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31 Oct 2005 : Column 783W—continued

Assets Recovery Agency

Mr. Peter Robinson: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how much (a) property and (b) other assets have been (i) frozen and (ii) recovered in Northern Ireland by the Assets Recovery Agency. [21178]

Mr. Woodward: The amount of property and other assets frozen and recovered in Northern Ireland by the Assets Recovery Agency is detailed in the following table:
£ million

Assets
frozen
Assets recoveredReceipts
March 2003–043.1(13)(5508260014)(14)0.002
2004–053.71.40.7
2005–06(15)1.70.10.4


(13) None
(14) First full year of operation
(15) To date



 
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Big Lottery Fund

Mr. Peter Robinson: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what the (a) sex and (b) religious breakdown is of the full-time equivalent staff employed in the Big Lottery Fund's Belfast office. [22891]

Mr. Hanson: A total of 55 full-time equivalents are currently employed in the Big Lottery Fund's Belfast office, which equates to 57 staff. Of these 44 are female and 13 are male. The religious breakdown of employees is 26 Protestant, 26 Roman Catholic and five who are neither.

Breast Cancer

Mrs. Iris Robinson: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what research has been carried out by the Department of Health, Social Services and Public Safety to ascertain the success rate in the Province for the treatment of breast cancer. [22674]

Mr. Woodward: The Department of Health, Social Services and Public Safety funds the Northern Ireland Cancer Registry (NICR), which undertakes a wide range of statistical research into success rates for the treatment of various cancers, including breast cancer. It has recently published a major report on breast cancer which is a further significant step in the evaluation of cancer care here—Gavin A, Kinnear H, Fitzpatrick D, Ranaghan L, 2005. Cancer Services Audit 1996 & 2001, Breast. N. Ireland Cancer Registry". In addition, the Research and Development Office (RDO), which is also funded by my Department, established a Cancer Recognised Research Group in 2000–01. This comprises 15 research programmes in the prevention, diagnosis and treatment of cancers. A number of individual research projects currently funded by the RDO are specifically related to breast cancer treatment.

The success rate for the treatment of breast cancer is dependent on a range of factors including the stage of the disease at diagnosis. Latest published figures from NICR, based on persons diagnosed in the period 1996–99, show that the one-year relative survival rate for breast cancer is 95.2 per cent. while the five-year relative survival rate is 81.5 per cent. These rates are very good in comparison with other cancers but the fact that survival is already high makes it more difficult to measure improvements over time.

Dr. McCrea: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what action the Department of Health, Social Services and Public Safety is taking to reduce waiting times for women with breast disease who have been referred to a specialist by their general practitioner; and if he will make a statement. [23382]

Mr. Woodward: In Northern Ireland, patients with suspected breast cancer are expected to be assessed by a specialist within two weeks of urgent referral by their GP. The Department of Health, social services and public safety is working with Health and Social Services Boards and Trusts on an ongoing basis to ensure compliance with this target.
 
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Computer Theft

Mr. Peter Robinson: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland pursuant to the answer to question 19587, what action was taken between 2001 and 2005 in relation to the five cases of computer theft from his Department where all legal proceedings have been completed. [22890]

Mr. Woodward: There have been no legal proceedings in relation to the five cases of computer theft.

Consultant Referrals

Mr. Peter Robinson: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many general practitioner referrals to consultants there were in each Northern Ireland health board area in each of the last five years; and what percentage this was of the total number of general practitioner appointments, excluding those that did not attend. [22814]

Mr. Woodward: Information is collected on the number of written referral requests from a general practitioner (GP) received by hospitals during the time period. The number of written GP referral requests received by hospitals in each Health Board area in each of the past five years is shown in the following table. Note that 2004–05 data are provisional.
Board which
received request
2000–012001–022002–032003–042004–05(16)
EHSSB172,547176,375176,700180,197185,349
NHSSB54,61754,26557,50058,61958,856
SHSSB59,16959,20258,79559,35460,276
WHSSB59,88359,58460,54761,00461,540
NI total346,216349,426353,542359,174366,021


(16) Provisional.


The number of GP appointments is not available and therefore a percentage cannot be calculated.

Costello Working Group

Mr. Lidington: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland (1) if he will list the dates of minuted meetings held by the Costello Working Group; [21326]

(2) if he will list the titles of discussion papers commissioned by the Costello Working Group; [21327]

(3) if he will place in the Library of the House copies of the (a) minutes and (b) discussion papers produced by the Costello Working Group. [21328]

Angela E. Smith: All meetings of the Post-Primary Review Working Group were minuted. The meetings took place on the following dates in 2003; 5, 12, 19/20 June; 2/3 July; 13/14, 28 August; 4/5, 10/11, 18, 29/30 September; 3, 8, 14, 28 October; and 6, 14, 21, 28 November. I have arranged for copies of the published minutes to be placed in the Library.

At its 5th meeting on 13 and 14 August, the Group asked the secretariat to prepare a discussion paper on the various issues identified at that meeting. A paper entitled Strategic Policy Framework", was considered at the meeting on 28 August. The Working Group did not produce discussion papers.
 
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Departmental Staff

Mr. Gibb: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what training in (a) literacy and (b) numeracy is offered to employees of his Department. [21119]

Mr. Hanson: All new recruits to the general grades in the Northern Ireland Office must satisfy a minimum academic standard—two GCSEs or equivalent including English for Grade D2, increasing to five for Grade Dl. Other new employees have to meet different requirements or standards relevant to the specialism of the specific post/grade.

If any member of staff should ask for help in developing their literacy and numeracy skills the Department would seek to meet the requirement through the Knowledge Programme which includes literacy, numeracy and computer based skills.

Disability Vehicle Stickers

Mr. Peter Robinson: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what guidelines are in place in Northern Ireland for the issuing of official disability vehicle stickers. [22887]

Mr. Woodward: 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. Peter Robinson, dated 31 October 2005:


 
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Mr. Gregory Campbell: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what steps are being taken to ensure that those using disabled parking bays in car parks open to the general public in Northern Ireland are drivers with a valid disabled blue badge applicable to the vehicle in question. [22434]

Mr. Woodward: 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 Dr. Malcolm McKibbin to Gregory Campbell, dated 27 October 2005:


 
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