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14 Jul 2003 : Column 87W—continued

Local Councillors

Mr. Gregory Campbell: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland whether a review of attendance allowances for local councillors in Northern Ireland is in progress. [124406]

Angela Smith: Yes. A review of councillors' personal allowances is currently being undertaken by the Department of the Environment. Attendance allowance is one of the factors which will be taken into account as part of that review.

14 Jul 2003 : Column 88W

Maternity Hospital, Belfast

Mrs. Iris Robinson: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland when he estimates the business plan for the new regional maternity hospital in Belfast will be completed. [124518]

Angela Smith: On 27 June I wrote to the Chairman of the Royal Group of Hospitals Health and Social Services Trust requesting that he proceed immediately with the preparation of the business case for the new regional maternity hospital in Belfast. It is estimated that the business case will take approximately six months to complete.

Mrs. Iris Robinson: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland when he estimates construction of a new regional maternity hospital in Belfast will begin; and when it will become fully operational. [124519]

Angela Smith: Subject to the business case and approval process, it is anticipated that construction work will begin on-site in 2005 and will take approximately five years to complete.

MMR Vaccine

Mr. Peter Robinson: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what recent research has been conducted on the MMR vaccine. [123719]

Angela Smith: Primary MMR research has not been undertaken in Northern Ireland, mainly due to the small size of our population. However large studies addressing the issues of MMR safety and effectiveness have been carried out in the UK and other European countries. The most recent of these is a Danish study which was published at the end of 2002. This study looked at the effects of MMR in over half a million Danish children. The study concluded that there was no link between MMR and autism or any other neurodevelopment disorders.

DHSSPS receive advice on immunisation policy from the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI) who keep all national and international research under regular review. The JCVI continues to recommend the use of MMR vaccine for all children.

Further information is available on the websites of the Medical Research Council, www.doh.gov.uk and www.mmrthefacts.nhs.uk.

Northern Ireland Housing Executive

Mr. Dodds: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how the Northern Ireland Housing Executive monitors the community background of contractors to which it awards work. [125312]

Mr. Spellar: The Northern Ireland Housing Executive, in line with other public sector bodies, does not monitor the community background of contractors to which it awards work. However, there is a requirement that all contractors sign a Fair Employment Declaration which must be submitted with each tender. The Equality Commission for Northern Ireland monitors contractors' compliance with current employment legislation.

14 Jul 2003 : Column 89W

Mr. Dodds: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many contracts have been awarded by the Northern Ireland Housing Executive for all types of work in each year since 1997. [125313]

Mr. Spellar: The number of contracts awarded is as follows:

	Number
1997–98	599
1998–99	390
1990–2000	342
2000–01	270
2001–02	257
2002–03	292

Adaptation work (which is not included in the table) is let as individual schemes under 'umbrella' contracts. There are currently 91 'umbrella' contracts ongoing. These are let on a one-year term, renewable for up to five years. This figure would be similar for each year from 1997–98.

In addition, at any given time there are some 750 ongoing response maintenance contracts. These contracts are let for periods of between one and five years and are re-tendered on expiry.

Police Investigation

Mr. McNamara: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what measures he has taken to ensure that Sir John Stevens has sufficient resources to complete his investigation. [124333]

Mr. Paul Murphy: Sir John Stevens reports to the Chief Constable of the PSNI and his investigation has been funded by the PSNI. The resourcing of his ongoing investigation is therefore a matter for the Chief Constable.

Press Offices

Mr. Dodds: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what the cost is of the press offices of each department in Northern Ireland. [123956]

Mr. Paul Murphy: The costs of the NIO press office and the press offices of each of the 11 Departments of the Northern Ireland administration for the financial year 2003 are as follows:

Department	£
N10	1,877,494.31
OFMDFM	1,145,463.02
DARD	229,487.58
DCAL	111,480.29
DE	198,343.96
DEL	185,700.00
DETI	187,000.00
DOE	194,000.00
DFP	150,455.00
DHSSPS	291,725.00
DRD	156,000.00
DSD	267,250.00

The figure for OFMDFM includes costs associated with the co-ordination and corporate service functions in support of the Executive Information Service across

14 Jul 2003 : Column 90W

the 11 Northern Ireland Civil Service Departments. For example all press releases for NI Departments are despatched through OFMDFM.

Royal Group of Hospitals

Mr. Dodds: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland if he will make a statement on the accessing by terrorist organisations of medical records at the Royal Group of Hospitals. [124142]

Mr. Paul Murphy: One individual, who was an employee of the Royal Victoria Hospital (RVH), has been charged in relation to intelligence gathering at the RVH. The individuals affected by the intelligence gathering have been informed by the PSNI. The RVH is doing everything possible to assist the police in their investigations.

In addition, the Under-Secretary of State, my hon. Friend the Member for Basildon (Angela Smith), has asked the Department for Health, Social Services and Public Safety to undertake a full and thorough review of patient data security arrangements at all HSS Trusts. A report is expected in the Autumn.

Saville Inquiry

Mr. Gregory Campbell: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what the cost has been to the public purse of the Saville Inquiry broken down by (a) legal fees, (b) accommodation, (c) transportation, (d) provision of IT equipment and (e) hiring of halls. [123998]

Mr. Spellar: Up to end June 2003 the cash spend by the Northern Ireland Office on the Bloody Sunday Inquiry was a total of £89.2 million. Breaking this down in the categories requested gives the following figures:

	£ million
(a) legal fees,	38.194
(b) accommodation,	7.283
(c) transportation,	2.043
(d) provision of IT equipment	12.273
(e) hiring of halls	5.492
(f) other(30)	23.915

⁽³⁰⁾ Figure includes salary costs of Tribunal members (except Lord Saville) and Inquiry staff, witness expenses, expert witnesses, office services and security, telecommunications and other miscellaneous office expenditure.

Security Services

Mr. Butterfill: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what savings have been made since August 1989 as a result of reductions in the strength of security services in Northern Ireland; and if he will make a statement. [123663]

Mr. Paul Murphy: The Ministry of Defence does not hold information in the form requested for the period of time in question and therefore an answer could not be compiled with any accuracy. Reductions to armed forces levels in Northern Ireland do not necessarily result in a saving to the Defence Budget as these resources are often re-deployed to other commitments.

The expenditure and manning levels for the Police Service of Northern Ireland (formerly the RUC) for the period in question are as follows.

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	1989	2002
Budget (£ million)	420.6	654.2
Manning levels
Regular Officers	8,264	7,041
Full-time Reserve	3,018	2,256

Social Security Fraud

Mr. Dodds: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many people are employed in combating fraud in social security in Northern Ireland. [125308]

Mr. Spellar: The Social Security Agency has 385 staff who are involved in a number of activities to combat social security fraud, including the:

measurement of the levels of fraud and error.


analysis of the reasons and causes of fraud and error.


reviewing of cases to identify inaccuracy at initial claim stage and within existing claims.

In addition to that, the agency also employs a further 184 staff in benefit security services who are dedicated to the identification, investigation and referral for prosecution of all cases of social security fraud.

Mr. Dodds: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many people have been prosecuted for fraud in relation to social welfare and benefit payments in each year since 1997. [125309]

Mr. Spellar: The number of successful prosecutions for social security fraud in each financial year since 1997 is listed in the table.

Financial year	Successful prosecutions
1997–98	430
1998–99	448
1999–2000	519
2000–01	623
2001–02	520
2002–03	340

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