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10 Mar 2006 : Column 1839W—continued
Legislative and Regulatory Reform Bill
Peter Bottomley: To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster for what reason the Government have not accepted requests to limit by legislation the power to deliver by the scope of Part 1 of the Legislative and Regulatory Reform Bill highly political measures. [56154]
Mr. Jim Murphy: The Legislative and Regulatory Reform Bill (the Bill) has just completed its Committee stage where this issue was discussed. I have told the Standing Committee that the Government will consider the addition of further safeguards to the order making power in Part 1 of the Bill at Report stage.
Websites
Mr. Heald: To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster what were the running costs of the Cabinet Office website in (a) January and (b) February. [56796]
Mr. Jim Murphy: The cost of running the Cabinet Office website each month is £1,699.15 (inc. VAT).
This figure comprises the set monthly charges for external hosting and infrastructure and related telecommunication services.
NORTHERN IRELAND
Compensation Claims
Mr. Dodds: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many claims for compensation against his Department were (a) lodged and (b) brought to a conclusion in each year since 1996. [54121]
Mr. Woodward: The table details the number of (a) claims lodged and (b) claims brought to conclusion in each year since 1996 within the Northern Ireland Office.
| Claims lodged | Claims settled | |
|---|---|---|
| 1996 | 5 | 0 |
| 1997 | 5 | 1 |
| 1998 | 7 | 1 |
| 1999 | 7 | 2 |
| 2000 | 8 | 6 |
| 2001 | 13 | 10 |
| 2002 | 14 | 13 |
| 2003 | 11 | 7 |
| 2004 | 10 | 6 |
| 2005 | 2 | 8 |
| 2006 | 0 | 0 |
| Overall total | 82 | 54 |
Larry Zaitschek
Mr. Peter Robinson:
To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland (1) on how many occasions his Office has made contact with the US Administration regarding the extradition of Larry Zaitschek; [54615]
10 Mar 2006 : Column 1840W
(2) what assessment he has made of the reasons for the time taken on the decision on whether to extradite Larry Zaitschek; [54619]
(3) whether the delay in extradition of Larry Zaitschek was connected with the Denis Donaldson case. [54620]
Mr. Hain: It is not Government policy to comment on individual cases.
Private Office
Sarah Teather: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what the cost of his private office was in the last year for which figures are available. [55728]
Mr. Woodward: The cost of the private offices, in Belfast and London, for the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland for the financial year 2004–05 was £841,557.
Road Accidents
Chris Ruane: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many deaths were caused by joyriding in Northern Ireland in each of the last 30 years. [55563]
Mr. Woodward: The following table provides the number of fatalities involving the offence of taking and driving away of motor vehicles. Figures are only available for the last 10 years.
| Fatalities | |
|---|---|
| 1996 | 2 |
| 1997 | 3 |
| 1998 | 8 |
| 1999 | 5 |
| 2000 | 6 |
| 2001 | 8 |
| 2002 | 5 |
| 2003 | 9 |
| 2004 | 3 |
| 2005(11) | 2 |
(11) Figures for 2005 are provisional and may be subject to change
Spending Review (Efficiency Targets)
Mrs. Villiers: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what the target level of employment expressed as full-time equivalents is in his Department by April 2008, in order to meet his Department's civil service workforce reductions target set out in the 2004 Spending Review. [52841]
Mr. Hain: In order to meet the NIO civil service workforce reduction targets the number of full-time staff required to do the same work in April 2008 that was being undertaken in April 2004 must be reduced by 128. Current forecasting suggests that NIO will achieve a reduction of 364 civil servants.
Based on current plans, there will be 5,508.5 full-time equivalent civil servant posts in the Northern Ireland Office, and other organisations that draw of NIO DEL, by April 2008.