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Child Support Agency

Mr. Robert McCartney: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, pursuant to her answer of 23 June, Official Report, column 404, if she will ensure that the Child Support Agency specifically sets out in every relevant letter to absent parents that part of the required periodic payment which relates to arrears. [7718]

Mr. Worthington: Responsibility for this subject has been delegated to the Northern Ireland Child Support Agency under its Chief Executive, Mr. Patrick Devlin and I have asked him to arrange for a response to be given. Letter from Mr. P. Devlin to Mr. Robert McCartney, dated 11 July 1997:

I am replying to your parliamentary question in which you asked the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland to ensure that the Child Support Agency specifically sets out in every relevant letter to absent parents that part of the required periodic payment which relates to arrears.

When a maintenance assessment is completed the absent parent is advised of the weekly amount which he is required to pay. He then receives a separate notification telling him of the method and frequency of payment. If any arrears are outstanding for the period between the effective date of the assessment and the date it is made (the initial payment period), he is also advised of this amount. He is asked either to pay this amount in full or to contact the agency to arrange an arrears agreement. If such an agreement is made the absent parent is again advised of the breakdown of his regular payment.
Should the maintenance assessment change the absent parent is again advised of the new total to be paid and how it is made up.
In those cases where an absent parent refuses to make an arrears agreement, or fails to keep to an agreement, he is warned that further action will be taken to recover the debt, including, where appropriate, the imposition of a deduction from earnings order. That notification shows the amount which he should have paid to date, the amount he has paid and the arrears. At that stage the amount to be included in a deduction from earnings order for arrears is not known so the notification does not include this information. The absent parent is advised to contact the agency to make an agreement and avoid the necessity of the order.
I hope you will see from this that the Agency does its best to keep absent parents fully informed. It is also open to any client to request a statement of account at any time.
I hope you find this information useful.

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Irish Garda (Firearms)

Mr. Robert McCartney: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what arrangements are made for armed Irish Garda to enter Northern Ireland without firearms licences; and to what extent these arrangements are reciprocal. [7716]

Mr. Ingram: The Chief Constable has advised me that any Garda officers entering Northern Ireland do not carry firearms. Any necessary protection is provided by the RUC and this is reciprocated for RUC officers entering the Republic of Ireland.

Sir David Fell

Mr. Robert McCartney: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what will be the total cost of the annual compensation payments made to Sir David Fell from his resignation on 1 October 1997 until his 60 birthday; and what are the grounds on which he is receiving compensation. [7720]

Mr. Murphy: With the approval of the former Secretary of State, Sir David was offered and accepted early retirement in February 1997, under the provisions of the Northern Ireland Civil Service Pay and Conditions of Service Code. The Code provides for flexible retirement on structural grounds where an officer's departure would assist in easing problems of succession planning. Under the scheme Sir David will receive an annual payment (know as an annual compensation payment) in lieu of pension until normal civil service retirement age.

The total cost of the annual payments is personal to Sir David, under the terms of the Data Protection Act 1984.

Anglo-Irish Secretariat

Mr. Robert McCartney: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland if she will list those receptions held or proposed to be held by the Anglo-Irish Secretariat at Maryfield in 1997. [7717]

Mr. Murphy: Two receptions have been held co-hosted this year by the Anglo-Irish Secretariat: on 18 March to mark St. Patrick's Day; and on 2 July on the occasion of an academic conference.

Government Purchasing Agency

Mr. Robert McCartney: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what assessment she has made of (a) the shortlisting decisions and (b) the criteria used in relation to the Grade 7 posts in the Government Purchasing Agency for which interviews were conducted in May. [7715]

Mr. Murphy: It is not usual for either myself or my Ministerial colleagues to become involved in Personnel or other Management issues in the Northern Ireland Civil Service. These are matters for individual Departments and Agencies. I have not therefore made an assessment of the

16 Jul 1997 : Column: 219

shortlisting decision or the criteria used in relation to the Grade 7 posts in the Government Purchasing Agency (GPA).

I am advised that this competition was arranged by the Department of Finance and Personnel. Shortlisting and subsequent interviews were undertaken on the basis of mandatory criteria as defined in the notice which invited applications for the competition.

Petrol Bombs

Mr. Wilshire: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland at how many locations in Northern Ireland petrol bombs were thrown at the RUC and the Army on 6 and 7 July. [7804]

Mr. Ingram [holding answer 14 July 1997]: The information is not available in the format requested, however, during the 24 hour period up to 6.00 am on 7 July 1997, there were 683 petrol bombing incidents in 22 Police Sub-divisions and in the following 24 hour period there were 753 incidents in 24 Sub-divisions. Each incident usually involves the throwing of more than one petrol bomb; therefore the number of petrol bombs thrown was substantially higher than the number of incidents.

Mr. Wilshire: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many petrol bombs were thrown at the RUC and the Army in Portadown on 6 July. [7803]

Mr. Ingram [holding answer 14 July 1997]: The information is not available in the format requested, however, from 1800 hours on 5 July to 0600 hours on 7 July 1997 there were ten petrol bombing incidents in Portadown. Each incident usually involves the throwing of more than one petrol bomb; therefore the number of petrol bombs thrown was substantially higher than the number of incidents.

SCOTLAND

Compulsory Competitive Tendering

Mr. Forth: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland if he will give for the review of compulsory competitive tendering in Scotland (a) the expected completion date and (b) the cost of conducting the review. [8243]

Mr. Chisholm: My right hon. Friend announced on 27 May and to the House on 2 June, Official Report, columns 67-68, that he was suspending Compulsory Competitive Tendering (CCT) for a further year in Scotland while the essential elements of the new Best Value arrangements in local government were being developed. Together with the Convention of Scottish Local Authorities, he established a Task Force to develop these. The Task force presented their draft first report to my right hon. Friend and COSLA on 4 July. By the autumn, councils will be required to assess themselves to see how far they meet these essential elements, if they wish to apply for further exemption from CCT. My right hon. Friend will then consider whether to grant further exemptions from CCT. Costs of the Task Force work have been met from The Scottish Office budget in the usual way.

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Private Finance Initiative

Mr. Forth: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland if he will give for the review of Private Finance Initiative health projects in Scotland (a) the expected completion date and (b) the cost of conducting the review. [8260]

Mr. Galbraith: My review of PFI health projects in Scotland was completed on 23 June. I refer the hon. Member to the reply given to the hon. Member, for Glasgow, Shettleston (Mr. Marshall) on 23 June.

The review was carried out by officials in The Scottish Office as part of their normal duties.

School Leavers (Illiteracy)

Mr. Davidson: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland if he will estimate the number of young people who have left school in each of the last five years and who now require remedial literacy or numeracy assistance, expressed as a total and a percentage of the cohort for each year. [7928]

Mr. Wilson: This information is not held centrally. However, in 1996 the Scottish Office participated in an International Adult Literacy Survey. Results of this study will be published in September and will include data on literacy levels of 16 to 24 year olds in Scotland.

Lockerbie

Mr. Dalyell: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland what assessment he has made of the role of the Office for Islamic propaganda in respect of its response to the Lockerbie bombing; and what inquiries he has instigated in respect of documents relating to their role. [7936]

Mr. McLeish [holding answer 11 July 1997]: The Government view with considerable distaste any statement which welcomes the murder of 270 innocent victims. While the prosecuting and investigating authorities in any criminal case will not comment on the investigative steps they take, the appropriate action is being taken to look into these matters.

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