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21 Apr 2004 : Column 569W—continued
Paramilitary Offences
Mr. Laurence Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland pursuant to his answer of 17 March, Official Report, columns 305–6W, on paramilitary offences, how many of the 106 deaths have been solved through the arrest and conviction of the people responsible; and if he will make a statement. [165690]
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Mr. Pearson: The following table provides details of the number of security related murders and charges in respect of these murders.
| Perceived attribution(24) | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| By Loyalist | By Republican | Total | |
| Number of persons murdered | 53 | 49 | (25)102 |
| Number of murders for which someone has been charged | 18 | 1 | 19 |
(24) Attribution is as perceived by PSNI based on the information available.
(25) Excludes 4 deaths where the deceased was not murdered by terrorists but died in security related circumstances.
With regard to criminal proceedings there have been convictions for murder in respect of four deaths; convictions for lesser offences in respect of three deaths (including two for manslaughter); and directions of no prosecutions by the DPP or acquittals at trial in respect of five deaths. Of the remaining seven deaths where murder charges have been brought by police, the relevant cases are awaiting direction by the DPP or have yet to reach trial.
Peace II Programme
Mr. Peter Robinson: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland pursuant to the answer of 3 February 2004, Official Report, column 868W on PEACE II Programme, if he will break down each of the monthly figures by organisation to which money was allocated; under what measure number the PEACE II money was allocated; and how much money not allocated from the PEACE II funds is accessible by the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development. [166832]
Mr. Pearson: The Department of Agriculture and Rural Development's budget for 2003–04, excluding PEACE II, totalled £478.5 million.
It is not possible to provide a breakdown of the monthly expenditure figures provided in my answer of 3 February 2004, Official Report, column 868W. The figures given then were extracted from data that was collected by the Special EU Programmes Body for weekly reports and was not broken down at that time to project level.
The following data is drawn from the Structural Funds database at 16 April 2004 and represents a more up-to-date position of the expenditure entered onto the database during the six months in question:
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Police Service of Northern Ireland
Mr. Dodds: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many (a) regular, (b) full-time reserve and (c) part-time reserve police officers were (i) in the establishment plan and (ii) in place in North Belfast in each year since 1996. [156629]
21 Apr 2004 : Column 572W
Mr. Pearson: The following table shows the numbers of regular, full-time reserve and part-time reserve officers based in North Belfast since 1996. It should be noted that the establishment figure for each District Command Unit is determined by the Chief Constable.
(26) CID not included.
(27) No establishment data available.
21 Apr 2004 : Column 573W
Lady Hermon: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what estimate he has made of the number of police reservists who would lose their jobs within each Police Service of Northern Ireland District Command Unit if the police reserve were to be phased out. [164659]
Mr. Pearson: The Patten Report recommended that "the future police service should not include a Full Time Reserve", and this recommendation was accepted by the Government, subject to the security situation. In October 2002, the Chief Constable submitted a human resource strategy to the Policing Board. It proposed that, subject to no further deterioration in the security situation, and the continued success of recruitment to the Police Service, the Full Time Reserve would be phased out over an 18 month period starting in April 2005.
The Chief Constable will review these matters later this year, and will subsequently put forward advice to the Board. An assessment of the potential operational impact on individual District Command Units of any phasing out process will form part of the Chief Constable's review.
Mr. Beggs: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many (a) protestant and (b) Roman Catholic applicants who have qualified for appointment to the Police Service of Northern Ireland since the introduction of 50:50 recruiting have not been offered employment with the PSNI; and how many such applicants have passed the entrance examinations on more than one occasion. [152461]
Jane Kennedy: From competitions 1 to 4, 1,706 non-Catholic and 604 Catholic applicants have qualified for appointment to the Police Service of Northern Ireland. Of these, 530 of each community background have been appointed. Of the qualified Catholic candidates, all were offered appointment, but some withdrew in the time intervening between qualification for appointment and the time of appointment.
Appointments from competition 5 have started, although the pool is not yet finalised, and the pool for competition 6 is not expected to be ready until April this year.
The information on the number of candidates who have passed the entrance examinations (i.e. have been successful in becoming qualified candidates and reaching the merit pool) more than once is taking some time to collate. As soon as the figures are available, they will be forwarded.
21 Apr 2004 : Column 574W
Mrs. Iris Robinson: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what the transgressions that bar an individual from becoming a member of the Police Service of Northern Ireland are. [164924]
Mr. Pearson: Transgressions that bar an individual from becoming a member of the Police Service of Northern Ireland are set out in Schedule 1 of the Police (Recruitment) (Northern Ireland) Regulations 2001, entitled "Criminal Convictions etc", in respect of eligibility for appointment as a police trainee in the Police Service of Northern Ireland.
The Police Service of Northern Ireland (Recruitment of Police Support Staff) Regulations 2002 similarly set out the procedures in relation to support staff appointments.
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