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17 Oct 2005 : Column 749W—continued

Northern Ireland Events Company

Mrs. Iris Robinson: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what funding has been allocated by the Northern Ireland Events Company in the last five years, broken down by (a) Westminster parliamentary constituency and (b) district council area. [18020]

Mr. Hanson: The Northern Ireland Events Company has allocated exchequer funding in Northern Ireland for the amounts shown in the table as follows:

	£ million
2000–01	1.1
2001–02	1.6
2002–03	2.1
2003–04	2.458
2004–05	1.89

Information on Northern Ireland Events Company funding for events is retained in accordance with how it is distributed, i.e. to individual events and by programme. Funding is not distributed on a parliamentary constituency or district council area basis and consequently the details requested could be provided only at disproportionate cost.

Nurses

Mrs. Iris Robinson: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many new nurses have been appointed in the Province in each of the last five years. [17116]

Mr. Woodward: The information is as follows.
Number of qualified nurses joining the HPSS in each of the last five years

	Headcount	Wholetime equivalent
April 2000 to March 2001	1,214	1,060.92
April 2001 to March 2002	982	880.53
April 2002 to March 2003	1,736	1,545.53
April 2003 to March 2004	1,483	1,347.21
April 2004 to March 2005	1,194	1,103.66

Notes:
1.Joiner figures may include: new graduates, return to practice, recruitment from independent and private sector, staff from other parts of the UK, Republic of Ireland and overseas.
2.Qualified nurses includes midwives and health visitors.

Mrs. Iris Robinson: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland if he will estimate how many of the Province's qualified nurses have left the profession in each of the last 10 years. [18418]

Mr. Woodward: Information on the number of qualified nurses who have left the nursing profession is not collected. However, the number of qualified nurses leaving the HPSS in the last 10 years is provided in the following table.
Number of qualified nurses leaving the HPSS in each of the last 10 years

April to March	Headcount	Whole time equivalent
1995–96	912	787.01
1996–97	1,104	925.37
1997–98	1,297	1,090.22
1998–99	1,120	906.73
1999–2000	725	609.63
2000–01	955	814.01
2000–02	896	741.84
2002–03	739	625.42
2003–04	913	765.48
2004–05	893	756.22

Notes:
1.Leavers may include: retirees, staff transferring to the independent or private sector, staff transferring to the NHS in England, Scotland or Wales, staff taking a career break and other destinations.
2.Information on the actual destination of leavers is not collected.
3.Qualified nurses include midwives and health visitors.




 
17 Oct 2005 : Column 750W
 

Occupational Therapy

Mrs. Iris Robinson: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many occupational therapy vacancies there are within each health trust in the Province. [17514]

Mr. Woodward: The information is as follows.
Number of current vacancies for occupational therapists at each health trust as at 31 March 2005

Trust	Headcount	Wholetime equivalent
Altnagelvin Group HSS Trust	0	0.00
Armagh and Dungannon HSS Trust	4	3.30
Belfast City Hospital HSS Trust	1	1.00
Causeway HSS Trust	2	1.50
Craigavon and Banbridge Community HSS Trust	1	1.00
Craigavon Area Hospital Group HSS Trust	0	0.00
Down Lisburn HSS Trust	4	4.00
Foyle Community HSS Trust	0	0.00
Green Park Healthcare HSS Trust	1	0.50
Homefirst Community HSS Trust	11	10.00
Mater Infirmorum Hospital HSS Trust	3	3.00
Newry and Mourne HSS Trust	2	2.00
North and West Belfast HSS Trust	15	12.60
Royal Group of Hospitals HSS Trust	6	6.00
South and East Belfast HSS Trust	8	5.00
Sperrin/Lakeland HSS Trust	1	1.00
Ulster Community and Hospitals Group HSS Trust	3	2.50
United Hospitals Group HSS Trust	0	0.00
Total	62	53.40

Number of long-term vacancies for occupational therapists at each Health Trust as at 31March 2005

Trust	Headcount	Wholetime equivalent
Altnagelvin Group HSS Trust	0	0.00
Armagh and Dungannon HSS Trust	0	0.00
Belfast City Hospital HSS Trust	1	1.00
Causeway HSS Trust	1	1.00
Craigavon and Banbridge Community HSS Trust	0	0.00
Craigavon Area Hospital Group HSS Trust	0	0.00
Down Lisburn HSS Trust	2	2.00
Foyle Community HSS Trust	0	0.00
Green Park Healthcare HSS Trust	0	0.00
Homefirst Community HSS Trust	9	8.00
Mater Infirmorum Hospital HSS Trust	3	3.00
Newry and Mourne HSS Trust	0	0.00
North and West Belfast HSS Trust	14	11.60
Royal Group of Hospitals HSS Trust	0	0.00
South and East Belfast HSS Trust	0	0.00
Sperrin/Lakeland HSS Trust	0	0.00
Ulster Community and Hospitals Group HSS Trust	0	0.00
United Hospitals Group HSS Trust	0	0.00
Total	30	26.60

 
17 Oct 2005 : Column 751W
 

Mrs. Iris Robinson: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many new occupational therapists have been appointed in Northern Ireland in each of the last five years. [17515]

Mr. Woodward: Information requested is provided in the table.
Number of occupational therapists joining the HPSS in each of the last five years

	Headcount	Whole time equivalent
April 2000 to March 2001	56	55.11
April 2001 to March 2002	53	49.49
April 2002 to March 2003	67	64.09
April 2003 to March 2004	67	64.10
April 2004 to March 2005	86	81.23

Notes:
Joiner figures may include: new graduates, return to practice, recruitment from independent and private sector, staff from other parts of the UK, Republic of Ireland and overseas.

Operations

Mrs. Iris Robinson: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many operations were performed in Northern Ireland in the last 12 months. [18031]

Mr. Woodward: There were 252,293 operations performed in surgical specialties in acute hospitals in Northern Ireland in 2004–05 (the latest year for which figures are available).

Physiotherapists

Mrs. Iris Robinson: To ask the Secretary of State forNorthern Ireland how many physiotherapists have been appointed in the Province in each of the last five years. [17546]

Mr. Woodward: Information requested is provided in the table.
Number of physiotherapists joining the HPSS in each of the last five years

	Headcount	Whole time equivalent
April 2000 to March 2001	58	51.93
April 2001 to March 2002	74	68.34
April 2002 to March 2003	81	71.76
April 2003 to March 2004	96	90.92
April 2004 to March 2005	92	85.31

Notes:
Joiner figures may include: new graduates, return to practice, recruitment from independent and private sector, staff from other parts of the UK, Republic of Ireland and overseas.




 
17 Oct 2005 : Column 752W
 

Police Recruitment

Mr. Lidington: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland if he will make it his policy to bar people without terrorist convictions but against whom there is good intelligence of involvement with paramilitary organisations from service as (a) full-time police officers, (b) police reservists, (c) police civilian staff and (d) police community support officers; and if he will make a statement. [18161]

Mr. Woodward: The vetting arrangements with regards to police recruitment include consideration of all relevant security and criminal information relating to the applicant and their close relatives. This also includes financial and domestic violence checks.

As my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland stated unequivocally, on 13 October during his Oral Statement to the House, the normal recruitment criteria that applies to all applications to the police service at this present time will continue to apply in the future, including applications for Police Community Support Officers should the Policing Board and Chief Constable recommend their introduction to Northern Ireland.

The report of the Independent Commission was clear and unambiguous in stating that people with serious criminal or terrorist backgrounds should not be considered to serve in any area of the police service. We remain absolutely committed to this stance and foresee no circumstances where this might change.

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