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Police

Mr. Lidington: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many police officers there were in Northern Ireland in each year since 1997. [160479]

Jane Kennedy: The figures requested are as follows.

	Regular(13)	Full Time Reserve	Part Time Reserve
1997	8,423	2,929	1,473
1998	8,485	2,982	1,324
1999	8,496	2,862	1,217
2000	8,393	2,688	1,152
2001	7,810	2,496	1,073
2002	6,976	2,184	1,001
2003	6,994	1,860	951
2004	7,319	1,640	868

⁽¹³⁾ The numbers of regular officers illustrated in the table does not include student officers.

Lady Hermon: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many complaints have been made against the Office of the Police Ombudsman for Northern Ireland in each year since its formation. [161293]

Jane Kennedy: The Ombudsman's Office advises that a Satisfaction Policy, Procedure and Complaints register was established in 2002. In the reporting year ending 31 March 2003 (the first full year of the register), 22 complaints were received and in the current year to date, 12 complaints have been received.

Prisons

Mr. McGrady: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many suicides took place in prisons in Northern Ireland in 2003; and what steps have been taken to eliminate the risk of suicide in prisons in Northern Ireland. [162143]

Jane Kennedy: There was a total of three suicides in Northern Ireland prisons in 2003. The Northern Ireland Prison Service has been reviewing its procedures in an effort to reduce the number of incidences of self-harm and suicide. A new policy entitled "Self Harm and Suicide Prevention Management" will be implemented on 29 March 2003.

Mr. McGrady: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what measures have been put in place to assess vulnerable inmates in prisons in Northern Ireland who are at risk of suicide; and what measures he is taking to protect those who have been assessed as being at risk of suicide in prison. [162144]

Jane Kennedy: Every prisoner on first committal to prison is examined by a member of the health care staff who will carry out an initial assessment of the possibility that they are at risk of self-harm or suicide. If the health care staff member has concerns about the prisoner, they will either formally notify the senior officers managing the House in which the prisoner is placed or alternatively will immediately place the prisoner in the Healthcare Unit. If the prisoner is located in a House one of the senior officers will immediately interview the

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prisoner. In Maghaberry Prison, each House also has an individual nurse officer allocated to it and the nurse will be involved in the on-going support for the prisoner. In either case, a medical officer will then examine the prisoner at the first available opportunity when a care plan will be prepared.

On a day-to-day basis, there is a formal procedure by which any member of staff, who is concerned that a prisoner is at risk of self-harm or suicide, can initiate an assessment. All prison staff are involved in providing support to prisoners who are deemed to be at risk. Health care support is provided through full-time and part-time medical officers, general practitioners, consultant forensic psychiatrists, specialist registrars in mental health and health care staff—a large number of whom have nurse qualifications with a significant proportion having a mental health qualification.

Road Taxes

Mr. Beggs: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how much revenue was raised from (a) road tax licences and (b) road fuel tax in Northern Ireland in each of the last two years. [162668]

Angela Smith: The revenue raised in Northern Ireland from road tax licences for the calendar year 2002 was £112,800,934 and for 2003, £124,646,824.

Road fuel tax is collected on a United Kingdom wide basis and separate figures are not available for Northern Ireland.

Security Costs

Mr. Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what assessment he has made of how security costs have changed since the Northern Ireland peace process began. [154840]

Jane Kennedy: There have been many positive changes to security since the peace process began ranging from reductions in army bases to changes associated with implementing the Patten report on policing. Given the wide range of such changes it would be difficult to determine security savings without a significant costing exercise that would incur disproportionate cost.

Speaker's Office

Mrs. Iris Robinson: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what the cost of the Speaker's Office in the Northern Ireland Assembly has been since 1998. [160613]

Mr. Spellar: Expenditure on the Office of the Speaker from 1 April 1999 to 29 February 2004 is £834,666 for staff costs and £108,266 for general administration costs. Figures prior to 1 April 1999 are not available as the then New Northern Ireland Assembly was developing its financial systems and expenditure could not be identified against specific cost centres.

Terrorism

Rev. Martin Smyth: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland if he will list the terrorist (a) actions, (b) beatings and (c) abductions in Northern Ireland

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since 1 January; and to which terrorist group the Chief Constable of the Police Service of Northern Ireland has attributed responsibility in each case. [161342]

Jane Kennedy: The following table provides details of paramilitary activity since 1 January this year attributed to Loyalist and Republican groups. It is not possible to give an accurate assessment of the number of abductions as often victims of such crime do not co-operate with the police. The Chief Constable has stated publicly that he believes persons connected with the Provisional IRA were involved in the abduction of a male in Belfast earlier this month.

Security Situation Statistics for Northern Ireland 1 January—29 February 2004

	Perceived Attribution(14)
	By Loyalist	By Republican
Number of deaths(15)	—	—
Number of shooting incidents3	22	15
Number of bombing incidents(17)	2	3
Casualties as a result of paramilitary style assaults	13	10
Casualties as a result of paramilitary shootings	22	11

⁽¹⁴⁾ Attribution is as perceived by the PSNI based on the information available

⁽¹⁵⁾ Includes all deaths due to the security situation

⁽¹⁶⁾ The following types of incidents are included:

Shots fired by terrorists

Paramilitary-style attacks involving shootings

Shots heard (and later confirmed)

Other violent incidents where shots are fired (eg armed robbery)

⁽¹⁷⁾ An individual bombing incident may involve one or more explosive devices. Incidents recorded include explosions and defusings. Incidents involving hoax devices, petrol bombings or incendaries are excluded.

Statistics are provisional and may be subject to minor amendment.

Mr. Swire: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many people there are on the mainland UK exiled from Northern Ireland because of threats from terrorist organisations; and what the cost is to public funds in 2003–04 of such people. [155648]

Angela Smith: There are no official figures on the number of people exiled from Northern Ireland as a result of paramilitary intimidation as not all incidents are reported. The needs of exiles are examined in detail in the Legacy Report, an independent needs analysis of victims of the Troubles living in Great Britain. One of the major contributors to this research was Maranatha, a Christian community that has considerable experience in this area. Maranatha estimates that around four people per month are exiled from Northern Ireland to Great Britain.

Assistance to exiles is provided across a number of agencies both statutory and voluntary. However, in the absence of official figures, it is not possible to quantify the cost to public funds.

Waste Management

Mr. Beggs: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what measures are in place in Northern Ireland to ensure compliance with the EU Directive regarding the disposal of fridges and freezers; and if he will make a statement. [162693]

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Angela Smith: The Department of the Environment has been working in partnership with District Councils in Northern Ireland to put in place a contract to dispose of waste fridges and freezers collected from Council civic amenity sites.

The contractor operates a fully licensed facility in Great Britain, where the waste units are demanufactured, removing and destroying the ozone depleting substances they contain, in line with the requirements of the EU Regulation, while recycling almost all of the remainder of the constituent parts.

The use of a smart tagging system, together with independent monthly checks on the amount of ODS recovered; provide an end-to-end audit trail to demonstrate full compliance with the EU Regulation.

All the Councils in Northern Ireland have signed up to the contract and work has begun on removing the backlog of waste units.

Mr. Beggs: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what steps have been taken to implement waste management plans in Northern Ireland, broken down by each area; and if he will make a statement [162694]

Angela Smith: The three District Council Waste Management Partnership Groups (arc 21, Swamp and North West Region Waste Management Group) have prepared Implementation Action Plans (IAPs), which have been submitted to the Department of the Environment. These Plans detail the steps and expenditure required to implement the Waste Management Plan for each group. The Department has provided guidance to the District Councils on Key Performance Indicators to monitor progress towards the key targets identified in the Northern Ireland Waste Management Strategy. The IAPs are the subject of ongoing review to ensure that appropriate measures are implemented to meet these key targets.

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