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Border Markers (Discussions)

Mr. John D. Taylor: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland if he intends to enter into discussions with the Irish Government with a view to the authorities

24 Jul 1996 : Column: 471

in the Republic of Ireland marking clearly on every cross-border road where British territory ends and Irish territory begins. [39671]

Sir John Wheeler: The Government will consider raising the issue via the intergovernmental conference arrangements, but essentially the way in which roads are marked in the Republic of Ireland is a matter for the Irish Government.

Car Park Charges

Mr. John D. Taylor: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what has been the average increase in car park charges in Department of Environment car parks in 1996; and what was the increase in car parks in Newtownards. [39655]

Mr. Moss: Responsibility for this matter has been delegated to the Roads Service under its chief executive, Mr. W. J. McCoubrey. I have asked him to arrange for a reply to be given.

Letter from W. J. McCoubrey to Mr. John D. Taylor, dated 23 July 1996:

The Secretary of State for Northern Ireland has asked me to reply to your question about car park charges in Department of Environment car parks.
The average increase in car parking charges across Northern Ireland is 30%. The average increase in Newtownards is approximately 39%.

Civilian Disturbances (Deaths)

Mr. John D. Taylor: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many persons in (a) Northern Ireland, (b) Great Britain and (c) the Republic of Ireland have been killed by (i) loyalist terrorists, (ii) republican terrorists, (iii) the police and (iv) the Army since 1968 in civil disturbances in Northern Ireland; and how many in (i) to (iv) are assessed to have been (1) Protestant and (2) Roman Catholic. [39591]

Sir John Wheeler: I will write to the right hon. Gentleman.

Ulsterbus (Overcrowding)

Mr. John D. Taylor: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what measures are in place to prevent overcrowding of buses operated by Ulsterbus. [39595]

Mr. Moss: Each bus is certified as to the number of seats and the level of standing by the public service vehicle authorities and the company adheres to these regulations. Enforcement of the regulations is carried out by the bus driver. Periodic checks, involving a physical count of passengers, are carried out by inspectors. The maximum carrying capacity is displayed on each bus.

Business Development Service

Mr. John Marshall: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what progress has been made in establishing the business development service of the

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Department of Finance and Personnel as a next steps agency. [39935]

Sir John Wheeler: The business development service of the Department of Finance and Personnel will be established as an executive agency on 1 October 1996. It will continue to be known as the business development service.

I have set a number of key performances targets for the agency to achieve by April 1997, as follows:

at least 80 per cent. of customers to be satisfied with the services that they have received;
at least 80 per cent. of customers to be satisfied with the way in which services were assessed and provided;
an efficiency saving of 5 per cent. to be achieved in running costs over 1995-96 along with an improvement of 4 per cent. in unit costs across all services; and
the agency to be positioned to recover the costs of its services of Telecommunications, Information Systems Services, Information Systems Personnel and Training, Thinklink, the Human Resource Management System, Forms Design and the Central Print Unit commencing on 1 April 1997, and to continue to develop mechanisms for charging for all other services.

Copies of the framework document which sets out the terms within which the agency will operate will be placed in the Library prior to the agency's launch along with its first corporate and business plan.

Parades and Marches

Mr. John Marshall: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland when he will publish the terms of reference for the proposed review of parades and marches in Northern Ireland. [39936]

Sir Patrick Mayhew: The review of parades and marches in Northern Ireland which I announced in the House on 15 July will have the following terms of reference:

"To review, in the light of evidence received from any interested party and having regard to the particular experience of 1996, the current arrangements for handling public processions and open-air public meetings and associated public order issues in Northern Ireland, including
the adequacy of the current legal provisions, and in particular the adequacy of the statutory criteria used in making decisions on public processions and open-air public meetings
the powers and responsibilities of the Secretary of State, police and others
the possible need for new machinery, both formal and informal, to play a part in determining whether and how certain public processions and open-air public meetings should take place
the possible role for and composition of Codes of Practice for organisers of and participants in public processions and open-air public meetings
and to make recommendations by the end of January 1997."

The review will begin as soon as possible. I hope to announce the names of those conducting the review shortly.

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Health and Safety Division

Mr. John Marshall: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland if the prior options study of the health and safety division of the Department of Economic Development has been completed; and what was the outcome. [39937]

Mr. Moss: This study, which was undertaken by independent consultants, has been completed and Ministers have concluded that a new executive non-departmental public body, operating along next steps lines, should be established to carry out the functions presently exercisable by both the division and the existing Health and Safety Agency in Northern Ireland.

An Order in Council will be required to implement the recommendations and the timetable will therefore be governed by progress in the making of that order.

Public Order (Review)

Mr. Maginnis: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what plans he has to review the handling of public order situations and the use of plastic baton rounds in Northern Ireland. [40013]

Sir Patrick Mayhew: Her Majesty's Inspector of Constabulary, as part of this year's formal inspection process, will conduct a review of the RUC's procedures and training for handling public order situations including those relating to the use of plastic baton rounds. That review will take account of the disorders associated with recent marches, including the need to ensure adequate protection of RUC officers faced with determined assaults and petrol bombs. HMI's inspection report will be publicly available later this year.

Pre-school Voucher Scheme

Mr. Beggs: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what plans he has to have a pilot scheme in Northern Ireland to introduce the voucher system for pre-school education; and if he will make a statement. [40095]

Mr. Ancram: I shall write to the hon. Gentleman.

Licences

Mr. Steen: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland if he will list the licences currently issued by his Department, indicating their function and the annual administrative costs for each. [37816]

Sir John Wheeler [holding answer 19 July 1996]: The information requested has been placed in the Library. Other than where indicated, to provide the administrative costs of the licences would incur disproportionate cost.

Ulster Hospital (Waiting Times)

Mr. Robert McCartney: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many people have been waiting more than two years for initial appointments with consultants at the Ulster hospital; in what specialties; and what is the longest waiting time currently outstanding. [36663]

Mr. Moss [holding answer 22 July 1996]: Information is not held centrally for waiting times at individual hospitals. The figure given shows the total for the Ulster

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North Down and Ards health and social services trust of out-patients who are waiting 24 months and over for their first out-patient appointment at the end of March 1996:

Plastic Surgery--1

Information held centrally relates only to those people waiting 24 months and over. The longest waiting time currently outstanding is not therefore readily available.

Small Businesses

Mr. David Shaw: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland if he will make a statement on the impact of (a) his policies and (b) the work of his Department in helping small businesses in the past 12 months as against the previous 12 months; and if he will publish the performance indicators by which his Department monitors the impact and the statistical results of such monitoring. [39143]

Mr. Ancram [holding answer 22 July 1996]: Assistance towards small firms in Northern Ireland is delivered for the Department of Economic Development by its agency the local enterprise development unit--LEDU.

LEDU's strategy forms an integral part of the Government's approach to encourage competitiveness and growth among small businesses and I am extremely encouraged that LEDU continues to build upon its excellent performance over past years. The recent study by the Northern Ireland Economic Research Council on LEDU's impact on small firm performance in Northern Ireland from 1989 to 1994, concluded that the agency is making a considerable impact on the small business population, with a 54 per cent. employment increase amongst LEDU-assisted firms over the period. In addition, turnover amongst LEDU "growth" clients increased by 40 per cent. in real terms and external sales by these companies increased by 63 per cent.

LEDU launched its new corporate plan for the period 1995 to 1998 on 29 June 1995 and it includes a revised range of performance indicators, the key ones being:

Performance indicators	1995-96 Targets	1995-96 Actual
Contracts with growth companies	150	218
Contracts with established companies	200	228
Companies participating in export development programmes	12	12
Companies participating in market awareness programmes	120	67
Startups with export potential	90	127

LEDU's end of year results for 1995-96 will be announced in September with the publication of its annual report. These will include the NIERC survey results for 1995-96.

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