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NORTHERN IRELAND

Crime Victims (Compensation)

Mr. Dodds: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what his policy is on compensation for victims of crime where the perpetrator of the crime is a member of the same household as the victim. [149204]

Mr. Spellar: The Chief Executive of the Compensation Agency has written to the hon. Gentleman. A copy of the letter has been placed in the Library.

Minority Liaison Officers

Mr. McNamara: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many minority liaison officers working with victims of crime are employed by the police and other institutions and agencies in the criminal justice system in Northern Ireland. [149231]

Mr. Spellar: The Police Service of Northern Ireland has an appointed Minority Liaison Officer in each of the 29 police districts established under the Racial Monitoring programme in 1997.

Other criminal justice agencies do not appoint Minority Liaison Officers, but continue to offer support to victims of crime within the criminal justice system. Support may include the provision of interpreters when required and special measures as provided for by the Criminal Evidence ( Northern Ireland) Order 1999.

Moylinn GP Co-operative

Mrs. Iris Robinson: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what progress has been made in identifying a new location for the Moylinn GP Co-operative. [148771]

Angela Smith: The Southern Health and Social Services Board (SHSSB) and the Association of Southern Areas Doctors On Call (ASADOC) have continued to work together and good progress has been

22 Jan 2004 : Column 1408W

made in identifying a new location for Moylinn Medical Centre. It is expected that an announcement on the outcome of these discussions will be made shortly.

Police Service

Lady Hermon: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many Police Service of Northern Ireland officers have been involved in policing operations outside Northern Ireland in each year since its formation; what the nature of the operations involved was; and how long each operation lasted. [142677]

Jane Kennedy: The information is not readily available in the format requested and could be obtained only at disproportionate cost. The table sets out the number of officers seconded outside Northern Ireland since 3 November 2001.

	Secondment to national police training	Overseas Service
2001	0	14
2002	9	44
2003	4	4
Total	13	62

The PSNI have deployed officers to Bosnia-Herzegovina, Kosovo, East Timor and Iraq. Officers deployed to Bosnia-Herzegovina were seconded to the International Police Task force (IPTF). The role of the IPTF is to monitor, advise and train police officers belonging to the Republic Srpska and Federation of Bosnia-Herzegovina police forces. A similar monitoring role was undertaken by officers deployed to East Timor.

Officers deployed to Kosovo are seconded to the United Nations Mission in Kosovo (UNMIK). The role of UNMIK is to maintain civil laws and orders with executive police powers. Officers perform border police duties at international border crossings also advise and assist in maintenance of public security and order.

A senior officer of the PSNI was deployed to Iraq to build capacity and oversee the implementation of the Iraqi national policy strategy and maintain and supervise a regional police training academy.

Polling Stations

Mrs. Iris Robinson: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland (1) if he will make a statement on the difficulties experienced in ensuring that enough staff were available at polling stations during the Assembly elections in November 2003; [149613]

(2) what plans he has to ensure that greater numbers of individuals will be available to staff polling stations at future elections. [148820]

Mr. Spellar: Difficulties were experienced in the recruitment of polling station staff for the recent Assembly elections. These difficulties arose in part because of the time of year. However, due to the efforts of the Electoral Office, which included using civil servants as polling station staff, it was possible to fill all positions and enable the elections to be conducted successfully.

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The administration of elections is a matter for the Chief Electoral Officer. However, the Government will continue to work closely with the CEO in his planning to ensure that polling stations are correctly staffed.

Race Hate Crime

Mr. McNamara: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what measures have been taken by the Northern Ireland Housing Executive to address race hate crime in Northern Ireland. [149234]

Mr. Spellar: The Northern Ireland Housing Executive has a Community Safety Strategy in place through which it can take action against perpetrators of racial harassment and intimidation. Until recently such action, which normally would have entailed steps to repossess property, was only possible in situations where the perpetrator was a Housing Executive tenant. With the introduction of the Housing (NI) Order 2003, the Housing Executive now has enhanced powers not only in terms of the action it can take against Housing Executive tenants but also through the use of injunctions to address race hate crimes occurring within its estates irrespective of the tenure of the perpetrator. The Housing Executive also assists victims of racial attacks through the provision of temporary accommodation pending enquiries into the circumstances pertaining to any individual case and permanent rehousing, where appropriate. It will also take measures to protect the properties and belongings of victims, if requested to do so.

Mr. McNamara: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many requests for assistance from victims of race hate crime were received in the last 12 months by the Northern Ireland Housing Executive; how many victims were rehoused; and what instructions have been circulated to local offices. [149240]

Mr. Spellar: During the 12-month period from 1 January 2003 to 31 December 2003 a total of 30 cases from ethnic minority backgrounds presented to the Housing Executive as homeless on grounds of intimidation. Of the 30 cases, 17 were accepted as homeless as a result of intimidation and eligible for housing assistance. The remaining 13 applicants either abandoned their application or were ineligible for assistance under immigration or homeless legislation. While no specific guidance has been issued to staff in respect of racial discrimination, they have been provided with written guidance and training to deal with housing and homeless applications to ensure that all incidents, whether racial, terrorist or sectarian intimidation, are treated with the same degree of urgency and sensitivity.

Rheumatoid Arthritis

Mrs. Iris Robinson: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what estimate he has made of the number of rheumatoid arthritis sufferers in Northern Ireland who will commence (a) Enbrel and (b) Remicade treatment in 2004; and what the figures were in 2003. [148843]

Angela Smith: In 2003, nine patients commenced treatment on Enbrel and 16 patients commenced treatment on Remicade. I announced on 13 January that we would provide additional resources for such anti-TNF drugs for 2004–05. Decisions have yet to be

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taken on detailed funding allocations so it is not possible to estimate the number of patients who may benefit from these therapies in 2004.

Suicides

Mrs. Iris Robinson: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what estimate he has made of the number of suicides that took place in Northern Ireland in 2003. [148952]

Mr. Pearson: Mortality statistics for 2003 have not been fully collated and therefore the latest available data relate to 2002. In 2002, there were 162 deaths registered in Northern Ireland due to "suicide and self-inflicted injury" and 21 deaths due to "undetermined injury whether accidentally or purposefully inflicted".

Traffic Calming

Mr. McGrady: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland if he will review the criteria used by Roads Service Northern Ireland to decide on areas to be included in traffic calming schemes. [149719]

Mr. Spellar: I have asked the Chief Executive of Roads Service to write to the hon. Gentleman in response to this question. A copy of the letter will be placed in the Library.

SCOTLAND

Departmental Advertising

Mr. Peter Duncan: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland what the total expenditure on information campaigns and advertising was for his Department for each year since 1997. [145655]

Mrs. McGuire: The Scotland Office was established on 1 July 1999.

Since that date, expenditure on information campaigns and advertising has been as follows:

	£
1999–2000	26,861
2000–01	270,494
2001–02	186,564
2002–03	10,930

Note:

Most of the expenditure during this period related to electoral registration information.

Mr. Peter Duncan: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland what systems are in place to ensure economies of scale in advertising purchasing between the Scottish Executive and his Department. [145679]

Mrs. McGuire: The Scotland Office works closely with the Scottish Executive on procurement and purchasing issues and participates in joint contracts, wherever possible.

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