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NORTHERN IRELAND
Ethnic Minorities
Mr. Vaz: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many and what percentage of employees, in each pay band, in the quangos for which her Department is responsible, are of (a) Asian origin and (b) Afro-Caribbean origin. [9578]
Mr. Paul Murphy: There is no statutory requirement on employers to maintain personnel records about the ethnic origin of their employees. Moreover, the recruitment and employment of staff in non-departmental bodies are generally operational matters for each individual body. The information requested is not therefore formally maintained by Northern Ireland Departments.
Mr. Vaz: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many and what percentage of employees in her private office are (a) of Asian origin and (b) of Afro-Caribbean origin. [9577]
Marjorie Mowlam: The figures for employees in my London private office are two of Asian origin 16.7 per cent., and one of Afro-Caribbean origin, 8.3 per cent. It is not possible to provide the information requested in respect of employees in my Belfast private office. Staff in Northern Ireland are not monitored in respect of ethnic origin, but the Department will be reviewing monitoring polices to take account of the Race Relations (Northern Ireland) Order 1997 when it is implemented.
Civil Servants
Mr. Vaz: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many civil servants there are in total on each pay band in her Department. [9579]
Mr. Paul Murphy: The Northern Ireland civil service is currently undertaking a review of its pay and grading structures and no decision has yet been taken on revised pay bands.
The table has been prepared on the basis of the current pay bands. The left-hand side shows the numbers of staff in the senior civil services in the pay band ranges set out in £5,000 bands, and, the right-hand side, the numbers of general service and analogous grades below the SCS in the relevant pay bands. The figures are full-time rates of basic salary, excluding allowances.
The figures for the general service include a number of specialist grades which, although analogous, have a higher maximum point on the particular pay range. For some specialist grades, this pay lead may result in the maximum point being up to 10 per cent. higher than that for the analogous general service grade.
24 Jul 1997 : Column: 736
| Grade (or analogous) | Pay range band (£) | Number of staff in grade |
|---|---|---|
| Senior Civil Service | 105,000+ | 1 |
| 100,000-105,000 | -- | |
| 95,000-99,999 | 1 | |
| 90,000-94,999 | -- | |
| 85,000-89,999 | 1 | |
| 80,000-84,999 | 3 | |
| 75,000-79,999 | 3 | |
| 70,000-74,999 | 4 | |
| 65,000-69,999 | 14 | |
| 60,000-64,999 | 19 | |
| 55,000-59,999 | 23 | |
| 50,000-54,999 | 75 | |
| 45,000-49,999 | 78 | |
| 40,000-44,999 | 28 | |
| Below 40,000 | 6 | |
| Total | 256 | |
| Unified Grade 6 | 29,844-50,261 | 268 |
| Unified Grade 7 | 26,154-40,909 | 867 |
| Deputy Principal | 19,611-30,371 | 1,501 |
| Staff Officer | 15,839-21,491 | 2,403 |
| Executive Officer Grade I | 13,324-18,639 | 3,399 |
| Executive Officer Grade II | 11,323-15,839 | 3,453 |
| Administrative Officer | 9,080-12,735 | 7,782 |
| Administrative Assistant | 7,166-10,735 | 5,049 |
| Total | 24,722 |
Marches (Leaked Document)
Mr. John D. Taylor: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland whether a restricted circulation copy of the leaked internal Government document on marches was made available to the Anglo-Irish secretariat; if the proposed inquiry into the leaked document will be authorised to investigate Irish civil servants and Irish Ministers associated with the Anglo-Irish secretariat in Northern Ireland; and if she will make a statement. [9188]
Marjorie Mowlam: The leaked internal document dealing with marches was copied to the British side of the Anglo-Irish secretariat. In common with established practice regarding protectively marked British material, it was not made available to the Irish side, so no question of involving Irish Ministers or civil servants arises.
Private finance Initiative
Mr. Beggs: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland (1) if she will make a statement on the implications of the PFI for public service employees; [9770]
- (2) if the Transfer of Undertakings (Protection of Employment) Regulations 1981 apply to staff involved in a project under the PFI. [9773]
Mr. Paul Murphy:
If the outcome of a PFI is the transfer to the private sector of an undertaking--within the meaning of the Transfer of Undertakings (Protection of Employment) Regulations 1981--TUPE will apply.
24 Jul 1997 : Column: 737
Mr. Beggs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what plans she has to establish a Northern Ireland consultative forum of employers, trade union and Department of Education, Northern Ireland representatives to examine the application of the PFI in the education sector in Northern Ireland; and if she will make a statement. [9800]
Mr. Worthington:
The Department of Education has already consulted widely about the application of PFI in the education sector, and will continue to do so. I have no plans to establish a consultative forum for this purpose.
Mr. McNamara:
To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what are the terms of reference of the joint Police Authority for Northern Ireland and RUC working group established to tackle the imbalance in the number of women and Catholics in the force; and when it is expected to report. [9921]
Mr. Ingram:
The first meeting of the joint RUC and Police Authority for Northern Ireland working group to address the under-representation of women, Roman Catholics and minority groups within the RUC has been set for late July. At this meeting, formal terms of reference and the time scale for completion of the work will form part of the discussion.
Mr. McNamara:
To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what assessment she has made of the recommendations contained in a report of the public hearings in Washington DC organised by the House International Relation Sub-Committee on Human Rights into the protection of human rights in Northern Ireland and if she will make a statement. [9926]
Mr. Paul Murphy:
I have not yet seen the report and the recommendations of the House International Relations Sub-Committee on Human Rights. When I have seen the report and studied the recommendations, I will write to my hon. Friend and place a copy of that letter in the Library.
Mr. Salter:
To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what key performance targets have been set for the Business Development Service in 1997-98. [10726]
Mr. Paul Murphy:
The Business Development Service is a next steps agency within the Department of Finance and Personnel. It provides business support services in the areas of telecommunications--voice and data--management services, training, information technology and systems services and other central business facilities to Government Departments, their executive agencies and the wider public sector in Northern Ireland, where best value for money is achieved by central provision of the service.
I have set the agency the following targets for 1997-98:
24 Jul 1997 : Column: 738
Copies of the agency's corporate and business plans for 1997-98 to 1998-2000 will be placed in the Library.
Mr. Salter:
To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what key performance targets have been set for the Water Service in 1997-98. [10727]
Marjorie Mowlam:
For 1997-98, the following key performance targets have been set for the Water Service:
at least 85 per cent. of customers to be satisfied with the service that they have received;
at least 85 per cent. of customers to be satisfied with the way in which services were provided to them;
an efficiency saving of 8 per cent. to be achieved in total running costs over the allocation for 1996-97; and
the Business Development Service to be positioned to recover from its customers the costs of all its services, commencing 1 April 1998.
1. To achieve 98.2 per cent. compliance with drinking water standards set in the Water Quality Regulations (Northern Ireland) 1994.
2. To achieve 67 per cent. compliance with the sewage treatment works discharge standards set by the Environment and Heritage Service.
3. To ensure that fewer than 0.8 per cent. of properties experience unplanned interruptions to water supplies lasting greater than 12 hours.
4. To issue substantive replies to 90 per cent. of written complaints within 15 working days of receipt.
5. To deliver water at a unit cost of 53p per cubic metre.
6. To treat sewage at a unit cost of 46p per cubic metre.
7. To maintain expenditure within cash limits and to approved budget plans.
8. To achieve efficiency gains of 3 per cent. on running costs expenditure.
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