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Victims' Rights

Mr. Andrew Turner: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what measures are in place to protect the rights of victims of terrorism in Northern Ireland; which of the measures for victims' rights contained within the Belfast Agreement have been implemented; and what plans he has to protect victims' rights. [53690]

Mr. Browne: The Belfast agreement 1998 makes specific reference to the importance of acknowledging and addressing the suffering of victims of violence as a necessary element of reconciliation, and recognises the need to provide services that are supportive and sensitive to their individual needs.

In November 1997 the Government had appointed Sir Kenneth Bloomfield as head of a Victims' Commission

"to examine the feasibility of providing greater recognition for those who have become victims in the last 30 years as a consequence of events in Northern Ireland"

and asked him to consult various organisations concerned with the welfare of the bereaved and disabled as well as with community groups, churches and political parties and to make recommendations.

11 Jun 2002 : Column 1202W

Following publication of his report "We Will Remember Them" in April 1998, the Government appointed Adam Ingram as Minister for Victims and the Victims Liaison Unit was established to take forward the implementation of the report. Since then Government have committed more than £18.25 million to support victims of the Troubles, funding a number of initiatives including:

£700k for a family trauma centre in Belfast which provides therapeutic service addressing the psychological needs of families and young people.

£300k for an educational bursary pilot scheme—for individuals whose education was directly affect by the Troubles. 350 people received awards.

£4 million to the Northern Ireland Memorial Fund with a commitment of a further £1 million for 2003–04. The fund has put in place a number of schemes including:

The small grants scheme

The chronic pain management scheme

The respite break scheme

The wheelchair assessment scheme

The amputee assessment scheme

The education and training scheme

£225k initially for a victim support grants scheme to assist community groups and voluntary organisations to take forward recommendations in the Bloomfield report; and more recently a further £750,000 to extend this small grants scheme.

£6.1 million core funding for groups who support victims of the troubles.

£500k for initiatives in Great Britain including £250k for the legacy project. This project aims to identify and meet the needs of victims of the troubles living in Great Britain.

£1.5 million over the next three years for the development of the Northern Ireland Centre for Trauma and Transformation.

£1.5 million over the next two years to the Devolved Administration's Strategy Implementation Fund to help NI Departments fulfil their commitment to addressing victims' needs.

It is now four years since the Bloomfield report was published and I replaced Adam Ingram as Victims Minister last June. I am currently reviewing the Government's strategic approach to the needs of victims in the context of the ongoing political process.

Also, as part of the Belfast Agreement and the Northern Ireland Act 1998, the Northern Ireland Human Rights Commission was given the responsibility of advising the Secretary of State on the scope for defining, in Westminster legislation, rights supplementary to those in the ECHR which, taken together with the ECHR, could constitute a Bill of Rights for Northern Ireland. The agreement also says that the Bill should reflect the particular circumstances of Northern Ireland.

The Commission consultation document "Making a Bill of Rights for Northern Ireland" indicated that the rights of victims, both those arising from the conflict and more generally, should be included in a Bill of Rights. The Government have drawn no policy conclusions from the consultation document but will give careful consideration to the formal recommendations made by the Northern Ireland Human Rights Commission which we expect to receive in 2003.

11 Jun 2002 : Column 1203W

Correspondence

Mr. Weir: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many letters were received by each Minister in his Department in each month since June 1997. [59311]

Jane Kennedy: The information requested by the hon. Member is listed in the following table. It is not possible to attribute letters separately to the Minister of State and Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Northern Ireland from members of the public. The combined totals have been provided on a separate table.

Letters received by the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland since June 1997

	1997	1998	1999	2000	2001	2002
January	—	1,184	627	571	346	415
February	—	1,053	724	1,073	268	423
March	—	899	939	731	255	284
April	—	841	657	757	200	251
May	—	959	446	636	196	235
June	—	1,082	892	458	238	—
July	1,143	1,292	1,092	382	258	—
August	641	1,118	740	265	388	—
September	1,091	1,056	902	278	191	—
October	952	712	874	296	561	—
November	736	543	969	321	370	—
December	643	487	375	184	198	—

Letters received by the Minister(s)⁽²¹⁾ of State for Northern Ireland since June 1997

	1997	1998	1999	2000	2001	2002
January	—	106 + 12	67 + 15	56	45	60
February	—	107 + 29	53 + 22	52	38	62
March	—	110 + 28	102 + 21	68	54	58
April	—	89 + 19	70 + 19	38	39	55
May	—	102 + 22	53 + 15	42	41	39
June	—	84 + 14	88 + 21	83	38	—
July	73 + 13	92 + 24	71 + 22	61	58	—
August	49 + 21	75 + 10	56	52	43	—
September	48 + 14	81 + 27	73	40	36	—
October	61 + 21	72 + 42	94	51	57	—
November	48 + 21	61 + 33	97	50	81	—
December	58 + 14	57 + 20	85	30	43	—

⁽²¹⁾ From July 1997 until July 1999 there were two Ministers of State at the Northern Ireland Office.

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Letters received by the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Northern Ireland since August 1999

	1997	1998	1999	2000	2001	2002
January	—	—	—	8	4	38
February	—	—	—	14	7	28
March	—	—	—	19	10	35
April	—	—	—	11	3	28
May	—	—	—	7	3	23
June	—	—	—	9	12	—
July	—	—	—	4	25	—
August	—	—	21	8	30	—
September	—	—	18	3	26	—
October	—	—	13	5	24	—
November	—	—	9	7	21	—
December	—	—	3	3	18	—

Letters received by the Minister(s) of State and Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Northern Ireland from members of the public

	1997	1998	1999	2000	2001	2002
January	—	18	14	13	14	27
February	—	75	16	7	9	14
March	—	124	19	7	6	7
April	—	20	13	21	9	10
May	—	27	5	16	3	—
June	—	10	9	4	10	—
July	20	19	7	22	7	—
August	7	11	9	2	19	—
September	10	5	7	11	7	—
October	13	17	14	6	27	—
November	14	11	11	12	15	—
December	10	6	4	4	8	—

Police Ombudsman

Mr. McNamara: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what targets have been drawn up by the police ombudsman for the number of days taken to complete each stage of the complaints process; and what his assessment is of progress made towards meeting these goals. [43891]

Jane Kennedy: The police ombudsman advises that the targets for dealing with complaints are contained in the police ombudsman's corporate statement and annual business plan 2001–02. The targets are reproduced in the table and include the current levels of achievement. In a number of categories the process for measuring the level of achievement against target is currently at the development stage and therefore these figures are not yet available.

Target	Level of achievement
95 per cent. of telephone calls to the FreePhone number answered within 20 seconds	100 per cent. answered within 20 seconds
90 per cent. of complaints to be acknowledged by letter within three working days	77 per cent. acknowledged within three working days
90 per cent. of complainants calling at the Office to be seen within 10 minutes of arrival	100 per cent. seen within 10 minutes
90 per cent. of complaints to be allocated action within three working days	74 per cent. allocated action within three working days
90 per cent. of complaints for fast tracking to be allocated action within one working day	95 per cent. allocated action within one working day
90 per cent. of complaints to be referred for Informal Resolution within three working days of consent being given	78 per cent. referred within three working days of consent being given
90 per cent. of complainants to be kept informed of progress of Informal Resolution within seven weeks	Target deemed inappropriate—progress of Informal Resolution is within control of the police
90 per cent. of complainants to be contacted within three working days of complaint being allocated	Measurement methodologies currently in development; no information available
90 per cent. of statements from complainants to be taken within 21 days of complaint being allocated	Measurement methodologies currently in development; no information available
95 per cent. of complainants to be kept informed of progress at least every four weeks	Measurement methodologies currently in development; no information available
95 per cent. of police officers to be kept informed of progress at key stages of the investigation	Measurement methodologies currently in development; no information available
95 per cent. of emergency incident calls from the police to be responded to 24 hours a day	Measurement methodologies currently in development; no information available
70 per cent. of arrivals at emergency incident locations to within three hours at any time (1.5 hours in Greater Belfast)	Measurement methodologies currently in development; no information available
70 per cent. of investigations completed by the office not to exceed 110 working days	Measurement methodologies currently in development; no information available
95 per cent. of forensic exhibits for evidence to be submitted to forensic lab within two working days	Measurement methodologies currently in development; no information available

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Mr. McNamara: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland if he will break down the number of complaints received by the police ombudsman by (a) perceived community origin, (b) gender and (c) other recorded categories of complainant. [43890]

Jane Kennedy: The police ombudsman advises that a monitoring form is issued to all complainants asking a number of questions. The answer provided is based on a return of monitoring forms from 2,731 complainants during 2001–02.

(a) Community background of complainants

		Percentage of
Community background	Number	Total	Those with known community background
Catholic	208	8	40
Church of Ireland	117	4	22
Presbyterian	118	4	22
Methodist	26	1	5
Other religion	40	1	8
No religion	15	1	3
Unknown	2,207	81	—
Total	2,731	100	100

(b) Gender of complainants

Gender	Number	Percentage	Percentage of those with known gender
Male	1,981	73	74
Female	694	25	26
Unknown	56	2	—
Total	2,731	100	100

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(c) Age of complainants

Age group	Number	Percentage	Percentage of those with known ages
16–20	253	9	20
21–30	423	15	33
31–40	328	12	25
41–50	186	7	14
51–60	74	3	6
60+	29	1	2
Unknown	1,438	53	—
Total	2,731	100	100

Marital status of complainants 2001–02

Marital status	Number	Percentage	Percentage of those with known marital status
Married	184	7	35
Single	194	7	37
Separated	63	2	12
Widowed	12	0	2
Divorced	48	2	9
Co-habiting	26	1	5
Unknown	2,204	81	—
Total	2,731	100	100

Occupational status of complainants 2001–02

Occupational status	Number	Percentage	Percentage of those with known occupational status
Working full-time	138	5	26
Working part-time	37	1	7
Unemployed	122	5	23
Student	14	1	3
Self-employed	60	2	11
Retired	26	1	5
Other	7	0	1
Permanently sick	85	3	16
Looking after family	40	1	8
Unknown	2,202	81	—
Total	2,731	100	100

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Ethnic origin of complainants 2001–02

Ethnic origin	Number	Percentage	Percentage of those with known ethnic origin
White	516	19	99
Indian	1	0	0
Pakistani	2	0	0
Mixed	1	0	0
Other	5	0	1
Unknown	2,206	81	—
Total	2,731	100	100

Disability of complainants 2001–02

Disability	Number	Percentage	Percentage of those known
Yes	159	6	19
No	678	25	81
Unknown	1,894	69	—
Total	2,731	100	100

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