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5 May 2004 : Column 1532W—continued

Wind Farms

Janet Anderson: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence whether his Department issues guidelines in relation to planning applications for wind farms to be located within a certain distance of military installations involving radar. [169488]

Mr. Caplin: I will write to my hon. Friend and place a copy of my letter in the Library of the House.

NORTHERN IRELAND

Asthma

Mrs. Iris Robinson: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what steps he has taken to encourage local health and social care groups to adopt asthma as a particular interest among long-term conditions; and if he will make a statement. [169659]

Angela Smith: One of the key actions set out in Priorities for Action 2003–04 required Local Health and Social Care Groups (LHSCGs) to develop at least one project to increase the capacity of primary care to address chronic diseases, such as diabetes, Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD), asthma and coronary heart disease, in the primary care setting to reduce pressure on the hospital sector.

It is a matter for the Groups, based on their assessment of local need, to decide which of these chronic diseases is a priority in their local area. To date none of the projects undertaken focus specifically on asthma but some of the projects covering respiratory illnesses in the widest sense should bring some benefits to asthma sufferers.

I should also add that the Department is currently working to put in place a strategy to identify how the full spectrum of respiratory service provision, including asthma care in the primary care setting, should be configured up to 2010.

Autism

Mrs. Iris Robinson: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what research he has collated on the earlier diagnosis of autistic spectrum disorders in the Province; and if he will make a statement. [167718]

Angela Smith: There has been no DHSSPS funded research undertaken in Northern Ireland on the earlier diagnosis of autistic spectrum disorders.

Child Support Agency

Mr. Gregory Campbell: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many cases have been dealt with by the Child Support Agency in Northern Ireland in each of the last two years. [170481]

Mr. Spellar: Over the last two years the Child Support Agency's (CSA) live load has consisted of 33,000 cases, representing some 50,000 children.

In order to maintain the existing caseload and administer new applications in each of the last two years
 
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the CSA has carried out the following activities:

Case activities	2002–03	2003–04
Applications cleared (in year)	8,703	8,184
Change of circumstances processed	13,972	12,803
Account inquiries handled	52,424	51,410
Cases requiring debt management	12,129	13,594

The total child support maintenance collected by the Agency in each of the last two years is as follows:

	Collections (£)
2002–03	12,520,000
2003–04	12,645,000

Conservation Area Status

Lady Hermon: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what effect the designation of conservation area status has upon the protection of trees within its boundaries. [170033]

Angela Smith: The effect of conservation area status is to prohibit the cutting down, topping, lopping, uprooting, wilful damage or wilful destruction of those trees in the conservation area that are not already protected by a Tree Preservation Order. Anyone carrying out such works is guilty of an offence and liable on summary conviction to a fine not exceeding £30,000, or on conviction on indictment, to a fine.

A person may, however, serve notice upon the Department of the intended works and may carry out such works, either with the consent of the Department or after a period of six weeks from the date of the notice but before the expiry of a period of two years from that date. The Department may also decide, however, to protect the tree or trees in question by applying a Tree Preservation Order before the expiry of the six-week period.

District Policing Partnerships

Mr. Swayne: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland when the Dungannon and South Tyrone District policing partnership will be established. [170480]

Mr. Pearson: Dungannon and South Tyrone District Policing Partnership (DPP) is the only one of the 26 DPPs yet to be established.

After very careful consideration over a period of time, and following consultation with the Northern Ireland Policing Board, my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, decided to issue on 2 February a letter of direction to the Mayor of Dungannon and South Tyrone borough council requiring the council to establish its DPP. This action was in accordance with Section 15 of the Police (Northern Ireland) Act 2000, which sets out the steps to be taken when a council has failed to set up a DPP. The letter that issued on 2 February gave the council two calendar months to reconsider its position.
 
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The council have sought and obtained two extensions to this deadline and the new deadline for the council to comply with the direction is 28 May. It is hoped that the council will use this further period to reconsider their position and establish the DPP.

Dublin/Monaghan Bombings

Adam Price: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what information he has studied in relation to the extent of British security service involvement in the Dublin and Monaghan bombings of 1974. [169075]

Mr. Paul Murphy: As part of the Government's endeavours to helping Mr. Justice Barron's inquiry into the Dublin and Monaghan bombings as fully as possible, my predecessors and I examined all the potentially relevant information uncovered in the files of this Department and other Departments and agencies. There was no information to indicate that the British security forces were involved in the bombings, or that they were aware of the perpetrators' plans in advance. Had such information been uncovered, it would have been passed to Mr. Justice Barron.

Environment and Heritage Service

Lady Hermon: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland if he will make a statement on how the Environment and Heritage Service, Northern Ireland has fulfilled its obligations towards The Priory, In Holywood, County Down. [170034]

Angela Smith: Holywood Priory was scheduled for protection in 1932 under the 1926 Ancient Monuments Act and was re-scheduled in 1986 under the Historic Monuments Act (NI) 1971.

The Environment and Heritage Service (EHS) has carried out regular inspections of the condition of the Priory. Condition reports have recorded little evidence of deterioration. However, a need to remove some potentially damaging vegetation was identified. North Down Borough Council, the owners responsible for the care of The Priory, have been made aware of this and have removed the vegetation.

Under Policy BH1 of Planning Policy Statement 6—"The Preservation of Archaeological Remains of Regional Importance and their settings"—EHS has also advised Planning Service on various planning applications in the area which affected this site and/or its setting.

European Parliamentary Elections (Northern Ireland) Regulations

Lady Hermon: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland when the European Parliamentary Elections (Northern Ireland) Regulations 2004 were first made available in the Vote Office. [170247]

Mr. Spellar: Copies of the European Parliamentary Elections (Northern Ireland) Regulations 2004 were first made available in the Vote Office on 18 March 2004.

Fair Employment (Complaints)

Mr. McNamara: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, how many formal complaints
 
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alleging breaches of fair employment and equal opportunity legislation have been made to the Office of Industrial Tribunals and the Office of Fair Employment Tribunals in (a) 2002, (b) 2003 and (c) 2004 to date. [170405]

Mr. Spellar: The information is as follows.
Number of complaints

	Complaints registered with Fair Employment Tribunal	Equal Opportunity complaints registered with Industrial Tribunals
2002	481	1,014
2003	466	942
2004 (to end of March)	175	280

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