406/08)
Ms Gildernew: There are 7 staff involved in the investigation of suspected fraud cases. The Department’s expenditure on such investigations over the past three years was £562,135. Expenditure breakdown:
Year |
Salaries |
Miscellaneous and other costs |
|---|---|---|
| 2004/2005 | £170,282 | £21,437 |
| 2005/2006 | £167,069 | £18,926 |
| 2006/2007 | £171,277 | £13,144 |
Potato Inspection Regime
Mr P J Bradley asked the Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development what is her assessment of the new Potato Inspection Regime, which has replaced the previous system; and if she will comment on the contentment of her department's employees, who have responsibility for potato inspections, with the introduction of the new regime.
(AQW 412/08)
Ms Gildernew: There has been no change to potato inspection arrangements.
Farm Nutrient Scheme
Mr Allan Bresland asked the Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development to detail (i) what progress has been made in processing applications for the Farm Nutrient Scheme; (ii) the number of farms that have received approval; and (iii) the number of farms that are still awaiting confirmation of funding.
(AQW 453/08)
Ms Gildernew: (i) Considerable progress has been made in recent months in undertaking pre-approval inspections in order that FNMS approvals can be issued. 2712 pre approval inspections have been completed.
(ii) In respect of these, 1947 approvals have been issued as at 25 September 2007.
(iii) Approvals have yet to be issued in respect of 2728 applications although in 765 of these, the pre approval inspection has been completed.
Disease Compensation
Mr David McNarry asked the Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development what monies are being withheld from farmers in respect of disease compensation; and to detail the number of farmers that are involved in alleged breaches of legislation.
(AQW 542/08)
Ms Gildernew: The Department of Agriculture and Rural Development are withholding disease compensation in respect of bovine Brucellosis and bovine Tuberculosis from 25 farmers totalling £1.4m for alleged breaches of legislation.
Culture, Arts and Leisure
Library Authority
Mr Jim Shannon asked the Minister of Culture, Arts and Leisure to detail how much it will cost to establish the new Library Authority; and how this will be funded, other than through further library closures.
(AQW 214/08)
The Minister of Culture, Arts and Leisure (Mr Poots): The Explanatory and Financial Memorandum accompanying the Libraries Bill set out the estimated costs for setting up the Library Authority as £670,000, comprised chiefly of salaries for the Chief Executive (designate) and her team, temporary premises and consultancy. These resources were bid for and have been secured for this financial year. These costs may rise if the operational date for the Library Authority requires that salaries are paid over a longer period, in which case the proportion of costs which fall in the next financial year will be considered within the Comprehensive Spending Review.
Corporate and support services – eg. finance, human resources, IT, estates management – are currently supplied to the library service within the general administration of the Education and Library Boards, and paid from the DE budget. The Explanatory and Financial Memorandum noted that the Department was undertaking an exercise to establish the cost of libraries’ use of these services as an aid to planning for the Library Authority (Deloitte has estimated total annual cost in respect of libraries across all five Boards is £956,000). In the same exercise, Deloitte also reported on the options for the future provision of corporate services to the Library Authority and the associated costs, both running costs and set up costs. The Department is still considering the Deloitte report to determine the most cost-effective way of providing these services to the Library Authority.
I apologise for the late arrival of this answer.
Titanic Quarter
Mr Robin Newton asked the Minister of Culture, Arts and Leisure what steps he is taking to acknowledge the contribution of Harland and Wolff, Bombardier Shorts and the people of East Belfast to the maritime and industrial heritage of Belfast; and if he will consider acknowledging this contribution within the Titanic Quarter.
(AQW 236/08)
Mr Poots: I recognise that this Question was due for answer on the 27th September 2007 and I apologise to the Member for the delay.
National Museums, via the Ulster Folk & Transport Museum (UFTM) site, holds key archival collections in the form of technical drawings and photographs related to Harland & Wolff and has an ongoing relationship with the company in terms of collecting and making collections accessible. Additionally, UFTM has collaborated with the Titanic Made In Belfast exhibitions staged by Belfast City Council and more latterly has presented a profile-raising ‘Titanic Built In Belfast’ exhibition in Washington D.C. as part of the Rediscover Northern Ireland programme. Building on the collections, UFTM has created an innovative new website ‘Titanic Built In Belfast’ [www.titanicinbelfast.com] and has developed, in partnership with Bombardier Aerospace, a major interactive Flight Experience exhibition that presents and illustrates the Shorts story and the Northern Ireland aviation industry in an international context.
At a local community level the UFTM is also a lead partner in the Community Archive Network Northern Ireland (CANNI). This has facilitated several East Belfast community group websites providing an important tool towards community development. An example is the Wise Men of the East website [www.wise-men.org.uk].
In 2002/03 National Museums Northern Ireland commissioned a feasibility study on a Museum of Sea and Sky within Titanic Quarter. Discussions have taken place with National Museums on the possibility of revisiting these proposals for the interpretation of Belfast’s maritime and industrial heritage within the context of the current plans for the regeneration of the Titanic Quarter.
The Public Record Office of Northern Ireland is to move to its new location in the Titanic Quarter by 2010 and will be immediately associated with its new location through its existing archive holdings. PRONI intend to build on that association in terms of acquiring appropriate archives, exploiting the existing relevant holdings and seeking opportunities to publicise the holdings thus attracting additional interest in their use. In addition, the Department of Culture, Arts and Leisure is fully supportive of the proposed development of the Titanic Signature Project within the wider Titanic Quarter redevelopment. One of the main objectives of the Titanic Signature Project is to record and celebrate the maritime and industrial heritage of the city.
Museums Strategy
Mr Trevor Lunn asked the Minister of Culture, Arts and Leisure to outline the work that has been carried out on the development of a museums strategy since he took up office, taking into account the withdrawal of funding from the Northern Ireland Museums Council.
(AQW 347/08)
Mr Poots: In the 'Better Government for Northern Ireland; Final Decisions of the Review of Public Administration' document published in March 2006 it was announced that the functions of the Northern Ireland Museums Council (NIMC) would transfer to Central or Local Government. The functions provided by the NIMC are varied and whereas there are some of those functions that would transfer readily to local councils there are others that should be handled by central government, the accreditation of museums would fall into this latter category. On foot of the announcement the Department sought a mechanism to categorise the functions of NIMC and where they would best fit. One of the mechanisms considered was the formulation of a museums policy/strategy which would set out the role of museums both national and local and the support structures required to facilitate these roles. Consideration included the drawing up of draft Terms of Reference and an estimation of the resources, both costs and manpower that would be required. Both the NMC and National Museums Northern Ireland provided comment on the terms of reference.
The internal manpower resources required to move forward on this option are not available at present within the Department and it looks increasingly likely that over the next CSR period it would be very difficult for my Department to prioritise the development of such a major strategy. In light of this I met with the Chair and Chief Executive of the NIMC in September and they indicated that they had some thoughts on how they could assist us to move this process forward with more limited resource inputs and I have asked them to prepare a paper for me outlining their proposals.
I have also extended the funding for the NIMC for a further year to enable the organisation to continue in operation pending definitive decisions on the way forward.
Burnavon Arts and Cultural Centre in Cookstown
Mr Ian McCrea asked the Minister of Culture, Arts and Leisure what financial support the Arts Council of Northern Ireland plans to provide for the future development and structural needs of key regional theatres throughout Northern Ireland, and, in particular, to fund the expansion needs of the Burnavon Arts and Cultural Centre in Cookstown.
(AQW 392/08)
Mr Poots: I have referred your query to the Chief Executive of the Arts Council, and I understand that she has replied to you in the following terms:
"In response to your question to the Minister regarding the development of regional theatres, you may be aware that since the establishment of the National Lottery, the Arts Council has invested significant sums of money in the design and construction not only of new buildings, but in the refurbishment and extension of existing theatres and arts centres outside Belfast. Since 1994 the Council has invested £32.8m in the capital arts infrastructure, £24.8m of which was outside Belfast. This included an award of £1,125,585 to the construction of the Burnavon Arts & Cultural Centre. (A full list of the awards is attached for your information).
In addition to its capital investment the Arts Council supports the regional theatres through its Lottery Multi Annual Programme. Each regional theatre (Market Place, Armagh; Burnavon, Cookstown; Riverside, Coleraine and the Ardhowen Theatre, Enniskillen) currently receives £30,000 per year towards its programming costs. These grants are due to expire in March 2009.
The Council’s Director of Operations, Lorraine McDowell, met with representatives of Cookstown District Council earlier this year to discuss plans for the expansion of Burnavon.
Whilst the Arts Council agrees that the Centre has proved extremely successful and that the plans for its expansion are reasonable and justified, Ms McDowell had to explain that, due to diminishing Lottery funds, the Arts Council no longer has a capital programme through which such a project could be funded. In the incoming year it is likely that the Council will have only a small budget of £250,000 to respond to applications for the purchase of equipment.
The Council’s Lottery income has fallen from a high of £10m in 1997/98 to projected levels of £5.795m in 07/08, reducing further to £4.5m by 2011/12. This situation has been brought about, not only through a general reduction in Lottery ticket sales, but more recently through the announcement by the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport that the Arts Council is to lose £4.5m over the next 3-4 years to fund the Olympics 2012.
The Arts Council is working with the Department of Culture, Arts & Leisure to redress this loss through CSR 2007 and ISNI 2.
I hope you will agree with me on the need to ensure that funds are made available so that the Arts Council can assist local authorities to not only maintain, but develop their current assets to meet customer needs for up to date, state of the art facilities".
Elite Facilities Capital Programme
Mr Jim Shannon asked the Minister of Culture, Arts and Leisure if he will explain the reasons why Comber Shooting Club and Hollow Farm Shooting Club were not short listed for the Elite Facilities Capital Programme for the 2012 Olympic Games.
(AQW 423/08)
Mr Poots: The responsibility for managing the Elite Facilities Capital Programme rests with Sport Northern Ireland (SNI). The programme is managed on a competitive basis against set criteria and those projects which satisfy the criteria will proceed to the next stage.
The actual detail of the strengths and weaknesses of the Comber Shooting Club and Hollow Farm Shooting Club bid is a matter between them and SNI. The applicants have been notified of the reasons why they were not short listed and of their right to appeal.
Elite Facilities Capital Programme
Mr Jim Shannon asked the Minister of Culture, Arts and Leisure if he will explain the reasons why Dungannon Rifle and Pistol Club was not short listed for the Elite Facilities Capital Programme for the 2012 Olympic Games.
(AQW 433/08)
Mr Poots: The responsibility for managing the Elite Facilities Capital Programme rests with Sport Northern Ireland (SNI). The programme is managed on a competitive basis against set criteria and those projects which satisfy the criteria will proceed to the next stage.
The actual detail of the strengths and weaknesses of the Dungannon Rifle and Pistol Club bid is a matter between them and SNI. The applicants have been notified of the reasons why they were not short listed and of their right to appeal.
Sport NI
Mr Jim Shannon asked the Minister of Culture, Arts and Leisure if he will explain the reasons for the Sport NI decision not to give funding to Wado Karate, with reference to the decisions by the Scottish Executive and Welsh Assembly to fund this sport directly.
(AQW 434/08)
Mr Poots: Sport Northern Ireland (SNI) is responsible for the development of sport within Northern Ireland, including the distribution of funding to sports organisations. SNI advises that it is unaware of any application from Wado Karate in the current financial year. It also advises that neither the Scottish Executive nor the Welsh Assembly provide direct funding to Wado Karate.
Illegal Fishing
Mr Daithí McKay asked the Minister of Culture, Arts and Leisure to detail the number of people who have been apprehended by bailiffs for fishing illegally in (i) Killylane Reservoir; (ii) Altnahinch Reservoir; and (iii) Dungonnell Reservoir, in the last year.
(AQW 477/08)
Mr Poots: In the past year Fisheries Conservation Officers (bailiffs) apprehended two people fishing at Killylane Reservoir without the appropriate documentation in their possession. In both incidents they issued the angler with a production document. In the first incident the angler subsequently produced the relevant documentation. In the second incident the production of the relevant documentation is still outstanding but the angler is still within the permitted timescale to produce such documentation.
No one has been apprehended fishing illegally at Altnahinch Reservoir or at Dungonnell Reservoir by Fisheries Conservation Officers in the last year.
Illegal fishing
Mr Daithí McKay asked the Minister of Culture, Arts and Leisure what action he will take in respect of illegal fishing in (i) Killylane Reservoir; (ii) Altnahinch Reservoir; and (iii) Dungonnell Reservoir, due to a lack of bailiffs at these locations.
(AQW 478/08)
Mr Poots: The bailiffing presence allied with other measures is considered adequate at this time. The Department does not rely solely on bailiffing visits to identify illegal fishing but also on reports of illegal fishing from other anglers and through visits of its own staff. The "whistleblower" approach is actively encouraged by Departmental officials and is promoted on the Public Angling Estate website.
As indicated in my reply to AQW 67/08 the Department can allocate additional hours if specific problems are identified. As a result of the reports frequency of patrols at Killylane and Altnahinch Reservoirs were increased but no illegal activity has been detected. Targeted information is more likely to succeed in reducing illegal activity and apprehending offenders than regular visits by Fisheries Conservation Officers. The Department will continue to pursue this approach.
Community Festivals Fund
Mr Daithí McKay asked the Minister of Culture, Arts and Leisure to detail what financial support the Community Festivals Fund provided to festivals in the North Antrim constituency in (i) 2006/07; and (ii) 2007/08.
(AQW 479/08)
Mr Poots: To ask the Minister of Culture, Arts and Leisure to detail what financial support the Community Festivals Fund provided to festivals in the North Antrim constituency in (i) 2006/07; and (ii) 2007/08.
ANSWER
The table below gives details of festivals in the North Antrim constituency that have received financial support from the Community Festivals Fund:
Year |
Festival |
Amount awarded |
|---|---|---|
2006/07 |
Rathlin Airs Annual Traditional Music Festival 2006 (Rathlin Island) |
£2,000 |
2007/08 |
Dunaghy Cultural and Community Festival (Ballymoney) |
£2,250 |
Heart of the Glens Festival 2007 (Cushendall) |
£3,000 |
Shooting Sports
Mr Jim Shannon asked the Minister of Culture, Arts and Leisure, in light of Northern Ireland's participation in the 2012 Olympic Games and the World Police and Fire Games 2013, if he will review his decision on the prioritisation of shooting sports, as there are participants in Olympic shooting sports who currently practice at venues across Northern Ireland.
(AQW 503/08)
Mr Poots: The responsibility for managing the Elite Facilities Capital Programme rests with Sport Northern Ireland. The programme is managed on a competitive basis against a set criteria and those projects which satisfied the criteria will proceed to the next stage. Unsuccessful applicants have been notified of their right to appeal.
British and Irish Sign Languages
Mr Paul Butler asked the Minister of Culture, Arts and Leisure (i) what progress his department has made in progressing British and Irish Sign Languages; and (ii) to give a timescale within which his department will publish proposals for the provision of more tutors of sign languages, better interpretation services and the installation of specialist equipment in public offices.
(AQW 522/08)
Mr Poots: My Department continues to work in partnership with organisations representing the Deaf community to promote British Sign Language (BSL) and Irish Sign Language (ISL) and to educate and inform the wider community. In addition my Department chairs a Sign Language Partnership Group bringing together representatives from Government Departments and the Deaf community to consider ways to improve access to public services for users of sign languages.
Through the Sign language Partnership my Department funded research to identify options to increase the number of qualified tutors and interpreters. The options identified in the report fall within the statutory remit of the Department of Employment and Learning (DEL).
DEL has secured funding from the Skills and Science budget for the current year for training provision for BSL and ISL tutors and interpreters and has made a bid via the Comprehensive Spending Review to fund training provision in subsequent years. DEL may be in a position to draw up proposals for further provision when the outcome of that bid is known.
DEL officials are currently examining costed proposals from Belfast Metropolitan College for the reintroduction of its NVQ Level 4 course in BSL. DEL officials also continue to liaise with colleagues in Wales regarding current and possible future provision there with a view to introducing appropriate proposals in Northern Ireland.
The installation of specialist equipment is a matter for consideration by individual Departments and offices in line with the needs of customers. While a number of systems, such as loop systems, are commercially available to assist those who use hearing aids, the range of systems designed to support sign language is currently very much more limited. Text based systems can be of benefit to both sign language users and the hard of hearing but by their nature use written text and therefore do not specifically support sign language.
Education
Counselling in Schools
Mr Dominic Bradley asked the Minister of Education, with reference to the announcement made by her predecessor in October 2006, to outline the arrangements that have been put in place to provide counselling in schools; and, in particular, to detail (i) who will carry out the counselling; (ii) what level of qualification will be required for the posts; and (iii) what will be the basis of the contract of employment for such counsellors.
(AQW 128/08)
The Minister of Education (Ms Ruane): Following a public tender in Autumn 2006, Contact Youth have been contracted to provide an independent counselling service to all post primary schools who wish it.
The tender specified that Contact Youth are required to employ counsellors who have attained a Diploma in counselling and who are accredited with a recognised counselling body or who are working towards the said accreditation. As well as having recognised counselling qualifications counsellors will have experience of working with children and young people.
The counsellors, who are employed by Contact Youth, are required to provide a total of 3500 counselling hours throughout the North of Ireland as specified by the Department.
Workforce
Mr David Simpson asked the Minister of Education to detail the meetings she has had with business leaders in Northern Ireland, to ascertain how best to enhance the ability of the education system to create a highly skilled workforce.
(AQW 191/08)
Ms Ruane: Since taking up the post of Minister for Education, I have met representatives of the following groups on the dates specified:
Irish Association of Social, Cultural & Economic Relations: 03 July 2007
Confederation of British Industry: 25 July 2007
Ulster Farmers Union: 25 July 2007
Institute of Directors: 08 August 2007
Business in the Community 06 September 2007
Raising educational standards and ensuring young people have the necessary skills to progress into employment is crucial for the long-term economic success of the North of Ireland and I recognise that the Business sector has an important role to play in this process.
The revised curriculum focuses on developing the skills young people need for life and work in the 21st century. Employability, incorporating Entrepreneurship, is also an important part of the revised post-primary curriculum.
In addition, the Entitlement Framework will guarantee all pupils access to a greater range of vocational courses, equipping them with the professional and technical skills that business and industry needs. Pupils will be able to access courses appropriate to their individual needs, interests and aspirations, providing a wider choice at age 14 and an even wider choice at age 16.
To support pupils in making their choices and decisions about their futures, we are working to develop high quality careers education, information advice and guidance.
All of this will be set within a broader strategic framework for 14-19 provision, on which DE and DEL are currently engaged, ensuring that our young people are equipped with the knowledge and skills to take their place in an increasingly global workforce.
Assembly Questions
Mr Paul Butler asked the Minister of Education to provide a breakdown of the total cost of, and time spent on, answering Assembly questions for written answer submitted to her department since she took up office.
(AQW 241/08)
Ms Ruane: The information requested is not collected. However between the 08 May and 14 September 2007 the Department of Education has had 344 assembly written questions tabled.
The table below shows the number of written questions tabled to each Department in the North of Ireland between the 08 May and 14 September 2007.
DEPARTMENT |
NO. OF WRITTEN QUESTION |
|---|---|
| OFMDFM | 118 |
| DARD | 95 |
| DCAL | 153 |
| DEL | 102 |
| DETI | 99 |
| DOE | 197 |
| DFP | 86 |
| DHSSPS | 251 |
| DRD | 263 |
| DSD | 147 |
Note, figures supplied by the Assembly Business Office
Childminding
Miss Michelle McIlveen asked the Minister of Education what consideration she has given to the Northern Ireland Childminding Association's proposed childminder start-up package; and what action she will take in relation to these proposals.
(AQW 260/08)
Ms Ruane: Officials from the Department met with the Director of NICMA on 21st August 2007. At this meeting NICMA was asked to undertake further work in order to demonstrate the benefits, in terms of increased uptake, of introducing a start up grant. NICMA was advised that future consideration may be given to establishing a minimum training standard for childminders.
It was agreed that this further evidence would be provided and when the information is available, I will be happy to convene a meeting with NICMA to discuss the proposals.
St. Colmgall's Primary School
Mr Thomas Burns asked the Minister of Education, pursuant to her reply to AQW 364/07, to advise whether or not the consultation exercise for a nursery unit at St. Colmgall's Primary School has been completed; whether or not the development proposal has been published; and, if so, what recommendations have been put forward in the development proposal.
(AQW 293/08)
Ms Ruane: The Council for Catholic Maintained Schools (CCMS) has advised the Department that the consultation with the school’s governors, staff and parents was completed by the end of June 2007 and that they intend to forward the proposal to the North Eastern Education and Library Board by the end of September for subsequent publication.
CCMS advise that the wording of the proposal will state that ‘a single unit Nursery with 26 part-time places to replace existing reception provision be established at St Comgall’s Primary School, Antrim, with effect from 1 September 2008 or as soon as possible thereafter.’
Ulster-Scots
Mr Jim Shannon asked the Minister of Education if she will explain why her letter dated 19 July 2007, to staff in the South Eastern Education and Library Board, provided an Irish translation but no translation into Ulster-Scots.
(AQW 296/08)
Ms Ruane: The letter updating staff on the RPA developments was written in English, two paragraphs of which were translated into Irish. This reflects my commitment as an Irish speaker to respect the Irish language and reflect it in an appropriate way in departmental communications, consistent with the European Charter for regional or minority languages.
I fully respect Ulster-Scots and my department will be happy to accommodate, as far as is possible, those who wish to seek Ulster-Scots translations of departmental communications.
Disability Access
Mr David Simpson asked the Minister of Education if she will make a statement on disability access to buildings for which her department has responsibility.
(AQW 327/08)
Ms Ruane: Regarding school buildings, the Special Educational Needs and Disability (Northern Ireland) Order 2005 (SENDO) requires the Education and Library Boards and other school authorities to review and if necessary improve physical accessibility. They are required to prepare an access audit and access management plan which should prioritise the work required to the school. The first step in this process is to undertake an access audit of each school by a consultant specifically qualified to carry out such audits.
The Department has made funds available to enable access audits to be carried out and work agreed to improve physical access to schools. These audits are currently underway. Provision will normally take the form of toilets for disabled pupils and provision of access ramps, handrails, chair lifts and in some cases, the provision of lifts.
All new school buildings have to comply with the Building Regulations Northern Ireland 2000 and should be physically accessible to pupils with a disability.
Regarding the Department’s buildings at Rathgael House, Bangor and Waterside House, Derry, both buildings are fully accessible and comply with the Disability Discrimination Act.
Financial Deficits
Mr Mervyn Storey asked the Minister of Education to detail the number of schools, broken down by sector, that have been running on a financial deficit, in each of the last five years.
(AQW 337/08)
Ms Ruane: The number of schools in each of the last five years is as follows:
|
2002/03 |
2003/04 |
2004/05 |
2005/06 |
2006/07 |
|
|
Controlled |
210 |
224 |
219 |
216 |
165 |
|
Maintained |
214 |
217 |
231 |
235 |
172 |
|
Irish Medium |
4 |
5 |
6 |
5 |
7 |
|
Integrated |
7 |
8 |
8 |
5 |
5 |
|
Voluntary Grammar |
13 |
9 |
8 |
11 |
13 |
Air Quality at Anahorish Primary School
Mrs Michelle O'Neill asked the Minister of Education, in relation to fumes being emitted from a factory in close proximity to Anahorish Primary School in Toomebridge, if she will confirm that an air quality assessment will be carried out at the school as soon as possible, to establish whether or not the fumes are harmful to children attending the school.
(AQW 343/08)
Ms Ruane: My Department has commissioned a series of air quality tests to establish the origin and type of fumes reported at the school. It is expected the results will be known by the end of October.
Conlig Primary School
Dr Stephen Farry asked the Minister of Education, pursuant to her answer to AQW 445/07, what plans she has to meet a delegation of parents and staff from Conlig Primary School, to discuss their development proposal to transform the school to controlled integrated status.
(AQW 349/08)
Ms Ruane: My previous answer explained that I am content to meet with a delegation once the development proposal is published. The South Eastern Education and Library Board have advised that the development proposal is expected to be published shortly.
Commissioners
Mr Jimmy Spratt asked the Minister of Education to detail the total expenditure on each commissioner currently employed by the South Eastern Education and Library Board.
(AQW 382/08)
Ms Ruane: The South Eastern Education and Library Board has advised that the total expenditure on the four commissioners from 6 July 2006, when they were first appointed, until the end of August 2007 is £114, 383. The breakdown of the amounts paid to individual commissioners is £35,956, £28,067, £27,537 and £22,823.
Parkhall School, Antrim.
Mr David Burnside asked the Minister of Education to provide an update on the progress of new buildings at Parkhall School, Antrim.
(AQW 458/08)
Ms Ruane: Planning of a new school building for Parkhall College, Antrim is being taken forward by the North Eastern Education and Library Board. A revised Stage D submission (providing final sketch plans and costs) is expected to be submitted to the Department for consideration in the near future.
Employment and Learning
Cost of Staff Team Building Days
Mr Stephen Moutray asked the Minister for Employment and Learning to detail the total cost of (i) staff away days; and (ii) staff team building exercises carried out by his department, in each of the last three years.
(AQW 331/08)
The Minister for Employment and Learning (Sir Reg Empey): April 04 to March 05: Total: £50, 275
April 05 to March 06: Total: £46,346
April 06 to March 07: Total: £62,439
Apprenticeships
Mr Jim Shannon asked the Minister for Employment and Learning what steps he is taking to renew interest in apprenticeships, in light of the decrease of 51 in the number of applications for apprenticeships in 2006/07, compared to the previous year.
(AQW 420/08)
Sir Reg Empey: As at 25 September a comparison of Modern Apprenticeship start figures for 2005/06 and 2006/07 shows a decrease of 53, about 1.5%.
The new professional and technical training provision, Training for Success, introduces Level 2 Apprenticeships in addition to Level 3 Apprenticeships. As part of the ‘Make it Happen’ advertising campaign for Training for Success the Department also specifically targeted employers with ‘Create a Prodigy’. It is intended that a level of promotion of apprenticeships will be maintained over the coming year.
Currently there are two pilots running for 14 to 16 year olds that will prepare school leavers to progress into apprenticeships. The Department is exploring with DENI, the Education Training Inspectorate and the Learning and Skills Development Agency how this approach can be advanced as part of the schools Entitlement Framework. My Department is also working with the Sector Skills Councils to develop Sector Skills Agreements and encourage greater employer engagement
Apprenticeships
Mr Jim Shannon asked the Minister for Employment and Learning if he will outline how the number of apprenticeships awarded in manufacturing industry in Northern Ireland compares to those awarded in Great Britain, per head of population, in the years (i) 2004/05; (ii) 2005/06; and (iii) 2006/07.
(AQW 436/08)
Sir Reg Empey: Overall, the structure of training differs throughout the UK. In Northern Ireland, apprenticeships are open to young people aged 16 to 24 who are either entering employment for the first time or meet specified criteria for existing employees. Under the former Jobskills programme, Traineeships were set at Level 2. Now, under the new Training for Success provision, there are both Level 2 and Level 3 Apprenticeships. Unlike the rest of GB there are no adult apprenticeships funded by the Department.
It is therefore not possible to compare training provision ratios on a like for like basis with GB. However, the table below shows ‘apprenticeship starts’ over the last three years throughout the UK. Figures for Wales for 2006/07 have yet to be published.
2004 -2005 |
2005-2006 |
2006-2007 |
|
NI Level 3 |
3,410 |
3,325 |
3,278 |
NI Level 2 |
4,760 |
4,495 |
4,600 |
England Level 3 |
53,893 |
50,628 |
54,845 |
England Level 2 |
134,504 |
120,682 |
125,266 |
Scotland 16-24 |
13,957 |
13,106 |
13,259 |
Scotland 25+ |
6,209 |
5,685 |
2,415 |
Wales Level 3 |
9,360 |
9,245 |
Not Published |
Wales Level 2 under 18 |
15,250 |
18,835 |
Not Published |
University Applications
Mr David McClarty asked the Minister for Employment and Learning, pursuant to his answer to AQW 16/08, to outline the factors he has identified to explain the fall in applications from Northern Ireland domiciled students to universities in the United Kingdom, broken down by (i) those aged 21-24; and (ii) those aged 25 and over.
(AQW 438/08)
Sir Reg Empey: My Department has examined the most recent figures published by the Universities and Colleges Admissions Service (UCAS ) on 12 September 2007 which show that there has been a 0.9% increase in the number of NI domiciled applicants ie students accepted to UK institutions between Academic Years 2006/07 and 2007/08. Within the figures, those students in the 21 to 24 years and over 25 years categories represent a relatively small proportion, 14% of the total number, and the drop in their numbers of 151 is offset by an increase of 268 in the under 21 years category.
It should be borne in mind that these figures are provisional and it is too early to draw any firm conclusions from them. My Department will continue to monitor UCAS figures as further information becomes available.
Review into Higher Education
Mr David McClarty asked the Minister for Employment and Learning, pursuant to his answer to AQW 15/08, if he will give further details on (i) the progress made by his department in setting the terms of reference of, and remit for, the independent review into higher education; and (ii) whether or not such a review will have the same level of independence as that afforded to Dr Andrew Cubie's committee, established by the Scottish Executive in 1999.
(AQW 439/08)
Sir Reg Empey: When government introduced variable tuition fees in AY2006/07, it made a commitment to review these arrangements, 3 years after their introduction, to inform future policy on the funding of students and the higher education sector.
In England, it is proposed to establish an independent Commission reporting to Parliament. As a substantial number of Northern Ireland students study elsewhere in the UK, I have asked my officials to liaise with counterparts in other jurisdictions operating variable fees to ensure that, when we are initiating the Northern Ireland review in AY2008/09, we take a consistent approach where appropriate.
Further Education
Mr Peter Weir asked the Minister for Employment and Learning what action he is taking to ensure that Further Education Colleges offer access to education for all, and in particular to financially disadvantaged groups such as the elderly and disabled.
(AQW 469/08)
Sir Reg Empey: Through its six new colleges, comprising 48 campuses and 876 outreach centres, the further education sector offers an extensive range of professional and technical and recreational provision for adult learners from a wide and varied range of backgrounds and ages. My department is also developing a policy to further increase learner access and engagement, focussing particularly on those who are reluctant to enter further education, and consultation on these arrangements is expected to take place later this year.
Further Education colleges receive funding for students, including those students with a disability, through the Department’s Further Education Funding Formula. In addition, the Department provides further financial assistance to colleges through the Additional Support Fund, which enables colleges to provide assistance to those students who need additional support on account of a disability, and through the Support Fund, which is designed to assist any student who may encounter financial hardship to access further education courses.
However, I would confirm that, as incorporated bodies, colleges are responsible for setting the level of fees, including concessionary fees, for the courses they provide. In doing this, colleges’ fees policies take account of learners’ ability to pay.
Student Loans
Mr Jim Shannon asked the Minister for Employment and Learning to detail the number of students in Northern Ireland who took out student loans, in each of the last four years.
(AQW 572/08)
Sir Reg Empey: The number of Northern Ireland students who took out student loans in each of the last four years is as follows:
Academic Year |
Maintenance Loan |
Tuition Fee Loan |
|---|---|---|
2003/04 |
34,555 |
0 |
2004/05 |
35,256 |
0 |
2005/06 |
36,338 |
0 |
2006/07 |
36,380 |
17,965 |
Enterprise, Trade and Investment
Invest NI
Mr David Hilditch asked the Minister of Enterprise, Trade and Investment to detail the total amount of land currently owned by Invest NI.
(AQW 401/08)
The Minister of Enterprise, Trade and Investment (Mr Dodds): Invest NI holds 2,793 acres of land across Northern Ireland.
Approximately 1,973 acres of its estate is already occupied by its Client Companies leaving 820 acres currently available for industrial use.
Invest NI
Mr David Hilditch asked the Minister of Enterprise, Trade and Investment to detail the amount of land Invest NI has released for development in the last year.
(AQW 402/08)
Mr Dodds: In the year ended 31 March 2007 Invest NI sold 75 acres of land.
At 31 March 2007 Invest NI had 862 acres of land available for sale or lease to its client companies
Tourist Events
Mr Jim Shannon asked the Minister of Enterprise, Trade and Investment to outline the co-ordination arrangements that exist between his department, the Northern Ireland Tourist Board, the Northern Ireland Events Committee and district councils, with regard to larger tourist events in Northern Ireland.
(AQW 432/08)
Mr Dodds: The Department of Enterprise, Trade and Investment (DETI) does not have direct responsibility for tourist events. However, as the sponsor Department for the Northern Ireland Tourist Board (NITB), DETI is working with the Department of Culture, Arts and Leisure on the merger of the Northern Ireland Events Company (NIEC) with NITB. This is due to take place on 1 April 2008.
The NIEC is the body responsible for delivering an Events Strategy for Northern Ireland. NITB currently supports it in this role and NITB’s Chief Executive is represented on the NIEC Board. The NIEC also works closely with local Councils to facilitate sponsored events which take place in their respective Council areas.
Regional Tourism Partnerships
Dr Stephen Farry asked the Minister of Enterprise, Trade and Investment to report on the future of Regional Tourism Partnerships, within the context of the Review of Public Administration.
(AQW 445/08)
Mr Dodds: Local delivery and development of visitor services and servicing is a key element of raising the profile of the tourism industry across Northern Ireland and providing visitors with the quality of services and facilities they want and need.
With 26 councils there is a need for regional co-ordination which may be somewhat lessened if there were a reduced number of councils – proposals under the Review of Public Administration include responsibility for a number of local tourism functions to be transferred to the new councils.
Details of exactly what this means have still to be firmed up as does the number of councils. In the circumstances it would be premature to make a definitive comment about the long term future of regional development structures for tourism.
Broadband Internet
Mr Barry McElduff asked the Minister of Enterprise, Trade and Investment to detail those villages and other rural areas in West Tyrone that do not have broadband access; and to outline his department's strategy and timetable for delivering 100% broadband availability in West Tyrone.
(AQW 514/08)
Mr Dodds: Broadband access with speeds of no less than 512 kilo bits per second have been available to all of Northern Ireland since December 2005. This includes every village and rural area of West Tyrone and is delivered either through telephone lines, wireless or satellite services. Often consumers can choose from more than one provider.
Invest NI
Mr David Hilditch asked the Minister of Enterprise, Trade and Investment to detail the number of businesses that have been assisted by Invest NI's business start-up programme that survive, after they have completed the programme.
(AQW 523/08)
Mr Dodds: An independent evaluation of the Start a Business Programme carried out in 2006 showed that 78% of businesses surveyed were still trading 3 years after receiving the initial support. This 3-year survival rate is better than the UK average which is estimated at around 73%.
Asbestos
Mr Peter Weir asked the Minister of Enterprise, Trade and Investment to detail the number of people employed in Northern Ireland, who are working in buildings that contain asbestos.
(AQW 594/08)
Mr Dodds: As there is no legal requirement to notify government of the presence of asbestos in buildings, these figures do not exist.
Environment
Draft Area Plans
Mr Patsy McGlone asked the Minister of the Environment to detail the cost of preparing the following draft Area Plans: (i) Ards and Down; (ii) Magherafelt; (iii) Northern; (iv) Banbridge and Newry and Mourne; and (v) all other Area Plans in the earlier stages of preparation, including the cost of all Judicial Reviews, public inquiries, legal advice, consultation processes etc.
(AQW 253/08)
The Minister of the Environment (Mrs Foster): While I am not able to provide the cost of preparing individual draft Area Plans, I am able to provide estimates for the overall expenditure of Divisional Plan Teams, some of which are involved in the preparation of one or more draft Area Plans. The figures represent the best estimates available from current accounting procedures and obviously reflect the recorded position at this time.
Team |
Period |
Costs £ (exclusive of salaries and GAE) |
|---|---|---|
Belfast Metropolitan Plan Team * |
Sep00-Aug07 |
1,488,905 |
Ballymena ** |
Jan00-Aug07 |
441,964 |
Craigavon*** |
Feb00-Aug07 |
693,503 |
Downpatrick**** |
Jan99-Aug07 |
565,938 |
Coleraine***** |
Mar01-Aug07 |
305,922 |
Omagh****** |
Sep04-Aug07 |
224,857 |
3,721,089 |
*includes Belfast Metropolitan Area Plan and Belfast HMO Subject Plan
** includes Antrim/ Ballymena/Larne and Magherafelt Area Plans
***includes Banbridge& Newry and Mourne and Armagh Area Plans
***** includes Ards/Down Area Plan
*****includes Northern Area Plan and Coleraine HMO Subject Plan
******includes West Tyrone Area Plan
These estimated costs also include legal costs where appropriate and plan production costs but exclude wages and general administrative expenditure.
The staff complement of Divisional Plan Teams varies depending on business priorities at any particular time and work of the teams includes other routine planning duties beyond plan preparation.
Dibney Rivers Pollution
Mr Jim Shannon asked the Minister of the Environment if she will give details of the ten incidences of pollution at the Dibney Rivers since January 2004; and if she will explain why the Environment and Heritage Service did not initiate prosecution.
(AQW 299/08)
Mrs Foster: Where pollution occurs it is the policy of EHS to take formal enforcement action, if this is warranted by the severity of the pollution and the circumstances which led to it occurring. In deciding what, if any, action to take in each case, EHS aims to ensure that enforcement is consistent, proportionate and transparent.
In the period 1 January 2004 to date, no formal enforcement action was initiated in relation to the twelve confirmed pollution incidents impacting on the Dibney River, including two incidents which occurred since my previous correspondence. The enforcement action taken depends on the circumstances of each individual case and takes into account issues such as the severity of the incident, the sufficiency of evidence and whether or not a prosecution would be in the public interest.
Enforcement action will normally be progressed for medium severity pollution incidents. EHS does not normally initiate prosecution proceedings for water pollution incidents that are determined as being of low severity unless the incidents are from the same source over a period of time and they meet the criteria laid down in enforcement policy.
Eleven of the twelve confirmed water pollution incidents, in the Dibney River catchment since 1 January 2004, were determined to be of low severity; one was of medium severity. The source of the majority of the low severity incidents, and of the medium severity incident, was confirmed as being DRD Water Service. Enforcement action could not be taken forward as DRD Water Service was part of central Government and could not be prosecuted for pollution offences under ‘crown immunity’.
On 1 April 2007 discharge consent documents were transferred to Northern Ireland Water Ltd (NIWL) under Article 29 of the Water and Sewage Services (2006) Order. From that date discharges made by NIWL have been regulated under the Water (NI) Order 1999 in the same way as other external or private bodies.
National Parks
Mr Jim Shannon asked the Minister of the Environment what action she is taking to safeguard the rights of landowners and farmers, in relation to any proposals for National Parks.
(AQW 300/08)
Mrs Foster: The Mourne National Park Working Party presented me last week with its recommendations about the proposed Mourne National Park. I will seek the opinions of the Council for Nature Conservation and the Countryside and the Environment and Agriculture and Rural Development Committees. The views of these bodies will help me decide how to proceed.
Planning Applications
Rt Hon Mr Jeffrey Donaldson asked the Minister of the Environment to detail the number of planning applications that have been deferred for (i) an office meeting; and (ii) a site meeting, in each month since January 2005, broken down by district council area.
(AQW 312/08)
Mrs Foster: The following table provides details of the number of planning applications deferred in each month between January 2005 and August 2007 by district council area. My Department does not record the reasons for deferrals on the IT system and it is therefore not possible to give details of the numbers deferred for office and site meetings respectively without checking each application file. This would entail disproportionate cost.
|
DEFERRED APPLICATIONS BY DISTRICT COUNCIL AREA January 2005 - December 2005 |
||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
Jan-05 |
Feb-05 |
Mar-05 |
Apr-05 |
May-05 |
Jun-05 |
Jul-05 |
Aug-05 |
Sep-05 |
Oct-05 |
Nov-05 |
Dec-05 |
|
|
Antrim |
58 |
60 |
46 |
40 |
46 |
38 |
36 |
30 |
15 |
0 |
34 |
18 |
|
Ards |
17 |
60 |
50 |
69 |
0 |
62 |
17 |
22 |
27 |
6 |
0 |
5 |
|
Armagh |
29 |
52 |
94 |
85 |
105 |
115 |
86 |
51 |
60 |
6 |
7 |
4 |
|
Ballymena |
37 |
58 |
76 |
72 |
0 |
126 |
50 |
53 |
24 |
35 |
37 |
25 |
|
Ballymoney |
33 |
85 |
50 |
70 |
0 |
77 |
39 |
49 |
37 |
9 |
34 |
15 |
|
Banbridge |
34 |
67 |
53 |
48 |
0 |
94 |
0 |
71 |
46 |
11 |
11 |
14 |
|
Belfast |
37 |
30 |
31 |
31 |
0 |
50 |
0 |
54 |
32 |
4 |
7 |
6 |
|
Carrickfergus |
6 |
8 |
4 |
7 |
0 |
12 |
7 |
1 |
2 |
6 |
3 |
0 |
|
Castlereagh |
9 |
6 |
7 |
0 |
11 |
9 |
8 |
1 |
6 |
7 |
0 |
7 |
|
Coleraine |
19 |
41 |
75 |
62 |
2 |
87 |
33 |
69 |
28 |
30 |
23 |
24 |
|
Cookstown |
29 |
35 |
47 |
59 |
62 |
33 |
42 |
0 |
65 |
39 |
37 |
37 |
|
Craigavon |
10 |
55 |
26 |
1 |
0 |
55 |
60 |
14 |
27 |
7 |
11 |
5 |
|
Derry |
22 |
18 |
22 |
29 |
0 |
34 |
19 |
0 |
23 |
14 |
18 |
12 |
|
Down |
41 |
73 |
94 |
67 |
0 |
239 |
93 |
57 |
45 |
10 |
7 |
0 |
|
Dungannon |
46 |
101 |
62 |
62 |
103 |
131 |
2 |
111 |
55 |
55 |
50 |
28 |
|
Fermanagh |
43 |
96 |
101 |
48 |
2 |
210 |
52 |
1 |
110 |
39 |
39 |
35 |
|
Larne |
11 |
17 |
7 |
7 |
0 |
31 |
12 |
8 |
24 |
7 |
10 |
2 |
|
Limavady |
21 |
24 |
16 |
28 |
0 |
103 |
1 |
184 |
11 |
11 |
5 |
7 |
|
Lisburn |
7 |
76 |
75 |
24 |
0 |
54 |
24 |
22 |
14 |
14 |
17 |
0 |
|
Magherafelt |
120 |
204 |
116 |
0 |
0 |
338 |
0 |
136 |
77 |
37 |
42 |
31 |
|
Moyle |
24 |
41 |
12 |
27 |
11 |
47 |
12 |
10 |
8 |
16 |
7 |
3 |
|
Newry and Mourne |
82 |
176 |
118 |
118 |
0 |
244 |
129 |
72 |
95 |
12 |
17 |
21 |
|
Newtownabbey |
8 |
3 |
7 |
1 |
4 |
0 |
3 |
0 |
1 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
|
North Down |
7 |
12 |
15 |
11 |
0 |
16 |
10 |
8 |
10 |
3 |
2 |
3 |
|
Omagh |
51 |
122 |
57 |
86 |
157 |
105 |
87 |
0 |
109 |
96 |
0 |
57 |
|
Strabane |
29 |
39 |
33 |
43 |
38 |
49 |
0 |
33 |
31 |
19 |
21 |
39 |
|
DEFERRED APPLICATIONS BY DISTRICT COUNCIL AREA January 2006 - December 2006 |
||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
Jan-06 |
Feb-06 |
Mar-06 |
Apr-06 |
May-06 |
Jun-06 |
Jul-06 |
Aug-06 |
Sep-06 |
Oct-06 |
Nov-06 |
Dec-06 |
|
| Antrim | 23 | 28 | 32 | 30 | 27 | 12 | 17 | 11 | 4 | 7 | 13 | 6 |
| Ards | 2 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 4 |
| Armagh | 9 | 21 | 13 | 6 | 10 | 21 | 6 | 0 | 13 | 16 | 6 | 8 |
| Ballymena | 46 | 22 | 27 | 37 | 12 | 34 | 20 | 9 | 14 | 6 | 9 | 10 |
| Ballymoney | 20 | 17 | 18 | 12 | 22 | 31 | 7 | 24 | 4 | 7 | 3 | 4 |
| Banbridge | 10 | 15 | 13 | 13 | 3 | 11 | 0 | 13 | 6 | 6 | 10 | 7 |
| Belfast | 12 | 4 | 7 | 12 | 25 | 23 | 0 | 9 | 5 | 10 | 10 | 9 |
| Carrickfergus | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 3 | 2 | 3 | 2 |
| Castlereagh | 5 | 3 | 1 | 6 | 0 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 7 | 1 | 1 | 3 |
| Coleraine | 27 | 33 | 26 | 22 | 26 | 38 | 37 | 19 | 15 | 9 | 24 | 15 |
| Cookstown | 20 | 42 | 32 | 40 | 14 | 42 | 25 | 1 | 139 | 48 | 1 | 37 |
| Craigavon | 4 | 3 | 4 | 2 | 5 | 7 | 5 | 7 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 6 |
| Derry | 20 | 18 | 8 | 3 | 19 | 12 | 13 | 0 | 15 | 5 | 15 | 12 |
| Down | 1 | 4 | 4 | 3 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 1 |
| Dungannon | 22 | 48 | 47 | 63 | 9 | 57 | 12 | 37 | 52 | 102 | 38 | 32 |
| Fermanagh | 47 | 47 | 77 | 91 | 71 | 52 | 66 | 0 | 108 | 21 | 30 | 73 |
| Larne | 8 | 7 | 7 | 5 | 4 | 5 | 11 | 8 | 6 | 5 | 6 | 8 |
| Limavady | 10 | 10 | 12 | 12 | 15 | 11 | 0 | 16 | 15 | 13 | 5 | 5 |
| Lisburn | 8 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 21 | 1 | 3 | 2 | 1 |
| Magherafelt | 26 | 27 | 24 | 36 | 15 | 34 | 0 | 0 | 19 | 21 | 10 | 8 |
| Moyle | 11 | 8 | 8 | 19 | 9 | 12 | 8 | 9 | 16 | 2 | 3 | 0 |
| Newry and Mourne | 14 | 13 | 18 | 21 | 4 | 16 | 17 | 24 | 4 | 7 | 6 | 8 |
| Newtownabbey | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| North Down | 1 | 7 | 3 | 4 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 3 | 4 |
| Omagh | 16 | 39 | 43 | 52 | 31 | 31 | 44 | 4 | 179 | 42 | 37 | 46 |
| Strabane | 22 | 34 | 27 | 16 | 5 | 26 | 0 | 50 | 48 | 9 | 8 | 0 |
| DEFERRED APPLICATIONS BY DISTRICT COUNCIL AREA January 2007 - Date | ||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jan-07 | Feb-07 | Mar-07 | Apr-07 | May-07 | Jun-07 | Jul-07 | Aug-07 | Sep-07 | Oct-07 | Nov-07 | Dec-07 | |
| Antrim | 3 | 4 | 7 | 13 | 11 | 17 | 4 | 6 | ||||
| Ards | 0 | 4 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 2 | ||||
| Armagh | 7 | 12 | 6 | 15 | 19 | 13 | 17 | 2 | ||||
| Ballymena | 9 | 2 | 22 | 0 | 2 | 8 | 6 | 2 | ||||
| Ballymoney | 6 | 7 | 8 | 12 | 8 | 9 | 8 | 4 | ||||
| Banbridge | 5 | 13 | 1 | 2 | 5 | 3 | 0 | 26 | ||||
| Belfast | 10 | 11 | 12 | 12 | 14 | 12 | 0 | 12 | ||||
| Carrickfergus | 1 | 0 | 4 | 2 | 3 | 3 | 2 | 3 | ||||
| Castlereagh | 1 | 3 | 3 | 2 | 3 | 0 | 6 | 0 | ||||
| Coleraine | 8 | 16 | 9 | 6 | 10 | 16 | 15 | 14 | ||||
| Cookstown | 26 | 17 | 15 | 13 | 18 | 15 | 17 | 0 | ||||
| Craigavon | 8 | 6 | 9 | 8 | 4 | 2 | 1 | 2 | ||||
| Derry | 9 | 13 | 1 | 8 | 14 | 19 | 7 | 0 | ||||
| Down | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | ||||
| Dungannon | 20 | 21 | 29 | 15 | 23 | 29 | 17 | 18 | ||||
| Fermanagh | 30 | 21 | 46 | 40 | 22 | 44 | 53 | 1 | ||||
| Larne | 3 | 6 | 1 | 8 | 2 | 9 | 4 | 6 | ||||
| Limavady | 9 | 6 | 0 | 11 | 9 | 4 | 0 | 10 | ||||
| Lisburn | 3 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 2 | ||||
| Magherafelt | 9 | 11 | 25 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 0 | 18 | ||||
| Moyle | 2 | 5 | 5 | 11 | 3 | 10 | 4 | 6 | ||||
| Newry and Mourne | 5 | 8 | 6 | 16 | 16 | 21 | 16 | 10 | ||||
| Newtownabbey | 0 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | ||||
| North Down | 1 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 3 | ||||
| Omagh | 25 | 37 | 60 | 27 | 17 | 23 | 31 | 0 | ||||
| Strabane | 11 | 10 | 7 | 7 | 5 | 4 | 0 | 9 | ||||
Tullaghoge Fort
Mr Patsy McGlone asked the Minister of the Environment what plans she has, including those for financial investment, regarding the improvement and enhancement of Tullaghoge Fort, given the significance of the 400th anniversary of the Flight of the Earls.
(AQW 317/08)
Mrs Foster: My Department is in the process of acquiring the site from DARD at a cost of £20,000, placing the monument in State Care under Articles 13 and 18 of the Historic Monuments and Archaeological Objects (NI) Order 1995. This will help to ensure the appropriate management of the site for the future.
My department’s Environment and Heritage Service (EHS) has been working with Cookstown District Council to investigate the potential upgrading of the car parking and access arrangements to the site. The EHS has also been working recently with the Council to facilitate events commemorating the Flight of the Earls that have been held at the site, and will continue to do so.
Tullaghoge Fort
Mr Patsy McGlone asked the Minister of the Environment to detail the amount spent by the Environment and Heritage Service on Tullaghoge Fort, compared to expenditure on other, similar, nationally recognised heritage sites throughout Northern Ireland, over the last five years.
(AQW 318/08)
Mrs Foster: My Department’s expenditure at Tullaghogue Fort over the past five years has been £6,497.86.
The Department’s Environment and Heritage Service (EHS) is in the process of acquiring the site from DARD at a cost of £20,000. This will assist us with the protection and management of the site.
EHS’s expenditure over the past five years on 17 reasonably similar monuments in State Care range from £0 to £20,103.08.
Monuments that are scheduled, rather than in State Care, are, in some respects, comparable; total expenditure over the past five years for all of our scheduled monuments comes to a total of £87,658.69, of which £45,657.48 has been spent on 15 ringforts/ raths. The average spend on the latter category is £3,043.83.
Waste Offences
Mr Mervyn Storey asked the Minister of the Environment, pursuant to her answer to AQW 125/08, if she will explain why the number of people prosecuted for waste offences has risen so sharply since the Environment and Heritage Service assumed responsibility for waste management.
(AQW 374/08)
Mrs Foster: The rising number of convictions is a reflection of the extent of both current and historical illegal waste activities in Northern Ireland. While the number of convictions is rising, so is the seriousness with which they are viewed in the courts, with increasing fines and prison sentences. The Environment and Heritage Service’s (EHS) dedicated Environmental Crime Section is using enhanced legislation, interaction with other law enforcement agencies, accredited investigator training and stronger public awareness to tackle the illegal waste issue and ensure that those involved in such criminal activities are brought to justice. This is, of course, underpinned by the professionalism and commitment of EHS’s investigators, who operate in often difficult personal circumstances.
MOT Test
Mr Patsy McGlone asked the Minister of the Environment to detail, broken down by MOT Test Centre, the number of vehicles that (i) passed; and (b) failed the test at first examination, in the years 2003/04; 2004/05; and 2005/06.
(AQW 391/08)
Mrs Foster: The number of vehicles that passed and failed the first examination by test centre is detailed in the table below:
Test Centre |
2003-2004 |
2004-2005 |
2005-2006 |
|||
PASS |
FAIL |
PASS |
FAIL |
PASS |
FAIL |
|
ARMAGH |
16,005 |
5,535 |
11,332 |
3,884 |
14,892 |
5,406 |
BALLYMENA |
32,497 |
8,795 |
34,957 |
9,291 |
31,806 |
9,196 |
BELFAST |
43,369 |
13,206 |
34,767 |
9,923 |
44,409 |
15,400 |
COLERAINE |
30,573 |
7,805 |
31,459 |
8,161 |
32,623 |
10,515 |
COOKSTOWN |
23,948 |
7,971 |
24,965 |
9,904 |
25,776 |
12,908 |
CRAIGAVON |
24,862 |
10,277 |
16,528 |
7,127 |
19,741 |
8,983 |
DOWNPATRICK |
22,251 |
6,410 |
24,612 |
7,203 |
19,746 |
6,525 |
ENNISKILLEN |
20,249 |
4,842 |
19,718 |
4,742 |
21,127 |
6,374 |
LARNE |
20,607 |
4,262 |
19,128 |
3,131 |
20,818 |
4,322 |
LISBURN |
25,369 |
9,178 |
19,416 |
6,030 |
24,696 |
8,500 |
LONDONDERRY |
25,772 |
8,040 |
19,067 |
5,992 |
26,528 |
9,178 |
MALLUSK |
27,374 |
8,028 |
30,012 |
8,855 |
34,578 |
13,172 |
NEWRY |
23,511 |
6,420 |
20,647 |
5,985 |
31,354 |
10,447 |
NEWTOWNARDS |
42,838 |
12,533 |
42,371 |
11,867 |
46,789 |
15,665 |
OMAGH |
13,771 |
4,847 |
16,583 |
5,599 |
17,186 |
7,552 |
TOTAL |
392,996 |
118,149 |
365,562 |
107,694 |
412,069 |
144,143 |
Special Preservation Order for the Irish Hare
Mr Jim Shannon asked the Minister of the Environment to report on the outcome of the meeting with the Countryside Alliance, which took place on 16 July 2007, in relation to the Special Preservation Order for the Irish hare.
(AQW 421/08)
Mrs Foster: Responding to a request from Countryside Alliance to discuss proposals for a new Special Protection Order (SPO) for the Irish hare, I met representatives from that organisation and the Irish Coursing Clubs on 13th August and a follow up meeting on 25th September. Discussions during these meetings were positive and gave me a valuable opportunity to understand the views of the country sports interests. I have advised the representatives of my decision to proceed with a new SPO for 2007/8 and this will be formally announced shortly.
Eel Grass in Strangford Lough
Mr Jim Shannon asked the Minister of the Environment, in light of the importance of eel grass in Strangford Lough, as a source of food for migrating wildfowl, what steps she is taking to preserve and enhance the eel grass in the Lough.
(AQW 422/08)
Mrs Foster: A large amount of research and survey of eel-grass beds has been undertaken in Northern Ireland and the habitat is covered by a Northern Ireland Habitat Action Plan. In Strangford Lough eel-grass beds are well-protected through a number of designations. Strangford Lough is designated as an Area of Special Scientific Interest (ASSI), Special Area for Conservation (SAC) and Special Protection Area (SPA). There are management objectives, arising from these designations, for the maintenance and enhancement of eel-grass beds. This is being achieved through the regulation of activities which could damage the beds, through raising public awareness of their importance and, where necessary, through direct management, such as the control of the invasive cord-grass and improvement in water quality. This has the potential to restore the intertidal habitat to a condition in which eel-grass can thrive.
Planning Applications
Dr Stephen Farry asked the Minister of the Environment what action she is taking to ensure the efficient processing of planning applications with a significant economic, social, community or environmental benefit.
(AQW 444/08)
Mrs Foster: A new division has been created within Planning Service to focus specifically on planning applications which are of social or economic significance to Northern Ireland –including, potentially, applications which offer significant environmental or community benefit. There is also now a protocol for dealing with such applications – a protocol which focuses on front-loading the planning process with constructive pre-application discussions and pro-active management of applications through the planning system. I am also developing proposals for a review of the whole planning system to address the delays which have created problems for applicants.
However, I would like to emphasise that an application can only pass through the planning process as quickly as the quality of the application and its supporting information will allow. To this end, there is clear onus on the applicant to ensure that any application is well prepared and is accompanied by all of the information that is necessary to determine it.
Control of Cormorants
Mr Jim Shannon asked the Minister of the Environment to detail the number of licences that have been issued to control cormorants; and to list the rivers and loughs to which licences have been issued, in each of the last three years.
(AQW 450/08)
Mrs Foster: 55 Licences to control Cormorants to prevent serious damage to fisheries were issued by Environment and Heritage Service between 2004 and 2006. Details of the areas these licences were issued for are shown on the attached Annex.
ANNEX
YEAR |
NO OF LICENCES |
LOCATION |
|---|---|---|
| 2004 | 18 |
|
| 2005 | 18 |
|
| 2006 | 19 |
|
Planning Applications
Mr Declan O'Loan asked the Minister of the Environment to outline what reconsideration will be given to all planning applications that have been refused on the grounds of prematurity to the Draft Northern Area Plan.
(AQW 491/08)
Mrs Foster: The Joint Ministerial Statement (January 2005) provides policy guidance in deciding whether or not a planning application is premature in the context of emerging plans. The decision-maker must have regard to a number of factors including for example the status of the draft Area Plan.
In the context of the draft Northern Area Plan my Department is considering the judgment in the legal challenge to the Strategic Environmental Assessment and its implications, in preparation for a remedies hearing. In the interim the draft Plan remains a material consideration in the determination of planning applications. In this context the judgement has no impact on applications refused on the grounds of prematurity issued prior to the judgement.
However my Department considers it prudent not to issue any further refusal decisions which have been determined under the draft Area Plan and also will be proposing a deferral of all applications where plan prematurity is a potential reason for refusal until the final decision of the Court is known.
This guidance will be reviewed following the final judgement and if necessary new policy guidance will be issued.
Giant's Causeway Visitors' Centre
Mr Daithí McKay asked the Minister of the Environment if she will publish immediately the Planning Service's report and recommendations on the private planning application for a Visitors' Centre at the Giant's Causeway, which was sent to the Planning Service Management Board earlier this year.
(AQW 563/08)
Mrs Foster: This planning application is still being considered by Planning Service officials and until such time as a decision is made on the matter, I do not believe it would be appropriate to release a copy of the Planning Service report and recommendation.
Finance and Personnel
Competitiveness and Employment Programme
Mr David Hilditch asked the Minister of Finance and Personnel to confirm what arrangements he has put in place to ensure (i) joined-up delivery of the overall EU structural funds for 2007/13 (Competitiveness and Employment Programme) between DARD, DETI and OFMDFM; and (ii) effective communication with stakeholders.
(AQW 267/08)
The Minister of Finance and Personnel (Mr Robinson):
(i) Joined up delivery
Northern Ireland’s Competitiveness and Employment Programmes for 2007-13 will promote and support economic regeneration throughout the region including urban, rural and border areas. Complementarity and coherence between actions financed by the Competitiveness and Employment Programmes, the Cross-Border Programmes, the European Agricultural Fund for Rural Development (EAFRD) and the European Fisheries Fund (EFF) has been provided for in the draft operational programmes.
Arrangements are in place through the joint Monitoring Committee for the Competitiveness and Employment Programmes to ensure a joined up approach to the delivery of these programmes and the other EU funded programmes for the period:
- EU Programme for Peace And Reconciliation (Peace III);
- INTERREG IV (Northern Ireland / Republic of Ireland / Western Scotland Cross-Border Co-Operation Programme);
- Northern Ireland Rural Development Programme (NIRDP); and,
- Northern Ireland European Fisheries Fund Programme.
DFP will chair the meetings of the Monitoring Committee with officials from DETI and SEUPB as members, and DARD and OFMDFM officials as advisors. This will ensure that the authorities responsible for the delivery of EU programmes are involved in the monitoring of the Competitiveness and Employment Programmes, can share the experiences with their own Committees and contribute to ensuring best practice solutions to any issues raised relating to the delivery of the programmes.
DFP will also continue to hold regular meetings of the interdepartmental EU Steering Group. Under the current structural funds programmes, DFP established this group to allow officials from all Departments to consider the issues relating the development and implementation of structural funds programmes. This group will also consider issues relating to the 2007-13 programmes. DETI, DARD and OFMDFM officials regularly attend these meetings along with DEL (Managing Authority for the ESF Competitiveness and Employment Programme) and SEUPB (Managing Authority for Peace III and INTERREG IV).
(ii) Communication with Stakeholders
The Competitiveness and Employment Programmes have been developed through extensive consultation with stakeholders. Annex 1 lists the engagement with stakeholders throughout the period of developing the new Structural Funds programmes for 2007-13.
The proposals for draft delivery structures in the new EU programmes do involve different methods of engagement for stakeholders such as local government. These differing arrangements reflect the individual aims, objectives and criteria of the various programmes. DARD, as Managing Authority of the EAFRD and EFF programmes, will be dealing predominately with rural Councils in recognition of the specific priorities of the Rural Development Programme. DETI, as Managing Authority of the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) Competitiveness and Employment Programme, will engage with stakeholders on economic development issues along the lines of current arrangements such as existing structures for engagement with Councils through the Local Economic Development Network.
Communication with stakeholders will continue throughout the delivery of the programmes, primarily through the social and political partners represented in programmes’ Monitoring Committees.
The joint Competitiveness and Employment Programmes Monitoring Committee will meet for the first time on 5 October 2007. Membership of this Committee includes nominated representatives from the following sectors:
- Community and Voluntary;
- Equality;
- Environment;
- Agri-rural;
- Trade Unions;
- Business;
- Education;
- Research; and,
- Local Government.
Civil Service Vacancies
Mr Mark Durkan asked the Minister of Finance and Personnel to detail the location and number of existing vacancies in the Northern Ireland Civil Service at (i) Administrative Officer; (ii) Executive Officer II; (iii) Executive Officer I; and (iv) Staff Officer, in each Government department.
(AQW 341/08)
Mr Robinson: The location and number of vacancies in permanent posts in the Northern Ireland Civil Service at the grades of (i) Administrative Officer, (ii) Executive Officer 2, (iii) Executive Officer 1 and (iv) Staff Officer are set out in the attached table.
The figures, on a full time equivalent (FTE) basis, are broken down by each of the eleven NI Departments and their Agencies, and show the position at 20 September 2007.
| Department | AO | EO2 | EO1 | SO | ||||
| Number | Location (posts) | Number | Location (posts) | Number | Location (posts) | Number | Location (posts) | |
| Agriculture & Rural Development (DARD) | 28 | Belfast(17), Newry(1), Londonderry(7), Cookstown(1), Ballymena(1), Coleraine(1) | 11 | Belfast(9), Londonderry(2) | 3 | Belfast | 7 | Belfast |
| Culture, Arts & Leisure (DCAL) | 7 | Belfast | 3 | Belfast | 3 | Belfast | 7 | Belfast |
| Education (DE) | 14.6 | Bangor(11), Londonderry(3.6) | 5.4 | Bangor(4), Londonderry(1.4) | 5 | Bangor(4), Londonderry(1) | 6.4 | Bangor(5.4), Londonderry(1) |
| Employment & Learning (DEL) | 23.04 | Belfast(14.52), Ballymoney(1.42), Newtownabbey(0.39), Londonderry(0.66), Enniskillen(1.27), Omagh(0.39), Antrim(1), Dungannon(1.81), Lurgan(1), Portadown(0.58) | 12.27 | Belfast(10.66), Limavady(0.42), Londonderry(1.19) | 22.31 | Belfast(9), Outside Belfast(13.31) |
13.88 | Belfast |
| Enterprise, Trade & Investment (DETI) | 6 | Belfast | 3 | Belfast | 2 | Belfast | 3 | Belfast |
| Finance & Personnel (DFP) | 4.82 | Belfast | 14.47 | Belfast(13.51), Bangor(0.96) | 5.79 | Belfast(3.85), Bangor(1.94) | 9.65 | Belfast(7.72), Bangor(1.93) |
| Health, Social Services & Public Safety (DHSSPS) | 9 | Belfast(8), Londonderry(1) | 4.5 | Belfast | 5 | Belfast | 9 | Belfast |
| Department | AO | EO2 | EO1 | SO | ||||
| Number | Location (posts) | Number | Location (posts) | Number | Location (posts) | Number | Location (posts) | |
| Environment (DOE) | 62.5 | Belfast(17), Lisburn(3.5), Coleraine(31.5), Omagh(3), Fermanagh(0.5), Enniskillen(2), Ballymena(1), Dungannon(1), Downpatrick(1), Armagh(2) | 9 | Belfast(8), Londonderry(1) | 15 | Belfast(12), Ballymena(1), Coleraine(2) | 22 | Belfast(19), Ballymena(1), Coleraine(1), Omagh(1) |
| Regional Development (DRD) | 22 | Belfast(14), Ballymena(1), Seaforde(1), Craigavon(2), Downpatrick(3), Coleraine(1) | 12 | Belfast(10), Ballymena(1), Coleraine(1) | 12 | Belfast(8), Downpatrick(1), Coleraine(1), Antrim(1), Omagh(1) | 13 | Belfast(12), Craigavon(1) |
| Social Development (DSD) | 190.99 | Greater Belfast(176.64), Outside Greater Belfast(14.35) | 209.34 | Greater Belfast(187.82), Outside Greater Belfast(21.52) | 22.11 | Greater Belfast(18), Outside Greater Belfast(4.11) | 40.66 | Greater Belfast(34.17), Outside Greater Belfast(6.49) |
| Office of the First & Deputy First Minister (OFMDFM) | 5 | Belfast(4), Londonderry(1) | 3 | Belfast | 1 | Belfast | 8 | Belfast |
| TOTAL | 372.95 | 286.98 | 96.21 | 139.59 | ||||
DSD: Due to the diversity of Social Security Agency locations it was not possible, in the time allowed, to obtain details of vacancies by specific location. The information has therefore been provided within 2 broad categories.
DSD figures show position at August 2007; all other Departments as at 20 September 2007.
DEL: The locations of the EOI (Careers Advisors) vacancies listed as Outside Belfast are still to be determined but will be based in the regional network.
Peace III
Dr Stephen Farry asked the Minister of Finance and Personnel what action he is taking to ensure that collaborative partnerships between district councils for the delivery of Peace III are consistent with the outcome of the Review of Public Administration, in respect of local government.
(AQW 443/08)
Mr Robinson: The Special EU Programmes Body’s (SEUPB) guidelines on the delivery of Theme 1.1 of the PEACE III Programme, Building Positive Relations at the Local Level, encourage applications from self-defined cluster arrangements of councils until new local government structures are agreed and put in place by the devolved administration. It has been necessary for SEUPB to operate in accordance with EU timeframes for the development and launch of the 2007-2013 Structural Fund Programmes, and therefore produce a strategy for the delivery of the PEACE III Programme in advance of an Executive decision on local government structures. Whilst the new local government structures and the date of their implementation are not yet known, it is expected that, the number of councils will be reduced. In the interim, SEUPB’s approach is to encourage a move away from a 26 council model. The Body is therefore proposing that councils work together in anticipation of a reduction under RPA.
Rates Relief
Mr Thomas Burns asked the Minister of Finance and Personnel to detail the number of applications received for disabled persons allowance in respect of rates relief, since the scheme began; and the number of applications that have been successful.
(AQW 519/08)
Mr Robinson: There have been 1,676 applications received under the revised scheme since 1 April 2007. To date 858 cases have been completed, of which 594 have been successful.
Rates Relief
Mr Thomas Burns asked the Minister of Finance and Personnel to detail the criteria used to determine eligibility for disabled persons allowance in respect of rates relief.
(AQW 520/08)
Mr Robinson: The criteria to determine eligibility are set out in Article 31A of the Rates (Northern Ireland) Order 1977, as inserted by Article 17 of the Rates (Amendment) (Northern Ireland) Order.
The criteria are based on the adaptations that have been made to the property in which the person with a disability lives. These are -
- A room other than a kitchen, bathroom or lavatory used mainly by the person with the disability.
- An additional kitchen, bathroom or lavatory for the use of the person with the disability.
- Sufficient floor space to permit the use of a wheelchair by, and which is required for, the person with the disability.
Health, Social Services and Public Safety
Ophthalmic Services
Mr David Simpson asked the Minister of Health, Social Services and Public Safety to detail the total cost of ophthalmic services in Northern Ireland, for each of the last three years.
(AQW 281/08)
The Minister of Health, Social Services and Public Safety (Mr McGimpsey):
The total spend on General Ophthalmic Services for each of the last three years was:
2004\05 £14,395,215.71
2005\06 £15,867,844.74
2006\07 £16,279,840.66
It should be noted that this is Health Service spend only, as my Department does not hold information on spend by private optical practitioners.
Pharmaceutical Payments
Mr David Simpson asked the Minister of Health, Social Services and Public Safety to detail (a) the total cost of pharmaceutical payments in Northern Ireland in the last three years; (b) the total net ingredient cost; and (c) the gross cost per person.
(AQW 282/08)
Mr McGimpsey: The information requested is provided below.
a |
b |
c |
|
|---|---|---|---|
Prescribing Period |
Total Cost of Pharmaceutical Payments Gross Cost |
Net Ingredient Cost |
Gross Cost Per Person |
2004/2005 |
382,789,060.40 |
341,022,381.34 |
214.02 |
2005/2006 |
390,763,466.47 |
341,249,021.85 |
217.83 |
2006/2007 |
408,770,632.55 |
352,949,301.61 |
226.50 |
Source: Central Services Agency
The information provided relates to financial years
Patient Complaints
Mr Stephen Moutray asked the Minister of Health, Social Services and Public Safety, pursuant to his answer to AQW 145/08, to detail the number of complaints made by patients against each hospital in Northern Ireland that were upheld; and what percentage of the total number of complaints about each hospital that this represented, for each of the last five years.
(AQW 283/08)
Mr McGimpsey: The information is not available in the format requested.
Prescriptions
Mr David Simpson asked the Minister of Health, Social Services and Public Safety to detail (a) the average cost per prescription item in Northern Ireland in each of the last three years; (b) the total number of prescription forms; and (c) the average number of prescription items per person in each year.
(AQW 284/08)
Mr McGimpsey: The information requested is provided below.
a |
b |
c |
|
|---|---|---|---|
Prescribing Period |
Gross Cost Per Prescription Item |
Total Number of
Prescription Forms |
Average Number of Prescription Items Per Person Registered to a GP in Northern Ireland |
| 2004/2005 | 13.97 | 15,283,064 | 15.32 |
| 2005/2006 | 13.75 | 15,859,772 | 15.84 |
| 2006/2007 | 13.81 | 16,393,109 | 16.40 |
Source: Central Services Agency
The information provided relates to financial years
Artwork Expenditure
Mr Stephen Moutray asked the Minister of Health, Social Services and Public Safety, pursuant to his answer to AQW 18/08, to detail the total amount spent by his department on art works, in each of the last five years.
(AQW 285/08)
Mr McGimpsey: The asset registers for the Department and for Health Estates an executive agency of the department , do not have any art works recorded, nor were any recorded during the last five years. It is a requirement of the Departmental ‘Capital Accounting manual’ that any single asset costing £5,000 or more be recorded on the asset register.
A check of both asset registers show that over the last 5 years there have been no art works recorded.
Regional Respiratory Forum
Mr David Simpson asked the Minister of Health, Social Services and Public Safety if he will provide an update on the formation and work of (a) the network of local multidisciplinary respiratory groups announced by his direct rule predecessor; and (b) the Regional Respiratory Forum.
(AQW 286/08)
Mr McGimpsey: The document "A Healthier Future: A Strategic Framework for Respiratory Conditions" was formally launched on 15 March 2006. As recommended in the framework document, a network of local multidisciplinary respiratory groups has been set up to facilitate and co-ordinate the implementation of the strategy. The Regional Respiratory Forum recommended in the report has also been established.
The membership of the local multidiscplinary groups is drawn from a wide range of health care professionals and service users and they have drawn up work programmes based on the priorities for service development in their area. The work of these groups is overseen by the Regional Respiratory Forum which is comprised of representatives of the local groups, service users and regional voluntary and advocacy groups.
The Forum has also developed a full work programme to look at the development of regional and specialist services and is also working collaboratively with the Department to develop explicit standards to underpin the assessment, diagnosis and treatment services provided for people with respiratory conditions.
Respiratory Disease
Mr David Simpson asked the Minister of Health, Social Services and Public Safety what progress has been made on the 10-year strategy to reduce respiratory disease in Northern Ireland, announced on 9 June 2005.
(AQW 287/08)
Mr McGimpsey: The document "A Healthier Future: A Strategic Framework for Respiratory Conditions" was formally launched on 15 March 2006. As recommended in this framework document, a network of local multidisciplinary respiratory groups was set up to facilitate and co-ordinate the implementation of the strategy. These groups are the key drivers for securing the achievement of the service goals set out in the strategy and they have drawn up work programmes to take forward a wide range of initiatives designed to improve the range of services available in their areas
A Regional Respiratory Forum has also been established and is developing proposals for the development of a number of regional services. The Forum is also working closely with the Department to develop standards to underpin the assessment, diagnosis and treatment services delivered by healthcare professionals. It is expected that this work will be completed by June 2008.
One of the key recommendations in the framework document related to the development of patient education programmes to help people with respiratory problems manage their own conditions more effectively. The framework also recommended the introduction of case management arrangements designed to deliver intensive health and social care packages to patients with the most complex conditions to help reduce the number of unscheduled and emergency admissions to hospital because of respiratory problems. In 2006/07 the Department allocated £3m to enable GP practices to provide self-management training to enable people with asthma or chronic obstructive pulmonary disease manage their own conditions more effectively. In 2007/08 the Department also allocated an additional £0.5m for the development of self-care and case management arrangements for people with respiratory conditions.
Gardening and Landscaping Expenditure
Mr Stephen Moutray asked the Minister of Health, Social Services and Public Safety, pursuant to his answer to AQW 19/08, to detail the total amount spent by his department on gardening and landscaping, in each of the last five years.
(AQW 288/08)
Mr McGimpsey: The total amount spent by Health and Social Care Trusts on gardening and landscaping is set out below. Table 1 provides details of the revenue (or on-going) expenditure and Table 2 provides an assessment of the landscaping costs associated with capital projects.
Table 1: Revenue Expenditure on Gardening Contracts, and Gardening Equipment and Materials
Year |
Amount £000s |
|---|---|
| 2002/03 | 1,064* |
| 2003/04 | 1,048 |
| 2004/05 | 949 |
| 2005/06 | 1,138 |
| 2006/07 | Not yet available |
* Includes estimate for two Trusts
Note: The cost of gardeners employed directly by HSC Trusts could not readily be separately identified and are excluded.
The landscaping element of capital projects includes fencing, footpaths, paved areas, kerbing, earth levelling, top-soiling, all grassed areas and all planted areas surrounding the building. It would be disproportionately expensive to seek to establish the precise cost of this element within the construction cost of each capital project undertaken by HSC Trusts over the last five years.
However the average cost of the landscaping element of capital projects undertaken within the Health Sector is approximately 0.5% of the total cost of each project. Applying the average percentage to the capital expenditure in health on new projects for the last five years gives the approximate amount spent on landscaping across all Northern Ireland Health Projects.
Table 2: Assessment of landscaping costs associated with capital projects
Year |
Estimated Cost £000s |
|---|---|
| 2002/03 | 350 |
| 2003/04 | 480 |
| 2004/05 | 620 |
| 2005/06 | 640 |
| 2006/07 | 810 |
Artwork Expenditure
Mr Stephen Moutray asked the Minister of Health, Social Services and Public Safety, pursuant to his answer to AQW 18/08, if the review into spending on artwork in healthcare facilities, announced on 24 August 2007, will require the total amount spent on artwork by each hospital to be made public.
(AQW 289/08)
Mr McGimpsey: The Review into expenditure on Art in the construction and design of health and social care facilities will establish a clear policy on the matter, especially in regard to sources of funding and the use of public expenditure. The Department will ensure that the implementation of that policy will be appropriately monitored and that all relevant information on public expenditure will be made publicly available.
Northern Ireland Produced Beef
Mr Jim Shannon asked the Minister of Health, Social Services and Public Safety to detail the amount of Northern Ireland-produced beef used in each of the Health and Social Services Boards, in each of the last three years.
(AQW 298/08)
Mr McGimpsey: The information requested is not held centrally.
Agenda for Change
Ms Carál Ní Chuilín asked the Minister of Health, Social Services and Public Safety to give a timescale within which his department will conclude the Agenda for Change programme, and fund it accordingly.
(AQW 304/08)
Mr McGimpsey: I have asked my officials to instruct Chief Executives within Health and Social Care organisations that the Agenda for Change matching exercise should be completed by the end of December 2007 and that all health and social care staff should be put on Agenda for Change rates by the end of March 2008. £101m has been provided to implement the Agenda for Change agreement in the current year.
Accident and Emergency Services at the Mater Hospital
Ms Carál Ní Chuilín asked the Minister of Health, Social Services and Public Safety what assurances he will give that the Accident and Emergency Services at the Mater Hospital will continue to function on a 24-hour basis.
(AQW 305/08)
Mr McGimpsey: The Mater Hospital has 24/7 Accident and Emergency service and there are no plans to change the current opening times of this service.
Breast Reconstruction
Ms Carál Ní Chuilín asked the Minister of Health, Social Services and Public Safety to detail the average waiting time for full and complete breast reconstruction, for women living in North and West Belfast.
(AQW 306/08)
Mr McGimpsey: The average waiting time for full and complete breast reconstruction, for women living in North and West Belfast, as of 30th June 2007, is 48 days.
Ambulance Service Employees
Mr Thomas Buchanan asked the Minister of Health, Social Services and Public Safety to detail the number of Northern Ireland Ambulance Service employees who are based at the Omagh station; and the number of these who reside in the Omagh and Strabane District Council areas.
(AQW 314/08)
Mr McGimpsey: The Northern Ireland Ambulance Service currently has 40 employees based at its Omagh station comprising one Station Officer, 13 Paramedics, 12 Emergency Medical Technicians (EMT) and 14 Trainee EMTs.
NIAS does not hold exact details of the Omagh and Strabane District Council boundaries. However, from those which can clearly be identified, it is possible to say that 14 staff live in the Omagh and Strabane District Council areas and 26 staff live outside.
Blue Light Ambulances
Mr Thomas Buchanan asked the Minister of Health, Social Services and Public Safety if he will clarify the protocol for blue light ambulances to stop at the Tyrone County Hospital, Omagh.
(AQW 315/08)
Mr McGimpsey: The Surgery and Trauma Destination Protocol implemented by the Northern Ireland Ambulance Service (NIAS) on 31 March 2006 in response to changes in Tyrone County Hospital (TCH) acute services was agreed by the Western Health and Social Services Board (WHSSB), the former Sperrin Lakeland Trust (SLT) and NIAS. The protocol was also issued to local GPs.
The protocol stipulates that patients with abdominal pain, gastro-intestinal (GIT) bleeding, significant trauma or who are unconscious should not be taken by ambulance to TCH. Patients with medical problems, minor injuries including head injuries, simple fractures or nose-bleeds may continue to be taken to TCH. Where there is any doubt, the patient should not be taken to TCH.
In addition, a Paediatric Destination Protocol introduced in 2005 stipulates that children under 16 with anything other than minor injuries should not be taken to TCH but to hospitals with in-patient consultant paediatric services unless otherwise directed by a doctor.
Autism
Mr Thomas Buchanan asked the Minister of Health, Social Services and Public Safety to detail the number of people who have been diagnosed with autism in each of the last five years, broken down by Health and Social Services Board area.
(AQW 316/08)
Mr McGimpsey: The information requested is not available.
Child Obesity
Mr David Simpson asked the Minister of Health, Social Services and Public Safety if he will make a statement on levels of child obesity in Northern Ireland.
(AQW 328/08)
Mr McGimpsey: To inform the development of the Fit Futures: Focus on Food, Activity and Young People Strategy with its specific focus on childhood obesity and to measure progress against the relevant Public Service Agreement and Investing for Health targets, administrative data is gathered from the Child Health System in each of the four Health and Social Services Boards in Northern Ireland. Information relating to the percentage of Primary 1 children in Northern Ireland who are obese is presented in Table 1 below:
| Table 1: % of P1 children that are obese | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| NI - Male & Female | 1997-98 | 1999-00 | 2002-03 | 2003-04 | 2004-05 | 2005-06 |
| Northern Board | 4.0% | 4.6% | 5.7% | 5.0% | 5.0% | 5.0% |
| Southern Board | 4.1% | 5.6% | 6.1% | 6.6% | 5.9% | 6.0% |
| Eastern Board | 3.2% | 4.0% | 4.8% | 5.7% | 5.1% | 5.0% |
| Western Board | 4.0% | 5.6% | 6.1% | 5.6% | 6.1% | 5.5% |
| NI | 3.8% | 4.8% | 5.6% | 5.7% | 5.5% | 5.2% |
Source: Child Health System (NI). The figures above are calculated using the International Standard measurement for Obesity.
Although the percentage of Primary One children who are obese in Northern Ireland has grown from 3.8% in 1997/98 to 5.2% in 2005/06, the last two periods where data was collected indicate a slight fall in the percentage of Primary One children who are obese. The collection of this administrative data is now embedded in the Inequalities Monitoring System and is subject to annual updates.
Further to this, the recent publication of the NI Health and Social Wellbeing Survey 2005 has collected data relating to children’s height and weight. Applying the International Standard measurement for Obesity to the survey data nearly one in ten (8%) of children (aged 2-15 years) were obese. It is intended that future Health and Wellbeing Surveys will continue to collect this data.
In addition, from September 2007, this Department has provided funding to collect and record BMI measurements through the School Nursing Service, of all year 8/9 pupils. This additional data will allow my Department to assess the need for further interventions in regard to childhood obesity.
Staff Team Building Days
Mr Stephen Moutray asked the Minister of Health, Social Services and Public Safety to detail the total cost of (i) staff away days; and (ii) staff team building exercises carried out by his department, in each of the last three years.
(AQW 334/08)
Mr McGimpsey: The total cost of (i) staff away days; and (ii) staff team building exercises in DHSSPS in each of the last three financial years is as follows:
2004/05 |
2005/06 |
2006/07 |
|
|---|---|---|---|
| Total cost of staff away days | £14,719 | £30,082 | £31,799 |
| Total cost of team building exercises | £7,516 | £11,037 | £3,122 |
Stroke Units
Mrs Michelle O'Neill asked the Minister of Health, Social Services and Public Safety to detail all hospitals in Northern Ireland that have dedicated stroke units.
(AQW 342/08)
Mr McGimpsey: Information on the number of hospitals in Northern Ireland that have dedicated stroke units, at 21st September 2007, is shown in the table below.
Hospital |
Number of Dedicated Stroke Units Available1 |
|---|---|
| Belfast City Hospital | 1 |
| Mater Infirmorum Hospital | 1 |
| Royal Victoria Hospital | 1 |
| Ulster Hospital | 1 |
| Antrim Area Hospital | 1 |
| Altnagelvin Area Hospital | 1 |
| Erne Hospital | 1 |
| Craigavon Area Hospital | 1 |
| Daisy Hill Hospital | 1 |
| Northern Ireland | 9 |
Source:- Northern Ireland Health and Social Care Providers
1 – This is the number of dedicated acute stroke units. A number of hospitals in Northern Ireland also have a dedicated stroke rehabilitation unit.
Stroke Research
Mrs Michelle O'Neill asked the Minister of Health, Social Services and Public Safety to detail his department's expenditure on research into the prevention, treatment and management of strokes, in comparison to expenditure on heart disease research and cancer research.
(AQW 344/08)
Mr McGimpsey: The table below details the research expenditure for Stroke, Heart disease and Cancer committed by DHSSPS between April 1998 and March 2007.
| Stroke | £509,073 |
| Heart disease | £4,819,943 |
| Cancer | £13,294,118 |
| TOTAL | £18,620,134 |
Source: Research and Development Office, Northern Ireland Health and Social Care Central Services Agency
Notes:
1. These figures detail expenditure on all associated projects up to 31 March 2007. It should be noted that some of the projects were still ongoing at this point.
Alcohol-Related Illness
Ms Carmel Hanna asked the Minister of Health, Social Services and Public Safety to provide, for each of the last three years, (i) an estimate of the percentage of NHS expenditure devoted to treating alcohol-related illness; and (ii) a breakdown, by Health and Social Care Trust, of all alcohol-related admissions to hospital, including admissions to Accident and Emergency, in number and percentage terms.
(AQW 351/08)
Mr McGimpsey: (i) An estimate of the percentage of NHS expenditure devoted to treating alcohol related illness is not available. Information is not currently collected regarding details of A&E, outpatient community, or personal social service expenditure or activity at a sufficient level of detail in order to identify NHS expenditure on people with alcohol related conditions. However, total expenditure on treating alcohol related illness in an inpatient or daycase setting in Northern Ireland was as follows:
Year |
Cost (£m) |
|---|---|
| 2005/06 | 10 |
| 2004/05 | 12 |
| 2003/04 | 13 |
Source: Trust HRG Costing Returns and Hospital Inpatient System
The above does not include the costs of treatment for such illnesses in primary, community, personal social service or outpatient settings.
(ii) The number of 1admissions and percentage of total admissions to hospitals in Northern Ireland where there was a diagnosis of an alcohol related illness/condition, is presented in the table below:
HSC Provider |
2003/2004 |
2004/2005 |
2005/2006 |
|||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
No. of Admissions |
% |
No. of Admissions |
% |
No. of Admissions |
% |
|
| Belfast HSC Provider | 2,839 | 1.5 | 2,794 | 1.4 | 2,796 | 1.4 |
| Northern HSC Provider | 1,537 | 1.8 | 1,640 | 1.9 | 1,610 | 1.8 |
| South Eastern HSC Provider | 1,124 | 1.5 | 1,387 | 1.8 | 1,363 | 1.7 |
| Southern HSC Provider | 1,161 | 1.5 | 1,313 | 1.7 | 1,379 | 1.7 |
| Western HSC Provider | 1,096 | 1.4 | 1,207 | 1.5 | 1,241 | 1.5 |
| Northern Ireland Total | 7,757 | 1.5 | 8,341 | 1.6 | 8,389 | 1.6 |
Source: Hospital Inpatient System
Notes:
This table includes those patients who presented at an Accident and Emergency Department and were consequently admitted to hospital with an alcohol related illness.
1Discharges and Deaths are used as an approximation to admissions. It is possible that any individual could be admitted to hospital more than once in any year and will thus be counted more than once as an admission.
Autism
Mr Paul Butler asked the Minister of Health, Social Services and Public Safety, pursuant to his answer to AQO 212/07, and in view of the increase in diagnoses of autism, if he can confirm that the review of service provision, gap identification, best practice and innovation has commenced; and to give a timescale within which he expects it to reach its conclusion.
(AQW 359/08)
Mr McGimpsey: The Department is currently undertaking a review of autism service provision to identify gaps, share best practice and promote innovation. The Review Group will report to me by the end of December 2007.
Out-of-Hours Care
Mr Mickey Brady asked the Minister of Health, Social Services and Public Safety to outline the findings of the joint working panel of the Mournes area on out-of-hours care.
(AQW 360/08)
Mr McGimpsey: The joint working panel, comprising representatives elected by the community in the Mournes and the Southern Health and Social Services Board, recommended a Satellite GP Out of Hours Service be provided in Kilkeel, operating 8pm to 11pm each evening and 11am to 2 pm at weekends and public holidays.
The new service will commence in November and the panel agreed it would be funded by the resources currently used to finance the Brooklands Minor Injury Unit.
Victims of Domestic Violence
Ms Jennifer McCann asked the Minister of Health, Social Services and Public Safety, with reference to his comments in the Assembly on 29 May 2007, what systems he has put in place to strengthen measures to identify victims of domestic violence presenting at Accident and Emergency units and doctors' surgeries.
(AQW 361/08)
Mr McGimpsey: My Department is currently developing a resource manual in consultation with a range of health and social services professional bodies which is targeted at health and social service professionals. The manual will contain routine enquiry-type questions about domestic violence for use in health and social services consultations, such as those in A&E and is aimed at identifying victims of domestic violence. The manual is scheduled to be completed by end of March 2008
This will be in addition to the routine enquiry already carried out by maternity units with pregnant women.
Caring for Carers Strategy
Ms Sue Ramsey asked the Minister of Health, Social Services and Public Safety to outline the situation regarding the outstanding recommendations of the Caring for Carers Strategy.
(AQW 362/08)
Mr McGimpsey: My Department is committed to an ongoing programme of action to address all the recommendations of the Caring for Carers. Since the publication of Caring for Carers my Department has issued detailed practical guidance and imposed specific requirements on all Health and Social Care Trusts to ensure the delivery of key elements of the strategy. We are currently carrying out a review of progress on those requirements. My Department has recently commissioned an in-depth study of the support services available to carers, which will make important recommendations about the type of support that will best meets carers’ needs in the future. This and other important aspects of the Strategy are all being taken forward in partnership with carers’ representative organisations.
Cross-Border Healthcare
Mr Pat Doherty asked the Minister of Health, Social Services and Public Safety to outline the opportunities he will provide for more effective healthcare solutions to the problems faced by people living along the border; and to give an indication of the conclusions to be drawn from the cross-border pilot scheme, that is currently underway in the north-west.
(AQW 363/08)
Mr McGimpsey: It makes sense to pursue co-operation where it is in the mutual interests of the population on both sides of the border. The Belfast Agreement recognises this and has identified 5 areas of co-operation in health – Accident and Emergency services; planning for major emergencies; co-operation on high technology; cancer research and health promotion.
Co-operation and Working Together (CAWT) has conducted extensive work in taking this agenda forward. Also, my Department has been working closely with colleagues in Dublin on a number of healthcare issues, and we are currently undertaking an exploratory study to identify the potential of further areas of North South co-operation that could help enhance access to services and improve the health and wellbeing for the population of both jurisdictions.
An evaluation of the Cross Border Out of Hours pilot between Innishowen and Londonderry, which began on 10 January 2007, is currently being conducted, the outcome of which is expected in Spring 2008. Initial findings indicate that since the pilot started in January, 80 patients have used the service.
Carers
Ms Sue Ramsey asked the Minister of Health, Social Services and Public Safety to outline what progress his department has made in relation to requiring Health and Social Care Trusts to put the interests of carers at the heart of decision-making, through measures such as nominating a member of these Trusts to take responsibility for carers appointing a carers' co-ordinator.
(AQW 364/08)
Mr McGimpsey: The carers’ strategy, Caring for Carers, proposed that Health and Social Care Trusts should take a number of steps to put carers at the heart of decision making. Since then, my Department has imposed a requirement upon Trusts to establish carers’ reference groups in local areas, to nominate carers’ co-ordinators and to identify a board member with responsibility for ensuring that carers are afforded appropriate priority with the Trust as a whole. My Department is currently carrying out a review of how these requirements have been implemented across Trusts.
Organ Transplants
Mr Jim Shannon asked the Minister of Health, Social Services and Public Safety to detail the number of organ transplants for people in Northern Ireland, that have taken place in (i) England; and (ii) the Republic of Ireland, in each of the last five years.
(AQW 377/08)
Mr McGimpsey: The number of organ transplants carried out in England and the Republic of Ireland for recipients resident in Northern Ireland, over the last 5 financial years are presented in the table below:
Nation of Transplant |
Financial year |
||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
2002-03 |
2003-04 |
2004-05 |
2005-06 |
2006-07 |
|
| England | 27 | 28 | 28 | 31 | 26 |
| Republic of Ireland | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| Total | 27 | 28 | 29 | 31 | 27 |
Source: UK Transplant
Information given in the table above includes both living and deceased donor organ transplants.
Organ Transplants
Mr Jim Shannon asked the Minister of Health, Social Services and Public Safety to detail, for each of the last five years, the number of organ transplants that have taken place in Northern Ireland, where the recipient was resident in Northern Ireland.
(AQW 378/08)
Mr McGimpsey: The number of organ transplants carried out in Northern Ireland for recipients resident in Northern Ireland, over the last 5 financial years is presented in the table below:
Nation of Transplant |
Financial year |
||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
2002-03 |
2003-04 |
2004-05 |
2005-06 |
2006-07 |
|
Northern Ireland |
47 |
53 |
47 |
30 |
45 |
Source: UK Transplant
Information given in the table above includes both living and deceased donor organ transplants.
Organ Transplants
Mr Jim Shannon asked the Minister of Health, Social Services and Public Safety to detail the number of (i) children under 18; and (ii) adults, who have received organ transplants, in each of the last five years.
(AQW 379/08)
Mr McGimpsey: The number of transplant recipients, by age group, for transplants carried out in the United Kingdom, over the last 5 financial years is presented in the table below:
| Recipient Age Group | Financial year |
||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
2002-03 |
2003-04 |
2004-05 |
2005-06 |
2006-07 |
|
| Adult | 2,503 | 2,548 | 2,407 | 2,481 | 2,711 |
| Children Under 18 | 239 | 269 | 249 | 222 | 266 |
| Northern Ireland Total | 2,742 | 2,817 | 2,656 | 2,703 | 2,977 |
Source: UK Transplant
Information given in the table above includes both living and deceased donor organ transplants.
Organ Transplants
Mr Jim Shannon asked the Minister of Health, Social Services and Public Safety to detail the number of organs that have been donated for (i) heart; (ii) lung; (iii) kidney; (iv) cornea; and (v) other transplants, for operations in (a) Northern Ireland; (b) Great Britain; and (c) the Republic of Ireland, in each of the last five years.
(AQW 380/08)
Mr McGimpsey: At time of retrieval of the donated organ it is not possible to say in which country the organ transplant operation will take place.
(a) The number of organs donated in Northern Ireland over the last 5 financial years is presented in the table below:
| Organ donated | Financial year | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
2002-03 |
2003-04 |
2004-05 |
2005-06 |
2006-07 |
|
| Heart | 12 | 6 | 11 | 4 | 7 |
| Lung | 14 | 13 | 9 | 7 | 15 |
| Kidney | 64 | 63 | 64 | 47 | 75 |
| Cornea | 26 | 32 | 14 | 30 | 30 |
| Other | 27 | 26 | 29 | 19 | 39 |
| Total | 143 | 140 | 127 | 107 | 166 |
Source: UK Transplant
Information given in the table above includes both living and deceased donor organ transplants.
(b) The number of organs donated in Great Britain over the last 5 financial years is presented in the table below:
| Organ donated | Financial year |
||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
2002-03 |
2003-04 |
2004-05 |
2005-06 |
2006-07 |
|
| Heart | 156 | 175 | 157 | 136 | 151 |
| Lung | 229 | 288 | 270 | 259 | 245 |
| Kidney | 1788 | 1843 | 1818 | 1970 | 2130 |
| Cornea | 2963 | 3277 | 3124 | 3416 | 3729 |
| Other | 760 | 742 | 731 | 774 | 849 |
| Total | 5896 | 6325 | 6100 | 6555 | 7104 |
Source: UK Transplant
Information given in the table above includes both living and deceased donor organ transplants.
Figures given for Great Britain include figures for the Isle of Man and the Channel Islands in addition to England, Scotland and Wales.
(c) The numbers of organs donated in the Republic of Ireland over the last 5 financial years are presented in the table below:
| Organ donated | Financial year | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
2002-03 |
2003-04 |
2004-05 |
2005-06 |
2006-07 |
|
| Heart | 29 | 16 | 13 | 14 | 22 |
| Lung | 21 | 23 | 14 | 22 | 19 |
| Kidney | 158 | 155 | 130 | 139 | 156 |
| Other | 77 | 82 | 71 | 64 | 74 |
| Total | 285 | 276 | 228 | 239 | 271 |
Source: UK Transplant
Cornea data is not collected for the Republic of Ireland.
Information given in the table above includes both living and deceased donor organ transplants.
Organ Donor Cards
Mr Jim Shannon asked the Minister of Health, Social Services and Public Safety to detail the number of people in Northern Ireland who carry Organ Donor Cards; and what plans he has to increase this number.
(AQW 381/08)
Mr McGimpsey: It is not known how many people in Northern Ireland carry Organ Donor Cards, however the number of Northern Ireland residents on the Organ Donor Register currently stands at just under 362,000 which equates to approximately 21% of the population.
Responsibility for promotion of the Organ Donor Register across the UK rests with NHS Blood and Transplant. Their national campaigns are supplemented locally by publicity organised through my Department and the transplant co-ordinators based in Belfast City Hospital.
Suicide
Mr Danny Kennedy asked the Minister of Health, Social Services and Public Safety if he will provide an update on his department's prevention of suicide policy, with particular reference to the Newry and Armagh constituency.
(AQW 383/08)
Mr McGimpsey: A Suicide Prevention Strategy was launched on 30 October 2006, and it contains over 60 actions that aim to reduce the rates of suicide. I have allocated over £3 million annually to support the Strategy’s implementation.
Significant work has already been initiated regionally to implement the Strategy, including:
- a pilot self-harm mentoring scheme and a pilot telephone helpline;
- research into the effects of the troubles on mental health and suicide rates;
- a new Depression Awareness Training Programme for GPs and frontline primary care staff; and
- a new joint North/South public information campaign.
In addition, £1.8 million of the Strategy’s funding has been invested, via the four local Health and Social Services Boards, to support communities. In 2007/08, £406,840 was allocated to the Southern Health and Social Services Board, including £82,420 and £29,670 to specifically tackle the disproportionately high rates of suicide in the Craigavon & Banbridge and Newry & Mourne Areas respectively.
The Southern Health and Social Services Board has established a local implementation group, involving representatives from the statutory sector, local communities and bereaved families, to agree the local allocation of this funding. Types of work underway within the Southern Health and Social Services Board area include:
- needs assessment with churches, religious groups and faith based organisations to explore their attitudes to, role in and potential needs in the area of Suicide Prevention and intervention,
- needs assessment with Young Men, and those who work with them, to explore issues which may cause them crisis, for example violence, anger and sexuality issues;
- roll out of appropriate training courses;
- community awareness raising sessions on suicide and self harm;
- supporting rehabilitation and vocational opportunities to individuals experiencing mental health problems;
- additional counselling services for individuals at risk;
- support for an Interdenominational Church Service in Newry to remember those who have lost their lives to suicide and those who still mourn them; and
- funding to develop and facilitate a rural community based response to suicide and self harm in the South Armagh area.
Biofuels
Mr P J Bradley asked the Minister of Health, Social Services and Public Safety if he will undertake to assess the health risks associated with gases released through the burning of biofuels, including comparisons, from a carcinogenic perspective, between the combustion gases produced by biofuels and the gases contained in carbon dioxide.
(AQW 413/08)
Mr McGimpsey: My Department has no plans to carry out an assessment of potential health risks associated with emissions from the burning of biofuels.
The UK Biomass Strategy, published in May 2007, includes a commitment to ensure that when promoting the use of biomass, account is taken of combustion emissions and the impact of pollutants on public health. In order to do this, Government, led by Defra, will need to develop credible usage scenarios that identify what type of biomass will be used, where it will be used, the appliances to be used and what fuel it will displace. This work is on-going.
Health based standards and objectives for key air pollutants have been set in EU legislation and under the UK Air Quality Strategy. A national monitoring and assessment programme has been established to check compliance and identify trends. It is expected that any significant changes in emissions as a result of increased use of biofuels would be detected by the monitoring networks.
Section 56 of the Health and Social Care Act 2001
Ms Martina Anderson asked the Minister of Health, Social Services and Public Safety to detail how his department will implement section 56 of the Health and Social Care Act 2001, in respect of the repatriation of patients in England, Scotland and Wales, to enable them to be close to their families in Northern Ireland.
(AQW 424/08)
Mr McGimpsey: The Health and Social Care Act 2001 extends to England and Wales only. The transfer of care home residents from Great Britain to Northern Ireland is outside my jurisdiction and is a matter for each of the respective jurisdictions in Great Britain. My Department, in conjunction with the Department of Finance and Personnel, has developed a scheme to enable Northern Ireland residents to be placed in Great Britain. We are currently the only administration with a scheme to place care home residents in other parts of the United Kingdom.
Locally Produced Food
Mr Allan Bresland asked the Minister of Health, Social Services and Public Safety to detail what efforts his department is making to procure locally-produced food.
(AQW 456/08)
Mr McGimpsey: The Regional Supplies Service (RSS), the Centre of Procurement Expertise responsible for letting and managing contracts for Food Products on behalf of Health and Social Care Trusts, Boards and Agencies, has for some considerable time worked with agencies in Northern Ireland on initiatives to encourage local food producers to bid into the public sector. In the past 12 months RSS has sent senior level representation to a number of "Meet the Buyer" events across Northern Ireland. However, the majority of the contracts let for food contracts are above the EU thresholds and as such require the competition to be open, transparent and provide equitable treatment to bidders across the European Union.
Compensation for Medical Negligence
Mr Stephen Moutray asked the Minister of Health, Social Services and Public Safety, pursuant to his answer to AQW 142/08, to detail the number of successful claims for compensation for medical negligence that were made against each Health and Social Care Trust, in each of the last five years.
(AQW 485/08)
Mr McGimpsey: AQW 142/08 detailed amounts paid for clinical negligence for the years 2001-02 to 2005-06. Data for the 2006-07 financial year has recently become available and I have included details of claims for 2006-07 in this reply. These are contained in the following tables for each of the legacy Trusts.
Altnagelvin Hospitals HSS Trust
| Year |
Number of claims for compensation for medical negligence made in each year |
Current situation of those cases as at 30 September 2007 |
||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| DismissedNo. |
Settled or successfully pursuedNo. |
Pending determinationNo. |
||
| 2001/02 | 43 | 15 | 7 | 21 |
| 2002/03 | 44 | 10 | 6 | 28 |
| 2003/04 | 54 | 6 | 10 | 38 |
| 2004/05 | 31 | 4 | 1 | 26 |
| 2005/06 | 46 | 1 | 0 | 45 |
| 2006/07 | 35 | 0 | 0 | 35 |
Armagh and Dungannon HSS Trust
| Year | Number of claims for compensation for medical negligence made in each year | Current situation of those cases as at 30 September 2007 | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| DismissedNo. | Settled or successfully pursuedNo. | Pending determinationNo. | ||
| 2001/02 | 4 | 1 | 2 | 1 |
| 2002/03 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| 2003/04 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 3 |
| 2004/05 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| 2005/06 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 5 |
| 2006/07 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
Belfast City Hospital HSS Trust
| Year | Number of claims for compensation for medical negligence made in each year | Current situation of those cases as at 30 September 2007 | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| DismissedNo. | Settled or successfully pursuedNo. | Pending determinationNo. | ||
| 2001/02 | 59 | 23 | 10 | 26 |
| 2002/03 | 37 | 11 | 4 | 22 |
| 2003/04 | 54 | 9 | 6 | 39 |
| 2004/05 | 50 | 5 | 2 | 43 |
| 2005/06 | 40 | 5 | 3 | 32 |
| 2006/07 | 41 | 0 | 3 | 38 |
Causeway HSS Trust
| Year | Number of claims for compensation for medical negligence made in each year | Current situation of those cases as at 30 September 2007 | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| DismissedNo. | Settled or successfully pursuedNo. | Pending determinationNo. | ||
| 2001/02 | 19 | 14 | 3 | 2 |
| 2002/03 | 15 | 8 | 1 | 6 |
| 2003/04 | 14 | 3 | 2 | 9 |
| 2004/05 | 11 | 2 | 1 | 8 |
| 2005/06 | 20 | 1 | 1 | 18 |
| 2006/07 | 19 | 1 | 0 | 18 |
Craigavon and Banbridge Community HSS Trust
| Year | Number of claims for compensation for medical negligence made in each year | Current situation of those cases as at 30 September 2007 | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| DismissedNo. | Settled or successfully pursuedNo. | Pending determinationNo. | ||
| 2001/02 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 2002/03 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 2003/04 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| 2004/05 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 2005/06 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 2006/07 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
Craigavon Area Hospital Group HSS Trust
| Year | Number of claims for compensation for medical negligence made in each year | Current situation of those cases as at 30 September 2007 | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| DismissedNo. | Settled or successfully pursuedNo. | Pending determinationNo. | ||
| 2001/02 | 38 | 10 | 21 | 7 |
| 2002/03 | 52 | 29 | 11 | 12 |
| 2003/04 | 40 | 14 | 9 | 17 |
| 2004/05 | 39 | 12 | 4 | 23 |
| 2005/06 | 36 | 8 | 4 | 24 |
| 2006/07 | 42 | 1 | 1 | 40 |
Down Lisburn HSS Trust
| Year | Number of claims for compensation for medical negligence made in each year | Current situation of those cases as at 30 September 2007 | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| DismissedNo. | Settled or successfully pursuedNo. | Pending determinationNo. | ||
| 2001/02 | 19 | 12 | 5 | 2 |
| 2002/03 | 38 | 25 | 5 | 8 |
| 2003/04 | 28 | 15 | 3 | 10 |
| 2004/05 | 55 | 6 | 26 | 23 |
| 2005/06 | 30 | 6 | 1 | 23 |
| 2006/07 | 35 | 0 | 1 | 34 |
Foyle HSS Trust
| Year | Number of claims for compensation for medical negligence made in each year | Current situation of those cases as at 31 August 2007 | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| DismissedNo. | Settled or successfully pursuedNo. | Pending determinationNo. | ||
| 2001/02 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 2002/03 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 2 |
| 2003/04 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 4 |
| 2004/05 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 3 |
| 2005/06 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 3 |
| 2006/07 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
Green Park Healthcare HSS Trust
| Year | Number of claims for compensation for medical negligence made in each year | Current situation of those cases as at 30 September 2007 | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| DismissedNo. | Settled or successfully pursuedNo. | Pending determinationNo. | ||
| 2001/02 | 16 | 14 | 0 | 2 |
| 2002/03 | 14 | 8 | 1 | 5 |
| 2003/04 | 10 | 6 | 0 | 4 |
| 2004/05 | 10 | 1 | 1 | 8 |
| 2005/06 | 18 | 0 | 1 | 17 |
| 2006/07 | 21 | 0 | 1 | 20 |
Homefirst Community HSS Trust
| Year | Number of claims for compensation for medical negligence made in each year | Current situation of those cases as at 30 September 2007 | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| DismissedNo. | Settled or successfully pursuedNo. | Pending determinationNo. | ||
| 2001/02 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 |
| 2002/03 | 8 | 3 | 1 | 4 |
| 2003/04 | 5 | 1 | 1 | 3 |
| 2004/05 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 0 |
| 2005/06 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| 2006/07 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
Mater Hospital HSS Trust
| Year | Number of claims for compensation for medical negligence made in each year | Current situation of those cases as at 30 September 2007 | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| DismissedNo. | Settled or successfully pursuedNo. | Pending determinationNo. | ||
| 2001/02 | 30 | 12 | 7 | 11 |
| 2002/03 | 20 | 10 | 3 | 7 |
| 2003/04 | 38 | 14 | 4 | 20 |
| 2004/05 | 20 | 7 | 0 | 13 |
| 2005/06 | 30 | 5 | 1 | 24 |
| 2006/07 | 28 | 0 | 0 | 28 |
Newry & Mourne HSS Trust
| Year | Number of claims for compensation for medical negligence made in each year | Current situation of those cases as at 30 September 2007 | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| DismissedNo. | Settled or successfully pursuedNo. | Pending determinationNo. | ||
| 2001/02 | 22 | 7 | 5 | 10 |
| 2002/03 | 21 | 8 | 2 | 11 |
| 2003/04 | 16 | 2 | 1 | 13 |
| 2004/05 | 14 | 0 | 2 | 12 |
| 2005/06 | 10 | 0 | 1 | 9 |
| 2006/07 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 14 |
NI Ambulance Service HSS Trust
| Year | Number of claims for compensation for medical negligence made in each year | Current situation of those cases as at 30 September 2007 | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| DismissedNo. | Settled or successfully pursuedNo. | Pending determinationNo. | ||
| 2001/02 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 2002/03 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| 2003/04 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| 2004/05 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
| 2005/06 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| 2006/07 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
North & West Belfast HSS Trust
| Year | Number of claims for compensation for medical negligence made in each year | Current situation of those cases as at 30 September 2007 | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| DismissedNo. | Settled or successfully pursuedNo. | Pending determinationNo. | ||
| 2001/02 | 7 | 3 | 4 | 0 |
| 2002/03 | 4 | 3 | 1 | 0 |
| 2003/04 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| 2004/05 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| 2005/06 | 7 | 1 | 0 | 6 |
| 2006/07 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 2 |
Royal Group of Hospitals and Dental Hospital HSS Trust
| Year | Number of claims for compensation for medical negligence made in each year | Current situation of those cases as at 30 September 2007 | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| DismissedNo. | Settled or successfully pursuedNo. | Pending determinationNo. | ||
| 2001/02 | 77 | 37 | 12 | 28 |
| 2002/03 | 80 | 33 | 8 | 39 |
| 2003/04 | 82 | 26 | 9 | 47 |
| 2004/05 | 95 | 21 | 11 | 63 |
| 2005/06 | 77 | 6 | 1 | 70 |
| 2006/07 | 80 | 1 | 1 | 78 |
South & East Belfast HSS Trust
| Year | Number of claims for compensation for medical negligence made in each year | Current situation of those cases as at 30 September 2007 | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| DismissedNo. | Settled or successfully pursuedNo. | Pending determinationNo. | ||
| 2001/02 | 5 | 2 | 3 | 0 |
| 2002/03 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| 2003/04 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 |
| 2004/05 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| 2005/06 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
| 2006/07 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
Sperrin Lakeland HSS Trust
| Year | Number of claims for compensation for medical negligence made in each year | Current situation of those cases as at 31 August 2007 | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| DismissedNo. | Settled or successfully pursuedNo. | Pending determinationNo. | ||
| 2001/02 | 17 | 3 | 6 | 8 |
| 2002/03 | 38 | 1 | 7 | 30 |
| 2003/04 | 20 | 3 | 3 | 14 |
| 2004/05 | 25 | 5 | 1 | 19 |
| 2005/06 | 26 | 1 | 0 | 25 |
| 2006/07 | 17 | 0 | 0 | 17 |
Ulster Community & Hospitals HSS Trust
| Year | Number of claims for compensation for medical negligence made in each year | Current situation of those cases as at 30 September 2007 | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| DismissedNo. | Settled or successfully pursuedNo. | Pending determinationNo. | ||
| 2001/02 | 42 | 16 | 7 | 19 |
| 2002/03 | 50 | 11 | 9 | 30 |
| 2003/04 | 39 | 4 | 4 | 31 |
| 2004/05 | 43 | 0 | 1 | 42 |
| 2005/06 | 49 | 5 | 2 | 42 |
| 2006/07 | 42 | 0 | 3 | 39 |
United Hospitals HSS Trust
| Year | Number of claims for compensation for medical negligence made in each year | Current situation of those cases as at 30 September 2007 | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| DismissedNo. | Settled or successfully pursuedNo. | Pending determinationNo. | ||
| 2001/02 | 58 | 19 | 12 | 27 |
| 2002/03 | 43 | 10 | 8 | 25 |
| 2003/04 | 34 | 7 | 4 | 23 |
| 2004/05 | 59 | 7 | 9 | 43 |
| 2005/06 | 37 | 8 | 3 | 26 |
| 2006/07 | 66 | 3 | 0 | 63 |
Hospital Treatment
Mr Mervyn Storey asked the Minister of Health, Social Services and Public Safety, pursuant to his answer to AQW 209/08, to explain the reasons why the information requested is not available; and if he will instruct his department to keep such records.
(AQW 506/08)
Mr McGimpsey: Pursuant to my answer to AQW 209/08, information is collected at Trust level to record type and severity of all reported adverse incidents including those where injury is caused to people, property, environment or reputation. The Department has no plans to collect information, as specified but will explore a possible link with the national reporting and learning system to improve reporting in the interests of developing safety solutions and learning.
Psychiatric Treatment
Mr Jim Shannon asked the Minister of Health, Social Services and Public Safety what steps he has taken to provide psychiatric treatment to those identified with suicidal tendencies.
(AQW 527/08)
Mr McGimpsey: A full range of services are provided to those identified with suicidal tendencies at a level proportionate to the assessed risk. These services include Mental Health Teams working in the community, Crisis Response Teams, Early Intervention etc including Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services, liaison mental health services into Accident and Emergency, out patient clinics, day hospital and inpatient services.
Care Matters Strategy
Ms Carál Ní Chuilín asked the Minister of Health, Social Services and Public Safety what action he has taken to maximise the opportunity for children and young people to contribute to the Care Matters Strategy.
(AQW 537/08)
Mr McGimpsey: The Care Matters Strategy is an innovative, wide-ranging, cross-departmental, cross agency approach to improving the outcomes of our looked after children population.
It is essential therefore that my Department obtain and take account of the views of care experienced children and young people to determine the final shape of this important initiative. To help achieve this goal a child-friendly version of the Care Matters Strategy was produced in conjunction with the Voices of Young people in Care (VOYPIC), a voluntary children’s advocacy organisation with vast experience of working with looked after children. Copies of the document were distributed to children’s residential homes and the homes of foster carers via the Health and Social Care Trusts. The launch of the child-friendly version of Care Matters was held in the Duke’s Hotel, Belfast on Saturday 2 June facilitated by VOYPIC and attended by an audience of care-experienced children.
In addition, the consultation period for Care Matters was extended from the 15 June to the 3 September to ensure that everyone wishing to respond had adequate time particularly over the summer months. As we move forward I will wish to ensure that young people and their families have the opportunity to continue to contribute as we implement changes on the back of care matters.
Introduction of Fluoride into Drinking Water
Mr Jim Shannon asked the Minister of Health, Social Services and Public Safety what plans he has to approve the introduction of fluoride into Northern Ireland's drinking water.
(AQW 538/08)
Mr McGimpsey: Currently there are no plans to approve the introduction of fluoride into Northern Ireland's drinking water.
Attacks on Fire and Rescue Service
Mr Jim Shannon asked the Minister of Health, Social Services and Public Safety to detail the number of attacks on Fire and Rescue Service personnel, in each of the last three years.
(AQW 539/08)
Mr McGimpsey: Details of the number of attacks which resulted in injury to Fire and Rescue Service personnel is set out in the table below.
| 2004/2005 | 2005/2006 | 2006/2007 |
| 9 | 7 | 7 |
Alzheimer's
Ms Carál Ní Chuilín asked the Minister of Health, Social Services and Public Safety what assessment he has made of the estimated impact on the quality of life of people with early stages of Alzheimer's if drug treatments were to be withdrawn from the NHS.
(AQW 540/08)
Mr McGimpsey: The Department of Health Social Services and Public Safety has not assessed the potential impact on the quality of life for people in the early stages of Alzheimer’s disease if drug treatments were to be withdrawn.
The Department is reviewing guidance on Alzheimer’s drugs published by the National Institute for health and Clinical Excellence (NICE) in November 2006 and re-issued in September 2007 following judicial review. This guidance recommends certain anti-dementia drugs for the treatment of people with Alzheimer’s disease of moderate severity only.
The local review process does not replicate the work of NICE or reassess the evidence and methodology used by the Institute to reach its recommendations. Rather, it considers the applicability of NICE guidance in the context of Health and Social Care services in Northern Ireland. The Department therefore relies on assessments of quality of life carried out by NICE.
Agenda for Change
Ms Carál Ní Chuilín asked the Minister of Health, Social Services and Public Safety to (i) detail how many completion dates have been missed due to lack of human and financial resources; (ii) explain the rationale for such occurrences; and (iii) outline the accountability arrangements within the Agenda for Change process.
(AQW 541/08)
Mr McGimpsey: I have set one final date of 31 March 2008 for the full implementation of the Agenda for Change arrangements. I expect the Chief Executives in each of the Health and Social Care organisations to ensure that the necessary staff and arrangements are in place to deliver on that deadline. The Chairs in each of these organisations will be accountable to me if this deadline is missed. . My Department has made over £100m available in the current financial year for the full implementation of these new rates of pay.
Workforce Planning
Ms Carál Ní Chuilín asked the Minister of Health, Social Services and Public Safety to produce a report from his department and NHS employers to indicate that appropriate workforce planning is in place to provide for future recruitment and retention.
(AQW 543/08)
Mr McGimpsey: The Department has established on-going workforce planning as a means of maintaining focus on the supply/demand of appropriately trained staff to meet service needs. The workforce planning cycle comprises a major review approximately every five years, with interim update reviews. These are carried out for each clinical professional group.
Published reviews can be found on the Departmental internet site at
http://www.dhsspsni.gov.uk/index/hrd/wpu/wpu-planning/wpu-publications.htm
Coeliac Disease
Mr Patsy McGlone asked the Minister of Health, Social Services and Public Safety to detail the number of people diagnosed with coeliac disease, in each of the last ten years.
(AQW 553/08)
Mr McGimpsey: The number of people diagnosed with coeliac disease in Northern Ireland is not available.
Information on the number of patients suffering with coeliac disease admitted as inpatients to hospitals in Northern Ireland is available and is shown in the table below.
Financial
Year |
No. of
Admissions |
|---|---|
| 1996/97 | 354 |
| 1997/98 | 332 |
| 1998/99 | 326 |
| 1999/00 | 331 |
| 2000/01 | 392 |
| 2001/02 | 516 |
| 2002/03 | 430 |
| 2003/04 | 478 |
| 2004/05 | 532 |
| 2005/06 | 624 |
Source: Hospital Inpatients System.It should be noted that any individual could have been admitted to hospital more than once during any given time period and would therefore be counted more than once in the above figures.
North/South Regional Hospital Services Group
Mr Raymond McCartney asked the Minister of Health, Social Services and Public Safety what steps he is taking to further the development of a North/South Regional Hospital Services Group in regard to all-Ireland organ transplants, as stated by the North-South Ministerial Council in 2002.
(AQW 570/08)
Mr McGimpsey: It makes sense to pursue co-operation where it is in the mutual interests of the population on both sides of the border. The Belfast Agreement recognised this and identified 5 areas of co-operation in health – accident and emergency services; planning for major emergencies; co-operation on high technology; cancer research; and health promotion.In order to ensure that all possible benefits are maximised, my Department is undertaking an exploratory study to identify the potential of new areas of North South co-operation that could help improve access to services and enhance the health and wellbeing of the population. This study will examine all areas where co-operation could be beneficial including the area of small volume specialties such as transplantation.
Pay Scales
Ms Martina Anderson asked the Minister of Health, Social Services and Public Safety what plans exist to place medical secretaries on a band four pay scale, as recommended by an independent pay review panel; and what plans he has to intervene in this matter, in advance of planned industrial action on 10 October 2007.
(AQW 571/08)
Mr McGimpsey: Medical secretaries cannot be placed on their Agenda for Change pay band until the implementation process is completed in partnership with staff side representatives. My officials are working with HSC employers and staff side representatives to finalise this process. Dialogue between HSC employers and staff side representatives is continuing in an effort to avert the planned industrial action.
Wi-Fi Wireless Network
Mr Jim Shannon asked the Minister of Health, Social Services and Public Safety what plans he has to conduct a health and safety study, in advance of the introduction of the wi-fi wireless network in Belfast city centre.
(AQW 590/08)
Mr McGimpsey: My Department has no plans to conduct health impact studies in relation to individual proposals for the introduction Wireless local area networks (WLANs) or Wireless computer networks (WiFi). The Health Protection Agency (HPA) provides support and specialist advice to DHSSPS on a wide range of health protection matters including radiation protection. The HPA statement on WiFi is available on the HPA website at: http://www.hpa.org.uk/radiation/understand/radiation_topics/emf/wifi.htmCurrent HPA advice is that there is no consistent evidence to date that WiFi and WLANs adversely affect the health of the general population. The signals are very low power, typically 0.1 watt (100 milliwatts) in both the computer and the router (access point) and the results so far show exposures are well within the internationally accepted International Commission on Non-Ionizing Radiation (ICNIRP) guidelines. Based on current knowledge and experience, radiofrequency exposures from Wi-Fi are likely to be lower than those from mobile phones. However, with any new technology it is a sensible precautionary approach to keep the situation under ongoing review. On 20 September 2007, the HPA Board agreed to fund a programme of work on WiFi and WLAN installations such as those used in schools and homes. Discussions are underway with partner agencies, especially those in the education sector. This project aims to systematically investigate the types of WiFi equipment in use and produce information on exposures to radio signals from wireless computer networks. The results will be compared with established international exposure guidelines and also with exposures from other commonly used sources of radio signals, including mobile phones. Account will be taken of the proportion of the time that the equipment is transmitting in normal use and how it is positioned in relation to the body. The project is timetabled over two years and will include:
- A critical review and summary of existing information relevant to exposures from WiFi.Detailed measurements of the power density in the vicinity of WiFi terminals in a controlled laboratory environment using robotic scanning equipment and compare the results with exposure guidelines. Identifying the effect of equipment design on exposures in terms of the types of antennas used and where they are mounted on computers.Gathering information on how the equipment is positioned in relation to children and staff in schools including a small number of measurements with equipment installed in schools for comparison with the laboratory measurements.
- Performing a health risk review considering the results of the above exposure assessments and information from published studies relating to the effects of radio frequency exposure on health.
HPA are expected to make a public announcement shortly about planned research into WiFi.
Wi-Fi Network
Mr Jim Shannon asked the Minister of Health, Social Services and Public Safety what double blind peer reviewed published studies are held by the department, proving that pulsed microwave radiation from wi-fi is safe for the population of Northern Ireland.
(AQW 593/08)
Mr McGimpsey: My Department has no plans to conduct health impact studies in relation to individual proposals for the introduction Wireless local area networks (WLANs) or Wireless computer networks (WiFi). The Health Protection Agency (HPA) provides support and specialist advice to DHSSPS on a wide range of health protection matters including radiation protection. The HPA statement on WiFi is available on the HPA website at: http://www.hpa.org.uk/radiation/understand/radiation_topics/emf/wifi.htmCurrent HPA advice is that there is no consistent evidence to date that WiFi and WLANs adversely affect the health of the general population. The signals are very low power, typically 0.1 watt (100 milliwatts) in both the computer and the router (access point) and the results so far show exposures are well within the internationally accepted International Commission on Non-Ionizing Radiation (ICNIRP) guidelines. Based on current knowledge and experience, radiofrequency exposures from Wi-Fi are likely to be lower than those from mobile phones. However, with any new technology it is a sensible precautionary approach to keep the situation under ongoing review. On 20 September 2007, the HPA Board agreed to fund a programme of work on WiFi and WLAN installations such as those used in schools and homes. Discussions are underway with partner agencies, especially those in the education sector. This project aims to systematically investigate the types of WiFi equipment in use and produce information on exposures to radio signals from wireless computer networks. The results will be compared with established international exposure guidelines and also with exposures from other commonly used sources of radio signals, including mobile phones. Account will be taken of the proportion of the time that the equipment is transmitting in normal use and how it is positioned in relation to the body. The project is timetabled over two years and will include:
- A critical review and summary of existing information relevant to exposures from WiFi.Detailed measurements of the power density in the vicinity of WiFi terminals in a controlled laboratory environment using robotic scanning equipment and compare the results with exposure guidelines. Identifying the effect of equipment design on exposures in terms of the types of antennas used and where they are mounted on computers.Gathering information on how the equipment is positioned in relation to children and staff in schools including a small number of measurements with equipment installed in schools for comparison with the laboratory measurements.
- Performing a health risk review considering the results of the above exposure assessments and information from published studies relating to the effects of radio frequency exposure on health.
HPA are expected to make a public announcement shortly about planned research into WiFi.
Mental Illness
Mr Declan O'Loan asked the Minister of Health, Social Services and Public Safety to detail the support that can be provided for people living in the same area as a mentally ill person, whose lives are disrupted due to the person not receiving the necessary treatment for their illness.
(AQW 638/08)
Mr McGimpsey: My Department’s policy is to enable those with disabilities, including mental illness, to achieve the highest standards of living possible and to be fully integrated into society. Anyone with a mental illness, living in the community, will have a package of care pitched at a level specific to their particular needs. This is aimed, inter alia, to minimise any disruption to their lives or others in the community.
Care Matters Strategy
Miss Michelle McIlveen asked the Minister of Health, Social Services and Public Safety to detail the funding his department is making available to implement the 'Care Matters Strategy' for the most vulnerable children in need of care.
(AQO 213/08)
Mr McGimpsey: Consultation on the Care Matters in Northern Ireland – A Bridge to a Better Future Strategy finished recently and the responses are being analysed and considered before determining the final policy. Funding for the initiative will be dependent upon the outcome of the Comprehensive Spending Review which is still under consideration. It is not possible therefore to give a more detailed answer at this time. I would like to say however, that my Department is identifying those elements of the Strategy which have a neutral or moderate cost and is consulting with colleagues in the voluntary and statutory sectors about implementing these changes and improvements as quickly as possible.Care matters will build on investments in recent years in foster care, leaving care and children’s residential homes. This includes introducing Nationally agreed minimum foster care allowances, more foster care support workers and more resources to recruit foster carers from children’s extended families. It also includes the appointment of personal advisers for care leavers and measures to enable care leavers to continue living with their former foster carer until they are aged 21. We have also continued to replace existing older children’s homes with up-to-date better quality accommodation.
Investing for Health Strategy
Mr John O'Dowd asked the Minister of Health, Social Services and Public Safety if he will give an update on the current status of the Investing for Health Strategy.
(AQO 290/08)
Mr McGimpsey: Investing for Health is acknowledged to be the first cross-cutting strategy published by the former Executive in 2002. The strategy’s main aims are to improve health and reduce health inequalities by addressing the broad range of determinants which impact on health and well- being. Implementation of the strategy is ongoing. At regional level the strategy is overseen by the cross-departmental Ministerial Group on Public Health which I shall chair. At local level the cross- sectoral Investing for Health Partnerships are implementing Health Improvement Plans which have been developed to address the identified health and well-being needs of people in their areas. A review of the strategy is due to take place in 2008, the timing of which is opportune given the restoration of this Assembly. The areas and issues which Investing for Health aims to address are still relevant today, but it is envisaged that this review will provide an opportunity to refocus and re-energise. Early preparatory work for the review has begun and I will continue to keep members informed and involved.
Hospital Pathology Services
Mr Tommy Gallagher asked the Minister of Health, Social Services and Public Safety if he will provide an update on the progress of his department's review of hospital pathology services.
(AQO 239/08)
Mr McGimpsey: On 28 November 2006 the Department issued the Review of Pathology Services in Northern Ireland, for a three month public consultation. The consultation ended on 28 February 2007. 289 responses were received and my Department has been considering these in detail. A workshop involving Health and Social Care stakeholders was held in June 2007 to discuss key issues raised in the consultation. I expect to make an announcement later this year regarding the final recommendations for the future of pathology services.
Hospital Services
Mr Tom Elliott asked the Minister of Health, Social Services and Public Safety what plans he has to engage with colleagues in the Executive and in the Republic of Ireland, regarding access to hospital services in the south-west of Northern Ireland.
(AQO 234/08)
Mr McGimpsey: I am committed to ensuring people living in the South West of Northern Ireland have access to safe, high quality hospital services. Two new state of the art hospitals, one acute and one enhanced local, will be provided for the population South West. The decision to site the new acute hospital to the north of Enniskillen was supported by the previous Executive in 2002. Plans are now well advanced for the acute hospital to the North of Enniskillen, due to open in 2011 and the local enhanced hospital in Omagh, due to open in 2012. It makes sense to pursue co-operation where it is in the mutual interests of the population on both sides of the border and I will wish to ensure that we continue to work in collaboration with colleagues in the Republic of Ireland. My Department has recently embarked on a North South Feasibility Study, working with colleagues in the Republic of Ireland to identify the potential of further areas of North South co-operation that could help improve health and wellbeing and access to services for people in both jurisdictions.
Stroke Strategy
Mrs Michelle O'Neill asked the Minister of Health, Social Services and Public Safety if he will give a timescale within which the updated stroke strategy, for the provision of services, will be brought forward.
(AQO 267/08)
Mr McGimpsey: My Department is currently finalising a Stroke Strategy for the provision of stroke services in Northern Ireland. This strategy will set out recommendations for improving all aspects of stroke care including prevention, treatment and rehabilitation. Its outcome will help inform the service framework on cardiovascular disease, which aims to set measurable standards for acute stroke services. I hope to issue the Stroke Strategy for public consultation later this year. The consultation will run for the recommended 12 week period and I would hope to announce the final recommendations in June 2008.
Organ Donors
Mr Jim Shannon asked the Minister of Health, Social Services and Public Safety to detail the number of people from Northern Ireland who have donated organs in each of the last five years; and the amount of funding that has been set aside for the promotion of organ donation in 2007/08.
(AQO 302/08)
Mr McGimpsey: Between 2002 and 2006 the number of deceased organ donors from Northern Ireland annually have totalled, 30, 26, 36, 20 and 31. Our donor rate for 2006/07 was 20.3 per million population compared to the overall UK rate of 13.2 per million population making us the best performing region during this period. Live donors across the past five years have totalled 36.Responsibility for promotion of organ donation across the UK rests with NHS Blood and Transplant. Their national campaigns are supplemented locally by publicity organised through my Department and the transplant co-ordinators based in Belfast City Hospital. During 2007/08 NHSBT will be spending in excess of £1.7m on campaigning activity.
Ambulance Shortages
Ms Martina Anderson asked the Minister of Health, Social Services and Public Safety what measures are being put in place to address the shortage of ambulances in the Foyle constituency.
(AQO 265/08)
Mr McGimpsey: The Western Health and Social Services Board, which is responsible for commissioning ambulance services in the Foyle area, has advised me that there are currently 4 A&E ambulances providing day-time cover and 3 providing night-time and weekend cover which are based at Altnagelvin Ambulance Station. In addition, a single paramedic Rapid Response Vehicle and 4 other response cars are available. These ambulances are available all year round. The Board considers this level of cover appropriate to provide emergency response in the area.The response performance in the Foyle area for Category A (life-threatening) calls for the month of August 2007 was 74%, having increased from 68% in March 2007. This is only very slightly less than the national response target for Category A, life-threatening, calls which is that 75% should be responded to within 8 minutes. It also exceeds the Ambulance Service’s performance target in my ministerial Priorities for Action for 2007/08 which is that an average of 65% of Category A calls should be responded to within 8 minutes rising to 70% for the month of March 2008.
North-South Ministerial Council Health Sectoral Meeting
Mr Raymond McCartney asked the Minister of Health, Social Services and Public Safety to detail the items that will be included for discussion in the North-South Ministerial Council health sectoral meeting.
(AQO 266/08)
Mr McGimpsey: Whilst it is expected that a North South health sectoral meeting will be held in the Republic of Ireland during the Autumn, there have, as yet, been no decisions made on the agenda. I would, however, expect there to be discussions on the 5 formal areas of co-operation: Accident and Emergency services; Planning for Major Emergencies; Co-operation on High Technology Equipment; Cancer Research; and Health Promotion; and I would also expect the Food Safety Promotion Board to be included on the agenda.
Binge-Drinking
Rev Dr Robert Coulter asked the Minister of Health, Social Services and Public Safety to outline what action he is taking to address binge-drinking, particularly amongst young people.
(AQO 218/08)
Mr McGimpsey: The New Strategic Direction for Alcohol and Drugs which was launched in 2006 includes "Addressing Binge Drinking" and "Tackling Under Age Drinking" as Key Priorities. As part of the implementation process a Binge Drinking Advisory Group has been set up to ensure that the issue is kept as a high policy priority across Government. In recent years we have undertaken a range of measures to address binge drinking in Northern Ireland which have included a public information campaign about the risks associated with binge drinking.
Child Protection and Safety
Mr David Simpson asked the Minister of Health, Social Services and Public Safety if he will give an update on the ongoing work of his department in relation to child protection and safety.
(AQO 248/08)
Mr McGimpsey: On an ongoing basis Social Services work collaboratively with other Departments and Agencies to operate existing child protection services including those which have a statutory basis. In addition, my Department is bringing forward a wide range of initiatives to strengthen child protection arrangements within Northern Ireland, these include:
- the ongoing operation of arrangements set out in the Protection of Children and Vulnerable Adults (NI) Order 2003;the introduction of Safeguarding Vulnerable Groups legislation in conjunction with other government Departments to strengthen vetting requirements and more effectively exclude unsuitable individuals from working with children and also vulnerable adults;establishing a regional Safeguarding Board for Northern Ireland;developing a Child Death Review Protocol;the development and implementation of a uniform Assessment Framework to assess the needs of vulnerable children along with regional thresholds for intervention and regional standards for the supervision of front line child protection staff;reorganising front line child protection services to ensure a consistent high quality and speedy response to referrals;identifying and taking forward arrangements to improve cross border cooperation with the Republic of Ireland;working with the Churches to strengthen safeguarding within the church sector;working with Health and Social Care Trusts in relation to implementation of the Laming recommendations; working with Departments and agencies within the UK on matters related to online child exploitation; andtaking forward the recommendations from the multi-agency inspection of child protection services in Northern Ireland.
Alzheimer's
Ms Carál Ní Chuilín asked the Minister of Health, Social Services and Public Safety what action he is taking to support early diagnosis, with effective care and treatment interventions, for people with Alzheimer's and other forms of dementia.
(AQO 235/08)
Mr McGimpsey: A range of treatment and care is provided for people with Alzheimers disease and other forms of Dementia, across the primary, community, specialist and secondary care sectors.The Bamford review on mental health issues for older people, which has been recently finalised, highlights the need for prompt diagnosis of dementia because it allows the person the opportunity to discuss their symptoms and treatment options, make informed choices about their future. Departmental Officials are in the process of developing a response and action plan for the implementation of Bamford recommendations as a whole.
MRSA
Mr Ken Robinson asked the Minister of Health, Social Services and Public Safety what targets he has put in place to tackle MRSA over the next three years.
(AQO 215/08)
Mr McGimpsey: On 11 September 2007, I announced that for the first time targets on reducing two particular healthcare associated infections were being put in place in Health and Social Care Trusts in Northern Ireland. The first of the new targets will require a drop of 10% in the numbers of people in hospital with Staphylococcus aureus bloodstream infections (including MRSA). In the case of Clostridium difficile, I am seeking a reduction of 20% in hospital patients aged 65 and over. Both numeric reductions are to have occurred by the year ending March 2009. The baseline for measurement is to be the financial year 2006/7. These two infections, which are already subject to mandatory surveillance, are considered to be markers for the general level of healthcare associated infections.Regional Development
Regional Development
Septic Tanks
Mr Simon Hamilton asked the Minister for Regional Development what steps he is taking to deal with the present backlog in the emptying of septic tanks.
(AQW 308/08)
The Minister for Regional Development (Mr Murphy): I have been advised by Northern Ireland Water that there are presently 4,500 outstanding requests for septic tanks to be emptied. In order to address the issue, Northern Ireland Water’s primary contractor has been working extended hours during the week and at weekends and has doubled the resources committed to the contract. He currently has 16 tankers in operation throughout the Province and has engaged 4 sub-contractors to assist with the work. Northern Ireland Water has engaged a second contractor to supplement the work of the primary contractor. It is expected that the backlog will be cleared and normal standards of service restored by the end of October 2007.
Septic Tanks
Mr Simon Hamilton asked the Minister for Regional Development to detail the number of homes currently waiting for septic tanks to be emptied, broken down by each of the 18 constituencies.
(AQW 309/08)
Mr Murphy: I have been advised by Northern Ireland Water that there are 4,500 homes currently waiting for septic tanks to be emptied. The location of these homes is not recorded by Parliamentary constituency and Northern Ireland Water is therefore unable to provide the breakdown sought.
Roads Maintenance Budget
Mr George Robinson asked the Minister for Regional Development to detail the amount of the total roads maintenance budget spent on roads in the Greater Belfast area, in comparison to the rest of Northern Ireland, in 2005/06 and 2006/07; and the proposed expenditure for 2007/08.
(AQW 323/08)
Mr Murphy: For the purposes of answering this question, the Greater Belfast Area has been taken as covering the council areas of Belfast, Castlereagh, Newtownabbey, Carrickfergus, North Down and Lisburn.
The total expenditure incurred by Roads Service on maintenance activities in 2005/06 and 2006/07 is detailed below.
2005/06 £000’s |
2006/07 £000’s |
|---|---|
| Greater Belfast Area 33,000 | 31,000 |
| Total for Northern Ireland 121,000 | 114,000 |
Maintenance expenditure includes all maintenance costs e.g. structural maintenance (which includes resurfacing, reconstruction, surface dressing, patching etc.), routine maintenance (grass cutting, gully emptying and environmental work), traffic management, street lighting and car park maintenance costs.The current estimated expenditure on roads maintenance in the North in 2007/08 will be in the region of £109 million.
Road Infrastructure Between Craigavon and Banbridge
Mr John O'Dowd asked the Minister for Regional Development what are his plans to improve the road infrastructure between Craigavon and Banbridge, to allow industry and tourists better access to the A1 and the M1 to Dublin, and vice versa.
(AQW 346/08)
Mr Murphy: My Department’s Roads Service has advised that there are already good strategic road linkages from Craigavon to the North and South via the M1/A1 and the A27 respectively. The A26 Craigavon (Lurgan) and A50 Portadown to Banbridge routes are not on the strategic route network.Any requests for localised improvements along these routes will be considered and assessed to determine their priority status and allow them to be compared with other proposals competing for inclusion in Roads Service’s Local Transportation and Safety Measures Programme.
Public Transport
Mr Mervyn Storey asked the Minister for Regional Development, pursuant to his answer to AQW 45/08, to outline the nature of the efforts which have been made to raise awareness of (i) the economic, environmental and social benefits that reliable access to public transport offers; and (ii) the risks to safety, inconvenience and frustration to passengers that security alerts entail; and what is his assessment of the success of this work.
(AQW 372/08)
Mr Murphy: Both NIR and Translink in general have undertaken a number of initiatives in order to help raise awareness of the benefits that reliable public transport offers and the inconvenience and disruption caused by security alerts.(i) Translink has proactive and ongoing media relations, public affairs and communications activity to highlight the contribution of public transport towards economic development and growth. Translink’s published Corporate Plan stresses the positive impact which a good public transport network offers and illustrates performance against Departmental targets which have been set to ensure societal benefits e.g. average fleet age, accessibility and speed targets. In order to raise awareness of social benefits, Translink publishes Passenger Charter Monitoring results on a bi-annual basis. Moreover, it demonstrates its commitment to environmental improvement through the publication of an Environmental Plan.(ii) In relation to security alerts, the public transport operator has an active media relations approach, which includes highlighting the impact any such incidents have on services. In general terms Translink and NIR have undertaken aggressive marketing campaigns in order to deter anti-social behaviour and highlight railway safety issues. The ongoing ‘Dead Cert’ campaign was launched in 2005 to reinforce the dangers of misusing trains and railway facilities. An additional ‘C U in Court’ poster campaign was designed to raise awareness of CCTV on trains as well as joint action with the police to run patrols on trains.I am content that NIR and Translink are taking effective measures to raise awareness of both public transport benefits and the costs of disruption to services. Ensuring a high level of ongoing awareness of such issues is critical and Translink / NIR will continue with their efforts in this regard.
Flooding at Carrickdesland, Warrenpoint
Mr P J Bradley asked the Minister for Regional Development what steps he will take to ensure that Roads Service and NI Water achieve a permanent resolution to the ongoing flooding problems at Carrickdesland, Burren, Warrenpoint; and if he will make a statement on the current situation in that area.
(AQW 414/08)
Mr Murphy: I have been advised by Roads Service and Northern Ireland Water that they are not aware of any flooding problems associated with a development site at Carrickdesland, Burren, Warrenpoint. However, Northern Ireland Water has advised me that there have been some isolated incidents of out-of-sewer flooding at other locations in Burren, Warrenpoint which were associated with the malfunction of Carrickmacstay Sewage Pumping Station. Work to upgrade the Pumping Station is scheduled to commence later this month and will be completed by the end of December 2007. This work will substantially reduce the risk of further out-of-sewer flooding in the Burren area. In the interim, Northern Ireland Water will continue to monitor closely the performance of the Pumping Station and take any necessary remedial action to prevent flooding problems.
Blocked Sewers
Mr Jim Shannon asked the Minister for Regional Development, in light of 46 reported incidences of blocked sewers in the Westwinds housing estate, Newtownards, from 1 September 2006 to 30 June 2007, what steps he is taking to ensure that the number of occurrences of such blockages is reduced.
(AQW 419/08)
Mr Murphy: I am advised by Northern Ireland Water that it is aware of the history of blockages in the Westwinds Estate in Newtownards and that it has responded to all reported incidents well within the timescales set out in their Customer Charter. Where necessary, the affected areas have been cleaned and disinfected. However, successive comprehensive investigations into the cause of the blockages have confirmed that the majority of the blockages were not associated with deficiencies in the sewerage system but were caused by inappropriate materials such as baby wipes, cotton buds and nappies being lodged in the sewerage system. Fat and grease from cooking has also been discharged into the sewers causing costly blockages, damage to filter screens at treatment works and leading to pollution in the local environment. Northern Ireland Water has assured me that the public sewerage system within the estate has adequate capacity and is operating satisfactorily under normal conditions and an upgrade to the sewer system is not considered necessary at this time. Regrettably, it is not possible to guarantee blockages will not occur in the future, given the continued irresponsible discharges of inappropriate materials into the sewers. Northern Ireland Water is actively promoting a ‘Bag It and Bin It, don’t flush it!’ campaign and proposes to distribute leaflets to all homes in the Westwinds Estate in an attempt to raise awareness of the problems that inappropriate discharges into the sewer cause.Northern Ireland Water is also undertaking a major programme of Drainage Area Studies to identify any deficiencies, assess future needs and, if needed, to recommend solutions for upgrades to meet development, environmental and structural requirements. A Drainage Area Study for the Newtownards area is ongoing and any recommendations for upgrading works will be included in the Northern Ireland Water’s Capital Investment Programme for implementation. Unfortunately, given current funding levels, it is unlikely that any required upgrading work identified by the study will be implemented before 2010.
Gortcorbies Climbing Lane
Mr George Robinson asked the Minister for Regional Development, pursuant to his answer to AQW 188/08, to outline the nature of the surplus material that will be produced during the construction of the Gortcorbies Climbing Lane; and to detail the reasons for the environmental concerns relating to this scheme.
(AQW 465/08)
Mr Murphy: As I advised in my previous answer, the detailed design of the Gortcorbies Climbing Lane scheme on the A37 Limavady to Coleraine Road is well advanced. However, construction cannot start until funding is available and environmental concerns regarding the disposal of surplus material have been resolved. A substantial volume of surplus material, comprising alluvial silts, glacial tills, glacial sands and gravels, will come from the excavations associated with the removal of two significant crests on the existing road.The environmental issues do not relate to the inert nature of this surplus material, but rather to the need to minimise any possible adverse environmental and ecological effects likely to occur from its disposal on the surrounding landscape. Roads Service, in consultation with Planning Service and Environment and Heritage Service, is currently investigating options for the disposal of this surplus material, in compliance with current statutory requirements.
Sewage on Lough Park, Ballynahinch
Mr Willie Clarke asked the Minister for Regional Development if he will investigate the reasons why sewage has remained on Lough Park, adjacent to Glenlough Park, Ballynahinch, Co. Down, despite assurances that the matter would be resolved four weeks ago.
(AQW 512/08)
Mr Murphy: I have been advised by Northern Ireland Water that it has been endeavouring to identify the source of the sewage problem, but investigations have been hampered by access problems due to heavy undergrowth along sections of the path at Lough Park, Ballynahinch. The affected area has been cleaned and disinfected regularly while investigations continue and Down District Council has been contacted to arrange for the undergrowth to be cut back.It is thought that a section of the public sewer along the path at Lough Park may have collapsed and a CCTV investigation is being arranged to assist in identifying the source of the problem. Any necessary repair work to the sewer will be undertaken as a matter of urgency when the cause of the problem is confirmed.
Drainage Area Plan for Newcastle
Mr Willie Clarke asked the Minister for Regional Development to give a timescale within which Northern Ireland Water will commence the drainage area plan for Newcastle, which includes improvements to the sewerage system.
(AQW 551/08)
Mr Murphy: I have been advised by Northern Ireland Water that the Drainage Area Plan for Newcastle has identified a number of deficiencies within the sewerage system. Remedial action to resolve these deficiencies includes the repair of structural defects, hydraulic improvements to the network, provision of a new storm water storage tank at Castlepark and work to provide new or upgraded sewage pumping stations.Northern Ireland Water has already completed some of the required sewer network improvements and remedial work to repair major defects is ongoing. In addition, the advance construction of a sewer along Main Street, Newcastle, is planned to coincide with an Environmental Improvements Scheme being undertaken by Down District Council. The new storm water storage tank at Castlepark is currently at design stage and work is expected to commence in late 2008, subject to funding being available and the completion of all statutory processes. Upgrades to the upstream sewerage system, including the provision of new or upgraded sewage pumping stations, will not commence until this additional storm water capacity is operational. It is envisaged that full implementation of the proposals contained in the Drainage Area Plan for Newcastle will not be completed until 2010, but Northern Ireland Water will continue to consult with all key stakeholders as work progresses.
Traffic-Calming in Rasharkin
Mr Daithí McKay asked the Minister for Regional Development to give a timescale within which the Roads Service will consult with residents in Rasharkin, regarding the possible introduction of traffic-calming measures and a one-way system; and to give a completion date for the finalised programme of work.
(AQW 562/08)
Mr Murphy: My Department’s Roads Service has advised me that it is currently examining a number of traffic management and road safety initiatives for the village of Rasharkin. These include the Moneyleck Road, where the existing footways require upgrading and where the introduction of a short one-way traffic system may be required to accommodate a new footway link. This proposal will require consultation, and meetings with the residents and elected representatives are likely to take place later this year. For this financial year, there are works scheduled which include improvements to the junction of Bridge Street with Main Street, where plans for a mini roundabout and an associated traffic island to assist pedestrians crossing are currently being developed. Details of these proposals will be forwarded to Ballymoney Borough Council and also to Rasharkin Community Association for comment and consultation will also take place with local traders. Details of this scheme were included in the Roads Service report which was presented to Ballymoney Borough Council in June of this year.As you are aware, the Department for Social Development is committing around £280,000 to an environmental improvement scheme for the village and contributions to the scheme are also being made by Roads Service and Northern Ireland Electricity. I understand that work on this scheme is likely to start later this financial year for completion during 2008 and will include the removal of British Telecom and Northern Ireland Electricity service poles from the footways along Main Street, prior to the resurfacing. Some landscaping is also being considered as part of the improvement scheme. It would be Roads Service’s intention to coordinate the Moneyleck Road footway works along with the environmental improvement scheme. However, as with all proposals of this nature, implementation is subject to the successful completion of residents’ consultation and the associated legislative processes. It is not therefore possible to give a completion date at this time.
Belfast to Dublin Rail Link
Mr David Simpson asked the Minister for Regional Development if he will make a statement on the number of passengers using the Belfast to Dublin rail link in the last three years.
(AQO 250/08)
Mr Murphy: Passenger journey numbers on the Enterprise service using the Belfast to Dublin rail link are detailed in the table below.
| 2004/05 2005/06 | 2006/07 |
| Belfast to Dublin 836,983 819,630 | 861,627 |
Since 2004/05 passenger numbers on the cross border line have grown by 24,644 (2.9%).
Companions of Disabled People
Mrs Michelle O'Neill asked the Minister for Regional Development what action he will take to address the situation, whereby companions of disabled people are eligible for free travel within the Republic of Ireland, but not in Northern Ireland.
(AQO 268/08)
Mr Murphy: Following a review of the north’s Concessionary Fares Scheme I have made a bid as part of the Budget 2007 process for additional resources to enable me to meet the increasing costs of the current scheme and to extend the Scheme in a number of ways. Free travel for companions of people with disabilities is not included in this bid. Although I appreciate that some people with disabilities require assistance when travelling, I must prioritise the resources that may be made available and I would give a greater priority to providing free travel for people with disabilities.
Whitebridge Road, Co. Tyrone
Mr Barry McElduff asked the Minister for Regional Development what plans he has to improve the safety of the Whitebridge Road, from Carrickmore to Ballygawley, Co. Tyrone.
(AQO 226/08)
Mr Murphy: My Department’s Roads Service does not consider the Whitebridge Road to be unsafe and believes that it is typical of the standard of many ‘C’ class routes on the road network throughout the North.That said, Roads Service has identified a need for an improvement scheme in the vicinity of the Gleneeny Road junction, which involves verge widening and improving the forward sight distance. Funding has been set aside for land acquisition, in the current financial year, and negotiations with landowners are ongoing. If the land negotiations are successful and the necessary funding is available, it is planned to finalise the design and delivery of the scheme in the 2008/2009 financial year.Further improvements on the Whitebridge Road are not currently considered to be as high a priority as other competing needs in the Omagh District Council area, and under current levels of funding, extensive improvements to this road are unlikely to be considered for inclusion in Roads Service’s network development programmes in the short term.
Crystal Alliance
Mr Tommy Gallagher asked the Minister for Regional Development to detail (a) the functions that have been contracted to Crystal Alliance by Northern Ireland Water; (b) the value of the contract; and (c) the expiry date of the contract.
(AQO 240/08)
Mr Murphy: Northern Ireland Water has contracted three functions to Xansa, the lead partner in Crystal Alliance. They are:
- The handling of all telephone and written contacts from customers on operational and billing related matters; The billing and collections service for non-domestic and domestic properties; and The mobile work management system to support Northern Ireland Water’s operational staff in the prioritisation and tracking of tasks.
The value of the contract is £92.4 million and the expiry date is 31 March 2013.
Rapid Transit Schemes
Mr Simon Hamilton asked the Minister for Regional Development if he will give a timescale within which the reports on the various rapid transit schemes for the Belfast area will be published.
(AQO 237/08)
Mr Murphy: Following completion of the current studies, I will discuss the findings with Ministerial colleagues in the Executive as part of Budget 07 process. Once that has been done, the studies will be made available through my Department’s publication scheme. Copies will also be placed in the Assembly library.
Belfast to Dublin Rail Link
Mr Mervyn Storey asked the Minister for Regional Development if he will make a statement on the work carried out by his department to enhance the Belfast to Dublin rail link.
(AQO 247/08)
Mr Murphy: A major scheme to upgrade the Belfast to Dublin line from Belfast to the border was completed 10 years ago. At the same time, the Enterprise services were introduced using trains supplied and maintained by both NIR and Iarnrod Eireann. These enhancements resulted in significant increases in passenger usage leading to around 1 million passengers per year using the service. While numbers have since fallen back, partly as a result of major infrastructure work south of the border, they are now increasing again.
Newry Railway Station
Mr Danny Kennedy asked the Minister for Regional Development if he will provide an update on the proposals to upgrade Newry railway station.
(AQO 291/08)
Mr Murphy: The Department has given approval to Translink to proceed with the project to construct a new railway station at Newry. It is expected that, following a tendering process and the award of the contract, work will commence on site early in the new year and will take 18 months to complete.
Road Safety
Mr John Dallat asked the Minister for Regional Development what discussions he has had with the Minister of the Environment on matters relating to road safety and road deaths.
(AQO 221/08)
Mr Murphy: Road Safety is a key priority for my Department’s Roads Service and for many years, my officials have been working in partnership with officials from both the Department of the Environment and the Police in the delivery of the objectives of the Northern Ireland Road Safety Strategy.On 10 July 2007, I had a very useful meeting with Minister Foster and officials from the PSNI to discuss the proposed forthcoming review of the Road Safety Strategy and to consider the methodology, timescale and options to be considered in the review. I was pleased to give my support for Departmental officials participating fully in the review of the Strategy.
European Charter on Regional and Minority Languages
Mr Francis Brolly asked the Minister for Regional Development what action he is taking to promote and comply with the European Charter on Regional and Minority Languages in his department.
(AQO 272/08)
Mr Murphy: The Department issued Codes of Courtesy for both Irish and Ulster Scots in 2004 to help to implement the Charter commitments. These are on the Department’s website in English, in Irish and Ulster-Scots respectively. The Codes advise on the handling of meetings, correspondence and telephone calls in Irish and Ulster-Scots to ensure, as far as possible, that responses are in the correspondent’s chosen language. In addition, Roads Service is currently preparing a policy on the use of bilingual signing in certain circumstances, including:
- the erection by Councils of town/village place name signs bearing Irish or Ulster-Scots, in addition to English;the display of Irish or Ulster-Scots (in addition to English) on certain worded supplementary plates to standard warning signs; andthe inclusion of Irish or Ulster-Scots (in addition to English) on signs funded by private premise owners (e.g. tourist destinations, churches, schools and certain commercial premises), in close proximity to the destination.
My Department is planning to amend legislation to remove a legislative doubt about the use of languages other than English on traffic signs to enable the policy to be implemented. The proposed policy changes will be subject to consideration by the Executive, and subsequently to public consultation and to legislative scrutiny by the Assembly in line with normal procedures.
Funding Major Infrastructure Projects
Mr Trevor Lunn asked the Minister for Regional Development what consideration he has given to other means of funding major infrastructure projects, other than securing the entire funding from the public purse.
(AQO 287/08)
Mr Murphy: I can assure you that my Department endeavours to consider all appropriate funding options for major infrastructure projects. The important overriding priority is to ensure that value for money is delivered for the citizen in all cases. In terms of infrastructure projects, the Department for Regional Development has actively pursued supplementary investment through Public Private Partnerships, Developer Contributions, EU Funding, Asset Disposal, Congestion Charging and Road Tolling.
Resurfacing of Roads
Mr Fred Cobain asked the Minister for Regional Development to detail his department's targets in relation to time periods for the resurfacing of (a) trunk roads; and (b) classified roads; and to outline the performance of his department in relation to these targets.
(AQO 244/08)
Mr Murphy: In order to maintain and extend the life of a road, it is important that maintenance is carried out at an optimal time. Whilst my Department’s Roads Service has targets which relate to the length of the road network resurfaced each year, they do not have published targets relating to the time period between resurfacing. You may, however, be interested to know how the actual resurfacing treatments compare with the recommended good practice frequencies. The table below illustrates the actual treatment frequencies applied during 2005/06 and 2006/07.
| Road type | Treatment | Treatment frequency (years) | ||
| Good practice 2005/06 | 2006/07 | |||
| Trunk Roads | Resurface | 1 in 20 1 in 29 | 1 in 43 | |
| Classified Roads | Resurface | 1 in 25 1 in 33 | 1 in 40 | |
Social Development
Competitiveness Programme (2007-2013)
Mr Patsy McGlone asked the Minister for Social Development to confirm that financial support for town centre regeneration and marketing efforts will be removed from the new Competitiveness Programme (2007-2013), and if so, whether financial support for this activity will continue to be delivered by district councils, and increased in future years, through the Department's Financial Support Programme.
(AQW 273/08)
The Minister for Social Development (Ms Ritchie): Town Centre Management and marketing work specifically, had previously attracted funding under the EU Building Sustainable Prosperity (BSP) programme. The Department of Enterprise, Trade and Investment has informed me that no money has been set aside for town centre regeneration within the new EU Competitiveness Programme, which will replace the BSP programme. However, the programme will allow for strategic business development activities including urban and rural development. My Department has recently started a review of its policy on the provision of funding for town centre regeneration, including all existing and potential delivery mechanisms. I will make the results of this policy review available to you as early as possible.
Energy Efficiency
Mr George Robinson asked the Minister for Social Development what steps she has taken to ensure that people who are living in their own home, and landlords of privately-rented accommodation, are aware of all methods and schemes available to ensure energy efficiency; and to minimise the prospect of them, or their tenants, suffering from fuel poverty.
(AQW 352/08)
Ms Ritchie: My Department is committed to ensuring that information reaches those eligible for assistance under its measures for tackling fuel poverty. The Eaga Partnership, which manages the Warm Homes Scheme on behalf of the Department, achieves this through both targeted mailshots and partnership arrangements with a range of organisations in the voluntary and community sector and the health sector to disseminate key information. The Eaga Partnership also works with the Social Security Agency and the Rates Collection Agency to target householders who are in receipt of a qualifying benefit and who privately rent or own their own home.
The Housing Executive, in its role as Home Energy Conservation Authority for Northern Ireland has developed an energy improvement strategy and annual marketing plans to promote the concept of energy efficiency to the general public. They also fund voluntary bodies, such as National Energy Action and the Energy Saving Trust’s Advice Centre, who raise energy efficiency awareness through their activities.
Cold Weather Winter Fuel Payments
Ms Sue Ramsey asked the Minister for Social Development to detail her department's expenditure on Cold Weather Winter Fuel Payments.
(AQW 356/08)
Ms Ritchie: Expenditure on Winter Fuel payments is as follows:
Financial Year |
Expenditure |
|---|---|
| 2004/2005 | £49.9m |
| 2005/2006 | £50.2m |
| 2006/2007 | £50.6m |
.Expenditure on Cold Weather payments is as follows:
Financial Year |
Expenditure |
|---|---|
| 2003/2004 | £620,000 |
| 2004/2005 | £6,000* |
| 2005/2006 | £1,000* |
| 2006/2007 | £1,000* |
*Payments were in respect of arrears for previous years but processed during the year payment was made. 2003/2004 was the last year in which the qualifying conditions for Cold Weather Payments prevailed.
Fuel Poverty
Ms Sue Ramsey asked the Minister for Social Development, in light of her announcement of 17 May 2007, which stated that, in 2006/07, £70 million was dedicated to tackling fuel poverty, to detail exactly how these funds were spent.
(AQW 357/08)
Ms Ritchie: Funds were allocated as follows: £20.4 million for the Warm Homes Scheme and £50.2 million for Winter Fuel Payments in the 2006/2007 financial year.
The Housing Executive’s Improvement and Maintenance Programme also contains a fuel poverty focus, namely through its Heating Replacement Programme and Multi-Element Improvement Programme. The funding for the 2006/2007 financial year was approximately £24.2 million.
Warm Homes Scheme
Ms Sue Ramsey asked the Minister for Social Development, in light of the £44 million provided to the Warm Homes Scheme, to detail the uptake of the scheme, broken down by parliamentary constituency; and to give a breakdown of how these funds were spent.
(AQW 358/08)
Ms Ritchie: As stated at the Fuel Poverty Debate in the Assembly on 18 September, £44 million has been provided for initiatives such as the Housing Executive’s Improvement and Maintenance Programme as well as the Warm Homes Scheme. The Housing Executive’s Improvement and Maintenance Programme also contains a fuel poverty focus, namely through its Heating Replacement Programme and Multi-Element Improvement Programme. The funding for the last financial year was approximately £24.2 million. The Warm Homes Scheme funding for the last financial year was approximately £20.4 million. £1.7 million of this was spent on a range of services across Northern Ireland, including benefit entitlement checks and fees for scheme management. £18.798 million was spent on heating and insulation measures. The breakdown of this expenditure by parliamentary constituency is as follows:Heating Systems Fitted
No. of Homes |
Value of Works Completed |
|
|---|---|---|
| Newry & Armagh | 431 | £1,660,716.64 |
| Mid Ulster | 411 | £1,614,661.46 |
| Upper Bann | 388 | £1,431,288.27 |
| Fermanagh & South Tyrone | 333 | £1,316,625.83 |
| Foyle | 312 | £1,139,651.94 |
| South Down | 275 | £1,065,753.34 |
| West Tyrone | 269 | £1,085,294.01 |
| South Antrim | 181 | £628,597.19 |
| North Antrim | 166 | £563,573.00 |
| Belfast West | 158 | £558,690.71 |
| Belfast North | 146 | £459,429.07 |
| East Londonderry | 140 | £500,008.91 |
| Lagan Valley | 131 | £480,022.16 |
| Strangford | 97 | £343,670.00 |
| East Antrim | 80 | £266,079.00 |
| Belfast East | 70 | £215,264.89 |
| North Down | 52 | £173,313.00 |
| Belfast South | 36 | £117,935.00 |
| Total | 3,676 | £13,620,574.42 |
Insulation Measures Fitted
Constituency |
No. of Homes |
Value of Works Completed |
|---|---|---|
| Newry & Armagh | 876 | £519,025.39 |
| South Down | 699 | £414,854.17 |
| Upper Bann | 663 | £340,828.35 |
| West Tyrone | 634 | £354,671.31 |
| South Antrim | 611 | £297,234.41 |
| Belfast North | 567 | £224,490.28 |
| Mid Ulster | 557 | £329,243.93 |
| Belfast West | 485 | £166,830.53 |
| Fermanagh & South Tyrone | 476 | £289,236.29 |
| Foyle | 467 | £166,957.81 |
| East Londonderry | 418 | £202,381.59 |
| Lagan Valley | 413 | £218,588.55 |
| East Antrim | 401 | £182,155.21 |
| Strangford | 374 | £184,093.85 |
| North Antrim | 339 | £198,172.88 |
| Belfast East | 321 | £134,933.19 |
| North Down | 315 | £146,664.03 |
| Belfast South | 194 | £807,744.04 |
| Total | 8810 | £5,178,105.81 |
Total Value of Works
Constituency |
Total Value of Works Completed |
|---|---|
| Newry & Armagh | £2,179,742.03 |
| Mid Ulster | £1,943,905.39 |
| Upper Bann | £1,772,116.62 |
| Fermanagh & South Tyrone | £1,605,862.12 |
| South Down | £1,480,607.51 |
| West Tyrone | £1,439,965.32 |
| Foyle | £1,306,609.75 |
| South Antrim | £925,831.60 |
| Belfast South | £925,679.04 |
| North Antrim | £761,745.88 |
| Belfast West | £725,521.24 |
| East Londonderry | £702,390.50 |
| Lagan Valley | £698,610.71 |
| Belfast North | £683,919.35 |
| Strangford | £527,763.85 |
| East Antrim | £448,234.21 |
| Belfast East | £350,198.08 |
| North Down | £319,977.03 |
| Total | £18,798,680.23 |
Child Support Agency
Mr Simon Hamilton asked the Minister for Social Development what is her assessment of how money lost by the Child Support Agency through fraud and error compares with that in other regions of the United Kingdom; and with the equivalent body in the Republic of Ireland.
(AQW 384/08)
Ms Ritchie: Current fraud and error figures are unavailable for other United Kingdom regions and therefore a comparative assessment cannot be made.The Republic of Ireland does not have an organisation equivalent to the Northern Ireland Child Support Agency.
Child Support Agency
Mr Simon Hamilton asked the Minister for Social Development what is her assessment of the administrative cost to the Child Support Agency of recouping £1 in child maintenance, compared to that in other regions of the United Kingdom; and to the equivalent body in the Republic of Ireland.
(AQW 385/08)
Ms Ritchie: In 2006-07 it cost the Northern Ireland Child Support Agency £0.87 to arrange or collect £1 of child maintenance.The Great Britain Child Support Agency has reported provisional figures for 2006-07. Based on these figures it cost the Great Britain Child Support Agency £0.57 to arrange or collect £1 of child maintenance.The main reasons for the difference in cost of collection between the Northern Ireland Child Support Agency and the Great Britain Child Support Agency are:
- Northern Ireland has a higher proportion of non resident parents on benefit resulting in lower maintenance assessments. However it costs the Agency the same to assess and maintain these cases and as it does for private cases.
- The Great Britain Agency has the advantage of economies of scale.
As a result direct comparison between the two Agencies is not possible. The Republic of Ireland does not have an organisation equivalent to the Northern Ireland Child Support Agency.
Housing Executive Properties
Mr Simon Hamilton asked the Minister for Social Development to detail the number of properties that are currently owned by the Northern Ireland Housing Executive in the Newtownards area.
(AQW 386/08)
Ms Ritchie: Northern Ireland Housing Executive has 4008 domestic properties in the Newtownards area. This includes 2121 properties in Newtownards town.
Housing Executive Waiting List
Mr Simon Hamilton asked the Minister for Social Development to detail the number of people on the Northern Ireland Housing Executive waiting list, who have identified Newtownards as one of their areas of choice.
(AQW 387/08)
Ms Ritchie: 2951 applicants have indicated Newtownards as their 1st or 2nd preference area for social housing. 2062 of these have more than 30 points and are therefore considered to be in housing stress.
Housing Executive Properties
Mr Simon Hamilton asked the Minister for Social Development to detail the number of properties owned by the Northern Ireland Housing Executive in the Ballygowan area.
(AQW 416/08)
Ms Ritchie: At 31 March 2007, the Northern Ireland Housing Executive had 78 domestic properties in Ballygowan.
Housing Associations Property
Mr Simon Hamilton asked the Minister for Social Development to detail the number of properties owned by Housing Associations in (i) Newtownards; (ii) Comber; (iii) Saintfield; and (iv) Ballygowan.
(AQW 417/08)
Ms Ritchie: The number of properties owned by Registered Housing Associations in the towns identified is as follows:(i) Newtownards – 134 self-contained units with a further 216 bedspaces.(ii) Comber – 69 self-contained units with a further 72 bedspaces.(iii) Saintfield – 10 self-contained units.(iv) Ballygowan – 1 self-contained unit.A self-contained unit is a dwelling house and also an apartment in a sheltered housing scheme.A bedspace is a unit in a building or scheme containing single or shared rooms which lack exclusive use of bath/shower, WC or cooking facilities.
Housing Executive Waiting List
Mr Simon Hamilton asked the Minister for Social Development to detail the number of people on the Northern Ireland Housing Executive waiting list, who have identified Ballygowan as one of their areas of choice.
(AQW 418/08)
Ms Ritchie: 75 applicants have indicated Ballygowan as a 1st or 2nd preference area for social housing, 54 of these have more than 30 points and are therefore considered to be in housing stress.
Child Support Policy
Mr Alban Maginness asked the Minister for Social Development if she will provide an update on the steps she intends to take in light of the changes being proposed for child support policy and delivery in Great Britain.
(AQW 467/08)
Ms Ritchie: The Child Maintenance and Other Payments Bill which was introduced by the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions at Westminster on 5 June 2007, seeks to put into effect changes recommended by Sir David Henshaw in his report, which would:
- remove the requirement for parents with care who claim benefits to be treated as applying for child maintenance;
- encourage parents to make their own arrangements by increasing the amount of maintenance which parents with care on benefit can keep before their benefits are affected (known as "disregard");
- simplify and streamline the child maintenance assessment process by, for example, using the latest available tax year information as the basis for calculating child maintenance;
- improve collection and enforcement processes; and
- increase efforts to collect and manage debt.
The Bill also provides for a Non-Departmental Public Body (the Child Maintenance and Enforcement Commission) to replace the Child Support Agency in Britain as the deliverer of the new service.Under the parity arrangements which currently apply, I would intend to bring forward similar policy changes for Northern Ireland and will be taking proposals to the Executive and Assembly later this year and consulting with the Social Development Committee.In relation to the matter of service delivery, I have concluded that the existing Northern Ireland Child Support Agency should be wound up and service delivery brought under the direct control of my Department. In reaching this decision I took account of the different scale of the service provided here and the need to maintain the focus on improving the service to our clients.
Housing Executive Properties
Mr Simon Hamilton asked the Minister for Social Development to detail the addresses of the ten vacant properties sold by the Northern Ireland Housing Executive in the Ards area between 1 April 2004 and 31 March 2007; and to identify the value received on the sale of each of the properties.
(AQW 472/08)
Ms Ritchie: The details of the ten vacant properties sold by the Northern Ireland Housing Executive in the Ards area between 1 April 2004 and 31 March 2007 are as follows:
| £k | |
| 2004/2005 | |
| 17 – 33 Cedar / 2 – 22 Calmia Newtownards | 410 |
| 32 Windmill Road Millisle | 76 |
| 2005/2006 | |
| 114 Killinchy Road Comber | 179 |
| 106 Comber Road Killinchy | 100 |
| 1 Murdocks Lane, Donaghadee | 125 |
| 2006/2007 | |
| 49 Portaferry Road Cloghey | 100 |
| 51 Lisbarnett Road Comber | 164 |
| 83 Newtownards Road, Donaghadee | 180 |
| 6 Broadway, Ballywalter | 127 |
| 2007/2008 | |
| 22 Tullynakill Road Comber | 220 |
Housing Executive Properties
Mr Simon Hamilton asked the Minister for Social Development to detail the addresses of the six plots of land sold by the Northern Ireland Housing Executive in the Ards area between 1 April 2004 and 31 March 2007; and to identify the value received on the sale of each of the plots.
(AQW 473/08)
Ms Ritchie: The details of the six plots of land sold by the Northern Ireland Housing Executive are as follows:
Land Sales
| Details Of Land | Value Received |
| 2004/2005Adjacent to 32 Dunsey Way Comber | £8k |
| 2005/200612 East Street, Donaghadee | £101k |
| 2006/200788-92 Moss Road Millisle | £105k |
| 2006/2007 Comber By Pass | £234k |
| 2006/2007 Playground at Boyd Ave Kircubbin | £85k |
| 2007/2008217 Killaughey Road, Donaghadee | £40k |
Housing Executive Properties
Mr Simon Hamilton asked the Minister for Social Development to detail the number of Northern Ireland Housing Executive properties that have been allocated in (i) Newtownards; (ii) Comber; (iii) Saintfield; and (iv) Ballygowan, in each of the last three years.
(AQW 475/08)
Ms Ritchie: The number of Northern Ireland Housing Executive properties allocated is as follows:
Yr to June 2005 |
Yr to June 2006 |
Yr to June 2007 |
|
|---|---|---|---|
| Newtownards Town | 152 | 152 | 160 |
| Comber | 13 | 11 | 20 |
| Saintfield | 4 | 0 | 3 |
| Ballygowan | 0 | 2 | 1 |
Child Support Agency
Mr Jim Shannon asked the Minister for Social Development to detail, for each of the last three years, the number of maintenance application forms that have been submitted to the Child Support Agency; and the number of these applications that have resulted in a maintenance calculation being carried out, excluding nil assessments.
(AQW 500/08)
Ms Ritchie: The number of applications received in Northern Ireland Child Support Agency for the last three years and the number of these applications that have resulted in a maintenance calculation being carried out are as follows:
2004-05 |
2005-06 |
2006-07 |
|
|---|---|---|---|
Number of applications: |
9175 | 8972 | 8848 |
Number of maintenance calculations: |
2408 | 2891 | 3001 |
Figures in relation to NIL assessments are not readily available and could only be obtained by means of a special administrative exercise that would entail a disproportionate cost. NIL assessments are therefore included in the overall totals.
Disability Living Allowance
Mr Adrian McQuillan asked the Minister for Social Development to detail the number of people suffering from epilepsy who have been awarded the high rate mobility component of Disability Living Allowance, in the years 2004/05; 2005/06; and 2006/07.
(AQW 511/08)
Ms Ritchie: The Department does not hold the information in the exact form requested. The information set out in the table below reflects the number of customers awarded the higher rate of mobility component of Disability Living Allowance where epilepsy was the main disabling factor and where the award took effect from a date in the years shown. These figures may change if awards made in the future are backdated to an earlier year.
| Financial Year | DLA AWARDS(High Rate Mobility Component where Epilepsy is the main disabling condition) |
| 2004/05 | 95 |
| 2005/06 | 101 |
| 2006/07 | 77 |
Housing Executive Properties
Mr Declan O'Loan asked the Minister for Social Development to detail (i) the number of properties owned by the Northern Ireland Housing Executive; and (ii) the number of people on the waiting list, in the Ballymena Borough Council area.
(AQW 557/08)
Ms Ritchie: At 31 March 2007 the Northern Ireland Housing Executive owned 2,909 domestic properties in the Ballymena Borough Council area.At 31 March 2007 there were 1483 applicants on the waiting list in the Ballymena Borough Council area. Of these 816 had more than 30 points and are therefore deemed to be in Housing Stress.
Durlston Pastoral Care Centre
Mr Daithí McKay asked the Minister for Social Development to explain the reasons for the delay in the hand-over of two vacant houses in Dunclug Gardens, Ballymena, to the Durlston Pastoral Care Centre, since it was offered the properties by the Northern Ireland Housing Executive in spring 2007.
(AQW 561/08)
Ms Ritchie: The Durlston Pastoral Care Centre initially requested three properties from the Housing Executive. The block in which the properties were located however also included one privately owned property and was within phase two of the regeneration strategy for the estate. In pursuing an alternative Dunclug Gardens option, the Group also wanted a tenanted property. The tenant was however unwilling to consider alternative accommodation and so the transfer is proceeding on the basis of two properties in Dunclug Gardens. A planning application for change of use in respect of these two properties was made by the Housing Executive at the beginning of September 2007 and planning approval is awaited. Once this is received hand-over of the properties to the Pastoral Care Centre will proceed.In the meantime I understand that the Durlston Pastoral Care Centre continues to operate from premises in Durlston House, Dunclug.
Mislaid Benefit Claim Forms
Mr William Irwin asked the Minister for Social Development what plans she has to address the issue of mislaid benefit claim forms, and accompanying personal information, within the Social Security Agency.
(AQO 212/08)
Ms Ritchie: Each year the Social Security Agency receives over 200,000 benefit claim forms and almost 3 million other items of benefit related correspondence. Given such volumes, unfortunately there are occasions when items are mislaid, which is usually due to human error. When such instances are brought to the Agency’s attention urgent steps are taken to locate the missing item, and if necessary, action is taken to obtain a replacement from the customer. As current systems in general operate effectively, I have no specific plans to alter current arrangements for the handling of correspondence received from customers, though systems are kept under constant review.
Charities
Ms Carmel Hanna asked the Minister for Social Development what steps she is taking to tighten up the regulation and governance of charities in Northern Ireland.
(AQO 264/08)
Ms Ritchie: The reform of charities legislation is a priority for me and I wish to introduce a Bill for consideration by the Assembly this autumn. I am presently awaiting the agreement of my Executive colleagues. This legislation will ensure that we have a robust regulatory framework in place for charities in Northern Ireland who do an immense amount of good work for some of the most disadvantaged in our communities.
Disability Living Allowance
Mr Barry McElduff asked the Minister for Social Development what plans she has to make the application procedure for Disability Living Allowance easier for those entitled to claim it.
(AQO 228/08)
Ms Ritchie: Disability Living Allowance is an extremely complex benefit and the Social Security Agency is required by legislation to gather relevant information to assist in determining entitlement. The Agency works with the Department for Work and Pensions and the voluntary sector in an effort to simplify application procedures and this work is ongoing. For example a revised Disability Living Allowance (Adult) claim form, Crystal Marked by the Plain English Campaign, was introduced in April this year to simplify the form further. The Benefit Enquiry Line, which is a free phone service, provides the customer with the opportunity to discuss and obtain advice on claim form completion. Customers are able to complete a claim form in different ways. They can opt for a telephone interview, which can be arranged at a mutually agreed time; arrange an appointment to have the form completed at a face-to-face interview or, using the DSD internet site, complete and submit the form online.
Affordable Housing
Mr Alex Attwood asked the Minister for Social Development if she will give an update on the introduction of the developer contribution towards affordable housing in new private housing developments.
(AQO 259/08)
Ms Ritchie: This issue is primarily a matter for my colleagues Arlene Foster MLA and Conor Murphy MLA. However, I have supported joint working between the Department for Regional Development, the Department of the Environment and the Department for Social Development to progress the relevant Semple recommendations. The Joint Working Group is chaired by the Department for Regional Development. To date members have explored other affordable housing solutions and developer contributions aspects. Work has started on the revisions required to Article 40 / HS2 / PPS12 to facilitate the inclusion of intermediate housing and to revise the policy to ensure delivery of the developer contribution element. Whilst an assessment of affordable housing schemes in England, Scotland and the Republic of Ireland identified individual merits for each, it also highlighted that private finance alone will not deliver such schemes and there is generally a significant cost to the public purse. There is also a need for specialist teams to negotiate with developers, and in the other jurisdictions it has taken on average five years to bring housing on stream. Precise mechanisms to effect the developer contribution are key to an effective solution.The necessary consultation process, and any legislative requirements, will extend the time taken from policy development to actual implementation and real effect. Recent Judicial Reviews serve as a reminder to adhere to the required consultation processes.
Woodside Forest Park
Ms Jennifer McCann asked the Minister for Social Development to outline her responsibility in relation to the Woodside Forest Park in West Belfast.
(AQO 283/08)
Ms Ritchie: The Department for Social Development owns the land in question and it is managed by Belfast Regeneration Office. The ‘Woodside Forest Park’ is not a designated forest park as such but is rather an area of open space amenity land, which runs from the Stewartstown Road to the Bell Steele Road in the Poleglass area of West Belfast. The majority of this land is an attractive wooded glen with a pathway network running through it. I am of course aware of the concerns about anti-social activities associated with the area and indeed the more recent, serious assaults which have taken place. My Department is working closely with others, including the Housing Executive, Lisburn City Council, the Colin Neighbourhood Partnership, and the Police Service, to try to tackle these problems. As an interim measure the Department has commissioned Conservation Volunteers Northern Ireland to carry out some work in and around the main footways in the glen. This work commenced at the weekend past. A major programme of environmental improvement works is planned for the area next year subject to agreement on the extinguishment of a number of public rights of way which is being taken forward by the Northern Ireland Housing Executive.
Decentralisation of Social Services
Mr Francie Molloy asked the Minister for Social Development what consideration she will give, as part of the Executive strategy to support rural communities, to the decentralisation of social services to local offices, and in particular Disability Living Allowance and Incapacity Benefit, to make these more accessible.
(AQO 260/08)
Ms Ritchie: I am committed to the Executive’s strategy to support rural communities and I would highlight the fact that a substantial proportion of Social Security Staff is already deployed in local offices. I have no plans to decentralise the delivery of Disability Living Allowance or Incapacity Benefit to local offices. Customers who require information and advice or help with completing any benefit application form can call into their local Social Security or Jobs and Benefits Office.
Social Housing
Mr Tom Elliott asked the Minister for Social Development what provision she is making to increase the number of social housing units in the Dungannon and South Tyrone area.
(AQO 243/08)
Ms Ritchie: The current five year social housing development programme makes provision for 28 schemes totalling 302 units in the Council area.The Northern Ireland Housing Executive has set up an internal focus group to address the various social housing issues in the Dungannon District including the following measures –
- A revisit of the programme to confirm sufficient units programmed.A dedicated Housing executive resource for three months to supplement the Housing Association focus on site search.Direct contact with local estate agents to raise awareness of site requirements.Reconfirming the full extent of Housing Executive land assets in the local area.Examining potential use of infill sites.
- Maximising the use of "existing satisfactory" purchase schemes.
I have also asked the Northern Ireland Housing Executive to draw up and cost a strategy for bringing back into use the empty homes mentioned in the Semple report. I have also asked Government Departments, the Northern Ireland Housing Executive and Local Councils to rigorously examine their current landholdings and to advise me of any surplus land they may hold which would be suitable for social housing schemes.
Social Housing
Ms Carál Ní Chuilín asked the Minister for Social Development if she will give an update on the waiting list for social housing in North Belfast.
(AQO 284/08)
Ms Ritchie: At 31 March 2007 there were 2354 applicants on the waiting list for North Belfast, made up of 1,151 singles, 618 small families, 329 elderly, 108 large families, 122 small adult households and 26 large adult households. Of the overall total, 1,359 applicants have more than 30 points.
Child Poverty
Mr Fred Cobain asked the Minister for Social Development what plans she has to monitor and report on severe child poverty in her department's Households Below Average Income Report 2005-2006, using the methodology applied in Save the Children's report 'Severe Child Poverty in the United Kingdom'.
(AQO 238/08)
Ms Ritchie: The Northern Ireland Households Below Average Income Report for 2005-06 was published by my Department on 2 August 2007. It was accompanied by a press release and is available on the Department’s website. I am aware that there is a great deal of academic debate concerning the definition and analysis of poverty. Academics, charities and government departments amongst others, make use of data from this report to carry out their own research and to develop experimental methodologies. Whilst the assumptions applied from these experimental methodologies do not necessarily reflect current policy, they do contribute to the wider discussion on tackling poverty and in particular, child poverty. In particular the recent report from Save the Children, ‘A 2020 Vision’, highlighted the challenge ahead for the Executive if we are to eradicate child poverty in the North by 2020.Within my own Department I am determined to do all that I can to tackle Child Poverty. This year the Social Security Agency will target 5,000 families in an innovative Benefit Up-Take programme aimed specifically at families with either three or more children or a child with a disability. In addition forthcoming changes to the work of the Child Support Agency will seek to reduce poverty and disadvantage by ensuring that parents who live apart maintain their children. I look forward to seeing what impact these initiatives make on the level of child poverty in the North.
Housing Crisis
Mr Fra McCann asked the Minister for Social Development to outline the timeframe for the development of the Housing Taskforce's response to the recommendations of the Semple Report; and if this response will form the basis of the strategic departmental response to the housing crisis.
(AQO 282/08)
Ms Ritchie: I set up and chair an Interdepartmental Affordability Review Implementation Group for the specific purpose of developing and delivering on an affordability implementation plan. The Group has made an initial assessment of the recommendations, identifying those recommendations which are acceptable, acceptable in principle or not acceptable. A draft implementation plan has also been developed and will be finalised by Christmas 2007. I have also established as Advisory Panel of Experts. I have asked them to present a full progress report before Christmas 2007.
Neighbourhood Renewal Strategy
Mr Paul Maskey asked the Minister for Social Development to detail her commitment to the neighbourhood renewal strategy; and to outline what new resources she and her Ministerial colleagues will make available to ensure the success of this strategy.
(AQO 281/08)
Ms Ritchie: I am fully committed to the Neighbourhood Renewal Strategy which works across Government to tackle the key causes of deprivation and disadvantage in a strategic and joined up way. I am determined that the implementation of this Strategy will make a real difference to the life chances and quality of life of people living in the most deprived areas of Northern Ireland. Government Departments, alongside their Non-departmental Public Bodies, are considering how they might respond to locally developed action plans, which detail the needs and priorities for each Neighbourhood. A Neighbourhood Renewal Investment Fund of £60 million has been available for the period 2005 until March 2008, to supplement the very significant existing Government funding in Neighbourhood Renewal areas. I believe that additional funding needs to be found to support the delivery of the Neighbourhood Renewal Strategy. I have therefore made a bid under the Investment Strategy for Northern Ireland for additional resources to be used to support Neighbourhood Renewal over the next budget period. I have also asked other departments to consider how they might best meet the priorities set out in Neighbourhood Action Plans. Future funding will, of course, be dependent on the outcome of the Executive Committee’s discussions on the budget.
Regeneration
Mr Alban Maginness asked the Minister for Social Development if she will give an update on the regeneration process at the Crumlin Road and Girdwood sites in North Belfast.
(AQO 256/08)
Ms Ritchie: The site of the former Crumlin Road Gaol and Girdwood Army Barracks in North Belfast is the subject of a masterplanning process at present. I have recently taken receipt of a draft Masterplan for the site prepared by consultants, under the auspices of the Crumlin Road Gaol and Girdwood Park Advisory Panel. The plan is illustrative and demonstrates the potential future uses of the site. At this stage, no prospective use has been precluded. In keeping with its mixed-use zoning, the site could be used for tourism, leisure, business development or housing, including social housing.I expect to issue the draft Masterplan for public consultation and will then wish to take full account of all views expressed in relation to the development of this key regeneration site.When coming to decisions on the way forward, I will take account of a variety of factors, including the need for regeneration and obligations contained in Section 75 of the Northern Ireland Act.In advance of such decisions, a £1m programme of repairs and restoration has been completed recently to maintain the fabric of the Grade A listed Gaol building. In recent weeks I have also agreed to open the Gaol for tours to provide public access through to December 2007. Both the recent works and the Gaol tours will hopefully help to highlight the longer-term development potential of this wonderful landmark building and the opportunity that exists to regenerate the overall 27 acre Gaol and Girdwood site.
Child Poverty
Miss Michelle McIlveen asked the Minister for Social Development to outline her dissemination policy for the Households Below Average Income Report 2005-2006; and what plans she has for public engagment on such issues, in particular the level of child poverty.
(AQO 211/08)
Ms Ritchie: The Northern Ireland Households Below Average Income Report for 2005-06 was published by my Department on 2 August 2007. It was accompanied by a press release and is available on the Department’s website. I am aware that there is a great deal of academic debate concerning the definition and analysis of poverty. Academics, charities and government departments amongst others, make use of data from this report to carry out their own research and to develop experimental methodologies. Whilst the assumptions applied from these experimental methodologies do not necessarily reflect current policy, they do contribute to the wider discussion on tackling poverty and in particular, child poverty. In particular the recent report from Save the Children, ‘A 2020 Vision’, highlighted the challenge ahead for the Executive if we are to eradicate child poverty in the North by 2020.Within my own Department I am determined to do all that I can to tackle Child Poverty. This year the Social Security Agency will target 5,000 families in an innovative Benefit Up-Take programme aimed specifically at families with either three or more children or a child with a disability. In addition forthcoming changes to the work of the Child Support Agency will seek to reduce poverty and disadvantage by ensuring that parents who live apart maintain their children. I look forward to seeing what impact these initiatives make on the level of child poverty in the North.Assembly Commission
Assembly Commission
Assembly Shop
Mr Leslie Cree asked the Assembly Commission to outline whether or not the Assembly shop can accept all visitors' credit and debit cards, with particular reference to American visitors.
(AQW 393/08)
The Representative of the Assembly Commission (Rev Dr Coulter): The Assembly shop can accept all U.K. credit and debit cards and American Express has been available for customer transactions from March of this year. To-date no American Express transaction has been sought by customers.
Assembly Shop
Mr Leslie Cree asked the Assembly Commission what plans it has to extend the gift selection in the Assembly shop.
(AQW 394/08)
The Representative of the Assembly Commission (Rev Dr Coulter): Eurest are currently exploring new and innovative ideas to extend the current gift shop selection. Such as:
- new range of quality chocolate; new N.I. Assembly crested cuff links; wine - N.I. Assembly crested wine; CD Picture Postcards - a full DVD/CD picture postcard which is very light weight and easy to carry; a new range of business gifts, folders, pens, credit card holders etc.; andN.I. Assembly tie pin; and ladies brooch.
Eurest are also considering a new on-line ordering system that could be accessed via the N.I. Assembly web page. Eurest management are keen to encourage a greater use of the shop by both internal and external customers and extending the gift selection forms part of this. Of course, any new lines will require Assembly Commission approval.
Assembly Shop
Mr Leslie Cree asked the Assembly Commission to detail the sales figures for each stocked item sold in the Assembly shop, broken down by month, in each of the last two years.
(AQW 395/08)
The Representative of the Assembly Commission (Rev Dr Coulter): The Assembly Commission awarded the Support Services contract from Mountcharles to Eurest in April 07 and as such we do not hold retrospective sales figures by stocked item over that period. Eurest are currently in the process of implementing a computerised stock system which will collect information in this manner. However, to assist with your query, we attach a table of net sales figures for stock sold from the Assembly Gift shop by month over the previous two years.Net Sales figures for the Assembly Gift Shop
from March 2007 are as follows:
| MONTH | NET SALES | MONTH | NET SALES |
| August 2005 | £285.40 | September 2006 | £1639.86 |
| September 2005 | £629.80 | October 2006 | £1116.83 |
| October 2005 | £272.49 | November 2006 | £856.85 |
| November 2005 | £95.50 | December 2006 | £903.13 |
| December 2005 | £221.69 | January 2007 | £605.94 |
| January 2006 | £61.30 | February 2007 | £319.20 |
| February 2006 | £121.11 | March 2007 | £222.38 |
| March 2006 | £608.22 | April 2007 | £1040.78 |
| April 2006 | £703.04 | May 2007 | £1590.86 |
| May 2006 | £1364.16 | June 2007 | £4232.10 |
| June 2006 | £2003.77 | July 2007 | £1510.64 |
| July 2006 | £1204.82 | August 2007 | £1935.72 |
August 2006 |
£404.97 |
Assembly Shop
Mr Leslie Cree asked the Assembly Commission to provide a list of the stock currently available in the Assembly shop.
(AQW 396/08)
The Representative of the Assembly Commission (Rev Dr Coulter): Full list of Stock
- Confectionery - Crisps, chocolate bars, soft drinks, boxed chocolates. Stationery - Greetings cards, wrapping paper, money wallets.Post - 1st and 2nd Class postage stamps.Papers - Sale of eight morning newspapers and the Evening Belfast Telegraph.Toiletries - Headache tablets, ladies tights, body spray, toothpaste and toothbrush.Assembly Gifts - Pencils, rulers, erasers, postcards x 2 type, books, Parker pens, roller ball pens, handkerchiefs x 4 type, mounted pictures, framed pictures, Tyrone Crystal paperweight, Assembly crested cuff links, Credit Card holders, A4 folders, bookmarks, tinned mints, boxed toffee, boxed fudge, jars of sweets x 3 varieties, crested thimbles.
Assembly Shop
Mr Leslie Cree asked the Assembly Commission what plans it has to meet with tour bus operators visiting the Stormont Estate, with a view to allowing passengers on such buses to visit the Assembly shop.
(AQW 397/08)
The Representative of the Assembly Commission (Rev Dr Coulter): At present there are no plans to meet with tour bus operators. However, as Parliament Buildings is open to the public, visitors are entitled to access the Great Hall and the Assembly gift shop during the hours of 9.00am – 4.00pm.
Security Arrangements for Parliament Buildings
Mr John McCallister asked the Assembly Commission to provide an update on security arrangements for Parliament Buildings.
(AQO 198/08)
The Representative of the Assembly Commission (Rev Dr Coulter): Following the Commission’s approval of the security review’s recommendations, work has been progressing on all fronts. You may already be aware that a number of the recommendations have already been implemented; such as:
- upgrading exterior lighting;updating the public address system;devising crisis management plans; and
- improvements to plant room security and mail screening.
With regard to other recommendations the current position is as follows:
- the service level agreement with PSNI is nearing completion and will be brought to the Commission for consideration before final sign-off. This will provide a permanent police unit in Parliament Buildings and its environs on all week days from October with particular emphasis on sitting days. This will increase the police complement to one sergeant and eight constables. Currently cover is provided by two permanent officers with additional support from outlying police units.
- Work on the external search facility has commenced and this will provide the impetus to complete all perimeter and associated security measures.
- Work on traffic flow and pedestrian restrictions is also being progressed.