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20 Jun 2006 : Column 1778W—continued
Housing Stock
Mr. Peter Robinson: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what housing stock is held by the Housing Executive in (a) each Belfast district and (b) Castlereagh district; and how many houses have been sold in each area in the last 10 years. [78717]
Mr. Hanson: The information requested is as follows:
| Housing Executive District Office | Stock at 31 March 2006 | House sales completed from the financial year ending 1996-1997 to end of May 2006 |
Illegal Immigrants
Mr. Hayes: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many illegal immigrants have been discovered to be employed by his Department in each year since 2001; in what capacities they were employed; how many were discovered as part of a criminal investigation; and what the nature of the charges brought against them were. [73962]
Paul Goggins: Since 2001 the Northern Ireland Office is unaware of having employed any illegal immigrants.
Local Authorities
Lady Hermon: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what the expected cost savings are from the Government’s plan to reduce the number of local authorities in Northern Ireland. [78265]
David Cairns: Savings from the Review of Public Administration (RPA) decisions on local government have been estimated at £54-£73 million. The final figures will depend on how the proposals are implemented.
More robust cost models will be evolved as part of the process of developing and delivering an implementation programme for the RPA as it impacts on local government. All savings achieved will be available for reallocation to front-line services in Northern Ireland.
Modernisation Fund
Mark Durkan: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many applications for the Modernisation Fund (a) have been received by the Department for Social Development and (b) have been successful. [78883]
Mr. Hanson: The Department for Social Development has received 163 applications for funding from the Modernisation Fund Revenue Programme. The 40 highest scoring organisations have now proceeded to the final stage of the assessment process and are undergoing detailed economic appraisal. Successful applicants will begin to be notified within four weeks. All 163 organisations who applied have been contacted by the Department and advised of the status of their application.
Northern Ireland Police Fund
David Simpson: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland pursuant to the answer of 2 May 2006, Official Report, column 1489W, on Northern Ireland Police Fund, why the Department does not maintain a record of the community breakdown of staff; and whether members of staff in the Northern Ireland Police Funds are required to complete a community background check as part of the appointment process. [77104]
Paul Goggins: Given the status of the Northern Ireland Police Fund, appointment processes including community background checks are a matter for the board of directors of the Fund. I have been advised by the Northern Ireland Police Fund that in accordance with Article 48(2) of the Fair Employment and Treatment (Northern Ireland) Order 1998 community background details are not required to be held in respect of the staff.
Police Complaints
Mr. Peter Robinson: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many complaints against the Police Service of Northern Ireland were received by the Police Ombudsman in 2005-06. [77372]
Paul Goggins: The Police Ombudsman has advised that 3,108 complaints against the Police Service of Northern Ireland were received by the Police Ombudsman in 2005-06.
Security Forces (Republic of Ireland)
David Simpson: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland pursuant to the answer of 23 May 2006, Official Report, column 1605W, on security forces (Republic of Ireland), why no record is kept of occasions when security forces from the Republic of Ireland enter Northern Ireland with the consent of UK authorities while on operation. [77211]
Paul Goggins: PSNI “operations” are broadly defined as duties which include all manner of policing activities such as anti-terrorism, combating drug-smuggling, briefings, presentations, joint enquiries, investigations etc. These activities will, of necessity, cross many District Command Units and Departments and the resultant records are likely to number in the thousands. To quantify the number of occasions during which operations from the Irish Republic have, with consent, crossed into Northern Ireland would, therefore, be time-consuming and disproportionately costly.
Sinn Fein/IRA Stormont Spy Ring
David Simpson:
To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many people were interviewed by the Police Service of Northern Ireland in connection with the Sinn Fein/IRA Stormont spy ring; and how many files recommending prosecution were forwarded
by the Police Service of Northern Ireland to the Public Prosecution Service. [65324]
Paul Goggins: Five people in total were arrested by the PSNI in connection with this incident. Four of the five people were subsequently recommended for prosecution. This was split into two prosecution files.
Taxis
Mr. Peter Robinson: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many licensed taxi drivers are operating in Northern Ireland. [78728]
David Cairns: At 15 June 2006 there were 16,880 licensed taxi drivers in Northern Ireland.
Toxic Sludge
Mr. Peter Robinson: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland pursuant to the answer of 1 March 2006, Official Report, column 786W, on toxic sludge, to which local government authority areas the four prosecution cases by the Environment and Heritage Service relate. [78730]
David Cairns: The Environment and Heritage Service is investigating four incidents involving spreading of sludges to land in breach of regulations. The council areas to which these relate are Moyle, Londonderry, Lisburn and Craigavon.
Waste Management
Mr. Peter Robinson: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how much grant has been allocated to each local government authority in Northern Ireland for waste management for 2006-07. [78731]
David Cairns: The total capital grant for 2006-07 is £7,000,000, the details of which are set out as follows:
| Capital grant for 2006-07 | |
| Council | £ |
Work and Pensions
Action Teams
Jim Cousins: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions pursuant to the answer of 22 May 2006, Official Report, columns 1475-78W, to the hon. Member for Inverness, Nairn, Badenoch and Strathspey (Danny Alexander), on action teams, how many whole-time equivalent staff are allocated to each action team; and how many were allocated to each in the two previous years. [75250]
Mrs. McGuire: The information requested has been placed in the Library.
Departmental Staff
Keith Vaz: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many (a) black and Asian and (b) other people are employed in his Department’s press office. [74356]
Mrs. McGuire: As at 31 May 2006 the total number of people employed in the Department’s press office, including all management and admin staff is 61.
Information on ethnicity is collected on a voluntary basis. On grounds of confidentiality we are unable to provide the information requested on how many black and Asian staff are employed within press office.
David Simpson: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions (1) how many of his staff are (a) under and (b) over 55 years of age; [77192]
(2) how many people over the age of 55 years have been recruited into his Department in each of the last three years. [77193]
Mrs. McGuire: The number of staff in the Department aged under 55 years and over 55 years of age is in the following table.
| Headcount | Full-time equivalent (FTE) | |
| Notes: 1. Staff numbers are point in time as at 31 December 2005. 2. Figures include temporary staff. 3. Staffing for Health and Safety Executive not included. | ||
The number of recruits to the Department over the age of 55 years in each of the last three years is in the following table.
| Year ending December: | Headcount | FTE |
| Note: Figures include temporary staff. | ||
David Simpson: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what incentives are available to encourage members of his staff to use public transport for travelling to and from work. [75094]
Mr. Jim Murphy: The Department for Work and Pensions offers incentives to staff to encourage more sustainable forms of travel; these include salary advances for the purchase of season travel tickets. Concessionary bus passes are available in some locations.
The Department promotes sustainable travel to work. ‘Sustainable Transport Travel’ pages are available on the intranet. The travel pages promote awareness of travel options and include a copy of the departmental generic travel plan. Details of greener forms of transport are also included in the departmental induction pack.
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