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16 Nov 2004 : Column 1355W—continued
Regional Assembly Referendums
Mr. Gummer: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what (a) focus groups, (b) opinion polling and (c) local government sources he consulted before aborting the referenda in (i) the North West and (ii) Yorkshire and the Humber on directly elected regional assemblies. [197902]
Mr. Raynsford: The reasons for the Government's decision not to proceed with the referendums in the North West and Yorkshire and the Humber were set out in the statement my right hon. Friend the Deputy Prime Minister made on 8 November, Official Report, columns 587–606W.
Regional Fire Control Centres
Mr. Swire: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what redundancy package will be offered to control staff who lose their jobs as a result of the relocation of fire brigades to a regional control centre. [196490]
Mr. Raynsford:
There is no plan to relocate fire brigades, only to rationalise control services at a regional level. The Office of the Deputy Prime Minister recognises that this will have implications for existing fire control staff. However, the skills of these staff are generally transferable, so there will be a premium on ensuring both that people who are not going to find jobs under the new arrangements are helped to relocate and secure other jobs and that the service will continue to operate in the most effective way. If staff were to lose their jobs, the redundancy package would be a matter
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for negotiation between staff representatives and the employers. At a minimum such staff would be eligible for the statutory redundancy payment, as dictated by their length of service with the fire and rescue service.
Right to Buy
Mrs. Spelman: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what the average purchase price of a right to buy (a) flat and (b) house in England was in (i) 1997 and (ii) the last year for which figures are available. [197087]
Keith Hill: Average right-to-buy selling price figures (net of discount) for England are tabled as follows. The higher average price for flats in 2003–04 results from the sale of large numbers of relatively expensive flats in London, whereas the average house price is lowered by sales of cheaper houses in the north and midlands.
| 1997–98 | 2003–04 | |
|---|---|---|
| (a) Flat | 17.7 | 57.3 |
| (b) House | 22.2 | 39.3 |
| All dwellings | 21.5 | 43.5 |
Mrs. Spelman: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what the average discount applied to a right to buy (a) flat and (b) house in England was in (i) 1997 and (ii) the last year for which figures are available. [197088]
Keith Hill: Average right-to-buy discount figures for England are tabled as follows:
| 1997–98 | 2003–04 | |
|---|---|---|
| (a) Flat | 26.5 | 32.9 |
| (b) House | 20.5 | 22.5 |
| All dwellings | 21.4 | 25.0 |
NORTHERN IRELAND
Ambulance Services
Mrs. Iris Robinson: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how much has been spent on ambulance services in the Province in each of the last five years. [198141]
Angela Smith: The information in respect of the expenditure on ambulance services in the Province in each of the last five years is detailed in the table.
| £000 | |
|---|---|
| 1999–2000 | 22,707 |
| 2000–01 | 23,978 |
| 2001–02 | 26,532 |
| 2002–03 | 28,763 |
| 2003–04 | 32,653 |
These figures represent the operating expenses of the Northern Ireland Ambulance Service HSS Trust for each of the last five years.
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Area Plans
Lady Hermon: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what his assessment is of progress with each of Northern Ireland's area plans; and what steps are being taken to ensure that the timetables for the plans are being adhered to. [197020]
Angela Smith: For some time, the Department of the Environment's (NI) Planning Service has had an ambitious programme to update the current Area Plan coverage. Good progress has been made to implement this challenging programme: in the past two years the Planning Service has published two adopted plans and two draft Plans, and it is scheduled to publish the Draft Belfast Metropolitan Plan 2015 later in November 2004. Collectively this covers 11 of the 26 council areas in Northern Ireland. Draft plans for a further 12 council areas are under preparation.
In recent months, however, the Planning Service has been forced to review the rapidly increasing, and unprecedented, workload pressures being faced by the Planning Service. After very careful consideration, it has been decided to concentrate as many resources as possible for a period of time on dealing with operational matters—i.e. planning applications. This reallocation of resources will have some short-term implications for the Area Plan programme. Despite this, every effort is being made to ensure that any delay is kept to a minimum.
ASSIs
Mr. McGrady: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland which proposed Area of Special Scientific Interest sites have yet to be declared in order to complete the ASSI programme. [197793]
Angela Smith: There are currently 212 Areas of Special Scientific Interest [ASSI] in Northern Ireland covering over 92,000 hectares.
An additional 15 sites are currently proposed, having been endorsed by the Council for Nature Conservation and the Countryside, the Department of the Environment's statutory adviser in such matters.
These sites will cover less than 1,000 hectares. Even when they have been declared, the ASSI programme will still be far from complete.
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A forward programme for the declaration of ASSIs was published in March 2003. The programme is a framework for completing the main phase of ASSI declarations by 2015. It is predicted that an additional 40,000 hectares of land will be found to merit ASSI status.
Although the general location of many more potential ASSIs is known, their description and exact definition requires further survey, assessment and mapping.
At-risk Children
Mrs. Iris Robinson: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what steps are being taken by the Department of Health, Social Services and Public Safety with (a) other Government departments and (b) NHS trusts in Northern Ireland to develop an information-sharing database between professional agencies on children who are at risk or in need; and what plans he has to bring forward legislation paralleling the provisions in the Children Bill [Lords] to facilitate information sharing. [197624]
Angela Smith: The creation of a database for sharing information on children who are at risk or in need will be considered by the Department of Health, Social Services and Public Safety as a part of work on a forthcoming Strategy for Children and Young People in Need.
This strategy will be developed in conjunction with representatives of the HPSS and other stakeholders including other Departments. Dependent on the outcomes of the strategy, the Department will consider enacting legislation allowing it to take powers similar to those proposed in the Children Bill.
The Children Bill provisions for facilitating information sharing build on structures which do not exist in Northern Ireland. Obviously, any cross-cutting database will require close co-operation between the Department of Health, Social Services and Public Safety and other Government Departments.
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