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24 Oct 2005 : Column 106W—continued
Police Service of Northern Ireland
Sammy Wilson: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many (a) Roman Catholics and (b) Protestants qualified for the merit pool of suitably qualified candidates on each recruitment exercise for new constables by the Police Service of Northern Ireland in each of the last three years, but were not appointed. [19186]
Mr. Woodward: I am advised that in the last three years the merit pool breakdown has been as follows:
(22) Appointments are still being made from competitions five through to eight and these figures are based upon the projected number of final appointments.
(23) Pool not yet formed.
In total, competitions five through to eight have seen 3,781 candidates who have been classified as suitably qualified. It is projected that only 1,086 appointments will be made from these competitions, and as such it is inevitable that a large number of qualified candidates (an estimated 2,695) will be rejected.
The vast majority of these candidates, however, will be affected in absolutely no way by the 50:50 measures. It is estimated only 288 will actually be rejected because of these temporary provisions. The remaining number will be rejected regardless of the 50/50 provisions and simply because demand to join PSNI is so high.
With non-Catholics representing a higher proportion of applications, it is inevitable that there will be a higher proportion of non-Catholics who reach the pool of suitably qualified applicants, and are not then appointed.
Sammy Wilson: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what was the cost of Police Service of Northern Ireland recruitment exercises for each of the last three years. [19187]
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Mr. Woodward: I am advised that the figures spent on regular police trainee recruitment has been as follows:
| Financial year | Annual cost (£) |
|---|---|
| 2002–03 | 3,794,761 |
| 2003–04 | 4,553,610 |
| 2004–05 | 5,071,988 |
Sammy Wilson: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many recruitment exercises have been carried out by the Police Service of Northern Ireland for new constables in each of the last three years. [19188]
Mr. Woodward: I am advised that there have been a total of six campaigns administered in the last three years. A total of 10 have taken place since March 2001.
Sammy Wilson: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many new Police Service of Northern Ireland constables were appointed in each of the last three years for which figures are available. [19189]
Mr. Woodward: I am advised that the following numbers have been appointed over the last three years:
| Financial year | Number appointed |
|---|---|
| 2002–03 | 414 |
| 2003–04 | 528 |
| 2004–05 | 531 |
Sammy Wilson: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what the size of the merit pool was for recruitment exercises carried out by the Police Service of Northern Ireland for new constables in each of the last three years. [19330]
Mr. Woodward: I am advised that the following numbers have reached the merit pool of suitably qualified candidates:
| Month/year | Campaign | Merit pool: total |
|---|---|---|
| March 2003 | 5 | 1,041 |
| September 2003 | 6 | 867 |
| March 2004 | 7 | 758 |
| September 2004 | 8 | 1,115 |
Note:
Competitions nine and 10 are ongoing, with merit pools yet to be formed.
Mr. Peter Robinson: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many regular Police Service of Northern Ireland (a) full-time reserve and (b) part-time reserve officers are on (i) long term sick leave and (ii) short term sick leave within East Belfast. [19575]
Mr. Woodward: As of the 19 October 2005, East Belfast DCU recorded the following sick absence details for regular, full-time reserve and part-time reserve officers:
Police Stations (Closures)
Mr. Peter Robinson: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland if he will list the police stations on closure lists in each district in Northern Ireland. [19531]
Mr. Woodward: The following stations have been approved for closure by the Chief Constable and the Policing Board:
Primary Schools
Mrs. Iris Robinson: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many pupils attended (a) state controlled, (b) Catholic maintained and (c) integrated primary schools in Northern Ireland in each of the past 10 years. [19943]
Angela E. Smith: The information requested is as follows:
(24) Figures relate to pupils in year 1—year 7 only.
(25) Data for pupils at 'other maintained' primary schools and at preparatory departments of voluntary grammar schools have been excluded.
(26) Includes both controlled integrated schools and grant maintained integrated schools.
Public Bodies (Appointments)
Mr. Gregory Campbell:
To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many (a) Protestant, (b) Roman Catholic and (c) non-determined appointees there have been to (i) the Child Support Agency in Northern Ireland, (ii) general service grades of the Civil Service in Northern Ireland and (iii) the
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Northern Ireland Housing Executive in the last 12 months; and what percentage of appointees this represents in each case. [18497]
Angela E. Smith: Protestants and men are currently under-represented in positions in the administrative grades of the Northern Ireland Civil Service. To encourage applications from these groups advertisements for general service positions have included the following welcoming statement:
As Protestants and men are currently known to be under-represented amongst applicants for employment in this grade in the NICS, applications from the Protestant section of the community and from men would be particularly welcome."
As part of current outreach measures, Recruitment Service attends careers events throughout Northern Ireland to encourage young people to consider a career in the Northern Ireland Civil Service. Officials from Department of Finance and Personnel have also met careers teachers from a predominantly Protestant catchment area in an initiative to ensure that careers in NICS are perceived in a positive way by young Protestant school leavers and that applications received are representative of the entire community.
The following tables provide details of appointments for the year 1 April 2004 to 31 March 2005.
Note:
(These are overall figures for NICS and include appointments to the Child Support Agency.)
| Protestant | Roman Catholic | Non-determined | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| General service grades | Number | Percentage | Number | Percentage | Number | Percentage | Total |
| Permanent | 80 | 36.5 | 138 | 63 | 1 | 0.4 | 219 |
| Temporary | 15 | 38.5 | 22 | 56.4 | 2 | 5 | 39 |
Note:
(These appointments, included in the table above, are identified as appointments to the Child Support Agency.)
| Protestant | Roman Catholic | Non-determined | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| General service grades | Number | Percentage | Number | Percentage | Number | Percentage | Total |
| Appointees | 119 | 39.3 | 145 | 47.8 | 39 | 12.9 | 303 |
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