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Police Federation for Northern Ireland
Mr. McNamara: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what the membership is (a) in total and (b) broken down by rank of the Police Federation for Northern Ireland; what subscription is paid by members; and what other sources and amounts of income are available to the Federation, including commission and payments arising from services and facilities for members from commercial and other activities. [131399]
Mr. Ingram: The Police Federation for Northern Ireland represents all police officers below the rank of Superintendent. At 31 March 2000, the total numbers in these ranks was 12,061 broken down as follows.
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| Total numbers | |
|---|---|
| Chief Inspector | 170 |
| Inspector | 498 |
| Sergeant | 1,390 |
| Constable | 6,163 |
| Full-Time Reserve | 2,688 |
| Part-Time Reserve | 1,152 |
The current voluntary subscription is £6.51 per month and 11,291 officers currently subscribe. Commercial companies pay no commission on the services they provide as this is used to lower costs for members. Advertising, for example in the Police Beat magazine, does not cover the production costs of the publication. There are no other sources of income.
Mr. McNamara: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what plans he has to review the regulations and role of the Police Federation for Northern Ireland to require independently audited direct postal ballots for the election of the chairman and other officers of the Central Committee; and if he will require the Police Federation to circulate periodically its members with audited financial accounts and statements of its affairs. [131396]
Mr. Ingram: There are no plans to carry out such a review. Officials of the Police Federation for Northern Ireland are elected in a similar manner to those of the Federations of England, Scotland and Wales. The elections are audited by the Chief Constable and the Federation plays no part in the election procedure.
The Police (Northern Ireland) Act 1998 sets out the financial constraints placed upon the Police Association and regulation 21 of the Police Association Regulations 1991 provides for the accounts to be properly audited and published in a suitable manner (at Conference) and forwarded to the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland. Full accounts are available for inspection by any member and are also forwarded to the Chief Constable and the Police Authority for Northern Ireland.
Mr. McNamara: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland when the next election of the Police Federation for Northern Ireland will be held; and what plans he has to reform its election procedure in line with existing statutory obligations for trade unions. [131397]
Mr. Ingram: Membership elections to the Police Federation for Northern Ireland Regional Boards are held triennially. The next scheduled elections are due in January 2001. The Federation is not a trade union and its activities are strictly controlled by regulation.
Mr. McNamara: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what the date of the last election for the Police Federation for Northern Ireland was; how many candidates there were broken down by (a) category and (b) area; how many were returned unopposed; how many contested elections have been held; and what was the (i) actual and (ii) percentage turnout in each case. [131398]
Mr. Ingram: The last membership elections of the Police Federation for Northern Ireland Regional Boards were held on 27 and 28 January 1998. It is not possible to provide the remainder of the information requested as ballot papers are destroyed after a period of three months.
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Royal Ulster Constabulary
Rev. Martin Smyth: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many full-time reserve or mobilised constables with 25 to 30 years service will be retired from the RUC without pension entitlement. [132951]
Mr. Ingram: It is impossible to say because this will depend on the RUC Chief Constable's assessment of when he decides he is in a position to phase out these groups of officers.
Ministerial Duty Roster (Summer)
Mr. John M. Taylor: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland if he will publish the daily ministerial duty roster for his Department during the summer adjournment. [133073]
Mr. Mandelson: It is not normal practice of Government to publish the daily ministerial duty roster. This Department will ensure that it has sufficient cover through the summer recess in line with the requirements of the Ministerial Code.
PRIME MINISTER
Websites
Mr. Maclennan: To ask the Prime Minister if he will list the expenditure incurred on (a) the setting up and (b) the operation of websites that are his responsibility, indicating the cases in which the expenditure has been above that budgeted; and if he will list for each website (i) the topics covered, (ii) the average number of hits in the last three months and (iii) the estimated expenditure on each website for each of the next three years. [122115]
The Prime Minister [holding answer 18 May 2000]: My office is directly responsible for only one internet site; the 10 Downing street internet site. The design of the site cost £55,000. A further £20,000 was needed to upgrade computer equipment within No. 10. The total start-up costs for the new site came to £75,000. Pay and running costs of £32,000 have been incurred to date during the current financial year.
The 10 Downing street internet site currently covers over 20 topics. It can be viewed at http://www.pm.gov.uk. The site has averaged 2½ million hits per week over the last three months. Estimated expenditure for the next three years is not available.
Government's Annual Reports
Mr. Evans: To ask the Prime Minister how much the difference was between sale receipts and production costs of the Government's Annual Reports in (a) 1997-98 and (b) 1998-99. [131045]
The Prime Minister [holding answer 17 July 2000]: Under the arrangements entered into by the previous administration when The Stationery Office was privatised, receipts from the sales of Government publications do not usually accrue to the Government but to The Stationery Office: that has been the case with all three editions of the report. Under the same arrangements, production costs are divided between the Government and The Stationery Office.
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Mr. Evans: To ask the Prime Minister what estimate he has made of the cost to public funds of the Government's Annual Report 1999-2000; how many copies were printed; and how many copies he intends to give away free of charge. [131047]
The Prime Minister [holding answer 17 July 2000]: The budget for the Government's Annual Report 1999-2000 was £165,000, compared to £180,000 in the previous year. 49,000 copies have been printed: 39,000 for retail sale and 10,000 for the Government (mainly for internal distribution without charge within the public sector).
Mr. Evans: To ask the Prime Minister what plans he has for a Government Annual Report next year. [131044]
The Prime Minister [holding answer 17 July 2000]: Decisions will be announced in due course.
Mr. Evans: To ask the Prime Minister how many civil servants were involved in preparing the Government's Annual Report. [131043]
The Prime Minister [holding answer 17 July 2000]: The report was prepared by one civil servant; other civil servants will have dealt with the Annual Report as part of their other duties.
Mr. Evans: To ask the Prime Minister what outlets received copies of the Annual Report in advance of publication; and what profits retailers make on the sale of each copy of the Annual Report. [131046]
The Prime Minister [holding answer 17 July 2000]: This year's Government Annual Report was published in the same way as almost all Government priced publications. Copies were distributed in advance to the retailers under an embargo preventing further distribution or sale before the report was made available to Parliament.
The retailers included The Stationery Office and other bookstores as usual, plus Tesco and W H Smith. Profits made by the retailers are a matter for them.
Mr. Redwood: To ask the Prime Minister when the section of the Docklands Light Railway shown on page 43 of the Government's Annual Report was brought into service. [131328]
The Prime Minister [holding answer 18 July 2000]: The Docklands Light Railway opened in a series of sections between 1987 and 1999.
Mr. Redwood: To ask the Prime Minister when the airline shown on page 43 of the Government's Annual Report commenced services at London City Airport. [131400]
The Prime Minister [holding answer 18 July 2000]: CityJet started flights from London City Airport to Dublin in January 1994. Since September 1999, the route has been operated by British European Airways using aircraft leased from CityJet.
Mr. Redwood: To ask the Prime Minister when the sections of the Manchester Metrolink pictured on pages 30 and 31 of the Government's Annual Report were brought into service. [131327]
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The Prime Minister: [holding answer 18 July 2000]: As page 31 of the Annual Report says,
- the new tram system operated by Metrolink was opened in 1992.
The specific section shown is the partially-completed extension to Eccles via Salford Quays brought into operation in December 1999.
The Prime Minister [holding answer 18 July 2000]: The statement is based on an assessment of likely benefits to UK consumers from the implementation of the cuts in support prices reached at the Berlin Council, of £1 billion
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a year or 2 per cent. of the retail food price index or 0.25 per cent. of the all items retail price index. The statement in the report contains a drafting error; it should read "annual" instead of "monthly" and "£65" instead of "£50".
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