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Private Sector Jobs

Mr. Gregory Campbell: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what policies have been introduced in Northern Ireland since 1997 to increase the number of private sector jobs in the economy. [43627]

Angela E. Smith: Since 1997, Government have introduced a wide range of measures to deliver its long-term goal of improving Northern Ireland's competitive position which will ultimately lead to better employment opportunities for all. Examples include DETIs Accelerating Entrepreneurship and Regional Innovation Strategies, DARD's Vision Action Plan and a number of DSD initiatives designed to regenerate urban areas and promote private sector investment and job creation.

A significant policy decision taken has been to bring a more integrated approach to economic development through amalgamating the Industrial Development
 
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Board, Local Enterprise Development Unit and the Industrial Research and Technology Unit into one single agency, Invest Northern Ireland.

The Economic Vision for Northern Ireland recognises that the private sector must grow if Northern Ireland is to improve its economic performance. Investing in innovation, enterprise, skills and infrastructure will facilitate private sector growth in the Northern Ireland economy while policies such as national minimum wage, tax credits and new deal will ensure that work pays.

Since 1997, the number of private sector jobs in Northern Ireland has increased by 16.5 per cent. to 472,944 compared to an 11.6 per cent. increase in public sector jobs which at September 2005 stood at 217,805 jobs.

Sexual Violence Strategy

Mark Durkan: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland whether there is a timetable for the (a) publication and (b) implementation of the Sexual Violence Strategy; whether there is a publication date for the consultation paper; and what plans there are in each Department to prioritise the strategy's implementation. [45786]

Mr. Woodward: The development of a regional strategy to address sexual violence in Northern Ireland is being taken forward jointly by the Department of Health, Social Services and Public Safety and the Northern Ireland Office, in conjunction with other Departments and agencies whose responsibilities also have a bearing on matters relating to sexual violence. It is proposed to publish a consultation document by this summer and to publish the final strategy in April 2007. Implementation plans will be agreed with each Department and agency following the consultation process and prior to the strategy being finalised. The implementation plans will be published with the strategy.

Shorts/Bombardier

Mark Durkan: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many unfair dismissal claims were made against Shorts/Bombardier in each of the last five years; and what the outcome was in each case. [44698]

Angela E. Smith: The following table, provided by the Office of the Industrial Tribunals and the Fair Employment Tribunal, sets out the number of claims made against Shorts/Bombardier for each of the lasts five years, the outcome of those processed to date and the number of live cases.
Unfair dismissal cases registered against Shorts/Bombardier 2001–05

UD(34) cases	Total number of claims which include jurisdiction of UD(34)	Number of cases allowed	Number of cases dismissed	Number of cases conciliated	Number of cases withdrawn	Number of cases stayed(35)	Number of cases DFWOP(36)	Number of cases WDS(37)	Number of live cases
2001	3	0	0	1	0	0	0	1	1
2002	97	0	9	0	6	2	0	7	73
2003	358	0	1	2	77	0	29	4	245
2004	11	0	0	2	0	0	0	1	8
2005	5	0	0	0	4	0	0	0	1
Total	474	0	10	5	87	2	29	13	328

⁽³⁴⁾UD—Unfair dismissal.
⁽³⁵⁾Stayed—the proceedings are stopped until further notice.
⁽³⁶⁾WDS—withdrawn following settlement.
⁽³⁷⁾DFWOP—dismissed for want of prosecution.



 
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Mark Durkan: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland if he will list the (a) amounts, (b) categories and (c) purposes of grant aid from public expenditure allocated to Shorts/Bombardier in each of the last five years. [44699]

 
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Angela E. Smith: Shorts/Bombardier has been made a total of £26,678,958 in offers of assistance over the last five years. The information requested is set out as follows.
Public funding allocated to bombardier financial years 2000–01 to 2004–05

Allocating department/agency	Financial year	Amount of grant offered (£)	Category: revenue/capital	Purpose of grant
IDE	2000–01	11,752,000	Revenue	Participation in new aircraft programmes.
IDE	2000–01	2,090	Revenue	Attendance at Farnborough Air Show.
IRTU	2000–01	408	Revenue	To encourage Bombardier to meet with European Commission re collaborative R and D.
IDE	2001–02	181,780	Revenue	To improve and introduce new skills in company.
IDE	2001–02	1,155	Revenue	Attendance at Paris Air Show on Invest NI group stand.
Invest NI	2003–04	5,240,000	Revenue	To improve and introduce new skills in company.
Invest NI	2003–04	8,800,000	Revenue	Participation in Global 5000 and Learjet 40 Aircraft Programmes.
Invest NI	2004–05	701,525	Revenue	Research and Development on three new (Start) projects.

HEALTH

Arm's Length Bodies

Mr. Stephen O'Brien: To ask the Secretary of State for Health if she will list her Department's arm's length bodies; what each body's full-time equivalent staffing level is; and what the annual budget of each body was in the last year for which figures are available. [42664]

Jane Kennedy: The information requested is shown in the table.

Arm's length body (ALB)	Operating costs budget 2005–06 (excluding non- recurrent elements) (£000)	Number of staff in whole-time equivalents as at May/June 2005 (data from ALBs)
Commission for Healthcare Audit and Inspection (the HealthCare Commission) 78,732		771
Commission for Patient and Public Involvement in Health	29,930	189
Commission for Social Care Inspection	144,260	2,622
Council for Healthcare Regulatory Excellence	1,950	11
Dental Practice Board	23,062	272
General Social Care Council	14,310	262
Health and Social Care Information Centre	42,900	366
Health Protection Agency	228,600	3,144
Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority	8,421	106
Human Tissue Authority	1,000	(38)16
Independent Regulator of NHS Foundation Trusts (Monitor)	12,000	28
Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency	62,970	807
Mental Health Act Commission	5,218	36
National Institute for Biological Standards and Control	19,739	308
National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence	29,894	230
National Patient Safety Agency	28,618	238
National Treatment Agency for Substance Misuse	11,510	88
NHS Appointments Commission	5,981	51
NHS Blood and Transplant	415,272	6,156
NHS Business Services Authority(39)	—	—
NHS Connecting for Health	115,230	786
NHS Counter Fraud and Security Management Service	14,897	250
NHS Dental Vocational Training Authority England and Wales	281	3
NHS Direct	161,900	3,461
NHS Institute for Innovation and Improvement	80,000	170
NHS Litigation Authority	14,095	166
NHS Logistics Authority	70,658	1,462
NHS Pensions Agency	22,066	363
NHS Professionals	31,000	807
NHS Purchasing and Supply Agency	22,081	356
Postgraduate Medical Education and Training Board	6,742	36
Prescription Pricing Authority	75,606	1,940

⁽³⁸⁾The Human Tissue Authority was not fully operational May/June 2005. The staff figure cited is therefore at January 2006.
⁽³⁹⁾The NHS Business Services Authority will take on the functions of the Dental Practice Board, the Prescriptions Pricing Authority, the NHS Pensions Agency and the NHS Counter- Fraud and Security Management Service in April 2006.





 
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