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7 Jun 2006 : Column 698W—continued
Social Security Agency Office (Bangor)
Lady Hermon: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland whether he plans (a) to replace and (b) to refurbish the Social Security Agency office on Hamilton Road in Bangor; what the timescale for any such rebuilding or refurbishment is; and if he will make a statement. [52378]
Mr. Hanson: The Bangor Social Security Office is included in the rollout of jobs and benefits offices as part of the welfare reform agenda. The Social Security Agency and Department of Employment and Learning are currently considering a number of proposals for provision of the new office. These include both the refurbishment of the existing office or a number of new build schemes. A decision is unlikely before May 2006.
A target date for completion will be agreed once contracts have been awarded.
Staff Development
David Simpson: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what the total cost was of (a) staff away days and (b) staff team building exercises in each Department in Northern Ireland, including the Northern Ireland Office, in each of the last three years. [69232]
Mr. Hanson: The total cost of (a) staff away days and (b) staff team building exercises in each Department in Northern Ireland, in each of the last three financial years are as follows:
| Total cost of staff away days | |||
| Department | 2003-04 (£) | 2004-05 (£) | 2005-06 (£) |
| Total cost of staff team building exercises | |||
| Department | 2003-04 (£) | 2004-05 (£) | 2005-06 (£) |
| Total cost of away days and team building exercises | |||
| Department | 2003-04 (£) | 2004-05 (£) | 2005-06 (£) |
| (1) The Department of Employment and Learning does not hold the information broken down into separate away day and team building categories. (2 )Due to rounding figures may not add to totals. | |||
Staff away days and team building exercises are key elements of the NICS and departmental business planning and staff development processes, which inter alia enable engagement with staff about strategic departmental priorities and targets, and the cascading of appropriate priorities to staff to help them in turn in developing their business area and personal work plans.
Northern Ireland Departments and the Northern Ireland Office have been taking steps to ensure that best value for money is obtained in this area. Departments will be making as much use as possible of civil service and wider public sector facilities in preference to private sector venues.
The Northern Ireland Office did not capture information at this level through financial coding for financial years 2003-04 and 2004-05 so to provide this would incur a disproportionate cost. A total of £57,243.92 was spent on development days in the Northern Ireland Office in financial year 2005-06. This
equates to approximately £150 per head for the total number of staff involved. Development days are used for training and team building.
Stormont
Mrs. Iris Robinson: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what the final total cost for the upgrade of Castle Buildings in the Stormont Estate was, broken down by main budget heading. [74699]
Mr. Hanson: Castle Buildings, which is one of the main office accommodation blocks in the Stormont Estate, has been subject to a rolling upgrading programme of work over the past 15 years. Such work included the refurbishment of most of the building in the early nineties leading up to the political talks in Northern Ireland.
Since 2003, projects undertaken and associated costs have been:
| Capital (£000) | Revenue (£000) | ||
|
Refurbishment of the link towers and toilet facilities in all blocks and replacement of windows | |||
Taxis
Lady Hermon: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many prosecutions against illegal operators have been brought by the Department of the Environment taxi enforcement branch in each of the last five years in each police district command unit area in Northern Ireland. [57075]
David Cairns: This information is not available prior to April 2003, nor is it possible to identify the number of prosecutions within each police district command unit area.
Enforcement officers attached to the Department's Driver and Vehicle Testing Agency have detected and reported the following infringements of taxi regulations with a view to prosecution:
| Period | PSV licensing offences | PSV driver licensing offences | Insurance offences | Other offences |
Teenage Births
Mr. Gregory Campbell: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many under-16-year-olds gave birth in Northern Ireland in each of the last five years for which figures are available. [42278]
Paul Goggins: The following table gives the number of number of maternities(1) registered in Northern Ireland in each year between 2000 and 2004 where the mother was a resident of Northern Ireland and under-16-years-old at the time of birth.
(1 )Maternities are defined to be the number of pregnancies ending in still or live birth. Pregnancies resulting in multiple birth are counted only once.
| Registration year | Number of maternities registered (mother aged under-16 at time of birth) |
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