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New House Completions (Belfast)

Mr. Robert McCartney: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many new house completions there have been in each of the last six years (a) in the Belfast city council area, (b) in the greater Belfast urban area excluding the city council area, (c) in east Belfast excluding south-east Belfast, within the city council area and (d) in the greater east Belfast excluding the city council part of east Belfast; and if he will set out the boundaries used for these statistics. [12177]

Mr. Moss: Information is not available in the exact form requested by the hon. Member. It may, however, be possible to provide available information in a form which is useful to the hon. Member and I will write to him accordingly.

Murders

Rev. Martin Smyth: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland if he will list for each year since 1968 the number of murders recorded in Northern Ireland which have been cleared up and how many remain under investigation; how many people have been convicted in connection with these murders; how many have been convicted of murder and how many convicted of a lesser offence; and how many convicted of murder have subsequently been released. [12338]

Sir John Wheeler: This information is not available in the form requested and to obtain it would incur disproportionate cost.

The Chief Constable's annual reports provide details of offences--including murder--the number cleared and persons proceeded against and convicted. The reports from 1970 are held in the House of Commons Library.

Power Supply (Newry and Mourne)

Mr. Mallon: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland if he will make a statement on each incident which resulted in a power supply failure, in the Newry and Mourne district in each of the past 10 years, indicating

28 Jan 1997 : Column: 174

the length of time power was off, the estimated number of houses involved, the electoral wards affected and the nature of the fault. [11689]

Mr. Ancram [holding answer 24 January 1997]: I am informed by Northern Ireland Electricity plc that the detailed information requested is not readily available. However NIE is required under regulation 35 of the Electricity Supply Regulations (Northern Ireland) 1991, which came into effect on 3 February 1992, to notify the Department of Economic Development of major failures of supply. The following failures in the Newry and Mourne district have been notified under regulation 35:

DateNumber of customers affectedDurationChange of failure
HoursMinutes
30 March 19935,300250Gale damage
10 June 19934,200143Conductor fault
12 September3,900155Overhead line fault
16 October 19935,300205Third party damage to conductor
6 February 19944,355127Gale damage
17 August 199425,000008Inadvertent trip during protection testing
1 June 199525,900310Conductor fault
9 April 199611,000020Fault following malicious damage

I understand that NIE is currently engaged in a major long-term capital investment programme in the Newry and Mourne district with the aim of improving the security and quality of electricity supply in the area.

Departmental Publications

Ms Ruddock: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland if he will list the (a) White Papers, (b) Green Papers, (c) consultation papers, (d) draft regulations and (e) circulars, for which his Department has been responsible issued in 1996 which his Department assesses could give rise, (i) directly and (ii) indirectly to significant environmental effects. [12706]

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Mr. Moss [holding answer 27 January 1997]: The information is not available in the specific form requested but papers, draft regulations and circulars issued by the Northern Ireland Departments and the Northern Ireland Office in 1996 which could give rise to significant environmental effects are as follows:




    Planning Policy Statement Retailing and Town Centres
    Planning Policy Statement Industrial Land
    Towards and Beyond the Millennium
    Belfast Urban Area Plan (Alteration No. 2)
    Carrickfergus Area Plan 1995-2011 Preliminary Proposals
    Lisburn Area Plan Preliminary Proposals
    Planning Policy Statement Planning and Roads Considerations
    Derry Area Plan Draft Plan
    North East Area Plan
    Belfast Urban Area Plan 2001 (Amendment No. 2)
    Carrickfergus Area Plan 1995-2011--Draft Plan
    Draft Planning (Control of Advertisements) (Amendment) Regulations
    Guidance Notes for Listed Building Owners and Their Agents
    Access to the Northern Ireland Countryside
    Wildlife (Northern Ireland) Order 1985--Review of Schedules
    Building Regulations requirement for the conservation of the fuel and power
    Northern Ireland Organic Aid Scheme
    (d) Draft regulations
    The Litter (Statutory Undertakers) (Designation of Relevant Land) Order (Northern Ireland) 1966
    The Air Quality Standards (Amendment) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 1966
    The Protection of Water against Agricultural Nitrate Pollution Regulations (Northern Ireland) 1966
    The Genetically Modified Organisms (Risk Assessment) (Records and Exemptions) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 1966
    The Control of Asbestos in Water (Amendment) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 1966
    The Surface Waters (Abstraction for Drinking Water) (Classification) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 1966
    Planning (Use Classes) (Amendment) Order (Northern Ireland) 1966
    Planning (General Development) (Amendment) Order (Northern Ireland) 1966
    Countryside Access Regulations (Northern Ireland) 1996
    (e) Circulars

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    Environmental newsletter issued to businesses in Northern Ireland
    Waste Exchange Bureau circular issued to businesses in Northern Ireland
    Home Energy Conservation Act 1995 guidance issued to the Northern Ireland Housing Executive.

Extradition

Mr. Robert McCartney: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland if he will make representations to the Irish Government to repeal Irish extradition legislation preventing outward extradition unless bilateral arrangements exist; and if he will make a statement. [12449]

Mr. Kirkhope: I have been asked to reply.

The provision in question relates to the extradition by Ireland of its own nationals. It is the policy of the United Kingdom not to refuse extradition on the ground of nationality, and it continues to urge other Governments to re-examine their policy and legislation if it prohibits the extradition of their own nationals. The 1996 European Union extradition convention requires of all member states that they examine their domestic legislation on the question of extradition of own nationals during the ratification process.

SCOTLAND

Food Safety

Mr. Nigel Griffiths: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland how many incidents of food poisoning have been investigated by food enforcement authorities in each year since 1993. [11327]

Mr. Raymond S. Robertson: This information is not held centrally. Since the beginning of 1996, the Scottish centre for infection and environmental health has collated and published data relating to outbreaks of infectious intestinal disease which includes outbreaks due to food poisoning although these are not shown separately.

The SCIEH weekly reports which contain information relating to the first three quarters are: 12 April 1996 (volume 30 No. 96/15), 26 July 1996 (volume 30 No. 96/30) and 4 October 1996 (volume 96/40).

Inward Investment (Glasgow)

Mr. David Marshall: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland if he will list each overseas company, by sector, which has located business in Glasgow in each of the last five years and the total number of jobs created in each category as a result. [11864]

Mr. Kynoch: All our dealings with inward investors are undertaken on a commercially confidential basis and it would not therefore be appropriate to publish details of individual projects except in cases where details of the project have been announced by the company itself.

The following table contains details of the inward investment projects attracted to Glasgow during the last five years where the company in question is overseas-owned and where the project has been the subject of a public announcement.

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Date of announcementCompanyUltimate ownershipPlanned new jobsSector
November 1992Depenova Development ABSweden20Healthcare
August 1994Atlantic Information SystemsIceland25Software
June 1995MIC Textiles UK Ltd.Turkey30Textiles
May 1996Mabbett and Associates IncUnited States12Environmental services
December 1996Polaroid (U)K Ltd.United States150Shared service centre

The job figures are based on information provided by the companies concerned at the time of the investment decision and take no account of subsequent developments.


In addition, there were a further 14 projects by overseas-owned companies which were not publicly announced. These projects involved the planned creation of over 700 new jobs and the safeguarding of nearly 900 existing jobs.

There has of course also been a significant level of inward investment in Glasgow by companies based in other parts of the United Kingdom. TSB bank, BT and Abbey National, for example, have all announced the establishment of major new call centres in the city.

The figures for total inward investment in Glasgow--both by overseas-owned and UK-owned companies--show that, over the past five years, the city has attracted nearly 50 projects involving the planned creation or safeguarding of over 5,000 jobs.


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