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Northern Ireland Grand Committee

Mr. Dodds: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many meetings of the Northern Ireland Grand Committee have been held in each year since 1997; where the meetings were held; and what the subject matter of debate at each committee meeting was. [190102]

Mr. Paul Murphy: The information sought by the hon. Gentleman is as follows:
Northern Ireland grand committee debates: 2003–04

	Subject matter	Date of debate
1.	Draft Budget (No.2) (Northern Ireland) Order 2004	8 July 2004
2.	Community Relations Policy	17 June 2004
3.	Proposal for a Draft Special Educational Needs and Disability (Northern Ireland) Order 2004	20 May 2004
4.	Social Economy in Northern Ireland	29 April 2004
5.	Draft Budget (Northern Ireland) Order 2004	26 February 2004
6.	Proposal for a Draft Rates (Amendment) (Northern Ireland) Order 2004	15 January 2004

2002–03

	Subject matter	Date of debate
1.	Draft Employment (Northern Ireland) Order 2003	8 July 2003
2.	Draft Budget (No.2) (Northern Ireland) Order 2003	3 July 2003
3.	Reinvestment and Reform Initiative	9 June 2003
4.	Draft Budget (Northern Ireland) Order 2003	6 February 2003
5.	Draft Strategic Investment and Regeneration of Sites (Northern Ireland) Order 2003	4 February 2003

2001–02

	Subject matter	Date of debate
1.	Access to Justice (Northern Ireland)	24 October 2002
2.	Scope for a Bill of Rights	27 June 2002
3.	Draft Criminal Injuries Compensation (Northern Ireland) Order	13 December 2001

 
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1999–2000

	Subject Matter	Date of Debate
1.	Juvenile Justice Centre Estate	29 November 2000
2.	Devolution in Northern Ireland	5 July 2000
3.	State of Northern Ireland Agriculture	13 April 2000
4.	Draft Appropriation (Northern Ireland) Order 2000	9 March 2000

1998–99

	Subject Matter	Date of Debate
1.	Review of the Criminal Justice System	8 July 1999
2.	"Lifelong Learning—A new Learning Culture for All": Consultation Document	24 June 1999
3.	Economic Development Strategy Review	25 March 1999
4.	Draft Appropriation (Northern Ireland) Order 1999	25 February 1999
5.	Hospital Services	28 January 1999
6.	Comprehensive Spending Review in Northern Ireland	10 December 1998

1997–98

	Subject Matter	Date of Debate
1.	Draft Appropriation (No.2) (Northern Ireland) Order 1998	2 July 1998
2.	Regional Strategic Framework for Northern Ireland	4 June 1998
3.	The Northern Ireland Economy	26 March 1998
4.	Draft Appropriation (Northern Ireland) Order 1998	26 February 1998
5.	Education Priorities in Northern Ireland	29 January 1998
6.	Public Expenditure in Northern Ireland in 1998–99	11 December 1997

All of the above sittings were held at Westminster.

Parking Restrictions

Mr. Beggs: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what plans he has to introduce residential-only parking areas in Northern Ireland. [192545]

Mr. Spellar: The Chief Executive of Roads Service (Dr. Malcolm McKibbin) has been asked to write to the hon. Gentleman in response to this question.

Letter from Dr. Malcolm McKibbin to Mr. Roy Beggs, dated 20 October 2004:

You recently asked the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland a Parliamentary Question about what plans he has to introduce residents' only parking areas in Northern Ireland. I have been asked to reply as these issues fall within my responsibility as Chief Executive of Roads Service.

As you may be aware, the Department took the necessary primary legislative power in the Road Traffic Regulation (NI) Order 1997 to enable it to introduce residents' parking controls. A considerable amount of exploratory work was undertaken at that time in conjunction with the police in the expectation that a small number of pilot schemes would be introduced in Ballymena and Belfast. I am sure you will appreciate that, in order to be effective, such measures require meaningful enforcement. Regrettably, in March 2002 the PSNI wrote formally to Roads Service and advised that it would be unable to accept this responsibility and as such, we were not able to proceed with our proposals at that time.

Subsequently, Roads Service initiated a process to introduce the necessary primary legislative power to decriminalise on-street parking offences and assume responsibility for enforcement of parking restrictions. I must point out however, that the introduction of Decriminalised Parking Enforcement (DPE) is a complex procedure. It is anticipated that the new primary
 

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legislation will be in place in 2005 and that the new enforcement arrangements will be fully operational by mid-2006, thus permitting the opportunity to introduce and enforce residents' parking schemes. More recently, following the intervention of John Spellar MP, the Chief Constable, Hugh Orde, wrote to Roads Service confirming that he had asked that District Commanders give consideration to assisting with the enforcement of residents' parking schemes where it would fit in with policing priorities at a local level.

My staff are currently liaising with PSNI to determine how best a small number of pilot schemes might be introduced and adequately enforced so as to fully inform the development of policy and from which to learn how best the concept might be rolled out in appropriate places. In parallel with this, we are liaising with Local Authorities in Great Britain to gather best practice to help inform this development of policy.

I can assure you that we are progressing this matter as expeditiously as possible however, the introduction of any pilot schemes at this time will depend on the PSNI ability to enforce. Should this enforcement not be forthcoming, it is unlikely that residents' parking schemes will become an on-the- ground reality before parking offences are decriminalised in mid-2006, and responsibility for the enforcement of on-street waiting restrictions is transferred to this Department.

Public Prosecution Service

Lady Hermon: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what he expects the (a) set-up and (b) running costs of the Public Prosecution Service for Northern Ireland to be. [192564]

Mr. Spellar: The set-up and running costs of the Public Prosecution Service for Northern Ireland are as follows:

	Set-up costs (£ million)
2001–02	(45)0.4
2002–03	(45)2.1
2003–04	(45)8.6
2004–05	(46)11.4
2005–06	(46)15.8
2006–07	(46)20.9
2007–08	(46)19.2
Total	78.4

⁽⁴⁵⁾ Actual costs
⁽⁴⁶⁾ Budget

The projected total running costs for the PPS in 2007–08 are £32 million pa.

Lady Hermon: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what steps are being taken to ensure there is no public confusion between the roles of the Public Prosecution Service of Northern Ireland and the Police Service of Northern Ireland. [192566]

Mr. Spellar: Over the course of the last two years the Director of Public Prosecutions has held two major public information events, one in Belfast and one in Tyrone, and has recently provided a briefing to Parliamentarians. Additionally briefings have been given to key stakeholders in the criminal justice system and others including the legal profession, the PSNI, the Policing Board and the District Policing Partnerships, political parties, church leaders, ethnic minority and women's representative groups. All of these events are aimed at making the key stakeholders and the general public fully aware of the changing roles of the Director of Public Prosecutions and the new Public Prosecution Service for Northern Ireland in relation to the Police
 
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Service of Northern Ireland. These events will continue not only during the implementation phase of the project but on an on-going basis for the new Service.

Lady Hermon: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what assessment has been made of whether the co-location of police officers in the regional offices of the Public Prosecution Service will lead to closures of police stations; and what research has been undertaken into the effects of such co-location on public perception of the independence of the Public Prosecution Service. [192567]

Mr. Spellar: The number of police officers actually co-located within PPS facilities is relatively small and will not cause the closure of any police stations. The decision to co-locate in this manner is based on research completed by DPP implementation staff and an external
 
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report by the Management Consultants specifically aimed at maintaining the public perception of the independence of the Public Prosecution Service. The police liaison staff act as a conduit to exchange information between the PSNI and PPS. It is in the interests of efficiency to all parties that such staff are co-located.

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