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Neurosurgery

Mrs. Iris Robinson: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland when the last date was that a scheduled neurosurgery operating list was performed at the Royal Victoria Hospital that did not comprise emergency cases. [116982]

Mr. Browne: Up to and including 2 June 2003, the most recent scheduled neurosurgery operating list performed at the Royal Victoria Hospital which did not comprise emergency cases, took place on 30 May 2003.

Mrs. Iris Robinson: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what criteria are used in classifying particular neurosurgery patients as emergency cases. [115956]

Mr. Browne: Neurosurgeons at the Royal Victoria Hospital use clinical judgement in determining whether a patient is classified as an emergency case. An assessment is made as to whether the patient's condition is immediately life threatening, or is such as to demand prompt action in order to preserve neurological function.

Omagh Bombing

Mr. Dodds: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what representations he has made to the Government of the Irish Republic regarding the investigation into the Omagh bombing in August 1998. [115985]

Jane Kennedy: There has been frequent contact at ministerial level between the two Governments on a wide range of issues including the Omagh bomb investigation. The Government wants to see those responsible for the Omagh bomb brought to justice and PSNI continue to fully investigate this atrocity.

Police Service

Mr. McNamara: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland for what reasons PSNI personnel policing the Loyalist parade in Lurgan on 3 May 2003 were not wearing identification numbers; and what measures he has taken to ensure that PSNI personnel wearing protective gear over their uniform may still be identified by a clearly displayed identification number. [113346]

Jane Kennedy: Police officers are required to wear protective overalls (which display their identification number) to meet health and safety regulations. Overalls

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should be worn over their personal protective equipment. Personal protective equipment has recently been improved but as it is bulkier, some officers found it necessary to wear this over, rather than under, the protective overalls and as a result the identification numbers were obscured. However, PSNI is taking steps to resolve this matter to ensure that protective overalls are worn 'over' personal protective equipment.

The PSNI is an open and transparent service and there is no attempt to hide the identity of officers. Identification numbers do appear on their helmets. Vehicles also display identifying unit numbers on the front, side and rear.

Mr. McNamara: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what the budget is for PSNI training; and how much and what percentage is spent on (a) new recruit training, (b) refresher training for staff and (c) management training in 2003–04. [114144]

Jane Kennedy: The PSNI training budget for 2003–04 is £2.53 million. The estimated spend for (a) new recruit training is £253,600 (10 per cent.), (b) refresher training is £199,000 (7.9 per cent.) and (c) management training is £872,000 (34.5 per cent.)

The above mentioned training budget is for the provision of external courses, guest speakers and training aids only.

Part-time Workers

Mr. Bercow: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what assessment he has made of the impact of the Part-time Workers Directive on staff in his Department. [109274]

Mr. Paul Murphy: Within the Northern Ireland Office, no formal assessment has been made of the impact of the Part-time Workers Directive on staff. But managers are committed to the concept of good work-life balance.

A total of 186 staff currently job share or work part-time.

Part-time working is only one of several ways in which the Northern Ireland Office offer staff flexibility in their working patterns.

Prior to the introduction of the Part-time Workers (Prevention of Less Favourable Treatment) regulations (Northern Ireland) 2001, which were effective from the 21 October 2001, the 11 Departments within the Northern Ireland Administration had already introduced measures to ensure that part-time staff were treated no less favourably than their full time counterparts.

On foot of the Directive, these measures were examined to ensure that they were fully compliant. Since the Directive, in itself, had no impact on the policies in place, an assessment would not be meaningful.

The departments within the Northern Ireland Administration continually strive to be a "Good Employer" and are committed to the concept of good work-life balance for its staff in serving Ministers and the public to the highest standards.

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Part-time working and job sharing are only two of the options which NI Departments offer staff to provide flexibility in their working patterns.

At the 1 January 2003, NI Departments had 1,124 staff who were either employed on a part-time or job sharing basis making up 11 per cent. of the overall staff workforce.

Police Service of Northern Ireland

Mr. McNamara: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what the budget is for PSNI training; and how much and what percentage is spent on (a) new recruit training, (b) refresher training for staff and (c) management training in 2003–04. [114144]

Jane Kennedy: The PSNI training budget for 2003–04 is £2.53 million. The estimated spend for (a) new recruit training is £253,600 (10 per cent.), (b) refresher training is £199,000 (7.9 per cent.) and (c) management training is £872,000 (34.5 per cent.)

The above mentioned training budget is for the provision of external courses, guest speakers and training aids only.

Private Care Homes

Mrs. Iris Robinson: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what safeguards there are to ensure the highest standards of care are practised in private care homes for the elderly. [115954]

Mr. Browne: Under the terms of the Registered Homes (Northern Ireland) Order 1992, homes in the private and voluntary sectors which seek to provide care for older people must register with the Registration and Inspection Unit of their local Health and Social Services Board. To be successful in registration, the person in charge of the home and manager, if different, must be fit persons, the premises used, staffing or equipment must be suited to the purpose and the home must be run in such a way that it provides the services or facilities that are reasonably required. Further, in the case of a nursing home, the person in charge must either be a medical practitioner or a qualified nurse and the staff skills-mix and deployment must ensure that appropriate staff are available on duty. Conditions may be applied to registration so as to safeguard the quality of the service to be provided and a home may only provide the service for which it is registered. A home must make application to the Registration and Inspection Unit if it wishes to vary the service that it provides. In addition, homes must maintain specified records and these along with the care they provide is subject to inspection by the Board's Registration and Inspection Unit.Under the Registered Homes Regulations (N.I.) 1993, there is a minimum requirement for homes to be inspected at least twice yearly and generally one of these inspections is unannounced. During the inspections the premises and care are measured against standards set by the Registration and Inspection Unit relating to the quality of care, management and the environment of the home together with the life experiences of the residents. Standards are drawn from the Department's Social Services Inspectorate guidance contained in documents such as "Standards for Residential Homes for Elderly People", "Inspecting for Quality" and "Homes are for

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Living In". There is a requirement under the Registered Homes Regulations for homes to make adequate arrangements to ensure that appropriate activity programmes are in place to meet the needs of residents.

Any shortfalls which are identified during inspections are brought to the attention of home managers at the time of the inspection and also through official inspection reports together with recommendations on how the shortfalls might be addressed. Where necessary, additional visits are arranged to make sure that recommendations are addressed or that any complaint received has been addressed.

Mrs. Iris Robinson: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what means are used to standardise services at private care homes for the elderly. [115955]

Mr. Browne: The Registration and Inspection Units of each Health and Social Services Board are responsible for evaluating and monitoring the quality of care provided and the quality of life experienced in statutory, private and voluntary sector residential settings. The Units are responsible for ensuring that a consistent approach is taken to the inspection of statutory, private and voluntary sector provision and they are required to carry out a minimum of two inspections each year, one announced and one generally unannounced, of each residential care home and nursing home in the Board area. The inspection reports, the comparative analysis of trends in care home provision and Annual Reports by the Registration and Inspection Units all contribute to establishing and monitoring of standards of care in residential settings.

The Health and Personal Social Services (Quality, Improvement and Regulation) (Northern Ireland) Order 2003 will create a new independent HPSS Regulation and Improvement Authority which will operate on a regional basis and, among other things, take over the functions of the current Registration and Inspection Units. The Order also allows for the introduction of minimum care standards and the development of clinical and social care governance, the latter underpinned by a statutory duty of quality. The Order, combined with a strengthening of the regulation of the workforce should offer powerful safeguards for the quality and consistency of services to be provided.

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