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19 Apr 2004 : Column 279W—continued

Civil Service Pay Offer

Mr. Kevin McNamara: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland whether the 5.57 per cent. civil service pay offer made to the trade union NIPSA for 2003 had Treasury approval. [164943]

Mr. Pearson: It is not the Government's practice to discuss the internal processes that underlie the handling of pay negotiations. All concerned within Government are working together to take forward the Government's firm and fair approach to civil service pay, which is that pay should not jeopardise the imperative of improving services, but should take account of the need to retain, recruit and motivate staff within the spending and delivery plans set in the Northern Ireland Budget.
 
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Complementary Medicine

Mr. Gregory Campbell: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what the budget for complementary medicine in the National Health Service in Northern Ireland was in 2003. [165997]

Angela Smith: The Department did not make any specific resources available for Complementary Medicine in 2003.

It is a matter for HPSS clinicians or healthcare professionals with lead clinical responsibility for the individual patient to decide whether an individual patient could benefit from the use of a particular therapy.

Departmental Buildings

Mr. Llwyd: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what (a) renovation and (b) maintenance projects
 
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on buildings (i) owned and (ii) rented by his Department were undertaken in each of the last five years; and what the associated costs were of each. [163947]

Mr. Pearson: Due to the number of buildings involved and the differing methods of recording by the various Departments of the Northern Ireland Administration and the Northern Ireland Office, disaggregation of the figure-work by project and between owned and rented buildings in line with the question would involve disproportionate cost. The table below gives the information for renovation and maintenance expenditure on both owned and rented buildings for each year.
£

Year	Value of internal renovation/alteration/refurbishment undertaken	Value of maintenance work carried out
1999–2000	412,790.22	7,985,123.65
2000–2001	737,131.85	7,721,766.60
2001–2002	1,067,010.50	6,411,959.63
2002–2003	1,412,010.30	8,016,377.12
2003–2004	1,661,491.60	9,890,600.50

Departmental Computers

Bob Spink: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what plans he has to update computer (a) hardware and (b) software standard packages used in his Department. [166368]

Mr. Pearson: The Northern Ireland Civil Service makes extensive use of Information and Communications Technology (ICT) in carrying out its day-to-day business.

The 11 Departments of the Northern Ireland Administration have an ongoing programme for updating their computer hardware and software. In the case of PCs and associated office automation software the average period between updates is three to four years; for application servers it is currently five to seven years.

A separate programme is under way to provide a common operating system platform for the 11 Departments of the Northern Ireland Administration.

The Northern Ireland Office is modernising its office IT system (covering hardware and software) through a programme called Flax.

Departmental Efficiency Savings

Mr. Trimble: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what plans he has to pursue efficiency savings in each of the Northern Ireland Departments similar to those proposed in the Efficiency Reviews outlined in the recent Budget. [165949]

Mr. Pearson: A similar focus on promoting efficiency within the public sector will be applied in Northern Ireland, with the aim of releasing resources for reallocation to front line services. This will be a central theme to the Northern Ireland Priorities and Budget process, running throughout 2004.
 
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Drug Rehabilitation

Lady Hermon: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what research has been undertaken to ascertain the level of (a) need and (b) demand for a dedicated drug rehabilitation service in Northern Ireland. [164539]

Angela Smith: There has been no research undertaken to establish the level of need or demand for a dedicated drug rehabilitation service in Northern Ireland.

The need for such research was identified as one of a number of research priorities within the Regional Drug and Alcohol Action Plan and the intention was to provide a report to the Department by October 2003. However, a previously commissioned Audit of Statutory Addiction Services which would inform the needs assessment proposal took longer than anticipated and the final report was not received in the Department until early March 2004. At its next meeting in May 2004, the Treatment Working Group will consider their priorities for the coming year, including the needs assessment for a rehabilitation service, and will make decisions about such priorities within available resources.

I will write to the hon. Lady after this meeting to inform her of the outcome.

Employment Statistics

Mr. Beggs: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many (a) males over 65 years and (b) females over 60 years are in full-time employment in Northern Ireland. [165778]

Mr. Gardiner: It is not possible to provide separate estimates from the Labour Force Survey (LFS) for (a) males over 65 years and (b) females over 60 years of age in full-time employment only, because the estimates at Autumn 2003 do not reach the minimum threshold level required for a sufficiently reliable estimate to be quoted. However, the LFS does provide sufficiently reliable estimates of the total number of males over 65 years and females over 60 years of age in employment (full-time and part-time) of which there were 16,000 at Autumn 2003. The estimated number of females over 60 years of age in employment (full-time and part-time) at this time was 10,000.

Energy Costs

Mr. Lidington: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland whether he has secured European Commission approval for his proposal to commit public expenditure to reduce the costs of energy to business. [166015]

Mr. Gardiner: The Department of Enterprise, Trade and Investment is working, in conjunction with the Department of Trade and Industry, on the preparation of an application to the European Commission for the required State Aid clearance of the proposed financial intervention.

Falls

Mr. Beggs: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many people over 60 years were admitted to long-term care following a fall in each of the last three years, broken down by health trust area. [165768]

 
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Angela Smith: The information requested is not readily available and could be provided only at disproportionate cost.

Fishing Industry

Mrs. Iris Robinson: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland pursuant to his answer of 18 December 2003, Official Report, column 1078W, on the fishing industry, if he will set out a timescale for the (a) recommencement and (b) completion of a Strategic Review of the Northern Ireland Fishing Industry. [165945]

Mr. Pearson: The Taskforce for South Down and the Prime Minister's Strategy Unit have both reported on the strategic context for Northern Ireland's fishing industry. These exercises have both entailed considerable consultation, research and analysis. I have decided not to undertake another review but rather to focus on implementing the recommendations of the South Down Taskforce and to move ahead, in consultation with local interests, to address the implications for Northern Ireland of the Strategy Unit's Report, "Net Benefits".

Health Board Funding

Mrs. Iris Robinson: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what action he has taken to attempt to redress the imbalance of funding through the Eastern Health Board's Capitation Formula. [166047]

Angela Smith: Equity in resource allocation within a Board area is a matter for the Board concerned. The Eastern Board is working with all of its HSS Trusts to ensure that, within the resources available, the issue of equity is addressed throughout all its local populations.

A review of the Capitation Formula, currently used to allocate the available resources to HSS Boards, is due to be published for consultation in May 2004. This may alter the equity position to some extent within the Eastern Board localities.

The Department will continue to work closely with the Eastern Board on this matter.

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