---

19 Nov 2003 : Column 952W—continued

Loyalist Terrorists

Mr. Hancock: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what assessment he has made of Loyalist terrorists' capacity to carry out (a) targeting, (b) intimidation and (c) racketeering activities in Northern Ireland; and if he will make a statement. [134963]

Jane Kennedy: This information is only available from intelligence sources and it would be inappropriate for the Government to comment. We now call on all paramilitary organisations to bring a complete and permanent end to paramilitary activity in all its forms.

North/South Ministerial Council

Mrs. Iris Robinson: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many times the North/South Ministerial Council has met as indicated in the 1998 Belfast Agreement (a) in Plenary format, (b) in specific sectoral formats, represented by the individual Ministers and (c) to consider cross-sectoral matters. [132091]

19 Nov 2003 : Column 953W

Mr. Paul Murphy: The North/South Ministerial Council, since its establishment in 1999, has met four times in Plenary format, once in Institutional format to consider cross-sectoral matters and 60 times in specific sectoral format.

A breakdown of specific sectoral meetings is provided as follows:

Specific sectoral area	Number of meetings
Agriculture	7
Education	4
Environment	6
Aquaculture and Marine	8
Health and Food Safety	5
Language	4
Special EU Programmes	7
Tourism	5
Trade and Business Development	7
Transport	2
Inland Waterways	5
Total	60

Prisons

Mr. McNamara: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what the breakdown is of prison custody visitors by (a) perceived community origin and (b) sex. [138706]

Jane Kennedy: There are currently a total of 50 Board of Visitors/Visiting Committee members in post. The breakdowns are as follows:

	Breakdown
Perceived community origin
Protestant	29
Roman Catholic	15
Not known	6
Sex
Male	26
Female	24

Mr. McNamara: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what the cost of the prison custody visitors scheme was in 2002; and what proportion of this comprises (a) remuneration, (b) travel and (c) other expenses incurred by the visitors. [138707]

Jane Kennedy: The total expenditure for the Board of Visitors/Visiting Committee in Northern Ireland for the financial year 2002–03 was £51,751.00. Of this, £39,000 was for travel and subsistence. Members are volunteers and do not receive remuneration.

Mr. McNamara: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what administrative support is available to teams of prison custody visitors. [138708]

Jane Kennedy: Each Board/Committee is supported by a part-time Clerk at local level. There is also a small team at Prison Service Headquarters who provide administrative support for all three boards.

Mr. McNamara: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what the procedural mechanisms are for addressing (a) general matters of prison

19 Nov 2003 : Column 954W

administration and (b) expressions of concern about individual prisoners; and what mechanisms are available to monitor (i) responses and (ii) implementation. [138709]

Jane Kennedy: Concerns regarding both general matters of prison administration and concerns regarding individual prisoners can be raised with staff informally, or formally with the Governor at the monthly meeting. If possible, the Governor responds at the meeting, or the query is recorded and the response provided at the next monthly meeting, or before then if urgent. All queries are formally recorded in the minutes of the meeting.

If members are not satisfied with the response they receive, or the action taken by the Governor, they can raise the matter with Prison Service Headquarters or ultimately the Secretary of State.

The Boards submit an annual report to the Secretary of State each year. In the interests of openness and transparency, this report is now made available to the general public.

Salmon

David Burnside: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland if he will make a statement on the impact on wild salmon stocks of salmon fish farms in Northern Ireland. [135445]

Angela Smith: The occurrence of escaped farmed salmon in Northern Ireland's commercial salmon catches is examined annually. The largest occurrence was in 2001, when 9.1 per cent. of the commercial catch was farmed fish. The 10-year average, excluding the year 2001, is 1.4 per cent.

Occurrences of escaped farmed salmon in freshwater are also monitored at the trap on the River Bush, where the 10-year average of farmed salmon as a total of trapped fish is 0.7 per cent.

The only detailed information available on the genetic impact of farmed salmon on wild salmon stocks has been undertaken in two surveys of the Glenarm River in 1990–91 and in 1997. The surveys showed that the genetic status of the wild population was significantly changed indicating that cross breeding with farmed salmon had taken place.

Further scientific studies have commenced on the River Bush catchment on the potential consequences of genetic change in the wild population caused by interbreeding with farmed salmon in terms of long-term productivity. No results are yet available and such studies are likely to be case specific.

Mr. Donaldson: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland whether the number of salmon spawning in each river in the Foyle system has reached the numbers recommended by P. F. Elson and A. L. W. Tuomi in their report of 1975, the Foyle Fisheries, New Basis for Rational Management. [136068]

Mr. Pearson: The target numbers of salmon spawning in each river in the Foyle System recommended by Elson and Tuomi in their 1975 report have been met. A comparison of these numbers together with the number of salmon passing through the relevant fish counters in the years 2000–02 is set out in the following table.

19 Nov 2003 : Column 955W

Foyle rivers

			Number of salmonpassing through fishcounter (year)
River system	Elson and Tuomi spawning targets	2000	2001	2002
Faughan and tributaries upstream of fish counter	590	2,551	1,518	4,228
Roe and tributaries upstream of fish counter	1,222	1,433	3,265	5,459
Mourne and tributaries upstream of fish counter	4,276	4,690	6,250	12,991

Social Housing

Mr. Andrew Turner: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many units of social housing

19 Nov 2003 : Column 956W

properties were vacant in each of the last five years in each local government area. [139708]

Mr. Spellar: The following table details the number of vacant Northern Ireland Housing Executive properties by District Council Area over the five-year period 1998–99 to 2002–03.

Statistics for housing association vacant properties are not held in the form requested. However, the total number of vacant housing association properties over the same five-year period was:

31 March 1999: 917


31 March 2000: 1,157


31 March 2001: 1,002


31 March 2002: 1,076


31 March 2003: 1,208

Housing Executive vacant properties

District council	31 March 1999	31 March 2000	31 March 2001	31 March 2002	31 March 2003
Belfast	1,872	2,000	2,179	1,835	2,146
North Down	104	108	151	207	162
Ards	94	78	121	156	153
Castlereagh	198	228	286	350	323
Lisburn	223	290	322	249	354
Down	108	163	59	61	73
Banbridge	74	46	63	54	61
Newry and Mourne	74	109	109	137	167
Armagh	90	98	113	124	121
Craigavon	485	580	523	496	472
Dungannon	69	80	118	136	159
Fermanagh	21	22	19	43	38
Ballymena	275	366	329	270	262
Antrim	107	187	193	147	184
Newtownabbey	306	343	240	277	340
Carrick	138	235	279	304	225
Larne	117	168	255	341	227
Moyle	10	19	15	13	17
Ballymoney	59	44	31	36	29
Coleraine	122	202	240	203	270
Derry	129	191	211	205	176
Limavady	24	15	20	16	29
Magherafelt	6	24	30	31	29
Strabane	13	21	25	40	35
Omagh	60	121	86	146	159
Cookstown	40	32	46	55	57
Total	4,818	5,770	6,063	5,932	6,268

Strategic Investment Body

Mr. Hume: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland if he will make a statement on the progress to date of the Strategic Investment Body (SIB) in improving the profile and performance of the capital expenditure programme across the Northern Ireland Civil Service; and what assessment he has made of whether the departments are working effectively with the SIB on (a) an individual and (b) a collaborative basis. [133009]

Mr. Pearson: Since its inception in April 2003, the SIB has made considerable progress in improving the profile and performance of Northern Ireland's capital expenditure programme. By April 2004, SIB expects to have two to three times the value of PPP projects out to market than had been signed in the previous eleven years in Northern Ireland. An early priority project, a new Invest NI Headquarters, is expected to be signed by June 2004, following a fast procurement period at the top end of HM Treasury performance averages. With the assistance of SIB, the Department of Finance and Personnel has created a new and strong incentive scheme designed to encourage departments to be more active in managing their asset bases. In its first six months of operation, therefore, the SIB has already developed effective working relationships with a number of departments and I am sure that its impact will continue to grow as we work to improve Northern Ireland's infrastructure.

---