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23 Nov 2005 : Column 2005W—continued
Milk
Dr. McCrea: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what steps the Government are taking to tackle the differential between the retail and farm gate price of milk in Northern Ireland; and if he will make a statement. [30145]
Angela E. Smith: I have not taken any action on this matter, as it is not Government policy to interfere in the operation of normal market forces, providing competition rules are respected. I, however, appreciate the important contribution which the dairy sector makes to the agri-food industry in Northern Ireland, albeit it is heavily reliant on the manufacture of bulk commodities for export markets. I would therefore encourage the dairy industry to continue in its efforts to move from a production-led approach towards higher value-added and market-led strategies. This should help to improve the overall competitiveness of the industry and hopefully narrow the differential.
Ministerial Meetings
Lady Hermon: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what (a) meetings and (b) other communications have taken place between the Ministers with responsibility for each of the Northern Ireland Departments and their counterparts in (i) the Scottish Executive and (ii) the National Assembly of Wales in order to identify areas of co-operation and mutual benefit in each of the past 12 months. [28202]
Angela E. Smith:
Formal and informal contact takes place with the Scottish Executive and the Welsh Assembly Government on an ongoing basis. The British Irish Council on which the Scottish Executive, the Welsh Assembly Government and the Northern Ireland administration are represented continues to provide one effective co-ordinating mechanism to support co-operative working and a number of ministerial meetings have taken place in the last year. The sixth summit, hosted by Guernsey on 19 November 2004, focused on Tourism and the seventh, hosted by the Isle of Man on 20 May 2005, focused on Telemedicine. In addition a sectoral meeting on Environment was held in Dublin on 7 April 2005.
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NICE Drug Assessments
Dr. McCrea: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland when the Government expects to refer bortezomib to the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence. [30150]
Mr. Woodward: I understand that the Department of Health referred bortezomib to the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE) on 20 July 2005. The Institute has not yet published a timescale for the completion of its appraisal.
Personal Injury Claims
Mr. Gregory Campbell: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how much compensation has been paid in personal injury claims by members of the public against the Department for Regional Development in Northern Ireland in each of the past three years. [30091]
Mr. Woodward: The following table sets out the total compensation paid by the Department for Regional Development in respect of public liability personal injury claims by members of the public in each of the last three years.
| Amount | |
|---|---|
| 2004–05 | 1,760,490 |
| 2003–04 | 2,142,323 |
| 2002–03 | 2,504,607 |
Pigs
Dr. McCrea: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many pigs were reared on Northern Ireland farms in each of the last five years. [30147]
Angela E. Smith: The number of clean finished pigs reared on Northern Ireland farms in each of the last five years is as follows:
| Number of pigs reared | |
|---|---|
| 2000 | 884,400 |
| 2001 | 922,800 |
| 2002 | 931,700 |
| 2003 | 973,200 |
| 2004 | (16)879,100 |
(16) Provisional.
Planning Applications
Dr. McCrea: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many planning applications have been approved in each district council area in Northern Ireland during the last 12 months. [30198]
Angela E. Smith: Details of the number of planning approvals issued between 1 November 2004 and 31 October 2005 are set out in the following table.
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Dr. McCrea: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many divisional planning decisions were overturned by the management board after being referred to them by district or borough councils in each of the last five years. [30224]
Angela E. Smith:
The management board referral (MBR) process is an administrative rather than a statutory process. It affords councils the opportunity to
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refer planning applications to the Planning Service's management board for further consideration where the council strongly disagrees with the local Divisional Planning Office's recommendation.
Details of the number applications where the Planning Service's management board overturned the Divisional Planning Office's recommendation is set out in the following table.
| Number of MBR cases | Number overturned | |
|---|---|---|
| 2000 | 106 | 10 |
| 2001 | 104 | 9 |
| 2002 | 123 | 5 |
| 2003 | 146 | 6 |
| 2004 | 192 | 5 |
| 2005 | 234 | 3 |
Lady Hermon: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many planning applications were lodged within each planning service district in Northern Ireland in each of the past six years; and what the relevant administration costs were in each of the districts in each year. [30250]
Angela E. Smith: Details of the number of planning applications received and the corresponding administration costs, set out by Planning Service division, in each of the last five years are contained in the following table. It is only possible to provide accurate data for the last five years as all the information for previous years is not held electronically and could be extracted only at a disproportionate cost.
Police Service of Northern Ireland
Dr. McCrea: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many (a) civilian staff and (b) police officers are employed in each Police Service of Northern Ireland station within the South Antrim constituency. [30134]
Mr. Woodward: It is not appropriate, for operational security reasons, to disclose how many personnel are attached to each PSNI station. Equivalent figures for officers and staff for Antrim DCU which covers the most of the South Antrim constituency are set out as follows.
| Number | |
|---|---|
| Regulars | 139.75 |
| FTR | 36 |
| PTR | 17 |
| Civilian staff | 30 |
| Agency staff | 3 |
Mr. Peter Robinson: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what the present strength is of the Police Service for Northern Ireland; and what percentage of its members are (a) Roman Catholic, (b) Protestant and (c) of other affiliation. [29632]
Mr. Woodward: I am advised that, as at 8 November 2005, PSNI strength was 7,485 (Regular Officers).
Mr. Peter Robinson: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what the deviation from community balance was in the composition of the Royal Ulster Constabulary and Police Service of Northern Ireland in each of the last 10 years. [29633]
Mr. Woodward:
In light of the deviation from community balance that was present in the composition of the RUC, the Report of the Independent Commission
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on Policing for Northern Ireland recommended Police Regular Officers be recruited at an equal ratio of Catholics to non-Catholics.
They advised that this recruitment profile
over a 10 year period . . . reflects the demographic breakdown of people now in their twenties, or who will reach the age of recruitment over that period".
The first intake under these temporary 50:50 provisions was in November 2001. As a result, there has been a marked decrease in the deviation from community balance in the Police Service of Northern Ireland, due an increasing proportion of Catholic officers.
I am advised that the community background of RUC and PSNI Regular Officers, in each of the last 10 years has been as follows:
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