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Patten Report
16. Mr. McGrady: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what assessment he has made of the Patten report on policing; and when he plans to introduce legislation to give effect to its proposals. [103428]
Mr. Ingram: On 9 September 1999, when the Patten Commission issued its report, the Government immediately announced that it accepted the findings in principle. At the same time, we launched a consultation process on the report, as we were required to do under the terms of the Good Friday Agreement. Consultation formally ended on 30 November.
Restorative Justice
20. Mr. Dawson: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland if he will make a statement on the development of restorative justice schemes. [103432]
Mr. Ingram: I refer my hon. Friend to the reply I gave earlier to my hon. Friend the Member for Colne Valley (Kali Mountford).
Royal Ulster Constabulary
23. Helen Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland if he will make a statement on the international role of the RUC. [103435]
Mr. Ingram:
In accordance with the provisions of Section 8 of the Police (Northern Ireland) Act 1998, the Royal Ulster Constabulary have seven officers serving with the United Nations International Police Task Force in Bosnia where they are monitoring the performance of the Bosnian police service. Sixty RUC officers are also with the United Nations Mission in Kosovo, where they are undertaking an executive policing role pending a new Kosovan police service being trained and ready to take over law enforcement there.
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26. Mr. Thompson:
To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many members of the RUC are involved in peacekeeping duties in Bosnia and Kosovo; and if he will make a statement. [103438]
Mr. Ingram:
I refer the hon. Gentleman to the reply given to my hon. Friend the Member for Norwich, North (Dr. Gibson) on 24 November 1999, Official Report, column 159.
25. Mr. Bill O'Brien:
To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what new initiatives are being implemented to support the victims of the troubles in Northern Ireland. [103437]
Mr. Ingram:
I have announced significant new funding initiatives to support victims of the Troubles, including £3 million core funding for groups which help and support victims and an extra £1 million for the Northern Ireland Memorial Fund. A Newsletter outlining progress has been placed in the House of Commons Library.
28. Mr. William Ross:
To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many weapons held by terrorist organisations in Northern Ireland have been surrendered since 1 December. [103440]
Mr. Mandelson:
No weapons held by terrorist organisations in Northern Ireland have been surrendered during the period in question. The International Independent Commission on Decommissioning continues to hold discussions with authorised representatives of paramilitary organisations on the modalities of decommissioning and has indicated its intention to publish by the end of this month.
29. Liz Blackman:
To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what progress he is making on tackling violent crime in Northern Ireland. [103442]
Mr. Ingram:
Provisional figures on violent crime for the period April to October 1999 and the final comparable figures for the same period in 1998 show some positive trends. Although the number of offences recorded has increased by 8.7 per cent., the clearance rate is disproportionately higher with a 28.4 per cent. improvement. As a result, clearance rates for violent crime compare favourably (58.6 per cent.) with the previous year (49.7 per cent.). It should be noted that these figures are not comparable with the figures in the last report of the Chief Constable which were produced under the old Home Office counting rules.
Mrs. Ann Cryer:
To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many (a) men and (b) women in each of the standard age groups were employed in his Department in (i) 1979 and (ii) 1999. [104023]
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| Age | Female | Male | Total |
|---|---|---|---|
| 16-20 | 14 | 3 | 17 |
| 21-25 | 77 | 58 | 135 |
| 26-30 | 185 | 156 | 341 |
| 31-35 | 266 | 337 | 603 |
| 36-40 | 207 | 509 | 716 |
| 41-45 | 172 | 580 | 752 |
| 46-50 | 94 | 629 | 723 |
| 51-55 | 114 | 479 | 593 |
| 56-60 | 53 | 168 | 221 |
| 60-65 | 25 | 13 | 38 |
| Total | 1,207 | 2,932 | 4,139 |
Note:
Figures include Northern Ireland Office and Northern Ireland Prison Service staff.
Unfortunately, it is not possible to provide comparable figures for 1979. For the smaller Home Civil Service Group of the NIO, the annual Civil Service Statistics publication provides a departmental breakdown of staff by gender for both years and Service-wide information by age.
INTERNATIONAL DEVELOPMENT
Human Rights
Mr. Cox: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what discussions she has had with Commonwealth countries as to their human rights record in the last three years; and if she will list the countries and the dates such discussions took place. [104050]
Clare Short: I refer my hon. Friend to the reply I gave to him on 8 February 1999, Official Report, column 34W.
Landmines
Mr. Cox: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development if she will list the countries where her Department is helping in the clearance of landmines. [104047]
Clare Short: My Department is currently funding mine clearance projects in Afghanistan, Cambodia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Jordan, Iraq, Laos, Mozambique, Nicaragua and Kosovo.
Conservation Projects
Mr. Andrew George: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what assessment she has made of the impact of conservation projects, which have been (a) funded and (b) part funded by her Department, upon the indigenous peoples of Africa. [104184]
Clare Short: My Department provides a Project Completion Report for all our major projects. The reports provide an indication of project success, early impacts, the expected longer term impact, including impact on local people.
We have also recently completed a substantial global evaluation of British bilateral and joint-funded project support for environmental improvement and protection. Overall, nearly two thirds of these projects achieved
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their objectives successfully. A key finding was that the protection and better management of the environment is critical to the achievement of the International Development Targets. We are currently preparing a policy paper which addresses the contribution of environmental protection to the overall aim of poverty elimination.
Mr. Andrew George:
To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what guidelines her Department has issued to (a) assess the needs and (b) protect the rights of indigenous peoples who (i) are likely to be and (ii) have been affected by conservation projects (1) funded and (2) part funded by her Department. [104185]
Clare Short:
Along with other member states, we are party to a resolution of the Development Council of the European Union on "Indigenous peoples within the framework of the development co-operation of the Community and Member States". This was passed by the Development Council in November 1998, having been helped through the negotiation process under our own Presidency of the EU in the first half of that year. The resolution recognises the important role played by indigenous people in the management of natural resources and the maintenance of biodiversity. It recognises their rights to choose their own development paths and to have a direct voice in development programmes which affect their way of life. We actively uphold these principles in our all-bilateral work, and in the work we do in collaboration with others.
Spending Revisions
Mr. Rowlands: To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security, pursuant to his answer to the hon. Member for Havant (Mr. Willetts) of 13 December 1999, Official Report, column 40W, on spending revisions, if he will estimate the number of recipients of each of the allowances and benefits listed in the table (a) in Wales and (b) in Merthyr Tydfil (i) currently and (ii) in 2000-01 and 2001-02. [103372]
Mr. Darling: The information is not available in the format requested. Such information as is available is as follows.
| Wales | Merthyr Tydfil | |
|---|---|---|
| Incapacity Benefit | 145.3 | 6.0 |
| Severe Disablement Allowance | 25.2 | 0.5 |
| Attendance Allowance | 94.8 | 2.2 |
| Disability Living Allowance | 172.4 | 5.9 |
Note:
Forecasts of numbers of claimants for each social security benefit by country and/or local authority area is not available.
Sources:
1. The figures for Incapacity Benefit and Severe Disablement Allowance are taken from a 5 per cent. scan of the benefit computer system in Great Britain at 31 May 1999 and are subject to a rating factor to account for missing postcodes.
2. The figures for Attendance Allowance and Disability Living Allowance are taken from 100 per cent. data at 31 May 1999.
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