House of Commons Hansard Debates for 10 May 1990

Debenhams plc

16. Mr. Hague : To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what financial assistance was given by his Department to Debenhams plc to assist in setting up its Belfast store ; and if he will make a statement.

Mr. Needham : No financial assistance was given to Debenhams plc to assist in setting up its Belfast store.

Security

17. Mr. Ron Brown : To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland if he will make a statement about the security situation in the Province.

21. Mr. William Ross : To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland if he will make a statement on the current security situation in Northern Ireland.

26. Mr. Kilfedder : To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland if he will make a statement about the security situation in the Province.

Mr. Brooke : Since I answered a similar question on 29 March 1990, the Chief Constable issued on 26 April a warning that PIRA was intent on a campaign of bombing and shootings. This warning was justified by the attempts to bomb police and Army bases, as well as numerous other

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explosions. Fortunately, vigilance prevented the serious loss of life and damage to property which would otherwise have occurred. Since 29 March there have been 10 deaths arising from the security situation in Northern Ireland. Four full-time members of the Ulster Defence Regiment and two civilians were murdered by Republican terrorists, two civilians are believed to have been murdered by so-called "Loyalists" and one member of the Regular Army was murdered by paramilitaries unknown. One civilian, since claimed as a member of IPLO on active service, was killed by the security forces.

Stevens Report

18. Mr. McAvoy : To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how he intends to respond to the Stevens report.

25. Mr. Loyden : To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what is his response to the Stevens report.

Mr. Ernie Ross : To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland if he will make a statement on the Stevens inquiry.

Mr. Cope : This inquiry was commissioned by the Chief Constable of the RUC and I understand that Mr. Stevens delivered his report to him on 5 April. The Chief Constable is still considering it. It is at present too early to say what response by Government may be necessary.

Mr. Beggs : To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many persons normally resident in the constituency of Antrim, East are currently being held in custody in Her Majesty's prison, Crumlin road, Belfast, and denied bail pending charges being preferred as a result of the Stevens inquiry.

Mr. Cope : I understand that two people from the constituency of Antrim, East are now in custody on remand, after being charged with offences following the investigations led by DCC Stevens. I also understand that one person currently held in custody has refused to give details of his address.

Mr. A. Cecil Walker : To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many persons normally resident in the constituency of Belfast, North are currently being held in custody at Her Majesty's prison, Crumlin road, Belfast, and denied bail, pending charges being preferred as a result of the Stevens inquiry.

Mr. Cope : I understand that three people from the constituency of Belfast, North, are now in custody on remand after being charged with offences following the investigations led by DCC Stevens. I also understand that one person currently held in custody has refused to give details of his address.

Extradition

19. Mr. Hunter : To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland if he will make a further statement on the current arrangements with the Republic of Ireland regarding the extradition of convicted or suspected terrorists.

35. Mr. Tony Lloyd : To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland if he will make a statement on extradition arrangements.

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39. Mr. Hanley : To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland if he has had discussions with the Irish Government on the obstacles in Irish law to extradition from the Republic of those convicted of crimes in Northern Ireland.

Mr. Cope : I refer my hon. Friends and the hon. Member to the answer which I gave earlier today to the hon. Member for Birmingham, Erdington (Mr. Corbett).

33. Mr. Andrew F. Bennett : To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland if he will outline his policy on extradition.

Mr. Cope : We remain committed to ensuring that the arrangements between the authorities in the United Kingdom and in the Republic of Ireland for bringing fugitive offenders to justice are made fully effective. To that end, British and Irish officials have been instructed to undertake a review of the situation and report to a future meeting of the Anglo-Irish Intergovernmental Conference.

Mr. Stern : To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many people wanted for questioning or trial in respect of alleged offences in Northern Ireland are currently awaiting the conclusion of extradition proceedings in the Irish Republic.

Mr. Cope : Three cases, all concerning individuals who are wanted to complete outstanding prison sentences for offences committed in Northern Ireland, are currently being actively considered by courts in the Republic of Ireland.

NHS Reform

20. Rev. Martin Smyth : To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what guidance has been given to health and social service boards in the purchase of services under the proposed National Health Service reforms.

Mr. Needham : Since "Working for Patients" was published there has been a continual flow of information to boards about the purchase of services. The main guidance has been Northern Ireland working paper No. 2, a paper on purchasers and providers published last November and a paper on the operational principles of contracting published in February.

Drink-driving

22. Mr. Roger King : To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland if he will make a statement on the statistics for drinking and driving in the Province.

Mr. Peter Bottomley : In Northern Ireland there has been a downward trend over the last 10 years in road deaths due to alcohol or drugs, from 53 in 1980 to 35 in 1989.

While this trend is welcome, any death caused by drinking and driving is entirely avoidable.

We shall continue to work with the drink industry, hoteliers, publicans and club organisers in order to influence public attitudes towards the unacceptability of drinking and driving.

We each have responsibilities : as hosts to provide a range of alcohol-free drinks for our guests ; as drivers to refrain from drinking and driving ; as passengers to choose a non-drinking driver.

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Small Businesses

23. Mr. Carrington : To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many small businesses have started up in Northern Ireland over the last three years ; and if he will make a statement.

Mr. Needham : There is no comprehensive system of measuring small business start-ups in Northern Ireland, although there are several useful proxy indicators. One of the most widely used is the number of businesses (of all sizes) registering for VAT, of which there were an estimated 10,000 in three years ending in 1988. The figure for 1989 is not yet available.

Anglo-Irish Agreement

24. Mr. Pawsey : To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland if he will make a statement on the operation of the Anglo-Irish Agreement.

Mr. Brooke : The Government remain committed to the Anglo-Irish Agreement and the principles it embodies. However, we remain willing to examine any proposals concerning the agreement, particularly if they are likely to command widespread support.

27. Mr. Andrew MacKay : To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland if he will make a statement on his discussions with the Irish Government within the Anglo-Irish Agreement.

Mr. Brooke : The last meeting of the Intergovernmental Conference was on 19 April. Copies of the joint statement issued afterwards were placed in the Library and the Vote Office. I expect another meeting to be held within the next few weeks.

37. Mr. Flannery : To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland when the next meeting of the Anglo-Irish Conference will take place.

Mr. McFall : To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland when he next expects the Anglo-Irish Conference to meet.

Mr. Brooke : I expect the Intergovernmental Conference to meet in the next few weeks.

Irish Foreign Minister

28. Mr. Duffy : To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland when he will next meet the Irish Foreign Minister ; and what matters he proposes to discuss.

Mr. Brooke : I expect to meet the Irish Foreign Minister at an Intergovernmental Conference in the next few weeks and that we shall discuss a range of matters including the political situation in Northern Ireland, security co-operation and cross-border economic and social co- operation.

Health Expenditure

29. Mr. Andrew Mitchell : To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how much was spent on health per head of the population in Northern Ireland in 1989-90 ; and if he will make a statement.

Mr. Needham : Spending on health and personal social services in Northern Ireland per head of the population in 1989-90 was about £608.

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This remains substantially above levels in England and Wales and is a continued recognition of the Province's need for additional health and social services care, despite other pressures on resources.

Economy

30. Mr. Burt : To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland if he will make a statement on the state of the Northern Ireland economy.

Mr. Cope : The state of the Northern Ireland economy is reflected by a range of indicators. The latest available economic data for Northern Ireland show that compared with a year earlier the number unemployed in March 1990 has fallen by 10,600 and manufacturing output in quarter four, 1989 has risen by 7 per cent.

Education

31. Mr. Dover : To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland if he will make a statement on the progress of integration in education in Northern Ireland.

Dr. Mawhinney : I refer my hon. Friend to the reply given to the hon. Member for Nottingham, North (Mr. Allen) on 29 March, at column 310.

Capital Value Rates

32. Mr. Neil Hamilton : To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland if he has received any representations to introduce capital value rates in Northern Ireland ; and if he will make a statement.

Mr. Cope : No such representations have been received.

Payments for Debt

34. Mr. Clifford Forsythe : To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what plans he has to repeal the Payments for Debt Emergency Provisions Act (Northern Ireland) 1971.

Mr. Cope : There are presently no plans to repeal the Act. However, the need for the legislation is kept under review in the light of prevailing circumstances and developments.

Irish Language (Schools)

36. Mr. Beggs : To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland to how many schools in Northern Ireland the Northern Ireland Curriculum Council sent consultative documents on Irish as a medium ; and how many responses have been returned.

Dr. Mawhinney : Copies were sent to all grant-aided schools in Northern Ireland. The council received a total of 165 responses.

Road Deaths

38. Mr. Summerson : To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland if he will make a statement on road deaths in Northern Ireland.

Mr. Peter Bottomley : Since my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State announced the road casualty reduction programme on 31 October 1989, 86 people have been

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killed on the roads of Northern Ireland up to the end of April 1990. This includes three people killed in the Slaght level crossing accident and compares with 98 killed in the corresponding period last year.

While this shows a significant improvement, we are still behind our target of a reduction to 140 by 31 October 1990. The Department of the Environment for Northern Ireland will continue to work closely with the other statutory and voluntary agencies in the road casualty reduction field.

The key to reducing the number of deaths is effective promotion of involvement and participation by all road users. That requires constant efforts to promote effective media coverage.

Neither advertising nor enforcement can be a full answer. We need drivers to drive skilfully and in accordance with the Highway Code even when a marked police car is not in sight.

Advertising is not available on BBC radio and television. Death and injury is newsworthy. The news and current affairs coverage by broadcasters and journalists has contributed to the drop in deaths. I am grateful.

Mr. Boyes : To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many pedestrians, drivers and passengers died in the six months from 1 November 1989 and in the six months from 1 November 1988.

Mr. Peter Bottomley : There has been a 20 per cent. fall to 76 from 94 in the numbers of deaths in these major categories since the start of the casualty reduction campaign.


             1 November-30 April    

Deaths      |1989-90|1988-89        

------------------------------------

Pedestrians |28     |38             

Drivers     |31     |36             

Passengers  |17     |20             

            |--     |--             

Total       |76     |94

The numbers of cyclist and motor cyclist fatalities have, sadly, risen.

We shall continue to pursue our objective of making Northern Ireland's roads the safest in Europe.

Belfast Stamp Office

Mr. John D. Taylor : To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what were the responsibilities of his Department in the decision to transfer the stamp office for deeds from Belfast.

Mr. Cope : None.

Mr. John D. Taylor : To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland (1) what consultation there was with the staff of the Belfast stamp office for registration of deeds and with the legal profession before the decision to transfer its work to Scotland and England ; (2) what is the income and expenditure of the stamp office for deeds in Belfast ; if he will make a statement on its cost to the public Exchequer ; and what savings he estimates arising from its closure ;

(3) how many people are presently employed in the stamp office for deeds in Belfast ; how many will be offered posts (a) elsewhere in Northern Ireland and (b) at the stamp offices in England and Scotland when the Belfast stamp office is closed ;

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(4) how long there has been a stamp office for deeds in Belfast ; (5) by what means he announced the proposed closure of the stamp office for deeds in Belfast ;

(6) what arrangements are being made to acquaint the staff in the stamp office in Scotland and England with the differences in property law between Northern Ireland and elsewhere in Great Britain.

Mr. Major : I have been asked to reply.

The Board of Inland Revenue's intention to close the Belfast stamp office in 1992 was notified to the staff on Budget day ; the Law Society of Northern Ireland was informed by letter. Prior consultation would have been incompatible with Budget confidentiality for my decision to abolish stamp duty on shares.

There has been a stamp office in Belfast since about 1922, but with a revenue of about £12 million and costs of about £190,000 in 1989- 90, the cost of collecting stamp duty in Northern Ireland is now more than three times greater than the average cost in similar offices throughout the United Kingdom. Closure is expected to save about £160,000 a year at current prices.

The office currently employs eight staff. Apart from one person on secondment, all staff will, wherever possible, be offered jobs in line with their preferences. Any necessary guidance to staff in England and Scotland on differences between the property law of Northern Ireland and the rest of the United Kingdom will be given nearer the time of closure.

Non-denominational Nurseries

Mr. Allen : To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what proposals he has for assisting non-denominational nurseries attached to schools in Northern Ireland.

Dr. Mawhinney : Given constraints on resources, I have no plans at present to grant-aid nurseries attached to integrated schools.

Ministerial Visits

Mrs. Gorman : To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland if he has any plans to visit Portadown or Lurgan before 17 May.

Mr. Brooke : It is not the custom to give details of ministerial programmes in advance.

Electricity Privatisation

Mr. John Evans : To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what representations he has received from consumer groups in Northern Ireland about the effects of the privatisation of Northern Ireland Electricity ; and if he will make a statement.

Mr. Needham : The General Consumer Council for Northern Ireland has submitted the results of a survey of consumers' views on electricity privatisation. No other consumer groups have made formal representations so far, but there will be ample opportunity to do so when Government's proposals are published in a White Paper later this year.

Mr. Ron Davies : To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what discussions he has had with trade unions in Northern Ireland over the proposed privatisation of NI Electricity ; and if he will make a statement.

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Mr. Needham : There have been several discussions between Northern Ireland Ministers and the trade unions over the past 18 months. There will be an opportunity for all interested parties to comment on the Government's proposals which it is planned to publish in a White Paper later this year. In the meantime, it is open to the trade unions to bring forward further views on the subject at any time.

Mortgage Repossessions

Mr. Mallon : To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what information he has on the number of occasions dwelling houses were repossessed by building societies in Northern Ireland, due to default in mortgage payments, in each year since 1980 ; and if he will make a statement.

Mr. Peter Bottomley : Building society repossession statistics are not available on a regional basis. National totals are published by the Council of Mortgage Lenders in its quarterly publication "Housing Finance".

Mr. Mallon : To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what information he has on the number of occasions housing applications were received by the Northern Ireland Housing Executive from applicants whose homes were subject to repossession due to non-payment of mortgage levies.

Mr. Peter Bottomley : I understand from the chairman of the Northern Ireland Housing Executive that during the year ended 31 March 1990 a total of 532 applications were received from people who claimed mortgage default as their reason for needing to be rehoused. Information is not available on the number of applicants whose homes were repossessed.

Local Government Finance

Mr. Ian Bruce : To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what proportion of local government expenditure to Northern Ireland is raised from (a) domestic ratepayers, (b) business ratepayers, and (c) Government grant.

Mr. Peter Bottomley : The information sought is not available in the precise form requested because of the structure of the rating system in Northern Ireland.

Of planned gross expenditure of £177.4 million by district councils in 1990-91, it is estimated that £106.3 million or 60 per cent. will be raised from domestic and business ratepayers, £36.1 million or 20.3 per cent. from Government grants and £35.0 million or 19.7 per cent. from fees, charges and other income.

It may be noted that, in Northern Ireland, local government is not responsible for roads, education or social services.

Consultancies

Mr. Tim Smith : To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what was the total amount spent by his Department in 1989 on management and computer consultancy contracts ; excluding hardware and software purchases ; if he will list each management or computer consultancy contract awarded by his Department in 1989, giving in each case the name of the consultancy firm and

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the subject of the assignment ; and what is the total amount that his Department has budgeted to spend in the current year.

Mr. Cope [holding answer 28 March 1990] : The total amount spent on management and computer consultancy by the Northern Ireland Office and Northern Ireland Departments in 1989 was £5,747,531 ; the amount budgeted to spend in the current year is £4,543,300 ; the remainder of the information is as follows :

Firm and subject of assignment

Aims Ireland--Assistance to IT Strategy Planning.

Aims Systems--Project Support (SSADM).

Aspinwall and Co. Ltd.--Review of waste disposal arrangements in Northern Ireland.

D. E. Barnard Systems--To derive a common IT strategy for the Department of Environment's Countryside and Wildlife Branch and Historic Monuments and Buildings Branch.

Belmin Systems Ltd.--Preparation of presentation to the Confederation of Irish Industry Conference in Dublin.

BIC Systems--ITD MIS Project.

Bis Beecom (International) Ltd.--To advise the Department of Environment's Roads Service on specialised communication aspects of its Integrated Computer System.

To prepare incentive bonus schemes to improve the efficiency of the directly employed labour in the Department of Environment's Works Service.

Support for design of equal opportunities monitoring system for public sector.

Feasibility study for an Information Technology Centre in West Belfast.

British Telecom--Support for NICS Integrated Telecoms Project. Business and Economic Initiatives--Market Testing of Computer Bureau assistance with in- house bid.

Training for small businesses in Belfast.

CAPITA--To provide a management accountant, acceptance testing managers and scriptwriters to advise the Department of Environment's Roads Service on appropriate aspects of its Integrated Computer System.

Market testing of Training Centre Stores.

Capita, Muir and Addy--LAN Procurement, Newforge NIHPSS Superannuation System Implementation of IT Strategy.

Capscan, London--Computerised post-coding.

Mr. M. Carmel--Assistance on DHSS/QUB JWP on Library Services. CCTA--Animal Health System, Options for Market Systems.

Charted Instute of Public Finance and Accountancy Ltd--To advise on the management accounting aspects of the Water Service's integrated computer project.

Cheltonian International

Assistance to Planning Project Management.

CHKS, London

International Classification of Diseases coding.

Common Services Agency, Edinburgh.

Pharmacists final balance sheet.

Coopers and Lybrand

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