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Social Security Advisory Committee

Mr. Willetts: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions if he will place in the Library copies of past advice on tax that he has received from the Social Security Advisory Committee. [219558]

Mr. Pond: The Social Security Advisory Committee do not give advice on tax to my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State.
 
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NORTHERN IRELAND

Diabetes (Public Service Recruits)

Mr. Beggs: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what measures have been put in place by the Northern Ireland Ambulance Service to medically assess people with diabetes who apply to become paramedics. [220533]

Angela Smith: All applicants to join the Northern Ireland Ambulance Service Health and Social Services Trust who have been successful at interview must undergo a pre-employment medical check by Belfast City Hospital's Occupational Health Unit, which advises the Trust about applicants' fitness for the work.

Mr. Beggs: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what measures have been put in place by the Fire Service of Northern Ireland to medically assess people with diabetes who apply to become firefighters. [220534]

Angela Smith: All applicants who apply to join the Northern Ireland Fire Brigade as firefighters undergo the same medical assessment, regardless of any underlying medical condition. An occupational health doctor and nurse conduct the assessment, an accredited specialist in occupational medicine reviews the results and, if necessary, further information is requested from the applicant's general practitioner or specialist in the applicant's particular medical condition.

Alzheimer's Disease

Lady Hermon: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what assessment has been made of the effectiveness of (a) donepezil, (b) rivastigmine and (c) galantamine in treating Alzheimer's sufferers in Northern Ireland. [220460]

Angela Smith: No departmental assessment has been undertaken on the effectiveness of (a) donepezil (b) rivastigmine (c) galantamine in treating Alzheimer's sufferers in Northern Ireland. At present, clinicians prescribe these medicines, taking into account evidence of best practice and the clinical circumstances of the individual patient.

The National Institute for Clinical Excellence (NICE) is currently undergoing a consultation on recommendations for the prescribing of the medicines. While NICE guidance only applies to England and Wales, following publication of the final appraisal determination on use of these medicines, the Department may consider its relevance to Northern Ireland.

Ards Borough (Planning)

Mrs. Iris Robinson: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland if he will make a statement on the impact that the number of site meetings being requested by Ards borough council is having on the planning process in the Ards borough area. [208978]

Angela Smith: Managing and attending site meetings involves a significant proportion of a senior planning officer's time and inevitably has an effect on the time taken to process all planning applications. It appears that the meetings are often requested as a matter of
 
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routine and the Planning Service questions the value of many of these site meetings. Furthermore, I am advised that when an opinion is revised, it is usually due to receipt of additional information or amendments to the proposal to meet the Planning Service's requirements.

Belfast Regeneration Office

Mr. Dodds: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how much has been spent by the Belfast Regeneration Office in each year since it was set up; and how much has been spent by each team set up by the Belfast Regeneration Office in each year since its formation. [220627]

 
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Mr. Spellar: Belfast Regeneration Office (BRO) was set up in 1998. Table 1 details the amount of money spent by BRO, through its three main funding streams, namely: Action Plan, Making Belfast Work (Area Teams); and Physical, since its formation. Table 2 provides information on that money spent by each of the four BRO Area Teams.
Table 1

	Amount (£)
1998–99	9,058,855.70
1999–2000	11,853,374.00
2000–01	11,659,640.70
2001–02	9,400,302.85
2002–03	6,380,416.67
2003–04	4,628,157.86
2004–05 (to date)	2,876,351.88

Table 2: Amount spent by Belfast regeneration office area teams since the formation of BRO in 1998

£
Team	Inner West	Outer West	North	South	East
1998–99	1,725,653.00	635,682.50	1,541,860.00	834,786.10	461,385.20
1999–2000	2,693,795.00	699,131.10	1,515,760.00	898,035.80	1,073,967.00
2000–01	2,814,153.00	190,457.60	1,768,866.00	1,040,845.00	635,338.50
2001–02	1,852,426.19	934,390.85	1,457,436.49	986,869.42	(27)—
2002–03	933,695.36	622,890.38	278,485.81	392,773.17	(27)—
2003–04	1,053,151.79	437,007.33	927,244.38	646,865.46	(27)—
2004–05 (to date)	607,218.57	508,231.47	412,553.94	461,464.75	(27)—

⁽²⁷⁾ BRO South Team amalgamated with BRO East Team on 2002.

Contaminated Land (Carrickfergus)

Mr. Dodds: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what his policy is on underwriting the value of residents' property if contamination is found on lands in the Brackenridge area of Carrickfergus. [220625]

Angela Smith: Where land is found to be contaminated and this results in harm or the possibility of harm arising from the condition of that land, steps will be taken to determine the responsibility for its remediation. It is too early to say what the investigation in relation to the Brackenridge area may show, or what action, if any, may be required.

Cookstown Police Station

Mr. Gregory Campbell: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what criteria were used to determine the siting of the new police station in Cookstown, Co. Tyrone. [220623]

Mr. Pearson: The proposed new build station at Cookstown will be located adjacent to the existing PSNI station at Molesworth Street, Cookstown. The choice of this location was determined by Local Police Command at Cookstown taking into account a range of operational policing factors, including the ability to provide a centralised reporting centre for the Cookstown public, location of the station relative to commercial and residential developments, transport infrastructure considerations, security considerations and the ability to deliver community policing within the Cookstown DCU. The existing station has occupied that site for many years and the creation of the new establishment will maintain continuity.

Domestic Rates

Mrs. Spelman: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what plans he has to change the system of domestic rates in Northern Ireland; and if he will make a statement. [219908]

Mr. Pearson: The Government are planning to introduce a discrete capital value domestic rating system from 1 April 2007. A policy paper was published in July 2004 seeking views on this and other key reforms, including the proposal for a rate relief scheme, transitional arrangements, an independent valuation tribunal and revaluations at least every five years. Consultation concluded on 12 November 2004. A report outlining the views expressed and the Government's final policy position will be issued shortly.

Fishing

Mr. Beggs: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what plans the Government have to reintroduce social security payments to fishermen who are unable to go to sea in Northern Ireland; how many fishermen benefited from these benefits in the last three years; and if he will make a statement. [220754]

Mr. Spellar: Social security payments are available to share fishermen who satisfy the conditions of entitlement. Fishermen who are paid employees are treated in the same way as other paid employees who claim benefits.

Share fishermen pay a special higher rate of Class 2 National Insurance contributions which gives them access to contribution-based jobseeker's allowance.
 
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Contribution-based jobseeker's allowance has special rules which are specifically designed to provide share fishermen with the necessary financial support for those periods when they are unable to fish because of factors such as bad weather or because their boat is undergoing repairs.

Share fishermen are also eligible to claim income-based jobseeker's allowance. In common with other self employed people their average earnings will be taken into account in assessing their entitlement.

The Government have no plans to change these rules.

Separate statistics are not collected on claims to social security benefits by fishermen. Therefore, it is not possible to say how many fishermen have received benefits in the last three years.
 
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