| Previous Section | Index | Home Page |
27 Jan 2005 : Column 514W—continued
National Assets
Mr. Lidington: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland if he will place in the Library a list of assets held by (a) each Northern Ireland Department and (b) the Northern Ireland Office since publication of the National Assets Register; what the value of the asset at the time of the compilation of the register was; what its current value is; and in the case of assets acquired or disposed of since the publication of the register, what the acquisition or disposal price was in each case. [210641]
Mr. Pearson: The resource accounts for each Northern Ireland Department have been laid in the House and show, in summary form, the assets held together with the acquisitions and disposals during the year. It is intended to publish an updated version of the National Asset Register to inform the next spending review which is expected to be in 2006. Producing the information in the form requested would incur disproportionate cost.
Peace Funding
Mr. Donaldson: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how much money he has allocated towards core funding for the victims sector in Northern Ireland for the next financial year; and if he will make a statement. [210886]
Angela Smith:
The current core funding scheme for victims and survivors groups, due to end on 31 March 2005, is to be extended for a further year until 31 March 2006 and core funded groups have recently been advised of this by the Intermediary Funding Body, the Community Relations Council. Approximately
27 Jan 2005 : Column 515W
£1.8 million will be allocated to cover this extended period enabling groups to continue their important work.
The existing scheme has been subject to an independent evaluation which is in the process of completion and its recommendations will inform future funding arrangements for the sector. In addition work by the Victims Unit of the Office of the First Minister and Deputy First Minister is in hand on the next phase of policy in relation to victims and survivors. This will be the subject of consultation and it is considered that an extension to the existing Scheme will allow everyone sufficient time, not only to respond to the consultation, but also to prepare for any new arrangements which may emerge.
Physiotherapy
Mrs. Iris Robinson: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many individuals in each of the Province's health board areas are awaiting an initial assessment by a physiotherapist. [210027]
Angela Smith: Information on the number of individuals awaiting an initial assessment by a physiotherapist is not collected centrally. Waiting list information is not recorded by all Boards and is not recorded on a consistent basis by those Boards, which do collect the information. The information that Boards were able to provide in relation to the number of people waiting for an initial physiotherapist assessment is shown in the table.
| Board | Number waiting initial assessment appointment |
|---|---|
| EHSSB | 3,899 |
| NHSSB | (39)3,183 |
| SHSSB | n/a |
| WHSSB | (39)2,162 |
n/a = Non applicable.
(39)The information shown is for each Health and Social Services Board where data is available. All figures are as at 31 December 2004, except Causeway Health and Social Services Trust within the Northern Board area, which shows the position at: 30 November 2004 and Altnagelvin Health and Social Services Trust within the Western Board area, which shows the position at 1 December 2004.
Source:
Health and Social Services Boards
Information relating to Altnagelvin Health and Social Services Trust and Sperrin Lakeland Health and Social Services Trust (WHSSB) is based on the number of people waiting for treatment, as opposed to waiting for initial assessment, by a physiotherapist, although in most cases assessment and treatment take place on the same day.
Southern Board area Trusts do not hold official waiting list figures, although in some Trusts this information is recorded by professional staff. Any data collected are held on manual systems and could only be provided at disproportionate cost due to the time that would be required to extract the information.
Planning Applications
Mr. Gregory Campbell:
To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what criteria the Planning Service in Northern Ireland uses in its consultation process with
27 Jan 2005 : Column 516W
local councils regarding decisions on whether to discuss deferred planning applications (a) on site and (b) in office. [210345]
Angela Smith: The Planning Service does not apply any specific criteria when deciding whether a site or office meeting is required following deferral of an application for a meeting by a local council. Each request is considered on its particular merits.
Post-primary School Admissions Criteria
Mrs. Iris Robinson: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland when he expects to publish the consultation document on alternative admissions criteria to post-primary schools. [210770]
Mr. Gardiner: I will publish a consultation document on new admissions arrangements for post-primary schools on Friday 28 January. The document will include consideration of admissions criteria to be used by post-primary schools if they have more applications than places available.
This is an open consultation and everyone is invited to submit their views. The closing date for the consultation is 30 June 2005 and I will consider all of the views expressed in the consultation before decisions are taken on new admissions arrangements.
Public Sector Holiday
Mrs. Iris Robinson: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland whether he intends that 13 July should cease to be a public sector holiday in the Province. [210036]
Mr. Pearson: There are no plans to alter the observance of 13 July as a privilege holiday for the staff of the 11 Departments of the Northern Ireland Administration and also those staff of the Northern Ireland Office who are located in Northern Ireland.
While holidays for the staff in the wider public sector are a matter for the relevant employer, prior to December 2004, Health and Personal Social Services staff had 10 public holidays and two additional privilege days, historically taken on 13 July and a third day at Christmas. Under the UK-wide pay modernisation Agenda for Change", implemented on 1 December 2004, the two additional privilege holidays were converted to annual leave for Health and Personal Social Services staff.
Sex Offenders
Lady Hermon: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland (1) whether the person convicted of a sexual offence and added to the Sex Offenders Register in the Republic of Ireland, whose name has been communicated to him, has been added to the Northern Ireland Sex Offenders Register since his release from HMP Magilligan in November 2004; [209044]
(2) for what reasons there has been a delay in the addition of the person convicted of a sexual offence and added to the Sex Offenders Register in the Republic of Ireland, whose name has been communicated to him, to the Northern Ireland Sex Offenders Register since the coming into force of the relevant provisions of the Sexual Offences Act 2004. [209045]
27 Jan 2005 : Column 517W
Mr. Spellar: I understand that, on 30 November, the court, in the jurisdiction in which the person now resides, granted an order which made the person subject to the notification requirements of Part 2 of the Sexual Offences Act 2003.
While the person is not residing in Northern Ireland he is not required to notify his details to the PSNI.
Speech and Language Therapy
Mrs. Iris Robinson: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many individuals in each of the Province's health board areas are awaiting an initial assessment by a speech and language therapist. [210033]
Angela Smith: Information on the number of individuals awaiting an initial assessment by a speech and language therapist is not collected centrally. Waiting list information is not recorded by all Boards and is not recorded on a consistent basis by those Boards, which do collect the information. The information that Boards were able to provide in relation to the number of people waiting for initial speech and language assessment is shown in the table.
| Board | Number waiting initial assessment appointment |
|---|---|
| EHSSB | 796 |
| NHSSB | (40)807 |
| SHSSB | n/a |
| WHSSB | 394 |
n/a = Non applicable.
(40)The information shown is for each Health and Social Services Board where data is available. All figures are as at 31 December 2004, except Home first Health and Social Service Trust within the Northern Board area, which shows the position at 30 November 2004.
27 Jan 2005 : Column 518W
Information relating to Foyle Community Health and Social Services Trust and Sperrin Lakeland Health Social Service Trust (Western Health ad Social Services Board) is based on the number of people waiting for treatment, as opposed to waiting for initial assessment, by a speech therapist, although in most cases assessment and treatment take place on the same day.
Southern Health and Social Services Board area Trusts do not hold official waiting list figures, although in some Trusts this information is recorded by professional staff. Any data collected are held on manual systems and could only be provided at disproportionate cost due to the time that would be required to extract the information.
| Next Section | Index | Home Page |