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Mr. Baldry [holding answer 19 June 1995]: Most health projects funded under the aid programme include, as one of their aims, the promotion of better reproductive health through provision of voluntary family planning,
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safer motherhood, and sexually transmitted disease services. Given that such services are generally integrated with other aspects of primary health care, it is extraordinarily difficult to identify expenditure which could be classed as primary health care "excluding family planning provision". In the case of Bangladesh, a distinction was made for projects under way in the 1993 94 financial year, although with great difficulty. We have concluded that for our professional staff to undertake further estimates in other countries would consume unreasonable amounts of public servants' time, preventing them from designing new and high-quality primary health care projects.ATTORNEY-GENERAL
Crown Prosecution Service
33. Mr. Gerrard: To ask the Attorney-General what are the criteria used by the Crown Prosecution Service in determining whether a prosecution is in the public interest. [28739]
The Solicitor-General: The criteria are set out in the code for crown prosecutors, which states that a prosecution will usually take place in cases of any seriousness, unless there are public interest factors tending against prosecution which clearly outweigh those tending in favour.
Serious Fraud Office
34. Mr. Hawkins: To ask the Attorney-General what plans he has to extend the operations of the Serious Fraud Office. [28740]
The Attorney-General: The revised criteria for allocation of fraud work between the Crown Prosecution Service and the Serious Fraud Office recommended in the Davie report have now been adopted. They are likely to lead over time to a heavier case load for the Serious Fraud Office.
Private Lee Clegg
35. Sir Michael Neubert: To ask the Attorney-General what representations he has received in the last month about the case of Private Lee Clegg; and if he will make a statement. [28741]
The Attorney-General: The Law Officers have received no representations in the last month about the case of Private Clegg.
Charter Week
Mr. Morgan: To ask the Attorney-General what are the main events he is proposing for Charter Week; what is the total cost to public funds; and how many (a) civil servants and (b) other public officials will be playing a part.
The Attorney-General: The Crown Prosecution Service has contributed to the court service charter for court users. This is due to be published in July to coincide with the fourth anniversary of the citizens charter. The charter has been drawn up as part of officials' normal
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duties. It does not involve any additional staff resources or additional costs. No other special events are planned in my departments.NORTHERN IRELAND
South Eastern Education and Library Board
Mr. Worthington: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what shortcomings in the performance of the South Eastern education and library board were revealed by his review of educational administration. [29503]
Mr. Ancram: The proposals for change were based not on the shortcomings of particular education and library boards but on an assessment of the most appropriate administrative structure for education across Northern Ireland.
Mr. Worthington: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many representations he has received about the abolition of the present identity of the South Eastern education and library board; and how many were in favour. [29500]
Mr. Ancram: So far, I have received some 1,300 written responses to the "Proposals for Change" document. These relate to the full range of proposals in the document rather than simply to the proposed merger of Boards. Further written responses are still being received and I am continuing to meet deputations from interested groups. The responses are being analysed at present and I will write to the hon. Member when the analysis is complete.
Education Administration
Mr. Worthington: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland (1) what are the administrative staffing costs of the Department of Education in Northern Ireland; [29499]
(2) what personnel with costs, are included in "Proposals for Change" under the term, administrative staffing costs of the education and library boards. [29496]
Mr. Ancram: I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave the hon. member for Antrim, East (Mr. Beggs) on 5 May, Official Report , columns 334 -35.
Mr. Worthington: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what proportion of the funding for the education service as a whole the administrative staffing costs of the education and library boards form. [29497]
Mr. Ancram: In 1994 95, the administrative staffing costs of the education and library boards were 2 per cent. of the funding provided for education, including libraries and youth.
Mr. Worthington: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland which areas of staffing of the Department of Education in Northern Ireland will increase under his "Proposals for Change", and which will decrease; and by how much in each case. [29498]
Mr. Ancram: The functions of the Department of Education for Northern Ireland which would be affected
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by the proposals for change are set out in the document itself, a copy of which is in the Library.The effects on staffing will depend on final decisions still to be taken on the extent of any transfers of functions.
Privatisation
Mr. McNamara: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland if he will list those parts of his Department or departmental agencies which were privatised without an in-house bid; if he will indicate the expertise which was absent in his Department or departmental agencies which prevented an in-house bid taking place; which future parts of his Department or departmental agencies he intends to privatise; and which of them do not have the necessary in-house expertise to mount an in-house bid. [29426]
Sir John Wheeler: Functions within the Northern Ireland Office and Northern Ireland Departments which have been contracted out as a result of market testing are as follows:
Department of Education
This Department contracted out two functions: catering and security at Waterside house for which there were no in-house bids. In these cases, the catering staff did not express an interest in submitting a bid and Waterside house was a newly opened building; therefore, no security staff were previously employed. There are no current plans to contract-out any other functions.
Department of Health and Social Services
This Department contracted out the health and personal social services computer mainframe operations without an in-house bid as the Department judged that the private sector was clearly better equipped to deliver the specific service and had the capacity to invest in new technology. There are no current plans to contract out further functions.
NI Child Support Agency
The following services were contracted out without in-house bids:
Facilities Management
Typing
Telephonists
Receptionist
Cleaning
Security
Post Opening
Messengerial
Porterage
Handyman
Catering
Reprographic
Stationery Store
Off-Site File Store
The provision of these services arose when the agency was set up in April 1993 and there was no existing in-house capacity. There are no current plans to contract out further functions.
Department of the Environment
This Department contracted out the following services without an in-house bid:
Minor road surface dressing and general road maintenance work. Grounds maintenance at historic monuments and country parks Secretariats for the Council for Nature Conservation and the Countryside, the Historic Monuments Council and the Historic Buildings Council.
The operation of Castle Archdale caravan site.
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In-house bids in these cases were not prevented by lack of expertise.This Department has currently identified, subject to value for money considerations, the following activities for contracting out. various roads service provider activities
management of the Marina at Castle Archdale country park and the operation of the small railway at Peatlands country park; and research and analysis work associated with the preparation of area development plans and co- ordination of the Department's property certificate service.
Expertise is available to mount in-house bids.
Northern Ireland Office
This Department contracted out office cleaning, Government car hire and air travel contracts without an in-house bid as no NIO staff previously performed these tasks.
No parts of the remaining Departments and Agencies have been privatised without an in-house bid taking place. Any future contacting out will depend on the outcome of market testing. There are no plans to prevent in-house bids in any future tests.
Secondary Schools
Mr. Worthington : To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what is the per capita funding for each of the different types of secondary school in Northern Ireland. [29501]
Mr. Ancram: The average per capita costs based on the initial budget allocations in the 1994 95 financial year in the various types of secondary schools were as follows:
|£
----------------------------------------
Controlled Secondary |2,253
Maintained Secondary |2,231
Controlled Grammar |2,156
Voluntary Grammar |2,211
Grant Maintained Integrated |2,525
Environmentally Sensitive Areas
Mr. Welsh: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what percentage of the total land area of Northern Ireland was designated as environmentally sensitive; what financial provision his Department allocated to environmentally sensitive areas in each of the years 1993 94, 1994 95 and 1995 96; what percentage of the total land area of Northern Ireland will be designated as environmentally sensitive; and what financial provision his Department will allocate to environmentally sensitive areas in each of the years 1996 97 and 1997 98. [29325]
Mr. Ancram: Five areas in Northern Ireland, totalling 220,000 hectares have been designated as environmentally sensitive, representing 16.29 per cent. of the total land area. The financial provision for the years 1993 94, 1997 98 is set out in the table. There are no plans at present to designate any further areas. 1993 94: 750,000
1994 95: 700,000
1995 96: 2,800,000
1996 97: 5,100,000
1997 98: 5,139,000
Agricultural Grant
Mr. Martyn Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what is the mean, median and standard deviation for the length of time between receiving a claim and the payment of a claim for each agricultural grant handled by the Northern Ireland Office. [29453]
Mr. Ancram: The following statistics derive from an analysis of all claims paid under the main capital grant schemes in the period from 26 July 1994 to 16 June 1995.
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|Standard deviation
Scheme |Mean (Weeks) |Median (Weeks) |(Weeks)
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Agricultural Development Operational Programme Capital Grant Scheme |23.44 |21.57 |5.05
ADOP Farm Innovation Scheme |25.57 |23.00 |7.50
Farm and Conservation Grant Scheme-non plan |22.02 |19.07 |16.37
Farm and Conservation Grant Scheme-plan |24.97 |23.21 |12.70
Sub-Programme for Agriculture and Rural Development Capital Grant
Scheme |13.05 |11.28 |9.37
Note:
The information relates to all claims including those not properly substantiated when received. Delays in the issue of payments often arise
from the need to return a high proportion of claim forms to applicants for further validation.
Further Education Colleges
Mr. Worthington: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland if he will publish any consultation paper on the structure and role of the corporate bodies he is establishing for colleges of further education. [29502]
Mr. Ancram: No decisions have yet been made on the future arrangements for further education.
Housing Policy Review
Mr. Spellar: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland when he expects to publish the housing policy review. [29758]
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Mr. Moss: The housing policy review is in its final stages and a consultative paper is expected to be published during the summer. Following publication, a consultation period of some three months is envisaged.
Departmental Property
Mr. Spellar: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what is his Department's estimate of the backlog of maintenance on properties owned by his Department. [29760]
Mr. Moss: The Northern Ireland departments have estiamted their backlog of maintenance work to be in the region of £7.5 million in the current year. This does not take account of any work arising from the implementation
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of the recommendations of the report by Sir Reginald Doyle on the Stormont fire and fire safety in Crown buildings.Firearms
Mr. William Ross: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland if he will list the number of (a) firearms certificates held in Northern Ireland, (b) shotguns held on such certificates, (c) handguns held on such certificates, indicating how many are held by present or past members of the security forces, (d) .22 rimfire rifles held on such certificates, (e) sporting rifles held on such certificates of a calibre larger than .22 rimfire, (f) specialist target shooting rifles held on such certificates and (g) other rifles used for target shooting held on such firearms
certificates. [29659]
Sir John Wheeler: As at 1 June 1995, there were 88,089 current firearms certificates. The following firearms were held under them: Shotguns: 85,024
Pistols and Revolvers: 13,020
.22 Rimfire Rifles: 11,225
Greater than .22 calibre Sporting Rifles: 402
Specialist Target Shooting Rifles: 1,537
Other Rifles : 283
Notes:
Information on how many of these handguns are held by serving or former members of the RUC and armed forces could only be provided at disproportionate cost.
Includes miscellaneous target shooting rifles, other than .22 and .303 calibre.
Mr. William Ross: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland if he will list the number of terrorist-related incidents in which firearms were used, the number of other crimes in which firearms were used and the types of firearms used with particular reference to (a) handguns, (b) assault rifles, (c) sub-machine guns and (d) other rifle types and shotguns in each of the last five years for which figures are available. [29657]
Sir John Wheeler: The available information is given:
Shooting incidents where terrorist involvement has been established Year |Number of incidents ------------------------------------------------------------ 1990 |559 1991 |499 1992 |506 1993 |476 1994 |348
Armed robberies (including robberies where the
impression of a
firearm was given)
Year |Number of armed
|robberies
------------------------------------------------
1990 |492
1991 |607
1992 |739
1993 |643
1994 |555
Note:
The overwhelming majority of these robberies
were terrorist related.
Number of crimes recorded in which firearms (including replica
firearms) were used (1990-94 inclusive)
Type of firearm |1990 |1991 |1992 |1993 |1994
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Handgun |676 |757 |958 |847 |671
Shotgun |86 |67 |109 |60 |64
Rifle |86 |131 |121 |129 |72
Machine gun |22 |19 |20 |14 |41
Other not specified
firearm |120 |80 |25 |33 |54
Two or more firearms |50 |46 |60 |68 |22
Explosive device and
firearm(s) |8 |13 |13 |7 |8
Total number of crimes |1,048 |1,113 |1,306 |1,158 |932
Notes:
1. Explosive device includes bombs, drogue bombs and rocket launchers.
2. Recorded crime data are not collated so as to permit the extraction of non-terrorist crime, except at
disproportionate cost.
3. Crime records are not collated so as to allow the disaggregation of weapon categories to show the number of crimes
where assault rifles and other types of rifle have been used.
4. In a number of incidents, two or more firearms will have been used. In such cases the incident has been recorded
under one firearm category only.
Mr. William Ross: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many legally held firearms have been identified as having been used by those entitled to hold them in the commission of (a) terrorist-related crime and (b) other crimes in Northern Ireland in each of the last five years for which figures are readily available. [29658]
Sir John Wheeler: This information is not available in the form requested and could be obtained only at disproportionate cost.
Construction Industry
Mr. Spellar: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what percentage of GDP in Northern Ireland is accounted for by construction; and what information he has about the equivalent figure in the rest of the United Kingdom. [29759]
Mr. Moss: In 1993 construction accounted for 5.37 per cent. and 5.43 per cent. of GDP in Northern Ireland and the rest of the United Kingdom respectively.
Roads Service
Mr. Spellar: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland if he will make a statement regarding market testing of the Roads Service agency. [29757]
Mr. Moss: It is planned that the Department of the Environment's Roads Service will become a next steps agency on 1 April 1996. In common with other departmental agencies, it will be expected to move progressively towards becoming a purchaser rather than direct provider of executive services. In this context, the Roads Service agency will be looking to contract out strategically to the private sector many of its existing "provider" activities, subject to value for money considerations. This has resulted in the current suspension of market testing in the Roads Service.
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Private Lee Clegg
Mr. Peter Bottomley: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland when he expects to make a decision and announcement about the release of Private Lee Clegg. [29847]
Sir Patrick Mayhew: I am considering the advice of the Life Sentence Review Board and I have sought the views of the judiciary. I will notify the prisoner of the outcome of my decision as soon as possible.
Charter Week
Mr. Morgan: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what are the main events he is proposing for Charter Week; what is the total cost to public funds; and how many (a) civil servants and (b) other public officials will be playing a part. [30683]
Sir John Wheeler: The public service events planned in Northern Ireland to coincide with the fourth anniversary of the citizens charter are:
the publication of health and personal social services performance tables for 1994 95;
the launch of a charter standard statement for community services.
There will be no additional cost or staff resources required as a result of holding these events in July. The officials concerned will be working on the events as part of their normal duties.
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