House of Commons
Wednesday 17 March 2004
The House met at half-past Eleven o'clock
PRAYERS
[Mr. Speaker in the Chair]
Oral Answers to Questions
NORTHERN IRELAND
The Secretary of State was asked—
Internet Child Abuse
1. Lady Hermon (North Down) (UUP): What training is provided to Police Service of Northern Ireland officers in relation to combating internet child abuse. [160816]
The Minister of State, Northern Ireland Office (Jane Kennedy): Before I answer, I should explain that my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland is in Washington for the St. Patrick's day celebrations at the White House. It has become a tradition for leading figures in the peace process from both Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland to vacate the island on St. Patrick's day, and today they are in America.
The Police Service of Northern Ireland's crime training department provides investigating officers, child abuse and rape inquiry detectives, and specialist detectives in the computer crime unit with the training necessary to tackle internet child abuse. It covers areas such as computer analysis and search and seizure procedures for investigative purposes.
Lady Hermon: I wish you a happy St. Patrick's day, Mr. Speaker.
I am most grateful for the Minister's useful and informative answer, but given the seriousness and scale of the problem of internet child pornography in Northern Ireland and throughout the United Kingdom, is she content that the police have the resources they need to tackle it?
Jane Kennedy: We stay in close contact with the Chief Constable to ensure that resources are available. The nature of the training is very much a matter for the Chief Constable, but I have asked officials, in the light of the concerns that the hon. Lady has expressed, to ensure that internet safety is tabled as a subject for discussion
at the next meeting of the Northern Ireland child protection advisory group, at which the Education and Health Departments, the police, the probation service and the National Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children are represented.
Mr. Seamus Mallon (Newry and Armagh) (SDLP): I, too, wish everyone a happy day, on which we remember a Welshman who came to us some years ago—I refer not to the Secretary of State but to St. Patrick.
I am sure that the Minister shares my revulsion at the increasing number of attacks on elderly people in their own homes. Does she also share my view that those who prevent the police from doing their proper routine work on the streets, and those who refuse, in a cowardly way, to take part in the administration of policing are standing in the way of apprehending those people and bringing them before the courts?
Jane Kennedy: I strongly endorse my hon. Friend's remarks. He is absolutely right to point to the difficulties that the police experience when seeking to police certain areas. The problem is not widespread, but in some areas it is difficult for them to operate normally, so it is hard for them to be effective against crime. However, internet porn crime is taken very seriously by the Police Service of Northern Ireland. By its very nature, it is impossible to say how much of a problem it has become, but it is worth noting that there were 54 recorded offences last year, and the PSNI has an admirable record, with a 46 per cent. clear-up rate.
Small Businesses
2. Mr. Henry Bellingham (North-West Norfolk) (Con): How much public funding is allocated in financial year 2003–04 for support for small businesses in Northern Ireland. [160817]
The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Northern Ireland (Mr. Ian Pearson): In 2003–04, some £38 million has been offered to small businesses in Northern Ireland out of a total Invest Northern Ireland economic development budget of £107 million.
Mr. Bellingham : Does the Minister agree that if the small firms sector in Northern Ireland is to prosper, it is vital that micro-businesses are given incentives to incorporate through strong fiscal advantages? Does he agree that it will be a disaster if the Chancellor takes away those fiscal advantages, and what representations will he make?
Mr. Pearson: Small businesses and micro-businesses are an important part of the Northern Ireland economy, accounting for about a third of jobs and about half the gross value added. In our regulatory impact assessments, we take account of both small and micro-businesses.
The hon. Gentleman's other comments are perhaps best left to the Chancellor.
Mrs. Iris Robinson (Strangford) (DUP): The Minister will be aware that TK-ECC has decided to pull out of my constituency, leaving 500 employees out of work. What assistance will be given to those who wish to use their enhanced redundancy payments to start up small businesses?
Mr. Pearson: I express my regret at TK-ECC's decision. Through Invest Northern Ireland and other Government agencies, we have put in place a range of measures to support the work force and offer counselling and job advice, as well as advice on setting up in business. The hon. Lady will be aware of the current "go for it" campaign, which shows signs of being a major success. We hope to start 2,500 new businesses in Northern Ireland in the current financial year, and those of her constituents who want to start up their own business will find that support is readily available.
Mr. Iain Luke (Dundee, East) (Lab): Will the Minister join me in congratulating all those who organised the Belfast "start a business" week in late January, which was part of the "go for it" campaign? Does he agree that the 8,000 inquiries received in response to that campaign are a clear sign that enterprise is alive and kicking in Northern Ireland?
Mr. Pearson: I totally agree, and I am very impressed with the enterprise and ingenuity of people and businesses in Northern Ireland. We need to build on the tremendous successes already achieved in the past five years. In that time, we have had the highest increase in employment growth of any UK region and a significant number of new business start-ups. We must build on that success and ensure that we have stable and growing employment.
Police Reserve
3. Mr. Gregory Campbell (East Londonderry) (DUP): If he will make a statement on the future of the full-time police reserve in Northern Ireland. [160818]
The Minister of State, Northern Ireland Office (Jane Kennedy): The Police Service of Northern Ireland human resource strategy, which was endorsed by the policing board, stated that from April 2005 there would be a phased run-down of the full-time reserve over an 18-month period, but that that would be
- "subject to no further deterioration of the security situation and the continued success of the recruitment campaign for the Police Service".
Mr. Campbell : The Minister will be aware of continuing concern about police reserve personnel, and of continuing concern in the wider community about the ongoing criminal activities of paramilitaries and others and about the 50:50 police recruitment policy. Is there
not an opportunity for the Government to grasp the nettle and deal with those three issues, thereby restoring confidence in the wider community?
Jane Kennedy: I understand the uncertainty felt by full-time reserve members and the anxiety felt by their families, but I do not want to pre-judge the Chief Constable's security assessment and the advice that he might give to the policing board later this year.
Kevin Brennan (Cardiff, West) (Lab): Is it not important that any decisions taken on the full-time reserve are based not on political whim, but on the firm evidence of the Chief Constable's security assessment, perhaps after the heat of the marching season has died down?
Jane Kennedy: Yes, indeed. Any such decision must take into account policing resources and the security environment within which the Chief Constable operates. Again, we must be patient and wait to receive his advice later this year.
David Burnside (South Antrim) (UUP): The Minister appears to have said clearly that the full-time reserve will be retained if security requirements so demand. She will be aware of Gallaher's statement this week about a £1 million robbery of cigarettes on the border in December. A spokeswoman for Gallaher said that it had asked for reassurances from the Police Service of Northern Ireland about the safe transfer of cigarettes across the border, but that such guarantees were not given. Will the Minister ask the Chief Constable to give that guarantee and to maintain the full-time reserve?
Jane Kennedy: On the question of the full-time reserve, I reiterate that any decision will be based on the Chief Constable's security assessment. The final call on that must be based on policing needs, not political whims.
I am aware of the concerns expressed by Gallaher. In the context of organised crime in Northern Ireland, we recognise the difficulties that exist and the connections between the organised criminal networks and paramilitary organisations. Questions of resources are a matter for the Chief Constable, and we remain in close touch with him to ensure that he has the resources he needs to combat these important and serious problems.
Mr. Desmond Swayne (New Forest, West) (Con): The 114 full-time reservists of the force in Belfast, East account for more than half the policemen and women in the divisional command unit. Does the right hon. Lady agree that, given the current level of criminality, we could not even begin to contemplate dispensing with their services?
Jane Kennedy: No, I do not accept that. However, I welcome the hon. Member for New Forest, West (Mr. Swayne) to his new position on the Front Bench. I also wish the hon. Member for Cotswold (Mr. Clifton-Brown) an enjoyable period working in the usual channels, and I hope that he enjoys the job as much as I did. He made a short, but significant, contribution to the Conservative Front Bench when he occupied the position now occupied by his hon. Friend.
On the reserve, the House should consider the fact that a total of £2.1 billion has been allocated for this year and the following two years to policing in Northern Ireland. That is more than £400 per head of population per year—two and half times greater than the average in Great Britain—and a further £125 million has been made available for continued implementation of the Patten recommendations. That amounts to significant resources being committed to Northern Ireland to assist the police in dealing with the many and varied problems that they confront.
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