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11 Jun 2003 : Column 954W—continued

Autism

Mrs. Iris Robinson: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what progress has been made on boards and trusts producing costed proposals on autism services by September as indicated in the Priorities for Action document. [115926]

Mr. Browne: Health and Social Services Boards and Trusts have identified the diagnostic, assessment and support services that need to be enhanced. They are about to develop costed proposals. This will be done in consultation with Education and Library Boards.

Brain Surgery

Mr. McGrady: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what action he will take to reduce the waiting lists for brain surgery in Northern Ireland; and if he will make a statement. [116382]

Mr. Browne: Pressures on the neurosurgery service have arisen mainly as a result of a need for more theatre time, and shortages in experienced nursing staff. This is not a problem unique to Northern Ireland—there are similar problems with this service throughout the NHS.

The Royal Group of Hospitals, in liaison with the four Boards, has been working hard to improve the situation, both in the short-term, and with regard to the longer-term development of the service.

A task force was established by the Trust to lead the effort in addressing the problems faced by the service;


Extra theatre lists have been introduced;


A twin-track approach to enhance the recruitment and retention of nurses has been implemented to restore nursing levels and enable more beds to be opened. This has involved:


the appointment of a 'clinical educator' to enhance training opportunities and to support and increase the number of nurses in training; and

the recruitment of additional nurses, allowing the phased opening of beds from June 2003, with all beds re-opening by January 2004.

A clinical careers framework for nurses has also been launched to improve opportunities for personal development and career pathways;

In addition, treatment has been provided for some suitable patients in units outside Northern Ireland.

These measures should make a significant contribution to addressing the problems in this service. I have asked my Department, in liaison with the Boards and the Trust, to keep me apprised of progress.

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Child Support Agency

Mr. Beggs: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland if he will make it his policy to ensure that regular maintenance payments are paid by non-resident parents to the Child Support Agency. [116097]

Mr. Browne: It is already the policy to ensure that all non-resident parents comply with their maintenance liabilities in full. Where parents are outside the jurisdiction of the Child Support Agency, they can pursue maintenance payments through the court system in the appropriate country.

Civil Service (Newry and Mourne)

Mr. McGrady: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many posts in the Northern Ireland Civil Service have been publicly advertised since 14 October 2002 for which Irish nationals have been ineligible. [110400]

Mr. Paul Murphy: Since 14 October 2002 the Northern Ireland Office has advertised seven competitions publicly and of these Irish nationals have been ineligible for two.

Within the Northern Ireland Administration 13 posts were reserved for UK nationals.

Mr. McGrady: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland whether he has received external independent legal advice since suspension on the legality of the exclusion of Irish citizens from reserved posts in the Northern Ireland Civil Service. [110401]

Mr. Paul Murphy: Since suspension the Northern Ireland Office has continued to treat publicly advertised vacancies as before. The business area where the vacancy arises makes the decision as to whether a post should be open to Irish citizens or not. This is based on information used by all Departments when deciding if a post is public or non public service. Therefore since suspension there has been no independent legal advice received on the legality of the exclusion of Irish citizens from reserved posts in the Northern Ireland Office.

Within the Northern Ireland Administration independent legal advice on the application of nationality restrictions has been sought but not yet received.

Human Rights/Equality Commissions

Mrs. Iris Robinson: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how much the costs were of the (a) Human Rights Commission and (b) Equality Commission over the last 12 months. [116979]

Mr. Browne: The costs of the Northern Ireland Human Rights Commission in the financial year 2002–03 were £1,217,250.

The costs of the Equality Commission for Northern Ireland in the financial year 2002–03 were £7,512,000.

Cycling

Kate Hoey: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what criteria have been used to decide that the Sports Council of Northern Ireland does not recognise the British Cycling Federation as the governing body for cycling within Northern Ireland. [116444]

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Angela Smith: British Cycling does not operate in Northern Ireland whereas Cycling Ulster does, and it has a clear link with the world governing body—the Union Cyclist Internationale. On this basis, and given the four home country sports councils have an agreed policy of recognising only one governing body per sport; the Sports Council for Northern Ireland have decided to recognise Cycling Ulster.

Dementia

Mr. McGrady: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland when he will initiate a review into services for those who suffer from dementia in Northern Ireland. [116381]

Mr. Browne: A detailed examination of service provision for people with dementia was carried out by a multidisciplinary team led by the Department with representatives from Boards, Trusts, the University of Ulster and the Alzheimer's Society in 1994. Its aim was to examine policy on dementia in Northern Ireland and to provide Boards and Trusts with guidance, which would contribute to a more co-ordinated and better targeted approach to meeting the needs of people with dementia and their carers. The Department accepted the Report of the Dementia Policy Scrutiny published in 1995 and adopted its 33 recommendations as the basis for policy in this area.

While progress has been made in implementing the recommendations of the Dementia Policy Scrutiny Report, more needs to be done. The Department is now looking at what further action can be taken to improve services, in the light of developments since this report. Boards, Trusts and significant groups such as the Alzheimer's Society will be fully involved in this process.

Departmental Underspending

Mr. Bercow: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what plans he has to reduce his Department's underspend in 2003–04 from that of 2002–03. [112776]

Mr. Paul Murphy: The Northern Ireland Office takes all steps possible to minimise underspends, though sometimes operational circumstances make these unavoidable. We will not know the extent of any underspend for 2002–03 before the end of June 2003.

Because of the commitments the Department faces in the current financial year, we are confident that any underspend will be less than in previous years.

Within the 11 Departments of the Northern Ireland administration information on the extent of any underspend for 2002–03 will not be available until late June 2003. However, on the basis of underspends in previous years an action plan to address this issue was set out in a statement to the Assembly on 1 July 2002 by the (then) Minister of Finance and Personnel. This included setting spending plans at a level which exceeded the actual spending power available by building in underspend assumptions, and the revised spending plans for 2003–04 to 2005–06, announced on 11 December 2002, built on that approach. Full details are set out in section two of the Budget Document "Building on Progress: Budget 2003—2006", copies were placed in the Library on 11 December 2002.

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Digital Hearing Aids

Mrs. Iris Robinson: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland if he will make a statement on progress since 1st January on making digital hearing aids more widely available in Northern Ireland. [115924]

Mr. Browne: Digital hearing aids (DHAs) are to be introduced, on a phased basis, from September this year. Trusts with audiology departments have started to recruit additional audiologists and to install specialist testing equipment needed to support the introduction of DHAs. The Department of Health, Social Services and Public Safety has established a small working group that includes head audiologists, a consultant ENT surgeon and the Northern Ireland Director of RNID to develop guidance on candidacy for the new aids and to oversee introduction.

Lady Hermon: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland if he will make a statement on the criteria for the allocation of NHS digital hearing aids in Northern Ireland. [116367]

Mr. Browne: Digital hearing aids are to be introduced, on a phased basis, from September this year. The Department of Health, Social Services and Public Safety has established a small working group that includes head audiologists, a consultant ENT surgeon and the Northern Ireland Director of RNID to develop guidance on candidacy for the new aids and oversee introduction of digital hearing aids. Draft guidance has been issued for consultation and it is expected that final guidance will issue before the summer.

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