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17 May 2006 : Column 1008W—continued
Child Poverty
Mr. Gregory Campbell: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many children in Northern Ireland were living in poverty in (a) 1995 and (b) 2005. [69183]
Mr. Hanson: Defining poverty as households whose income is less than 60 per cent. of the median household income, the reports on households below average income in Northern Ireland indicate that there were 101,000 children in poverty in 2004-05 compared with 108,000 in 2003-04 and 113,000 in 2002-03, the only years for which data is available. Copies of these reports will be placed in the House of Commons Library.
The Government are committed to eradicating child poverty throughout the UK by 2020. In line with this, we have set targets to reduce by half in Northern Ireland the number of children living in poverty between 1998-99 and 2010-11 on the way to eradicating child poverty by 2020.
To that end, Government target significant resources at tackling child poverty in Northern Ireland. For example, working tax credit and child tax credit both provide financial assistance for working families on low incomes. In addition, working tax credits also provide help for child care benefiting around 11,000 families with an average of around £58 per week.
In addition, the Government are placing significant emphasis on initiatives that focus on the early years of life, such as Sure Start and Book Start and the Pre-School Education Expansion programme. Building on these initiatives, the Northern Ireland Priorities and Budget 2006-08, launched on 14 December 2005, established two new ring-fenced priority funding packages—the Children and Young People and Skills and Science Funds.
The Children and Young People's Fund announced in March 2006 and the Skills and Science Fund announced in February 2006 and worth around £100 million and £35 million respectively over the next two years, will play an important role in giving children the best start in life and tackling child poverty.
Civic Forum
David Simpson: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what the total cost was of the Northern Ireland Civic Forum in each year since it was created. [69227]
Mr. Hanson: The total cost of the Northern Ireland Civic Forum in each year since it was created is as follows:
| Cost (£) | |
Expenditure in 2003-04 and 2004-05 relates to the payment of expenses incurred prior to suspension, though not claimed until afterwards.
A cost is not yet available for the year 2005-06.
Departmental Expenditure
David Simpson: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how much was spent on advertising by (a) each department in Northern Ireland and (b) the Northern Ireland Office in each of the last three years. [70460]
Mr. Hanson: The following amounts were spent on advertising in (a) each of the Northern Ireland departments and (b) the Northern Ireland Office, in 2003-04 and 2004-05:
| Department | Expenditure(£) | |
| 2003-04 | 2004-05 | |
These figures are compiled using the total media spend for all forms of advertising.
The figures requested for the remaining year have not yet been completed and could be provided only at disproportionate cost.
Departmental Staff
David Simpson: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland whom is conducting the recently announced review of senior Northern Ireland civil servants’ travelling expenses; what the terms of reference of the review are; what stage the review has reached; what discussions the review team have had with senior civil servants as part of the review. [67504]
Mr. Hanson: I am not aware of any recently announced review of senior civil servants' travelling expenses.
The Department of Finance and Personnel has been conducting a routine policy review of the Travel and Subsistence policy for all NI civil servants in the 11 Departments, as set out in the Travel and Subsistence Part of the Northern Ireland Civil Service Staff handbook, with the following terms of reference:
“to examine the existing regulations and make recommendations for improvements in the Staff Handbook to ensure a consistency of approach by Departments. The review will also consider the various existing mileage, subsistence and removal rate’s and determine where there is a need to update these.”
Following consultation with the 11 NI Government Departments each of the four chapters of the Travel and Subsistence Part of the NICS Staff Handbook have now been re-drafted and, in accordance with normal industrial relations practice, will be issued to the civil service unions for consultation in the near future. There have been no discussions with senior civil servants as part of the review.
David Simpson: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many people have been medically retired in (a) each department in Northern Ireland and (b) the Northern Ireland Office in each of the last five years. [68007]
Mr. Hanson: The following table details the number of staff medically retired by employing departments in Northern Ireland in each of the last five financial years.
Information on Agencies sponsored by Departments is included with their Department unless separately identified.
Figures relating to the Northern Ireland Office include both the members of the Northern Ireland Civil Service and Home Civil Servants working in that Department.
| Ill-health retirements | |||||
| Department/agency | 2001-02 | 2002-03 | 2003-04 | 2004-05 | 2005-06 |
Global Point Newtownabbey
Dr. McCrea: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland when he expects to announce commencement of work on Global Point Newtownabbey. [71312]
Maria Eagle: The announcement of commencement of work at Global Point is dependent on the findings of the Public Inquiry into the draft Belfast Metropolitan Area Plan (BMAP). The Plan is a material consideration in determining current planning applications for Global Point. No decision has yet been reached in respect of the proposals.
The Department of the Environment has formally written to the Planning Appeals Commission (PAC) requesting a Public Inquiry into BMAP. Following acceptance of the request the organisational arrangements for the Public Inquiry will become the responsibility of the PAC.
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