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8 Mar 2005 : Column 1650W—continued
Civil Servants (Political Activity)
Mrs. Iris Robinson: To ask the Secretary of State forNorthern Ireland (1) what definition of political activity is given in guidance to Northern Ireland civil servants; [220617]
(2) what (a) guidelines and (b) restrictions are laid down for each grade of the Northern Ireland Civil Service in relation to (i) membership of a political party, (ii) holding office within a political party and (iii) other political activity. [220088]
Mr. Pearson: Definitions of political activity are contained in paragraphs 965–66 of the Political Activities Section of the Northern Ireland Civil Service Pay and Conditions of Service Code.
The guidelines and restrictions on political activity by Northern Ireland civil servants are contained in paragraphs 964 to 992 of the conduct section of the Northern Ireland Civil Service Pay and Conditions of Service Code. The restrictions are in place to ensure confidence in the impartial discharge of civil servants' duties, irrespective of the political persuasion of the Government of the day, while allowing staff the greatest possible freedom to participate in public affairs. The rules are concerned with political activities liable to give public expression to political views, rather than privately held beliefs and opinions.
Copies of the relevant paragraphs have been placed in the Library.
Contaminated Land (Carrickfergus)
Mr. Dodds: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what decontamination work is being carried out by public bodies in Carrickfergus on (a) privately-owned land and (b) publicly-owned land. [220624]
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Angela Smith: No decontamination work is currently being undertaken on either privately or publicly owned land. A precautionary approach is being taken by investigating the land of the former Courtaulds site. An inter-agency group has been established to assist with these investigations and provide public advice.
Cross-border Bodies
Lady Hermon: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what the budget for each cross-border body is for 2005; and what the percentage change is from the previous year. [212329]
Mr. Pearson: The following table details of the budgets for the North South Implementation Bodies for 2005 and the percentage increases over the 2004 budgets. The figures quoted in the table for the Language Body are based on draft business plans provided by the agencies of the Language Body as the 2005 budget figures have not yet been agreed.
(15)The 2005 budget figures for the Language Body have not yet been agreed.
Departmental Catering
Mr. George Osborne: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many departmental (a) canteens and (b) bars there are; and how much has been spent on the (i) running, (ii) staffing and (iii) supply costs of each in each year since 1997. [213615]
Mr. Pearson: The Northern Ireland Office has one in-house canteen and makes a contribution to another facility paid for jointly with other Northern Ireland Departments. The Department does not have any bars.
The costs of running the in-house facility for each year since 1998–99, including staffing and supply costs are detailed as follows. Our records for the years 1997–98 to 1999–2000 are not complete and therefore these costs have not been included.
| Total running cost | Staff costs | Supply costs | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2000–01 | 29,992 | 13,151 | 13,748 |
| 2001–02 | 34,468 | 15,125 | 15,125 |
| 2002–03 | 38,529 | 14,071 | 19,028 |
| 2003–04 | 25,091 | 15,318 | 7,084 |
The contribution made to the costs of the private staff canteen facility was £57,810.00 in the year 2003–04. It would not be possible to extract the payments made in respect of this item from other payments relating to catering and hospitality for the years 1997–98 to 2002–03 except at disproportionate cost.
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This answer relates only to the Northern Ireland Office and does not include information in respect of the 11departments of the Northern Ireland Administration.
Doctors
Mrs. Iris Robinson: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many consultant orthopaedic surgeons there were per head of population in the Province on the latest date for which figures are available. [220618]
Angela Smith: There are 0.23 consultant orthopaedic surgeons per 10,000 population employed by the Northern Ireland Health and Personal Social Services as at 31 December 2004.
Mrs. Iris Robinson: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many general practitioner registrars per head of population completed training in the Province in each of the last five years. [220620]
Angela Smith: The information requested is provided in the following table.
| Headcount per 10,000 population | |
|---|---|
| 2004 | 0.27 |
| 2003 | 0.24 |
| 2002 | 0.21 |
| 2001 | 0.21 |
| 2000 | 0.22 |
Mrs. Iris Robinson: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what plans he has to increase (a) the number of orthopaedic surgeons in the Province and (b) the number of operating sessions they devote to the NHS. [220621]
Angela Smith: The Department carries out an annual review of the consultant workforce in each of the hospital-based specialties, including orthopaedic surgery, and the numbers in training are adjusted to meet the assessed need, subject to available resources. There are currently 41 consultant orthopaedic surgeons in Northern Ireland. Investments in training orthopaedic surgeons in recent years have been with a view to increasing the number of consultants to at least 50 by 2010.
Those orthopaedic surgeons currently employed in the Province devote 137 operating sessions to the Health and Personal Social Services.
DOE Planning Service
Mrs. Iris Robinson: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many planning applications were received by DOE Planning Service in Downpatrick for domestic properties on (a) Ballygelagh Road, Ardkeen, (b) Upper Ballygelagh Road, Ardkeen, (c) Tullycross Road, Ardkeen, (d) Lisbane Road, Ardkeen; and how many applications came before Ards borough council with recommendations for refusal that were subsequently overturned and granted approval in each year for the past 10 years. [208981]
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Angela Smith: The information requested is as follows.
It is only possible to provide information for the last five years, as the information for previous years is not held electronically by the Planning Service, and could be obtained only at disproportionate cost.
There is no correlation between the data within a specific year. The data refers to the year in which (column B) applications were received; (column C) applications were presented to council and (column D) the year that the final approval decision was taken by the planning service. It cannot be assumed that the number of applications overturned in one year is directly related to the number of applications presented to council with a recommendation to refuse. Due to the complexity of the planning process it can be a considerable time between the receipt of an application and a final decision being taken.
Mrs. Iris Robinson: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many planning applications have been received by DOE Planning Service for domestic properties in the Ards Peninsula, (a) in the five years prior to the publication of the draft Ards and Down Area Plan 2015 and (b) since its publication; how many applications in each case were brought before Ards borough council with a recommendation for refusal; and how many of these applications were subsequently overturned and given approval. [208982]
Angela Smith:
The information requested is as follows.
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(16)It is only possible to provide information for parts A and B of the question as the information required in relation to the number of applications which subsequently had an approval decision is not held electronically by the Planning Service, and could be obtained only at disproportionate cost.
Note:
For the purpose of providing these figures the publishing date for the publication of the Ards and Down Area Plan has been taken as 1 December 2002.
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