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17 Jan 2006 : Column 1259W—continued
Hospital Beds
Mrs. Iris Robinson: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many single rooms are provided to patients at each hospital in the Province. [18422]
Mr. Woodward: The number of single rooms available to patients at each hospital in Northern Ireland is shown in the following table:
(11) Altnagelvin Area Hospital figures include figures for Altnagelvin, Windsor House, Spruce House and Waterside Hospitals.
(12) Approximately.
Source:
Northern Ireland HSS Trusts.
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Illegal Waste
Lady Hermon: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many prosecutions have been initiated against the illegal dumping of waste originating from the Republic of Ireland in each of the last five years; and how many of those prosecutions have been successful. [42686]
Angela E. Smith: The Environment and Heritage Service [EHS] acquired powers for prosecution in December 2002; EHS does not hold figures for 2001 and 2002 when district councils were the regulators. With regard to cases of illegal dumping of waste from ROL in 2003—seven prosecutions were initiated; in 2004—12 prosecutions were initiated and in 2005—11 prosecutions were initiated. To date, eight successful prosecutions have been completed with fines totalling £33,070 plus costs imposed.
A further 16 cases are pending submission to the Public Prosecution Service.
Lady Hermon: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many illegal landfill sites with waste from the Republic of Ireland have been detected in Northern Ireland in each of the last five years; and if he will make a statement. [42687]
Angela E. Smith: I refer the hon. Gentleman to the response given to the hon. Member for East Antrim on Friday 28 October 2005, Official Report, column 650W. Since that date, an additional site of significance has been detected and will be subject to prosecution. Four others are also under investigation.
Medical Treatment
Mrs. Iris Robinson: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many patients in Northern Ireland had to travel to other parts of the UK or further afield to receive treatment on the NHS in each of the last five years; which procedures such patients received; what the cost of such treatment has been over the last five years for which figures are available; and if he will make a statement. [42258]
Mr. Woodward:
The table sets out details of the number of patients who had treatment outside Northern Ireland as part of waiting list initiatives in each of the last five years; the specialties concerned; and the resultant costs.
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I have set targets for this year to ensure that no-one is waiting more than 12 months for in-patient or day case treatment by March 2006, with shorter waiting times for cardiac surgery (six months), cataract surgery (six months), and major joint replacement (nine months). This is just a first step, and waiting times must be further reduced over the coming years.
In bringing about these improvements, I have introduced an Alternative Offer Scheme whereby patients will be made an offer of treatment by an alternative provider, including outside Northern Ireland where necessary. While every effort is made to treat people at their local hospital, where this is not possible I believe it is more important to get people the treatment they require and end the anxiety and frustration caused by long waiting times.
Review of Public Administration
Mr. McGrady: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what discussions his Department has had with representatives of the Irish government since the publication of the Review of Public Administration on 22 November 2005. [40781]
Angela E. Smith: There have been no discussions with representatives of the Irish Government since the publication of the Review of Public Administration on 22 November 2005.
Mr. McGrady: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what discussions have been held between (a) the Prime Minister and the Prime Minister of the Republic of Ireland and (b) the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland and Ministers in the Northern Ireland Office and the Minister for Foreign Affairs in Dublin and officials on the Review of Public Administration. [40787]
Angela E. Smith: There has been no discussion at Prime Minister/Taoiseach level. However, my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State and Dermot Ahern discussed the review of RPA briefly at a stocktake meeting held in Hillsborough on 14 November.
Statutory Off Road Notices
Mr. Gregory Campbell: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many motorists in Northern Ireland should have completed the Statutory Off Road Notice during 2005, but did not; and how many were subsequently prosecuted. [42276]
Angela E. Smith:
Figures for Statutory Off the Road Notification (SORN) are not recorded separately but incorporated into a range of offences under the Continuous Registration Regulations. For the calendar year ended 31 December 2005, 60,779 out of court
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settlement offers were issued to vehicle keepers who had failed to comply with Continuous Registration Regulations. Of those who did not respond to the offer 146 have been prosecuted.
Unauthorised Encampments
Lady Hermon: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland if he will make a statement on the implementation of the Unauthorised Encampments (Northern Ireland) Order 2005. [42719]
Mr. Hanson: The Unauthorised Encampments (Northern Ireland) Order 2005, was made at Privy Council on 19 July 2005. However, as the order cannot be fully effective until sufficient sites for Travellers are available, I have decided to defer bringing the substantive provisions of the order into effect until I am satisfied that an adequate number of transit sites is operational in Northern Ireland.
Responsibility for providing such sites falls to the Housing Executive and I am pressing it to ensure the necessary sites are available as soon as possible. I anticipate that five sites will be operational by the summer by which time I will review the situation with a view to enabling the necessary provisions. I believe this represents a fair and balanced approach.
HOME DEPARTMENT
Public Order
Mr. Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many antisocial behaviour orders have been issued by courts in Coventry, South since the penalty was introduced; and how many have been breached. [39742]
Hazel Blears: Data held centrally on the number of antisocial behaviour orders (ASBOs) issued by court in Coventry are only available for the whole of the city by type of court.
From commencement up to 31 May 2000 data were collected on aggregate numbers only by police force area. Since 1 June 2000 up to 30 June 2005 (latest available) the number of ASBOs issued at all courts in Coventry, as reported to the Home Office, is 64.
The Home Office Court Proceedings Database holds breach proceedings only where there has been a conviction and are available at Criminal Justice System area level only. ASBO breach data are currently available from 1 June 2000 to 31 December 2003 for ASBOs issued since one June 2000. During this period, of those ASBOs issued in the West Midlands, 81 were breached on one or more occasions.
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Shona McIsaac:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department (1) how many antisocial behaviour orders have been issued by courts in (a) North East Lincolnshire and (b) North Lincolnshire in each quarter since the penalty was introduced; [42428]
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(2) what percentage of antisocial behaviour orders issued in (a) North East Lincolnshire and (b) North Lincolnshire have been issued to people under the age of 21. [42584]
Hazel Blears: The available information is given in the table.
(13) Between 1 April 1999–31 May 2000 data were collected on aggregate numbers only by police force area (pfa). During this period no ASBOs were issued, as reported, within Humberside pfa (in which the North East Lincolnshire and North Lincolnshire local government authority areas are located).
(14) As from 1 June 2000 data collected centrally by magistrates courts committee (MCC) area by quarter. For the month of June 2000 no ASBOS were reported as being issued.
Judy Mallaber: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many people in (a) Derbyshire and (b) Amber Valley have entered into acceptable behaviour contracts since their introduction. [42939]
Hazel Blears:
The number of acceptable behaviour contracts (ABCs) made in Derbyshire and the Amber Valley is not known as this information is not collected centrally. ABCs are voluntary agreements with no statutory basis and can be entered into by various local services such as local authority social services or housing
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departments, youth inclusion and support panels or the police. They are therefore unsuitable for central data collection.
A recent survey carried out by the Home Office and sent to all crime and disorder reduction partnerships estimated that over 13,000 ABCs were issued between October 2003 and September 2005.
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