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28 Feb 2006 : Column 659W—continued
NORTHERN IRELAND
Births
David Simpson: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many births in each of the last 10 years were to mothers aged (a) 17 years, (b) 16 years, (c) 15 years and (d) under 15 years of age, broken down by health board area. [53139]
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Angela E. Smith: The table gives the number of births 1 registered in Northern Ireland in each year between 1995 and 2004 where the mother was a resident of Northern Ireland, by age of mother and health board area.
1 Birth is defined to be either still or live birth. Pregnancies which resulted in the birth of twins, triplets or other multiple births are counted twice, three times, etc.
Civil Service
Mr. Gregory Campbell: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland pursuant to the answer of 9 February 2006, Official Report, columns 1141–2W, on the civil service, how many people work in the general service quarters of the Northern Ireland Civil Service; and what proportion of that total work in the positions identified in the answer. [52720]
Angela E. Smith: Information on the general service grades of the Northern Ireland Civil Service is set out in the table. The data relate to all staff in the general service grades in the Northern Ireland Civil Service and include staff in the 11 Northern Ireland Departments, the NIO and Executive Agencies.
(25) At 1 October 2005
Mr. Gregory Campbell: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what the change in the number of people employed in the ranks of the senior civil service in Northern Ireland has been since 2003, broken down by religious background. [52723]
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Angela E. Smith: The following table shows the senior civil service broken down by community background at 1 January 2003 and 1 October 2005, which is the most recent date for which information is available.
| 1 January 2003 | 1 October 2005 | |
|---|---|---|
| Protestant | 165 | 149 |
| Percentage | 65.5 | 60. 1 |
| Roman Catholic | 68 | 79 |
| Percentage | 27.0 | 31.9 |
| Non-Determined | 19 | 20 |
| Percentage | 7.5 | 8.1 |
| Total | 252 | 248 |
Mr. Peter Robinson: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland pursuant to the answer of 7 December 2005 to the hon. Member for South Antrim, Official Report, column 1377W, on the civil service, what the urgent business need to employ five temporary staff in the Office of the First Minister and Deputy First Minister was. [53069]
Angela E. Smith: The figures provided in the answer of 7 December 2005 reflected a temporary increase in staffing levels in the OFMDFM, as detailed as follows:
The three posts which are not time limited have since been offset by reductions elsewhere in the Department.
Mrs. Villiers: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what interim targets he has set for achieving (a) the agreed efficiency target for his Department and (b) the Civil Service workforce reductions targets for (i) gross reductions in posts, (ii) net reductions in posts and (iii) relocations for his Department, as set out in the 2004 Spending Review; what the baseline figures are against which these interim targets are assessed; on what dates they will take effect; and by what dates these interim targets are intended to be met. [52914]
Mr. Hain: Based on current forecasts, the interim targets are as follows:
| March | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| 2006 | 2007 | 2008 | |
| a: Efficiency Gains (£ million) | 37.8 | 79.4 | 94.6 |
| b(i): Gross Civil Service Reductions | 437 | 457 | 483.5 |
| b(ii): Net Civil Service Reductions | 311 | 327 | 364 |
| b(iii): Lyons Relocations | 6.5 | 7.5 | 9.5 |
In terms of baselines, the NIO DEL baseline for 2004–05 was £l,175 million, the total number of FTE civil servants in post at April 2004 was 5336, and the Department had some 100.5 FTE posts in our London office.
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Civil Service IT
Mark Durkan: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what progress has been made with the Northern Ireland civil service electronic Human Resources contract. [53003]
Angela E. Smith: The Department of Finance and Personnel appointed Fujitsu Services Limited as preferred bidder on 2 December 2005.
The full business case is progressing through the internal approvals process and the award decision is expected in March 2006.
Mark Durkan: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland when the equality impact assessment on the policy to outsource the Northern Ireland civil service electronic Human Resources contract will be produced. [53004]
Angela E. Smith: The equality impact assessment (EQIA) on the policy known as the "e-HR programme", which relates to the future provision of human resource services for the NICS and NIO, will be published following the final decision on "award of contract". It is anticipated that this decision should be made in March 2006. The publication arrangements for the EQIA are in line with those set out in the DFP equality scheme.
Conferences
David T.C. Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland (1) how much the Department spent on organising or sponsoring conferences in each of the last five years; [10250]
(2) when he will provide an answer to Question 10250, on departmental expenditure, tabled by the hon. Member for Monmouth on 4 July 2005. [49836]
Mr. Hain: The information sought by the hon. Member is not held centrally by the Northern Ireland Office and it is not possible to provide exact figures. However, it is estimated that my Department has spent the following amounts on conferences in each of the last five financial years.
| Amount spent on conferences (£) | |
|---|---|
| 2002–03 | 8,000 |
| 2003–04 | 26,357 |
| 2004–05 | 120,584 |
| 2005–06 | 80,746 |
I am sorry for the delay in providing this reply which was caused by an administrative error.
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