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18 Apr 2006 : Column 466W—continued
Bullying
David Simpson: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many pupils in Northern Ireland had to move school as a result of bullying in each of the last three years. [63492]
Angela E. Smith: The Department of Education does not collect information about the number of pupils who move schools as a result of bullying. Parents may move their children from one school to another, provided that there is a place available in the receiving school. Parents move their children from one school to another for a variety of reasons, which may include alleged bullying. However, there is no requirement for parents to advise any statutory agency of the reasons for the move.
The Department recognises that bullying in whatever form and for whatever reason, has no place in schools. The Department has issued comprehensive guidance to all schools about how to tackle bullying. Further, the Education and Libraries (NI) Order 2003, which came into operation on 1 April 2003, places a duty on all grant-aided schools to have an anti-bullying policy and to draw up measures to prevent all forms of bullying among pupils.
Buses
Mr. Gregory Campbell: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland on how many occasions bus routes were (a) stopped and (b) altered in Northern Ireland as a result of riotous behaviour in each of the last three years. [63267]
Mr. Woodward:
Translink recorded the following incidents of bus routes being altered in the last three years due to riotous behaviour. The estimates relate to service disruptions due to civil unrest, rioting, stone throwing and angry crowds.
18 Apr 2006 : Column 467W
| Number | |
|---|---|
| 2003 | 132 |
| 2004 | 54 |
| 2005 | 122 |
Translink does not record separately occasions where bus routes were stopped. This is because very few complete routes are stopped in any year. Even under riotous conditions a bus service would run on at least part of the route.
Cancer Patients (Benefits)
Mrs. Iris Robinson: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what actions have been taken to assist cancer patients in the Province to access benefits. [62387]
Mr. Hanson: For those suffering from cancer, the Social Security Agency's Disability and Carer's Service contact centre assists with telephone applications for disability living allowance (DLA), attendance allowance (AA) and carer's allowance (CA). They can also avail of the special rules scheme within DLA and AA to fast track claims for terminally ill customers. Getting either benefit under special rules means the customer gets the highest rate for help with personal care.
In conjunction with Macmillan Cancer Relief, the agency has worked to identify and address the barriers facing cancer patients when accessing benefits. As a result of this there has been:
an outreach service of specialist benefit advisers for those with cancer has been piloted. The pilot is currently under review.
Child Sex Abuse
David Simpson: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland if he will establish an inquiry into sexual abuse of children by members of the clergy in Northern Ireland. [63962]
Mr. Woodward: There are no current plans to establish an inquiry into sexual abuse by members of the clergy in Northern Ireland.
The Department of Health, Social Services and Public Safety (DHSSPS) continues to engage with officials from the Republic of Ireland to identify ways in which we can work together to strengthen child protection within both jurisdictions, including taking account of the content of the Ferns report.
Officials from DHSSPS and the Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI) have also met representatives of the Roman Catholic on a number of occasions to discuss matters relevant to the Ferns report.
The department has recently published new proposals to enhance child protection and these were detailed in the Written Ministerial Statement of 20 March 2006, Official Report, column 8WS.
18 Apr 2006 : Column 468W
David Simpson: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what discussions he has had with the government of the Republic of Ireland on sexual abuse of children by members of the clergy. [63963]
Mr. Woodward: Child protection was discussed at the British Irish Inter Governmental Conference on 1 February 2006.
The Minister of Health, Social Services and Public Safety has written to his counterpart in the Republic of Ireland on the Ferns Report. Officials have also held discussions and exchanged information with Republic of Ireland colleagues on a range of issues arising from the Ferns Report, aimed at identifying ways in which we can strengthen co-operation in order to protect children in both jurisdictions. This includes two face-to-face meetings held on 8 November 2005 and 16 March 2006.
Officials from the Department of Health, Social Services and Public Safety are working jointly with Republic of Ireland colleagues to organise a child protection event later this year.
It is anticipated that further meetings will take place with colleagues from the Republic of Ireland.
David Simpson: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what representations he has received from members of the public about sexual abuse of children by members of the clergy in Northern Ireland. [63964]
Mr. Woodward: To date, the Department of Health, Social Services and Public Safety has received, from members of the general public, one letter asking if there was going to be an independent public inquiry into allegations of clerical child sexual abuse and two general telephone calls seeking advice on how to report allegations of abuse by clergy.
In terms of actual allegations of abuse, PSNI and Social Services are the statutory organisations with powers to investigate such allegations of abuse.
David Simpson: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many (a) Roman Catholic clergy and (b) Roman Catholic school officials have been interviewed (i) as potential witnesses and (ii) as suspects by the Police Service of Northern Ireland in connection with child sexual abuse by the clergy. [63468]
Mr. Woodward: The Police Service of Northern Ireland do not record the religious background of persons interviewed. The professional status of persons interviewed is not held on a central record and to obtain these details would require a manual trawl of records at disproportionate cost.
Children's Fund
Mark Durkan: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what projects originally funded by the Executive Programme Funds Children's Fund are operating; what provision will be made to allocate resources to those projects from the £14.6 million voluntary children's funding package announced on 6 March; how those resources will be allocated; and what the timescale is for allocation. [63120]
18 Apr 2006 : Column 469W
Mr. Woodward:
Ninety-seven of the one hundred projects originally supported by the Children's Fund continue to receive grant assistance from the Fund. Three projects experienced implementation difficulties at an early stage and terminated their activities. Moneys have been set aside from the additional £14.6 million announced by the Secretary of State to help existing voluntary and community sector groups in their work with disadvantaged children and young people, to continue support to these projects until March 2008, as long as the assistance is still required by them, and subject to satisfactory progress being made, and monitoring and accountability requirements being satisfied.
18 Apr 2006 : Column 470W
Civil Service
Mark Durkan: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many vacancies there are in the Northern Ireland Civil Service in each Government Department at (a) AO, (b) EOII, (c) EOI and (d) SO grades. [61390]
Angela E. Smith: Details of vacancies in the Northern Ireland Civil Service in each Government Department at (a) AO, (b) EOII, (c) EOI and (d) SO grades at 23 March 2006 are shown in the following table. These figures relate to vacancies for which Departments have current financial provision and are within the Departmental headcount. The table also shows identified surpluses for each grade.
(210) In NIO, SO is Grade B2, EOI and EOII are Grade C and AO is Grade Dl.
(211) Grade C = 16 vacancies 1 surplus.
Mark Durkan: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many casual workers have been employed by the Northern Ireland Civil Service in each of the last four years. [63123]
Angela E. Smith: The number of NICS casual workers employed in the 11 Northern Ireland Departments and the NIO, including Agencies, at 1 January for each of the past 4 years is as follows:
| Number | |
|---|---|
| 2003 | 897 |
| 2004 | 1,076 |
| 2005 | 641 |
| 2006 | 530 |
Mark Durkan: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many casual workers in the Northern Ireland Civil Service who had been employed for under two years had their employment terminated in each of the last four years. [63124]
Angela E. Smith: The number of NICS casual workers in the 11 Northern Ireland Departments and the NIO, including Agencies, who had been employed for under two years and had their employment terminated in each of the last four years is as follows:
| Number | |
|---|---|
| 2002 | 724 |
| 2003 | 880 |
| 2004 | 954 |
| 2005 | 673 |
For the purpose of this answer, terminated" is deemed to refer to the ending of the period of casual employment, regardless of the reason (e.g. end of contract/seasonal work, voluntary resignation, casual services no longer required).
Figures do not include those casual staff whose employment status was changed to permanent as a result of success in open competition for entry to the NICS.
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