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Antisocial Behaviour Orders

Lady Hermon: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what proceedings have been commenced for the issue of antisocial behaviour orders since their introduction; and if he will make a statement. [192340]

Mr. Spellar: The Antisocial Behaviour (NI) Order 2004 was brought into operation on 25 August 2004 and, in particular, for ASBO's without conviction.
 
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The Housing Executive, the police and local Councils through officers nominated by SOLACE have been finalizing the operational arrangements for dealing with antisocial behaviour and making applications for ASBO's to the Magistrate's Court.

The preparatory work is nearing completion, while, at the same time, authorities have been identifying and monitoring specific individual cases of antisocial behaviour. These may require ASBO's to be awarded against those individuals found guilty of acting in an unacceptable and anti social manner.

I am advised that the first applications for an ASBO are likely in the near future.

Lady Hermon: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what guidance he has sought from his colleagues in the Home Office in relation to best practice advice for antisocial behaviour orders. [192341]

Mr. Spellar: There has been regular and ongoing contact between my NIO officials and their colleagues in the Antisocial Behaviour Unit of the Home Office.

In addition to providing advice on the developing guidance, the Antisocial Behaviour Unit has also provided detailed advice on how antisocial behaviour has been successfully dealt with through the use of ASBO's in different locations in GB.

This advice has been acknowledged as making a very positive contribution to the developing guidance and practice being put in place in Northern Ireland.

Indeed, there has been a recent visit to the ASBU of the Home Office to obtain first hand advice of best practice issues in relation, to obtaining ASBO's, including attending a Magistrates Court in the London borough of Camden. to hear a successful ASBO application.

Ardoyne (Public Order Offences)

Mr. Dodds: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many people were (a) charged with public order offences, (b) arrested and (c) convicted arising out of disorder in the Ardoyne area on 12 July in each of the last three years. [197470]

Mr. Pearson: The information requested is as follows:
Number of persons

	Arrested	Charged	Convicted
2002	0	0	0
2003	0	0	0
2004	18	18	8

Criminal proceedings resulting from disorder in the Ardoyne area on 12 July 2004 have not been completed in all cases.

2004 statistics may be subject to amendment.

Attacks

David Burnside: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many attacks on (a) pedestrians and (b) motorists which took place on the section of road between Belfast Central Station and Mountpottinger Corner, Belfast, have been reported to the Police Service
 
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of Northern Ireland in each of the last three years; and how many of the attacks are attributed to (i) Republican and (ii) Loyalist terrorist groups. [189662]

Mr. Pearson: Attacks on pedestrians and motorists in this area are usually sectarian in nature. Statistics are not maintained on discrete areas of road and to provide this information would incur a disproportionate cost.

Bowel Cancer

Mrs. Iris Robinson: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what assessment he has made of the merits of introducing screening for bowel cancer in the Province. [196346]

Angela Smith: In matters relating to the introduction of new screening programmes, all UK Health Ministers are advised by the National Screening Committee. As you may know the Secretary of State for Health, the hon. Member for Hamilton North and Bellshill, recently announced that a bowel cancer screening programme is to be rolled out in England from April 2006. This follows on pilots conducted in England and Scotland and the establishment of a bowel cancer screening working group. We will wish, of course, to have a similar programme here and the Department will now be considering this announcement, and the detailed information that fed into it, in order to determine how best to take matters forward here.

Budget 2005–08

Mr. McGrady: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what plans his Department has for an equality impact assessment of the proposals in the Draft Priorities and Budget 2005–08 consultation document. [198316]

Mr. Pearson: The Draft Priorities and Budget is set at a high strategic level, and because of this it does not lend itself to a full equality impact assessment. However, chapter 7 of the published document includes an equality, good relations and new targeting social need assessment and recommends that the document should be read in conjunction with major interdepartmental strategy documents. Equality, social need and good relations are key components of the work of individual departments within the budgetary process and each aspect is considered by departments in developing specific spending plans.

Capitation Review

Mrs. Iris Robinson: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland if he will include family health services funding in the Capitation Review of health spending in the Province. [198151]

Angela Smith: The Capitation Review process is applied to the allocation of resources for family health services but this work is reported and consulted on separately when appropriate. Family health services are essentially demand led but much of the funding is allocated through evidence based capitation formulae. General Medical Services funding is allocated to GPs mainly through the GP workload formula, developed on a UK-wide basis and tailored for Northern Ireland. A capitation based prescribing formula has also been
 
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developed in Northern Ireland for the allocation of prescribing resources. Some aspects of dental services are also covered by a capitation formula.

CCTV

Mr. Dodds: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many CCTV cameras funded by the Northern Ireland Office have been installed in North Belfast since 2001; what the total cost has been; and if he will make a statement on their effectiveness. [189792]

Mr. Pearson: There are currently 25 fixed CCTV cameras at 12 locations in North Belfast. The initial cost for 21 cameras funded through the Police Grant was £337,005. Disorder at the various interfaces has dropped dramatically since CCTV was introduced, but the reduction cannot be attributed solely to CCTV.

Children

Mrs. Iris Robinson: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what funding he expects will be made available for the implementation of the Office of the First Minister and Deputy First Minister's children and young people's strategy over the next five years. [199067]

Mr. Pearson: The draft children and young people's strategy is due to be launched for consultation on 22 November with views sought from all interested parties by 28 February 2005. Once this consultation process has been completed and its findings considered, Ministers will then be in a position to make informed decisions on any future funding implications.

Mrs. Iris Robinson: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what financial provision is being made for children's services within the Draft Priorities and Budget 2005 to 2008; and what percentage of the total budget (a) was spent in each year since 1999 and (b) will be spent in 2005 to 2008 on services for children. [199068]

Mr. Pearson: Children's services cover a wide and varied range of activities undertaken across a number of departments. Further details on spending plans for a number of these activities can be found in the Draft Priorities and Budget 2005–08 document. It is not possible to clearly separate funding on services for children in budgets due to the diverse range of activities covered.

Mrs. Iris Robinson: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what impact he expects the spending plans detailed in the Draft Priorities and Budget 2005 to 2008 will have on (a) existing services and (b) new service development for (i) children, (ii) young people and (iii) families in need in Northern Ireland. [199069]

Mr. Pearson: The proposed spending plans detailed in the Draft Priorities and Budget 2005–08 would allow departments to maintain and develop a wide range of public services which would impact on the community as a whole including children, young people and families in need. The draft Public Service Agreements (PSAs), contained in the Draft Priorities and Budget 2005–08 document, set out the main departmental objectives, proposed budgets for the years 2005–08, planned citizen outcomes, key service channels and targets that departments are working to deliver. The PSAs will continue to be developed further and final versions will
 
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be set out in the Revised Priorities and Budget 2005–08 document which is due for publication in December 2004.

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