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11 Jun 2003 : Column 965W—continued

Honours

Mr. Pope: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many officials in his Department have received honours; and how many honours are held by his officials, broken down by category of honour. [111486]

Mr. Paul Murphy: During the period from New Year 1998 to New Year 2003, a total of 97 State Servants in the Northern Ireland Administration and the Northern Ireland Office received honours, as follows:

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	Number
Knight Commander of the Order of the Bath (KCB)	3
Commander of the Order of the Bath (CB)	9
Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE)	12
Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE)	24
Member of the Order of the British Empire (MBE)	49

Data are not routinely kept on those officials awarded honours before joining either the Northern Ireland Administration or the Northern Ireland Office or those officials who are awarded honours in recognition of activities outside their departmental duties.

Hospital Beds

Mr. Dodds: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many beds are provided for inpatient care in hospitals in Northern Ireland. [118015]

Mr. Browne: The average number of available beds provided for inpatient care in hospitals in Northern Ireland during 2001–02 was 8419.1.

This figure is taken from Hospital Statistics 2001–02 and includes all Programmes of Care. The average number of available beds is defined as those beds in wards which are open overnight, measured at midnight. Hospitals may also have a number of beds in wards which are only open during the day. Beds reserved for day care admission or regular day admission are not included.

Hospital Births

Mrs. Iris Robinson: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many women from Great Britain gave birth at hospitals in Northern Ireland in the last 12 months; and what the length of time was before delivery commenced that each patient presented at hospital. [116972]

Mr. Browne: During 2002–03, a total of 72 women from Great Britain gave birth at hospitals in Northern Ireland.

Information on the length of time between each patient presented at hospital and delivery commenced is not available.

Information Technology

Mr. Flight: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what his Department's (a) total managed expenditure, (b) total spending on Information Technology and (c) spending on Information Technology as a proportion of its total managed expenditure was in each financial year since 1997–98. [107178]

Mr. Paul Murphy: Within the Northern Ireland Office including its agencies and NDPBs, resource figures are only available from 1998–99.

The percentages provided in the table are approximate only. The table shows details of the Information Technology spend by Northern Ireland Office.

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	TME (£)	Total Information Technology spend (£)	Proportion of total (%)
1998–99	940,534,000	4,406,471	0.50
1999–2000	1,057,141,000	7,990,677	0.75
2000–01	882,789,000	8,165,504	1
2001–02	1,035,308,000	7,175,757	0.75
2003–03	1,285,321,000	9,516,007	0.75

⁽³⁵⁾ Estimated outturn

⁽³⁶⁾ Full-year estimate

⁽³⁷⁾ The Figures for 2003–03 are based on estimates only. Provisional outturn figures are not yet available.

The introduction of Resource Accounting and Budgeting within the Northern Ireland Administration means it is not possible to make meaningful comparisons between outturn information across the years requested. However, the following table shows Total Managed Expenditure (TME) for NI Departments, total spending by the core Departments on Information Technology (IT) and spending on Information Technology as a proportion of total departmental TME for 2000–01 and 2001–02.

	TME for NI Departments (£ million)	Core Departmental Spend on IT(38) (£ million)	IT as a proportion of Total TME (%)
2000–01	10,692.8	27.4	0.26
2001–02	10,845.3	30.9	0.28

⁽³⁸⁾ This does not include spending on IT by Executive Agencies

This information relates to the 11 Departments of the Northern Ireland Administration.

Irish Language

Mrs. Iris Robinson: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what costs have been incurred by the Department of Health, Social Services and Public Safety as a result of its Irish language policy; and if he plans to discontinue this practice. [115962]

Mr. Browne: In the financial year 2002/03, the cost associated with Irish translations for the Department of Health, Social Services and Public Safety amounted to £107,500. There are no plans to change the current arrangements and the existing practice with regard to the use of Irish will remain as it is for the time being.

Lagan Valley Hospital

Mrs. Iris Robinson: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland when the location of a second specialist elective surgical centre in addition to Lagan Valley Hospital will be confirmed. [116976]

Mr. Browne: In my announcement of 24 February 2003 on Developing Better Services, in addition to a protected elective centre at Lagan Valley Hospital, I said that the new acute hospital to the north of Enniskillen will be designed to include a protected elective centre. I also announced that the current proposals for a protected elective facility at South Tyrone should also be taken forward.

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Maternity Services

Mrs. Iris Robinson: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland when the location of a new regional maternity unit in Belfast will be made public. [116977]

Mr. Browne: I hope to be in a position to announce my decision on the location of the new regional maternity unit in the coming weeks.

Mental Health

Mr. Paul Marsden: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many of his staff retired on medical grounds due to mental health problems in the last year. [111958]

Mr. Paul Murphy: In the Northern Ireland Office (including the Northern Ireland Prison Service) three officers retired on medical grounds due to mental health problems in 2002–03 financial year.

During the financial year 2002–03, 184 staff within the 11 departments of the Northern Ireland administration were retired on medical grounds. The details of the medical condition giving rise to these ill-health retirements are not held centrally and could be obtained only at disproportionate cost.

Mr. McKenna

Mr. Gregory Campbell: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland pursuant to his Answer of 19 May 2003, Official Report, column 594W, whether the policy described was followed in the case of Mr.McKenna and when the internal policy on harassment and bullying commenced operation with the Department of Education. [117807]

Jane Kennedy: The Department of Education has had a policy on harassment in place since December 1995. I can confirm that in investigating the complaint against the named individual the internal policy was fully adhered to and that the individual was afforded the opportunity to obtain in full a copy of the written complaint.

Multiple Sclerosis

Mrs. Iris Robinson: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what is the most recent date that a multiple sclerosis sufferer from Northern Ireland has commenced (a) beta interferon and (b) glatiramer treatment. [116986]

Mr. Browne: The last patient to commence treatment on the interferon/glatiramer acetate treatment programme started on 14 April 2003.

Muckamore Abbey and Stradreagh Hospitals

Mrs. Iris Robinson: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what plans there are to modernise Muckamore Abbey and Stradreagh Hospitals. [115967]

Mr. Browne: A Business Case has been approved for the redevelopment of Muckamore Abbey Hospital as a purpose built 115 bedded regional core hospital. Funding of £5 million has been secured through the Reinvestment and Reform Initiative (RRI) to take forward the first phase of the project which will provide

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for the development of a 35 bedded regional admissions and assessment service and a 23 bedded regional forensic assessment and treatment service. Construction of Phase 1 is due to commence in September 2003 with a completion date of May 2005.

A Business Case has also been approved for the replacement of the current Stradreagh Hospital with a 43-bed in patient treatment assessment unit, a 20-place challenging behaviour unit and a 5-place rehabilitation unit. RRI funding of £4 million has been secured for the project. Initial work has commenced making good progress and is on track for completion in November 2004.

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