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suspected of being republican paramilitary members who were arrested in the Ards area between January and July 1993 ; how many in each category were subsequently charged ; and what were the figures in each case for the period July 1993 to May 1994.Sir John Wheeler : The available information is for the Newtownards RUC sub-division, and is as follows :
|1 January 1993 to|1 August 1993 to
|31 July 1993 |31 May 1994
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Number of suspect loyalists arrested |34 |30
Suspect loyalists charged |13 |5
Number of suspect republicans arrested |1 |3
Suspect republicans charged |- |-
Mr. Peter Robinson : To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many and what percentage of deaths due to terrorism have been caused by loyalist paramilitary groups in each of the past 20 years in Northern Ireland.
Sir John Wheeler : An annual breakdown, attributing murders to specific terrorist groups, is available only from 1987. The figures are set out as follows :
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H
By Loyalists By Republicans
|Number |Per centage|Number |Percentage
------------------------------------------------------------------------
1987 |15 |19 |65 |81
1988 |22 |26 |62 |74
1989 |18 |32 |39 |68
1990 |19 |29 |46 |71
1991 |40 |46 |47 |54
1992 |39 |52 |36 |48
1993 |47 |57 |35 |43
For the whole period 1969 to 1993, the approximate breakdown is 32 per cent. by Loyalists and 68 per cent. by Republicans.
Schools (Capital Funding)
Mr. Peter Robinson : To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland whether he will provide a detailed list of the schools in both the primary and secondary sectors in Northern Ireland that have received capital funding over the past four years; and what were the amounts in each case.
Mr. Ancram : Information in the form requested is not readily available and could be obtained only at disproportionate cost.
Vehicle Licences
Mr. Connarty : To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what consultations took place before, and what considerations underlay, the decision to cease issuing vehicle licenses through post offices in Northern Ireland.
Mr. Tim Smith : Responsibility for the subject in question has been delegated to the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Northern Ireland Agency under its chief executive, Mr. Brendan Magee. I have asked him to arrange for a reply to be given.
Letter from Brendan Magee to Mr. Michael Connarty, dated 6 June 1994 :
The Secretary of State for Northern Ireland has asked me to reply to your question regarding the decision to cease issuing vehicle licences through post offices in Northern Ireland.
Only 14 post offices in Northern Ireland are designated for re-licensing of vehicles. Figures for 1993-94 show that 61 per cent. of customers licensed their vehicles at DVLNI local offices, 22 per cent. by post to DVLNI Head Office and 17 per cent. at the designated post offices.
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The key consideration underlying the decision was the need for DVLNI to make economies to live within its budget allocation for 1994-95. DVLNI is a demand led organisation engaged on the core activities of registering vehicles, licensing vehicles and the issuing of driver licenses. When savings need to be made they have to be in the method of delivery as the Agency cannot limit the volumes of business.Prior to the decision being made, the Agency Advisory Board was told of the difficulties created by the shortfall in funding. After further discussions with the Agency's parent department (DOE NI) a paper was prepared informing the Minister of DVLNI's intention to withdraw the facility. Post Office Counters Ltd. were also kept informed.
Government Information
Mr. Llew Smith : To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland when he plans to publish his departmental guidance on the implementation of the code of practice on access to Government information, as promised at paragraph 3(ii) of the code issued on 4 April ; and what has been the cause of the delay in publishing the departmental guidance.
Sir John Wheeler : The principles contained within the code of practice on Government information have applied to the Northern Ireland Office and Northern Ireland Departments since 4 April 1994. In common with United Kingdom Departments, we will use the central guidance on interpretation of the code, a copy of which is available in the Library of the House.
Arable Area Payments Scheme
Mr. Tipping : To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland if he will set out by county a breakdown of the 1993 arable area payments scheme.
Mr. Ancram : To date the number of applications received and amounts paid under the EC arable area scheme in Northern Ireland by county are as follows :
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Main scheme Simplified scheme
(set-aside)
County |Total No. of|Total amount|Total No. of|Total amount
|applications|paid |applications|paid
|£ |£
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Antrim |7 |62,681.75 |670 |610,590.73
Armagh |7 |88,088.92 |249 |225,733.59
Down |66 |661,110.32 |1,039 |1,095,369.67
Fermanagh |- |- |2 |1,136.02
Londonderry |32 |285,703.41 |658 |638,822.28
Tyrone |7 |46,910.24 |334 |295,806.12
|------- |------- |------- |-------
Total |119 |1,144,494.64|2,952 |2,867,458.41
Special Schools
Mr. Beggs : To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many children currently attend special schools in Northern Ireland ; what is the estimated cost during the school year 1993-94 of providing a mid-day meal for pupils in special schools in Northern Ireland ; and what is the estimated saving to the Department of Education (Northern Ireland) arising from the decision to introduce a charge for school meals in special schools during the 1994-95, 1995-96 and 1996-97 school years from September 1994.
Mr. Ancram : The number of children attending special schools in Northern Ireland is 4,392.
Cost estimates are not available on a school year basis, but the estimated cost during the financial year 1993-94 of providing a mid-day meal for pupils in special schools in Northern Ireland was £701,000.
The estimated savings arising from the decision to charge for school meals from September 1994 in the financial years 1994-95, 1995-96 and 1996-97 are as follows :
|£
------------------------
1994-95 |65,000
1995-96 |180,000
1996-97 |275,000
Police, Castlereagh
Mr. John D. Taylor : To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what is the population of the borough of Castlereagh ; how many community police officers operate within the borough ; and if he will make a statement on the adequacy of policing within the borough.
Sir John Wheeler : At the time of the last census in 1991, the population of the borough of Castlereagh was 60,799.
The deployment of police officers is an operational responsibility of the Chief Constable, but I understand that three sergeants and 28 constables are dedicated to "community police officer" duty in the Castlereagh area. However, all officers are encouraged to adopt a community role at all times.
The Chief Constable takes into account both operational requirements and available resources in the deployment of police officers.
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Public Consultation
Mr. Kirkwood : To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland in what circumstances it is his Department's practice, when issuing a public consultation document, to inform those consulted that their responses will be made public unless they explicitly ask for them to be kept confidential ; and if he will arrange for his Department to do so in all cases in future.
Sir John Wheeler : If it is the intention of the Northern Ireland Office or of any of the Northern Ireland Departments to make responses to a consultation document publicly available, those consulted are informed that their responses will be made public unless the writer explicitly asks for them to be kept confidential. The code of practice on Government information commits Government Departments to publishing relevant facts and analysis underlying major policy proposals and decisions and this will include the details of consultation responses. The code does not require provision of the responses themselves, although this will often be the most straightforward way of providing the information.
Housing Association Ombudsman
Dr. Wright : To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what progress has been made in appointing an ombudsman for housing association tenants in both Northern Ireland and Wales.
Mr. Tim Smith : It is intended to appoint an ombudsman for tenants of registered housing associations in Northern Ireland by the end of the year. This is in line with the commitment contained in "The Citizen's Charter Second Report 1994". The position in Wales is a matter for the Secretary of State for Wales.
NATIONAL HERITAGE
Consultants
Mrs. Dunwoody : To ask the Secretary of State for National Heritage if he will list for each of the last five years the cost to public funds of consultancy work provided by (a) KPMG Peat Marwick, (b) Touche Ross, (c) Price Waterhouse, (d) Ernst and Young, (e) CSL, (f) Prime, (g) Basis, (h) Theodore Goddard, (i) Dibb Lupton Broomhead, (j) Capita and (k) Shreeveport to his Department ; and if he will list any other firms which have provided consultancy work and the costs to public funds for each of the last five years.
Mr. Sproat : Since it was established in April 1992, my Department and its two agencies awarded contracts as follows :
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(a) KPMG--seven contracts valued at approximately £186,000. (b) Touche Ross--two contracts valued at approximately £210,000. (c) Price Waterhouse--three contracts valued at approximately £221, 000.(d) Ernst and Young--four contracts valued at approximately £162, 000.
(e) CSL--nil.
(f) Prime--nil.
(g) Basis--nil.
(h) Theodore Goddard--nil.
(i) Dibb Lupton Broomhead--nil.
(j) Capita Management Consultancy--one contract valued at approximately £34,000.
(k) Shreeveport--nil.
Contracts valued at approximately £6 million have been awarded to the following 86 organisations :
Accord Group--TYZACK
ADAS
AIBS
Ajax Health and Safety
Alan Rhodes Associates
Alter Ego
Baker, Wilkins and Smith
BDM Limited
Bedford Timber Preservation
BMRB International
Brenda White Associates
Capita Management Consultancy Ltd.
Cluttons
Communication by Design Ltd.
Coopers and Lybrand
Crane Davies Limited
Cumbria Tourist Board
David Jacques
David Greaves
Derek Etherington
Donald Piggot
Drivas Jonas
Engineering Surveys Ltd.
Ernst and Young
Feilden and Mawson
Fitch
Food Services Associates (Henley) Ltd.
GAH Limited
Halcrow Fox
Heart of England Tourist Board
HH&S Ltd.
Humberts Leisure Ltd.
Institute of Manpower Studies
J. M. Consulting Ltd.
John Sumsion
John Herbert Partnership
John Barnes
Kennedy and Donkin
Korn Ferry International
KPMG
Land Use Consultants
Lawrence Graham
Library and Information Co-operation Council
Light Projects
Lowe Bell Communications
Mason
Mercer Management Consultants
MEW Research
Moon Communications
National Economic Research Associators
Naylor Conservation
North West Tourist Board
Northamptonshire Archaeological Unit
Numbers Market Research Limited
P. Flaxman
PA Consultancy
Paper White Design Consultants
PE International
Peter Morley Associates Ltd.
Positive Solutions
Price Waterhouse
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