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Erne/Tyrone County Hospitals

Rev. Martin Smyth: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many and what proportion of the deaths reported in hospitals within the Sperrin Lakeland Health and Social Care Trust in 2001–02 were in the (a) Erne hospital and (b) Tyrone County hospital. [192337]

Angela Smith: The information requested is as follows.
Recorded deaths in Sperrin Lakeland trust hospitals⁽⁴⁴⁾ in 2001–02 broken down by hospital

Hospital	Number of deaths	Proportion of Sperrin Lakeland deaths in each hospital (percentage)
Erne	273	55.4
Tyrone County	220	44.6
Sperrin Lakeland trust hospitals(44)	493	100.0

⁽⁴⁴⁾ The information shown is for Erne and Tyrone County hospitals only.

Rev. Martin Smyth: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many and what proportion of the clinical negligence cases which were pending within the Sperrin Lakeland Health and Social Care Trust in January 2004, were in the (a) Erne hospital and (b) Tyrone County hospital. [192338]

Angela Smith: I am advised that in January 2004, there were a total of 115 clinical negligence cases pending within Sperrin Lakeland Trust. The following table outlines the number and proportion of cases by hospital site.
 
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	Total number of cases pending	Number of cases pending as percentage of total
Erne hospital	66	57
Tyrone County hospital	49	43
Total	115	100

I can assure you that all cases of alleged clinical negligence will be thoroughly investigated and acted upon as appropriate, to ensure that our hospitals continue to deliver high quality, safe and effective services.

Gastroenteritis and Salmonella

Mrs. Iris Robinson: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many cases of (a) gastroenteritis and (b) salmonella were reported in each health board area in each month since 1 January. [190578]

Angela Smith: The information requested in respect of cases of gastroenteritis is not available.

The notifications of Salmonella from laboratories are shown in four week bands from the start of the year and are as follows:

	Board
Weeks	EHSSB	NHSSB	SHSSB	WHSSB	NI total
1 to 4	1	2	0	0	3
5 to 8	4	2	0	0	6
9 to 12	3	1	1	0	5
13 to 16	3	1	3	0	7
17 to 20	3	0	3	2	8
21 to 24	4	1	3	0	8
25 to 28	93	3	1	3	100
29 to 32	51	10	n/a	2	63
33 to 36	32	10	n/a	7	49
37 to 40(45)	49	31	n/a	16	96

⁽⁴⁵⁾ Information is only available up to week 39.
Notes:
1. These numbers only relate to those who have sought medical attention.
2. There have been no reports from one of the laboratories in the SHSSB since week 28.
3. Figures are based on the location of the laboratory rather than board of residence of the patient, as this information is not available.

Mrs. Iris Robinson: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many cases of gastroenteritis were reported in each of the last 10 years in the Province. [190579]

Angela Smith: The information requested is not available.

Green Minister

Mr. Horam: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many meetings of the Ministerial Sub-Committee of Green Ministers were attended by the Department's Green Minister in (a) 2002–03 and (b) 2003–04. [190854]

Angela Smith: I am a member of the Ministerial Sub Committee of Green Ministers.

However, it has been established practice under successive Governments not to disclose information relating to the proceedings of Cabinet Committees. This
 
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practice is now formalised by Exemption 2 of Part II of the Code of Practice on Access to Government Information.

Hazardous Waste

Lady Hermon: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how much hazardous waste was disposed of (a) illegally and (b) at landfill sites in Northern Ireland in each of the past five years. [191951]

Angela Smith: The movement of hazardous waste is controlled by the Special Waste Regulations (Northern Ireland) 1998 which provides a definition of 'special waste' rather than hazardous waste. There are no figures readily available for such waste prior to 2002. In 2002, nine tonnes of special waste were recorded as illegally disposed of in Northern Ireland. In 2003, this figure was 67 tonnes.

A total of 5,280 tonnes of special waste was landfilled in Northern Ireland in 2002. This figure decreased to 4,600 tonnes in 2003.

Hospital Hygiene

Lady Hermon: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland with what frequency hygiene inspections are carried out in hospitals in Northern Ireland; and what steps he is taking to improve hygiene in Northern Ireland's hospitals. [191976]

Angela Smith: The responsibility for inspection of hospital hygiene lies with each HPSS trust and information relating to frequency is not held centrally by the Department.

All trusts have a duty to ensure that high standards of hygiene in hospitals are being met and maintained. High standards of hygiene are particularly important and the key is to ensure that the highest possible standards are achieved. The Department is placing a renewed emphasis on environmental cleanliness with the planned establishment of standards for cleanliness against which HPSS performance will be measured.

Housing

Lady Hermon: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what the uptake was of houses allocated through the Northern Ireland Housing Executive's integrated pilot scheme in Belfast, broken down by perceived religious affiliation in the last year for which figures are available; and if he will make a statement. [191827]

Mr. Spellar: The Housing Executive Board, at its meeting in September 2003, agreed that proposals should be brought forward for two integrated housing pilot projects which would enable the Housing Executive, and others, to test the policy and procedural implications of integrated housing.

The proposals, which reflect the Housing Executive's and other public bodies' responsibilities under section 75 of the Northern Ireland Act 1998 to deal with the promotion of equality of opportunity and good relations, are at an early stage and locations for the pilot projects have still to be identified. The out workings of the two pilot projects will be fully considered in the
 
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context of local lettings policies, sustainability of the schemes, plans to involve stakeholders and strategic/operational structures.

Applicants for social housing have a choice of where they wish to live and the Housing Executive will work to support people who choose to live in single identity or integrated neighbourhoods.

Macedon Children's Home

Mr. Dodds: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what plans he has to initiate an inquiry into child abuse at the Macedon Children's Home in Newtownabbey; and if he will make a statement. [190427]

Angela Smith: I have no plans to initiate an inquiry into the incidents at the Macedon Children's Home. I have a great deal of sympathy for the victims in this case and recognise their bravery in coming forward to reveal details of the abuse which they suffered at the home. It is difficult to see what could be achieved in relation to the safeguarding of children by establishing an inquiry into events at Macedon, particularly given the lapse of time, the fact that the home no longer exists and the many changes to child protection arrangements which have occurred as a consequence of the Kincora Report, the legislative arrangements now in place through the Children Order and the work undertaken to ensure lessons emerging from other places have been applied in Northern Ireland. The circumstances surrounding events at this home have, moreover, been investigated by PSNI. In addition to the recent convictions obtained in respect of two former staff, I am also conscious that police inquiries are still on-going in respect of other former staff employed at Macedon.

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