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11 May 2006 : Column 525W—continued
Ballybeen
Mrs. Iris Robinson: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how much he expects Ballybeen to receive from the recently announced funding for deprived Loyalist and Unionist areas; and what impact he expects the funding to have. [69662]
Mr. Hanson: On 4 April, I brought forward the Renewing Communities Action Plan, a copy of which is available in the Library. Officials are currently working to implement the measures announced in the action plan, and I would anticipate that the residents of the Ballybeen area will benefit from a range of measures in the action plan.
The Government remain committed to tackling disadvantage and the Renewing Communities Action Plan is an indication of this commitment.
Blue Badge Scheme
Mr. Gregory Campbell: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many people in Northern Ireland were found to be abusing the blue badge scheme in 2005. [67583]
Paul Goggins: According to Police Service of Northern Ireland records, 14 fixed penalty notices (FPNs) were issued for ‘wrongful use of a disabled person's badge' during 2005 while 2107 FPNs were issued for the offence of 'parking in a disabled person's parking space'.
Boundary Commission
Mr. Gregory Campbell: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what the expected timetable is of the Parliamentary Boundary Commission review of Northern Ireland's constituencies. [69267]
Mr. Hanson: Independent Assistant Commissioners appointed by the Secretary of State conducted three public local inquiries in September 2005 into the Commission's published Provisional Recommendations for Parliamentary constituencies. The Commission places importance on the reports of the assistant Commissioners and their recommendations and intend to make an announcement shortly having taken into account those recommendations and all the evidence available to them. The Commission is required to complete their review and submit a report with recommendations to the Secretary of State by June 2007.
Civil Service (Disciplinary Procedures)
Lady Hermon: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many staff in the Northern Ireland Civil Service (a) have received a written warning, (b) have received a final written warning, (c) have reached the trigger points of a written warning but have not received a written warning and (d) have reached the trigger points of a final written warning but have not received a final written warning since the introduction of the Trigger Points Prompting Consideration of Warnings for Sickness Absence on 31 March 2004. [66686]
Mr. Hanson: The following table sets out the numbers of non-industrial and industrial staff who have received written and final written warnings in the two years since 31 March 2004.
| Staff receiving a written warning and a final written warning | ||
| Written warning | Final written warning | |
Full information on the number of staff who have reached the trigger points but not received a written warning is not readily available and could only be provided at disproportionate cost. The number of non-industrial staff who reached a trigger point during the year 1 April 2004 to 31 March 2005 and did not receive a warning is 5,996.
It should be noted that when trigger points are reached, the absentee does not automatically receive a written warning. Trigger points are a mechanism used as a prompt for Departments to give consideration to the case. The Department will consider a range of
factors—which is not exhaustive—that may be relevant to whether a warning should issue including:
nature of the illness;
frequency/pattern of absences;
prior attendance record;
any previous warnings and their proximity;
whether the officer is within their probation period;
circumstances relevant to the Disability Discrimination Act;
pregnancy related absences occurring during the “protected period”; and
any mitigating circumstances presented by the line manager or officer concerned.
Where appropriate, when considering the issue of a warning, the Department will also consult with the welfare officer and the occupational health service.
There are no specific trigger points for the consideration of a final written warning. Where there has been no significant or sustained improvement following the issue of a written warning, the Department will consider the case holistically, taking account of the factors as listed above.
Class Sizes
Chris Ruane: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what the average class size was in each (a) grammar school and (b) other secondary school in Northern Ireland in each of the past 10 years. [67816]
Maria Eagle: The requested information in respect of grammar and other secondary schools was not collected at the time, and any attempt to do so
retrospectively would be problematic and could be done only at disproportionate cost.
Community Differentials
Mark Durkan: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what steps he has taken to ensure a consistent approach to social considerations between the Procurement Board and the Strategic Investment Board. [66388]
Mr. Hanson: The Procurement Board has approved guidance for Northern Ireland Departments on the integration of social considerations into the procurement process. The Strategic Investment Board Limited operates within that guidance in providing advice and guidance to Departments on strategic projects. The Procurement Board has also established a working group to develop further guidance on integrating social policy considerations into Public- Private Partnership procurement and SIB Limited is represented on this group.
Mark Durkan: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what the 20 most deprived wards in Northern Ireland are; and what percentage of the population of each are of (a) Catholic and (b) Protestant background. [66393]
Mr. Hanson: The “Northern Ireland Multiple Deprivation Measure 2005” report details levels of deprivation in 890 Super Output Areas covering Northern Ireland. The 20 most deprived Super Output Areas in Northern Ireland along with information on community background levels of each area from the 2001 Census are given in the following table.
| 20 most deprived super output areas | ||||
| Community background (2001 Census) | ||||
| Ranking | Local government district | Super output area | Percentage Catholic | Percentage Protestant and other Christian |
Conference Organisation Review
David Simpson: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland who is conducting the recently announced review of the organisation of conferences requiring input from senior Northern Ireland civil servants; what the terms of reference for the review are; what stage the review has reached; and what discussions the review team have had with senior civil servants as part of the review. [67505]
Mr. Hanson: I am not aware of any recently announced review of the organisation of conferences requiring input from senior Northern Ireland civil servants.
Departmental Entertainment
Mrs. Iris Robinson: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how much was spent on entertainment by his Department in 2004-05; and how much of that sum is accounted for by (a) food, (b) alcohol, (c) staff and (d) accommodation. [69667]
Mr. Hain: The information requested by the hon. Lady is not available in the format requested. The information requested is captured under “hospitality”, which includes food, alcohol and other related costs. The amount spent on hospitality by the Northern Ireland Office, excluding its Agencies and NDPBs, in 2004-05 was £258,436.
All expenditure of official hospitality is made in accordance with published departmental guidance on financial procedures and propriety, based on principles set out in Government Accounting. The level of hospitality must be defined, and a broad outline of cost and numbers attending must be provided on all occasions before authorisation. Expenditure should be kept as low as possible, compatible with the occasion and the standing of guests.
A necessary pre-condition for any entertainment or hospitality to be financed from NIO funds is that it will be in the direct interests of the Northern Ireland Office. While one cannot always guarantee that the benefit will be achieved, that must be both the intention and the reasonable expectation.
Departmental Staff
David Simpson: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many days sick leave were taken (a) in total and (b) as a result of stress in (i) each Department in Northern Ireland and (ii) the Northern Ireland office in each of the last three years, broken down by grade. [68006]
Mr. Hanson: Information reflecting the total number of days sickness absence and those attributable to psychiatric/psychological illnesses for non-industrial grades will be placed in the Library.
David Simpson: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many people in (a) each Northern Ireland department and (b) the Northern Ireland Office have been disciplined for using work telephones to access premium rate numbers in each of the last five years. [68008]
Mr. Hanson: Only one officer in the core Northern Ireland Civil Service Departments and the NIO has been disciplined in the last five years for accessing premium rate numbers using a work telephone to access a premium rate number.
The officer is an employee of DARD and was disciplined in 2001.
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