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Fruit and Vegetable Subsidy

Lady Hermon: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland if he will introduce a fruit and vegetable subsidy scheme for low income families in Northern Ireland. [161288]

Angela Smith: The Food Benefit Schemes (Northern Ireland) Order provides for the establishment of a new Welfare Food Scheme or Schemes in Northern Ireland. It is anticipated that the Department of Health, Social Services and Public Safety will be consulting on the detail of a new Scheme in Spring 2004. It is intended that the new Scheme will add fresh fruit and vegetables to the liquid milk and infant formula already available through the current scheme to low income families.

General de Chastelain

Mrs. Iris Robinson: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many full days General John de Chastelain has spent in Northern Ireland during 2004. [160591]

Jane Kennedy: During 2004 General de Chastelain has been engaged in decommissioning work in Northern Ireland for approximately one week per month.

Health Professionals

Mrs. Iris Robinson: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what precautionary steps are to be taken to ensure that health professionals from other EU member states are fit to practice on arrival in Northern Ireland, with particular reference to the imminent expansion of the European Union. [160629]

Angela Smith: All acceding States are committed to ensuring that the qualifications they award to doctors, nurses responsible for general care, midwives, dentists and pharmacists who begin their training on or after the date of accession meet specified minimum requirements. It is for the European Commission, who are closely monitoring their progress, to see that these obligations are met. They intend to update member states shortly.

Other migrant workers will be entitled to a comparative scrutiny of their qualifications and experience against any national requirements, and, in the event of a substantial difference, may be required to undertake additional training or experience.

Health Promotion

Mrs. Iris Robinson: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what steps are being taken to enhance (a) co-operation and (b) communication between local agencies involved in health promotion. [161684]

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Angela Smith: Each Health and Social Services Board has established a multi-sectoral Investing for Health Partnership to enhance co-operation between agencies to promote the health and well-being of the people in their areas.

The Department of Health, Social Services and Public Safety has also set up a Regional Health Promotion Planning Group, chaired by the Chief Executive of the Health Promotion Agency for Northern Ireland, to advise on the development of health promotion policies generally and improve communication in health promotion across Northern Ireland. Investing for Health Partnerships are represented on the Group.

Health Service Employees

Mrs. Iris Robinson: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland if he will make a statement on the contribution made by health service employees aged 65 or over to the NHS in Northern Ireland. [160464]

Angela Smith: HPSS employees do a difficult and demanding job which serves the sick and vulnerable in our society. Age is not a factor in determining the value of the contribution of HPSS employees.

Mrs. Iris Robinson: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many health service employees were aged 65 years and above in Northern Ireland on the latest date for which figures are available. [160585]

Angela Smith: The number of employees aged 65 years and above working in HPSS organisations in Northern Ireland as at 31 December 2003 was 99 (or 65.4 whole time equivalent).

Human Rights Commission

Lembit Öpik: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland if he will extend the term of one or more of the Commissioners due to leave the Northern Ireland Human Rights Commission on 29 February; and if he will make a statement. [159855]

Mr. Spellar: Under guidance from the Office of the Commissioner for Public Appointments, there is an expectation that appointments to upper tier bodies such as the Northern Ireland Human Rights Commission should be for no more than two terms.

Lembit Öpik: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland for what reasons his Department has decided to continue to pay those members of the Northern Ireland Human Rights Commission who withdrew from the business of the Commission in September 2003; and if he will make a statement. [159856]

Mr. Spellar: Both Commissioners who withdrew from the Northern Ireland Human Rights Commission in September 2003, while not actively engaged in Commission business, have continued to receive papers. It is on this basis and in the hope that the two Commissioners would re-engage with their fellow Commissioners that the Northern Ireland Office has continued to pay them.

The term of appointment of one of the two Commissioners who withdrew from the Commission's activities expired on 29 February.

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Lembit Öpik: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland when he expects to make a definitive response to the Review of Powers which was submitted to him by the Northern Ireland Rights Commission on 28 February 2001; for what reasons he has not yet made such a response; and if he will make a statement. [159857]

Mr. Spellar: The deadline for responses to the Government's consultation document on the Commission's Review of Powers submission was 16 August 2002, but suspension of the Assembly then intervened.

The Joint Declaration committed the Government to bring the consultation on our draft response to the Northern Ireland Human Rights Commission's Review of Powers to an end following restoration of devolution. This was subsequently brought forward to October 2003. However the election in November and an outstanding response from a key consultee made this impossible.

The Northern Ireland Human Rights Commission is a key institution of the Belfast Agreement. The Government want it to succeed and are committed to helping it to do so. We are considering our response to the Review of Powers as part of a package of measures to ensure that we have a strong, independent and self-confident Commission, which draws support from all parts of the community. I intend to make an announcement in the near future.

In-patient Beds

Mr. Lidington: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many staffed inpatient beds there were in Northern Ireland in each year since 1997. [160496]

Angela Smith: Information on the average number of available inpatient beds is shown in the following table. Average available beds are defined as the average number of beds available during the year in wards that are open overnight, measured at midnight. Hospitals may also have a number of beds in wards, which are open only during the day. Beds reserved for day case admission or regular day admission are not included.

Average available beds in Northern Ireland 1997–2003

	Northern Ireland Average
1997–98	9,005.8
1998–99	8,817.8
1999–2000	8,638.8
2000–01	8,571.0
2001–02	8,419.1
2002–03	8,301.3

Source:

Aggregate Hospital Return KH03a.

Insurance Companies

Lembit Öpik: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what powers are available to him to ensure that those insurance companies operating within Northern Ireland who are not members of the Association of British Insurers are able to discharge their present and future obligations to those who have placed business with them; and if he will make a statement. [161676]

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Mr. Pearson: The Secretary of State for Northern Ireland has no powers in this regard. Insurance is a reserved matter, and the regulation of the insurance industry in the UK is a matter for the Financial Services Authority, within the framework of the Financial Services and Markets Act 2000 and associated secondary legislation.

Police Training College

Lady Hermon: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland (1) what funding has been allocated to the construction of the new Police Service of Northern Ireland training college; and if he will make a statement; [161381]

(2) what he expects the annual budget of the new police training college to be. [161289]

Jane Kennedy: The provision of the new Police College is a Public Private Partnership Project. The detailed specification is currently being developed by the Police Service of Northern Ireland. The annual cost of operating this college will not be known until the tendering process, which commences later this year, has been completed.

Medical Staff

Mr. Lidington: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many (a) doctors and (b) nurses there were per head of population in Northern Ireland in each year since 1997. [160472]

Angela Smith: The information requested is not available.

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Mr. Lidington: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many (a) doctors and (b) nurses were practising in Northern Ireland per 1,000 population in each year since 1997. [160481]

Angela Smith: The information requested is as follows.

Number of doctors, qualified nurses and unqualified nurses working in HPSS organisations per 1,000 population in each year since 1997.

As at	Doctors(9)		Qualified Nurses(10)		Unqualified Nurses
September	Headcount	(11)WTE	Headcount	(11)WTE	Headcount	(11)WTE
1997	2.1	1.9	7.8	6.7	2.3	2.0
1998	2.2	2.0	7.8	6.7	2.3	2.0
1999	2.1	2.0	7.9	6.7	2.4	2.1
2000	2.2	2.0	8.0	6.8	2.4	2.1
2001	2.2	2.1	8.0	6.8	2.5	2.2
2002	2.4	2.2	8.4	7.1	2.7	2.3
2003	2.4	2.3	8.8	7.5	2.7	2.3

⁽⁹⁾ Doctors include medical doctors and general practitioners but exclude those doctors practising exclusively in the private sector

⁽¹⁰⁾ Figures for qualified nurses include health visitors, district nurses, midwives, school nurses, community psychiatric nurses, student health visitors, student midwives and other qualified nurses

⁽¹¹⁾ Whole Time Equivalent

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