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28 Oct 2004 : Column 1349W—continued

GP Prescribing

Mrs. Iris Robinson: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what the cost of prescribing by each general practitioner surgery in the Province has been in the last year. [193711]

Angela Smith: The cost of drugs prescribed per general practice surgery is not held centrally as a number of prescriptions are never presented for dispensing.

However, the cost of drugs dispensed by pharmacists against health service prescriptions received per general practice surgery is available and the information for the latest available financial year (2003–04) has been placed in the House Library.

Health Service

Rev. Martin Smyth: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland for what reason there was no capital allocation for IT equipment acquisitions for general practitioner practices in the current financial year. [188471]

Angela Smith: With the implementation of the new General Medical Services contract with effect from 1 April 2004, Health and Social Services Boards are responsible for funding the purchase of IT systems in general practices. While no formal capital allocations for this purpose have as yet been made to Health and Social Service Boards in the current financial year, such resources will be allocated when boards have finalised their expenditure plans in this regard.

Illegal Fuel Imports

Lady Hermon: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland (1) what his estimate is of the amount of (a) gasoline and (b) diesel fuel illegally imported into Northern Ireland in the last year for which figures are available; [191825]

(2) what estimate the Government have made of the amount of (a) gasoline and (b) diesel fuel that is being illegally laundered in Northern Ireland; and what the figures were for the illegal importation and laundering of (i) gasoline and (ii) diesel fuel in Northern Ireland over the last five years. [191835]

Mr. Pearson: I refer the hon. Member to the answer from my hon. Friend the Economic Secretary to the Treasury on 12 May 2004, Official Report, column 388W.

Lady Hermon: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland which paramilitary organisations are (a) known to be and (b) suspected by the Government of being involved in the illegal importation of gasoline and diesel fuel into Northern Ireland. [191826]

Mr. Pearson: There is no doubt that a range of individuals, including those with paramilitary links are involved in smuggling and laundering of fuel in Northern Ireland.

The Organised Crime Task Force Threat Assessment, which was launched on 11 May, clearly indicated the involvement of paramilitary groups in organised crime in Northern Ireland. The IMC's first report, published on 20 April also provided a clear assessment of the criminal activities of all paramilitary groups.
 
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Lady Hermon: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland if he will estimate the revenues earned by individual paramilitary organisations from the illegal importation and laundering of (a) gasoline and (b) diesel fuel in Northern Ireland in each of the last five years. [191836]

Mr. Pearson: There is no doubt that paramilitary organisations are involved in the smuggling and laundering of fuel in Northern Ireland. It is impossible to estimate, however, with any precision the amount of revenue earned through this activity. Neither is it clear what proportion of the profits are retained by paramilitary organisations and what individuals retain to line their own pockets.

Lewis Report

Mrs. Iris Robinson: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what action has been taken in response to the Lewis Report in the case of David and Samuel Briggs, in relation to (a) multi-disciplinary working, (b) access to supervision for health and social care staff and (c) workforce planning policies for health visiting staff. [192908]

Angela Smith: Craigavon and Banbridge HSS Trust has complied with the review's recommendation that it review its guidance to staff in respect of multi-professional working.

With regard to inter country adoption, the Department's 2003 inter country adoption guidance outlines specific expectations in respect of multi-disciplinary working in this area and multi-professional, regional training has been provided in relation to implementation. A recent inspection of the intercountry adoption service in the trust carried out by the Department's Social Services Inspectorate has confirmed that the Southern Area Adoption Consortium is currently implementing the guidance in each of the Southern Board's trust areas.

Craigavon and Banbridge Trust has responded to the review's recommendation that it review its supervision policy by ensuring that within health visiting and social services, there are arrangements for first line managers to raise issues of concern with senior managers. The Trust has reviewed its supervision policy for health visitors and supervision is provided through bi-monthly supervision sessions with team leaders as well as monthly structured peer supervision. Supervision is more frequent for newly qualified and newly appointed nurses.

The Southern HSS Board meets at least quarterly with the three community trust directors of Social Services regarding workforce issues in child care social work.

The Department has in place a comprehensive workforce planning mechanism, which involves a cycle of reviews of the workforce across the main HPSS professional groups. As part of this mechanism, the Department is taking forward its second major review of the nursing, midwifery and health visiting workforce. The Steering Group for this review first met on 15 September and the review is expected to be completed by the end of the year.
 
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Lower Newmills Road Fire

Mr. Gregory Campbell: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what involvement there was of health and safety officials in assessing the aftermath of the fire at Lower Newmills Road in Coleraine on 15 October. [193641]

Mr. Gardiner: Inspectors from the Health and Safety Executive for Northern Ireland (HSENI) visited the site of the fire at W. D. Meats Ltd., Lower Newmills Road, Coleraine on 18 October 2004. The purpose of the inspection was to ensure that appropriate health and safety controls were in place so that no one was put at risk during salvage operations.

Missed Appointments

Mrs. Iris Robinson: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many missed hospital appointments there were in the Province in each of the last five years; and what the estimated resultant costs were in each year. [192872]

Angela Smith: The total number of missed hospital appointments in each financial year 1999–2000 to 2003–04 is provided in the following table. These figures represent the number of out-patient appointments where a patient did not attend and failed to give advanced warning to the hospital.

	Total number of missed hospital appointments
1999–2000	216,643
2000–01	216,378
2001–02	211,813
2002–03	203,970
2003–04	204,809

Note:
Data for 2003–04 are provisional and may be subject to change
Source:
KH09

The average cost of an out-patient attendance across all Programmes of Care was £133 in the year ended March 2003. If the cost of missed hospital appointments were estimated at the full price per attendance then the cost of missed hospital appointments for that year would be £27 million. However, the real cost is likely to be much less since much of the cost is associated with actual attendance and will not be incurred when the appointment is missed. More precise information is not available.

MLA Salaries

Lady Hermon: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what review has taken place of the salaries and staff allowances paid to Members of the Northern Ireland Assembly; and whether he plans to reduce the salaries and staff allowances due to suspension of the Assembly. [192565]

Mr. Paul Murphy: I keep the salaries and allowances of Members of the Northern Ireland Assembly under regular review and will continue to do so in the light of current political developments.
 
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New Deal (Departmental Recruitment)

Dr. Julian Lewis: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many personnel the Department has recruited under the New Deal in each of the past five years. [194475]

Mr. Paul Murphy: I refer the hon. Member to the answer given by my hon. Friend the Financial Secretary on 25 October 2004, Official Report, column 1052W.

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