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NORTHERN IRELAND
Decommissioning
Mr. Nicholas Winterton: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what assurances he can give that the stockpiles of IRA weapons and explosives have not been transferred into the possession of the Real IRA and Continuity IRA. [11399]
Jane Kennedy: I receive daily reports on the security situation from my security advisers and would be advised of any information that came to light indicating that IRA arms had been passed on to dissident republican groups.
The international arms inspectors, Martti Ahtisaari and Cyril Ramaphosa, had stated in their reports that the arms dumps they inspected had not been tampered with and remained secure. Subsequently we have had actual decommissioning of IRA weapons.
Mr. Nicholas Winterton: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland if he will make a statement about future acts of decommissioning; and by what date he expects the process of decommissioning to be completed. [11398]
Jane Kennedy: Future decommissioning events are a matter for the Independent International Commission on Decommissioning and the representatives of the various paramilitary organisations.
Decommissioning is only one part of the Good Friday Agreement of which we can now say that implementation of every aspect is underway. Full implementation of the Good Friday agreement in all its aspects is a task that will take some time to accomplish.
Mr. Nicholas Winterton: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland (1) what age and in what condition the illegally held weapons and explosives were which were decommissioned by the IRA; and if they can be quantified according to type; [11397]
- (2) what quantities of weapons and explosives have been decommissioned by the IRA (a) under the Good Friday Agreement and (b) under the decision on 23 October to engage in decommissioning; and by what means IRA weapons and explosives were decommissioned. [11396]
Jane Kennedy: The Independent International Commission on Decommissioning stated in their report that they have witnessed an event in which the IRA has put a quantity of arms completely beyond use. They confirm the material in question includes arms, ammunition and explosives.
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That also means that under paragraph 11 of the decommissioning scheme made in August 2001, the Commission has taken a record of the arms decommissioned and has verified the information on that record, although it is the Commission's judgment on this occasion, that such information must remain confidential.
The Government and all of the pro-Agreement parties have said throughout the process that the details of the actual process should be left to the Decommissioning Commission.
The Government accept the integrity of the Commission's judgment.
Mrs. Iris Robinson: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what assessment he has made of the percentage of the IRA's arsenal which has been put beyond use. [15272]
Jane Kennedy: The Independent International Commission on Decommissioning reported on 23 October that it had witnessed a quantity of IRA arms being put beyond use according to the terms of the decommissioning schemes and regulations. However, in the interest of furthering the process of putting all arms beyond use, the Commission declined to provide further details. Accordingly, it has not been possible to assess the percentage of the provisional IRA's weaponry involved.
The Commission's mandate under the terms of the Good Friday Agreement is to facilitate the decommissioning of all paramilitary arms. The Government have every confidence in General de Chastelain and his colleagues and respects their wishes on how best to proceed to fulfil their mandate.
WORK AND PENSIONS
DHSS Leaflets
Mr. Webb: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions if he will place in the Library copies of the DHSS leaflets NP32 and NP27 dating from 1983. [7573]
Mr. McCartney: Copies of the DHSS leaflets are not routinely held by the Department for Work and Pensions and any which were current in 1983 may have been discontinued or subsumed into other leaflets. However, we have obtained copies of ones which were current in 1983 and they have been placed in the Library.
Public Servants (Assaults)
Mrs. Curtis-Thomas: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many members of staff working in (a) benefit offices and (b) jobcentres were assaulted while at work in (i) 1999–2000 and (ii) 2000–01. [8610]
Hywel Williams: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many reported incidents of an aggressive nature against Benefits Agency workers there were in each of the past five years for (a) England, (b) Wales and (c) Scotland. [11115]
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Mr. Clappison: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions (1) how many attacks on Benefits Agency staff were recorded in each year since 1997; and how many successful prosecutions were brought against the perpetrators of such attacks; [14227]
- (2) how many assaults on Benefits Agency staff were (a) recorded last year and (b) recorded in each of the previous years since 1997. [11253]
Mr. Nicholas Brown: The information available is in the tables. The information requested on the number of successful prosecutions is not available.
The increase in the number of reported incidents in 2000 can be attributed to awareness raising activities with Benefits Agency staff about the importance of reporting incidents and to a poster issued by the PCS Union advising staff that all incidents of customer aggression should be reported.
| Total assaults | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Year | Physical assaults | Non-physical assaults | England | Scotland | Wales |
| 1997 | 100 | 3,426 | 2,959 | 278 | 289 |
| 1998 | 41 | 3,092 | 2,579 | 313 | 241 |
| 1999 | 98 | 2,357 | 2,071 | 186 | 198 |
| 2000 | 163 | 5,144 | 4,467 | 398 | 442 |
| 2001(1) | 92 | 3,567 | 2,990 | 283 | 386 |
| 1999(4) | 2000 | 2001(1) | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Number of staff reporting a physical assault | 166 | 232 | 166 |
| Number of staff reporting a non-physical assault | 2,530 | 4,146 | 2,850 |
| Total number of reports received(2) | 2,696 | 4,378 | 3,016 |
| Total number of incidents occurring(3) | 2,481 | 4,044 | 2,729 |
(1) Information to date. These figures are based on the reports so far received; other incidents may have occurred but may not yet have been reported.
(2) This figure represents the number of individual reports completed.
(3) This figure relates to the number of individual incidents that have occurred. This number is lower than the number of reports as several individuals can report the same incident if they feel that they have been a victim of it.
(4) The figures shown for the Employment Service for 1999 record the number of incidents that occurred between April and December. Prior to this date the information was collated on a separate database which did not provide data in compatible categories. During the period January to March 1999, 1,115 reports were filed and 1,106 incidents occurred but these figures include 'other' incidents between clients where no staff were involved.
New Deal
Mr. Clappison: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what proportion of the long-term unemployed in the pilot areas for the new deal for the long-term unemployed found (a) jobs and (b) sustained jobs in (i) each of the three years prior to the inception of the new deal pilots and (ii) in each year since their inception. [9334]
Mr. Nicholas Brown: In the new deal 25-plus pilots, the proportion of long-term unemployed participants who left the programme for sustained jobs was 33 per cent. in 1999 and 34 per cent. in 2000 and 2001 to date. Equivalent figures for years prior to the new deal 25-plus pilots are not available. However, evaluation of the new
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deal 25-plus pilots showed that long-term unemployed participants were over 70 per cent. more likely to move into work than those participating in the pre-April 2001 national programme.
Mr. Clappison: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions (1) how many people joined the voluntary section option of the new deal for young people between July 1999 and October 2001; and how many of these (a) completed their course before leaving the new deal and (b) left their course before completing the new deal; [11598]
- (2) how many people have joined the (a) Environmental Task Force option, (b) the subsidised employment option and (c) the voluntary sector option of the new deal since implementation; and how many and what percentage of these (i) completed their programme before leaving the new deal, (ii) left their programme before completing it and (iii) left at any stage for unknown destinations; [11599]
(3) how many people joined the Environmental TaskForce option of the new deal for young people between July 1999 and October 2001; and how many of these (a) completed their course before leaving the new deal and (b) left their course before completing the new deal. [11595]
Mr. Nicholas Brown: The latest results for the new deal for young people are contained in the Statistical First Release which is available in the Library. Information on numbers completing options is not available.
Mr. Clappison: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many benefit sanctions were imposed on participants in the New Deal for Young People in each year since its introduction (a) nationally and (b) by region, broken down into each of the four options. [11601]
Mr. Nicholas Brown: The information requested is published in the Employment Service Labour Market Statistics: Analysis of Sector Decision Making, copies of which are available in the Library.
Mr. Clappison: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions when he will answer the question (No. 7981) of 8 October from the hon. Member for Hertsmere concerning the number of persons on the new deal for young people recruited by Government Departments. [15775]
Mr. Nicholas Brown [holding answer 19 November 2001]: I answered the question on Monday 19 November 2001.
Dr. Kumar: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions if he will make a statement on (a) the number of participants in the new deal for young people from the Middlesbrough, South and Cleveland, East constituency in the last 12 months, (b) the destination of people leaving the scheme and (c) the cost involved. [16433]
Mr. Nicholas Brown: The information is in the tables:
Note:
Figures are for the end of each month and are the latest available.
Source:
New Deal Evaluation Database.
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| Destination on leaving the new deal for young people | Number of clients |
|---|---|
| Unsubsidised employment | 656 |
| Other benefits | 224 |
| Other known destinations | 331 |
| Not known | 393 |
| Total leavers | 1,604 |
Note:
Figures are cumulative to the end of August 2001.
Source:
New Deal Evaluation Database.
Estimates of the cost of the programme are not available at constituency level.
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