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22 Feb 2005 : Column 560W—continued
Department of Education (Judicial Review)
Mrs. Iris Robinson: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland pursuant to his answer of 26 January 2005, Official Report, column 421W, what the basis for the judicial review against the Department of Education and ELB was; who paid the costs of the case; and what the total amount involved was. [217307]
Mr. Gardiner: The judicial review against the Department and the NEELB was sought on the grounds that refusal of transport assistance in respect of the Applicant was an infringement of human rights (Section 75 of the Northern Ireland Act 1998 and Article 6 of the European Convention on Human Rights as incorporated by the Human Rights Act 1998). This application was dismissed by Mr. Justice Girvan.
To date the Department has incurred costs of £4,509, and the NEELB has incurred costs of £8,519. However, the Department is awaiting receipt of a copy of the Court Order before final costs are calculated. Both the Department and the Board have agreed to pay their own costs. The costs associated with the Applicant's Solicitors plus Junior and Senior Council will be met by the Applicant.
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Digital Hearing Aids
Mrs. Iris Robinson: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what steps he is taking to increase the number of people in the Province provided with digital hearing aids. [216536]
Angela Smith: I refer the hon. Lady to my answers of 15 September 2004, Official Report, column 1639W and 20 December 2004, Official Report, column 1424W.
Education and Library Boards
Mr. Beggs: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland whether each of Northern Ireland's five education and library boards request the same standards of service from their transport providers. [216925]
Mr. Gardiner: Education and library boards operate a common set of standards which relate to the appropriate transport legislation such as vehicle licensing, public service testing, insurance etc. Boards also insist on the continued maintenance of core standards of safety. They carry out spot checks to ensure that transport providers continue to meet these standards throughout the period of a contract.
Election Posters
Mr. Dodds: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many party election posters were removed in each constituency by the Roads Service in each year since 1997 because they were not removed by the party responsible within the stipulated period; what the cost was in each year; and in what cases recompense was sought from the responsible party. [216411]
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 Malcolm McKibbin to Mr. Nigel Dodds, dated February 2005:
You recently asked the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland a Parliamentary Question regarding the number of party election posters that were removed in each constituency by the Roads Service in each year since 1997 because they were not removed by the party responsible within the stipulated period; what the cost was in each year; and in what cases recompense was sought from the responsible party. (216411). I have been asked to reply as this issue falls within my responsibility as Chief Executive or Roads Service.
I should explain that the erection of election posters is governed by planning legislation and I understand that the Department of the Environment's Planning Service practice is to write to all political parties prior to elections, advising of the statutory regulations for the display of election posters. Under current legislation, all election posters are required to be removed within 14 days after the close of the relevant poll to which they relate.
Although permission is not required from Roads Service for parties to erect election posters on our property, we have powers under Article 87 of the Roads (NI) Order 1993 to remove advertising signs, including election posters, from our property, to seek the recovery of costs and to prosecute those responsible for the signs. In practice, we prefer to persuade offenders to remove such signs themselves and only take stronger action if this proves necessary. Our approach normally begins with a courtesy call to the individual or organisation concerned and this action usually results in the vast majority of posters being removed.
With regard to the recovery of costs involved, Roads Service policy prior to 2001 was to remove election posters without seeking reimbursement from the political parties. Consequently, there is no record of the number of posters removed, or the cost incurred by Roads Service, before 2001.
Roads Service does not maintain details of the removal of election posters on a parliamentary constituency basis, however, the table below shows the posters removed by Roads Service Eastern Divisional area since 2001. Other Divisions have confirmed that requests to constituency offices for posters to be removed from specific locations have usually resulted in their removal and, that on the few occasions where posters have had to be removed by Roads Service staff, no records were kept.
| Number of posters removed in Eastern Division | Costs recovered (£) | |
|---|---|---|
| 2001 | 150 | 500 |
| 2002 | 0 | 0 |
| 2003 | 0 | 0 |
| 2004 | 17 | 300 |
| 2005 | 2 | (62)— |
(62)Ongoing
Ferry Services
Mr. Alan Reid: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what his Department's intentions are regarding the reinstatement of the ferry service between Ballycastle and Campbeltown. [217089]
Mr. Gardiner: The proposed reinstatement of the ferry service between Campbeltown and Ballycastle is a matter in which my colleagues in the Scottish Executive have lead responsibility. The views of Northern Ireland Office Ministers have recently been conveyed to the Minister for Transport in the Scottish Executive re-affirming our continued support, in principle, in relation to their attempts to reinstate the service. Discussions between officials in the Scottish Executive and the Northern Ireland Department of Enterprise, Trade and Investment continue on how best to progress the matter.
Freedom of Information
Dr. Julian Lewis: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what his policy is in respect of the publication (a) on the departmental website and (b) by placing copies in the Library of (i) all or (ii) a selection of the information disclosed in response to freedom of information requests since January. [215223]
Mr. Paul Murphy: The Northern Ireland Office and Northern Ireland Departments publish on the departmental websites information which is considered to be of wide public interest. In the case of information provided as a result of freedom of information requests, data protection principles are taken into account where it is appropriate to make the name of the requester anonymous. Such information may also be placed in the Library if it is considered to be of general interest to the House.
Guidance on Publication Schemes, issued by the Department for Constitutional Affairs in July 2002, recommended that where information is disclosed to an individual in response to a request under the Freedom of Information Act, Departments and NDPBs should
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consider whether the information disclosed is of general interest and include released information in the publication scheme where appropriate.
General Practitioners
Mrs. Iris Robinson: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many individuals completed general practice training in the Province in each of the last three years. [216538]
Angela Smith: The total number of individuals completing general practice training in the Province in the last three years is as follows:
| Number | |
|---|---|
| 2004 | 46 |
| 2003 | 41 |
| 2002 | 36 |
Housing Executive
Mr. Dodds: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many properties there are in the Housing Executive's Purpose Built Commercial Property Portfolio; what their value is; how many are (a) vacant, (b) let on a five year lease and (c) let on less than a five year lease; how many were acquired in each of the last five years; at what cost; how many were sold in each of the last 10 years; and what the total income from such sales was in each of those years. [216844]
Mr. Spellar:
There are 433 properties in the Housing Executive's Purpose Built Commercial Property Portfolio and are valued at £14,514,920.00. Of these 24are vacant, 318 are let on a five year or more lease and 84 are let on less than a five year lease (seven of which have no lease as they are being used by the Housing
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Executive). No properties have been acquired in the last five years. During the last 10 years the numbers sold with the annual income is as follows:
| Number sold (unit) | Annual income (£) | |
|---|---|---|
| 2002 | 1 | 9,000.00 |
| 2001 | 1 | 25,000.00 |
| 2000 | 11 | 460,000.00 |
| 1999 | 8 | 150,000.00 |
| 1998 | 1 | 14,000.00 |
| 1997 | 1 | 5,000.00 |
| 1996 | None | 0 |
| 1995 | None | 0 |
| 1994 | 1 | 6,000.00 |
| 1993 | None | 0 |
Mr. Dodds: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland which posts, not including Housing Executive staff, are funded by the Housing Executive to assist local communities and residents' groups in each Northern Ireland constituency; who the occupants are of each post; what the length of service is in each case; and what the remuneration for each post is. [216845]
Mr. Spellar: The name of the post holders and their length of service is personal data and constitutes exempt information under section 40(2) of the Freedom of Information Act 2000 and as such it would inappropriate to release it with out the consent of the postholder. However the following table provides the name of the organisation funded or partly funded by the Housing Executive during the 2004–05 financial yearand the amount of funding paid by the HousingExecutive. When organisations approach the Housing Executive for funding this normally covers more than just the salary. The amount of funding shown only includes costs paid by the Housing Executive that were associated with the post. The organisations are grouped by constituency based on the name of the group and/or the known area where it operates and compared with the names of the wards in that constituency.
(63)The post has yet to be filled.
(64)Current postholder has left employment and funding has been sought to fill the post in the 2005–06 year.
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