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8 Sept 2004 : Column 1311W—continued

Wind Farms (West Somerset)

Mr. Liddell-Grainger: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what further consultations there have been on the positioning of wind farms near the helicopter base on the West Somerset coast. [186496]

Mr. Caplin: Consultations are in progress with the developer about the positioning of a wind farm near Hinkley Point Power Station. This has implications for the Klue Range at Kilve Bend.

We are aware that our comments on the planning application need to be with West Somerset district council within 21 days of 17 August 2004.

NORTHERN IRELAND

Terrorist Threat

9. David Burnside: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what assessment he has made of the present (a) Republican and (b) Loyalist terrorist threat in the Province. [187651]

Mr. Pearson: Dissident republicans are a threat, although many of their activities have been thwarted, intercepted or nullified by the security forces. We remain concerned at the level of paramilitary activity and control exercised within communities by both Republican and Loyalist paramilitary organisations. The Independent Monitoring Commission will report again on this area next month.
 
8 Sept 2004 : Column 1312W
 

Security Situation

10. Mr. Mackay: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland if he will make a statement on the security situation in the Province. [187652]

Mr. Pearson: The security situation is relatively benign. While there was some regrettable violence at the Ardoyne the marching season has been largely peaceful and interface areas have also been fairly quiet.

Dissident Republicans remain a threat and have been targeting members of the District Policing Partnerships and disrupting traffic by hoax devices, but their activities have for the most part been thwarted, intercepted or nullified by good policing operations.

Ministerial Accountability

11. Mr. Andrew Turner: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what mechanisms are in place to ensure the accountability of his Department's Ministers to electors in Northern Ireland. [187653]

Mr. Paul Murphy: We remain focused on our main aim of restoring devolved Government to Northern Ireland, on a stable and inclusive basis, with institutions accountable to local Ministers.

Higher Education

12. Mr. Hume: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many full-time undergraduate university students normally domiciled in Northern Ireland will be at university in the academic year 2004–05; and how many full-time undergraduate university places are available in Northern Ireland. [187654]

Mr. Gardiner: It is too early to say how many Northern Ireland domiciled students will take up full-time undergraduates places in 2004–05, the clearing process is not yet complete and data on student placements will not be available to the Department until late 2005. There are some 28,000 full-time undergraduate places planned for the university sector in Northern Ireland this year.

Decommissioning

13. David Taylor: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what recent assessment has been made of the (a) value and (b) effectiveness of the decommissioning process. [187655]

Mr. Pearson: In 1998 the Loyalist Volunteer Force carried out an act of decommissioning in Northern Ireland. The IRA have carried out three acts of decommissioning (2001, 2002 and 2003). In the latest act of decommissioning by the IRA (2003) the Independent International Commission on Decommissioning reported that the arms comprised light, medium and heavy ordnance and associated munitions. They included automatic weapons, ammunition, explosives and explosive material.

These acts of decommissioning have put arms beyond use which otherwise could have been used in acts of terrorism. This is the start of a process that will ultimately result in all paramilitary weaponry being put beyond use and return Northern Ireland to a normal democratic society.
 
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Advisers/Consultants

Bob Spink: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how much his Department and its agencies and non-departmental public bodies spent on external consultants and advisers in each of the last three years. [172435]

Mr. Pearson: The expenditure incurred by the Department, its agencies and non-departmental public bodies on external consultants and advisers in each of the last three years is as follows:
Total Department, agencies and NDPBs

	Total (£)
2001–02	31,274,849
2002–03	35,267,313
2003–04	43,436,915

Antiville Estate, Larne

Mr. Beggs: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland when he plans to take a decision on the proposal by the Board of the Northern Ireland Housing Executive to demolish properties in the Antiville Estate in Larne. [187714]

Mr. Spellar: The Northern Ireland Housing Executive's proposals to demolish properties on the Antiville Estate were received by the Department for Social Development (DSD) on 30 July 2004. These are currently being considered in terms of their technical merit, value for money and their potential to achieve the regeneration objectives. I am aware that the proposals have generated a considerable amount of local concern and, in view of this, no decision will be taken until DSD has received assurances that local concerns have been addressed.

Careers Strategy

Mr. McGrady: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what progress has been made on the Careers Strategy following the recommendations contained in the Valuing Careers Strategy. [178240]

Mr. Pearson: "Valuing Carers" was published in April 2002 and contained 19 recommendations for providing a range of support services to carers.
 
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An inter-departmental group, led by the Department of Health, Social Services and Public Safety, was tasked with taking forward the recommendations contained in "Valuing Carers", and their work has formed the basis of a draft Strategy for Carers. Departmental officials are currently drawing up the final draft of the Strategy, which will then be referred to the Under-Secretary, my hon. Friend the Member for Basildon (Angela Smith), for consideration and approval.

Circuses

Mrs. Iris Robinson: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what authority local councils in Northern Ireland have to ban animal based circuses from their property. [187456]

Angela Smith: The Local Government (Miscellaneous Provisions) (Northern Ireland) Order 1985 requires places where circuses (and other types of public entertainment) are to be held to have entertainments licences. The licences are granted by district councils and are subject to certain terms, conditions and restrictions that councils may specify. Councils do not have powers under the 1985 Order to refuse entertainments licences in respect of places where circuses are to be held simply because they involve animals. However, like all landowners, councils can decide whether circuses, or other types of public entertainment, may be held on their properties.

Civil Servants

Mr. Dodds: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many recruitment exercises for Grade 5 civil servants have been undertaken in Northern Ireland in the last two years; who carried them out; and what the cost was in each case. [186020]

Mr. Pearson: In 2002–03, 13 competitions were run to fill vacancies at Grade 5 level. 12 competitions were run in 2003–04. All were carried out by the Recruitment Service of the Department of Finance and Personnel.

The total cost (including notional staff costs, advertising and travel and subsistence charges) for each competition is listed in the following tables.

During 2003–04 a generic Grade 5 level competition was begun to fill vacancies across the NICS. This was carried out by PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP on behalf of DFP. In accordance with Part 2, paragraph 13 of the Code of Practice on Access to Government Information (Third party's commercial confidences), it would be inappropriate to disclose the cost of this competition.
2002–03

Competition	Department	Total costs (£)
Deputy Chief Veterinary Officer SC/10/02	DARD	15,809
Director of Built Heritage SC/11/02	DOE	46,227
Chief Executive DVTA SC/12/02	DOE	22,044
Director of Secondary Care SC/14/02	DHSSPS	8,317
Director of NI Bureau, Washington SC/2/03	OFMDFM	16,884
Assistant Chief Inspector SC/3/02	DE	9,053
Chief Executive and Registrar of Titles SC/4/02	DFP	14,471
Public Expenditure Posts SC/4/03	DFP	18,777
Assistant Crown Solicitor SC/5/03	NIO	11,284
Deputy Director of Communications SC/6/02	OFMDFM	10,715
Director of Professional Services SC/7/02	DOE	11,802
Director of Development SC/8/02	DRD	26,254
Director of Customer Services SC/9/02	DRD	27,531

 
8 Sept 2004 : Column 1315W
 

2003–04

Competition	Department	Total costs (£)
Head of Finance and EU Division SC/1/04	DETI/DARD	10,393
Deputy Director, Construction and Advisory Division SC/10/03	DFP	9,543
Chief Executive, BDS SC/11/03	DFP	13,653
Director of Estates Development SC/13/03	DHSSPS	8,356
Director of Business Development SC/16/03	SSA	8,488
Director E-government SC/12/03	OFMDFM	21,390
Head of Resource Allocation Division SC/17/03	DE	7,938
Senior Economist SC/18/03	DFP/DETI	27,117
Assistant Solicitor SC/8/03	DFP	8,735
Deputy Director—Supplies and Services Division SC/9/03	DFP	7,933
Head of Equal Opportunities and Appointments Division SC/3/04	DFP	23,104
Director of Personnel, SSA SC/5/04	DSD	19,715

Mr. Dodds: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many people have been appointed to a Grade 5 post in the Northern Ireland Civil Service in the past two years. [186021]

Mr. Pearson: 23 appointments were made at Grade 5 level during 2002–03 and 11 appointments made during 2003–04.

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