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Housing
Mark Durkan: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many vulnerable people in Northern Ireland live in homes that fall below the decent homes standard. [80951]
Mr. Hanson: The decent homes standard applies to social houses. Government have set a target that all social housing should meet the standard by 2010. While data is not readily available on a household basis, the 2004 Interim House Condition Survey indicated that the overall number of social houses failing to meet the target was 32,000 having reduced from 59,000 in 2001.
Mark Durkan: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland (1) what steps he (a) is taking and (b) plans to take to ensure that social housing in Northern Ireland is allocated to Catholics and Protestants equally according to need; [80969]
(2) whether he has plans to address religious differentials in the allocation of public housing. [80971]
Mr.
Hanson: All allocations by the Housing Executive and
registered housing associations are made on the basis of need as
determined by the points
awarded under the Common Selection Scheme—a scheme that was
equality proofed and subject to detailed and widespread
consultation.
The Housing Executive is recognised by all sections of the community as being extremely fair in its allocations, policies. However, applicants for social housing have a choice of where they wish to live and as a result less than 10 per cent. of social housing is integrated, the majority of people preferring to live in areas where they felt comfortable. The choice of where to live therefore impacts significantly on the number of allocations that can be made in specific areas, as this depends on the availability of social housing, whether through new building or re-letting of existing stock. In some areas demand is greater than supply, while in others, the opposite is true and allocations cannot therefore be made at the same ratio for all areas. This does mean that some people will have to consider other areas in order to be re-housed or have to wait longer before they are re-housed. To make allocations on the basis of religious belief would be illegal under the Northern Ireland Act 1998 and the Fair Employment and Treatment (Northern Ireland) Order 1998.
The Northern Ireland Housing Executive formulates plans and programmes for additional new social housing taking account of demography, current and anticipated supply as well as current and projected demand. This effectively targets additional supply on areas with the greatest demand ensuring that assessed need is met.
Mark Durkan: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what the average length of time spent waiting for public housing was by (a) all those on the waiting list, (b) those of a Catholic community background and (c) those of a Protestant community background in each of the last five years. [80985]
Mr. Hanson: The information is not available in the form requested as complete records prior to June 2002 are not held. However the following tables detail the information that can be provided but are subject to the following caveats:
These data do not include allocations made by housing associations within Northern Ireland nor transfers between Northern Ireland Housing Executive properties.
The religious composition of households is based on ‘self reported’ answers to the question held within the general housing application form. The religion of the applicant is assumed to be the same for all individuals within the household.
The Northern Ireland Housing Executive’s Equality Unit is currently unable to readily identify ‘mixed’ religion households although we are aware that a number of households currently described as ‘Roman Catholic’ or ‘Protestant’ would clearly fall into a ‘Mixed’ category.
| Table 1: Breakdown of mean average months on the waiting list before allocation by religion of applicants, rehoused by NIHE in Northern Ireland (excluding transfers) | |||
| Rehoused by NIHE | 1 April 2003 to 31 March 2004 | 1 April 2004 to 31 March 2005 | 1 April 2005 to 31 December 2005 |
| Table 2: Breakdown of mean average months on the waiting list by religion of applicants, on the waiting list for NIHE housing in Northern Ireland (excluding NIHE and housing association transfers) | ||||
| NIHE applicants | 31 March 2003 | 31 March 2004 | 31 March 2005 | 31 December 2005 |
Mr. McGrady: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what the budget for discretionary housing payments was in each year since 2001. [81673]
Mr. Hanson: The information is shown in the following table:
| Financial years | Discretionary housing payments |
This is in line with the position in Great Britain where the annual allocation for the scheme has remained unchanged for each financial year since 2002-03.
Illegal Fuel
Dr. McCrea: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland (1) whether the law applied in Northern Ireland with regard to testing for illegal fuel in vehicles is the same as that applied elsewhere in the United Kingdom; [82238]
(2) what the cost is of each operation testing for illegal fuel in cars, vans and lorries which is taking place in Northern Ireland; [82239]
(3) how many random checks for illegal fuel have taken place on roads in Northern Ireland in the last 12 months, broken down by district council area; [82240]
(4) how many (a) police and (b) customs personnel are required to be present in each road operation to test for illegal fuel in Northern Ireland; [82241]
(5) how many (a) Police Service of Northern Ireland and (b) Customs and Excise officers are required to be present when conducting a fuel testing and dipping exercise in Northern Ireland; [82592]
(6) how many vehicles were found to be using illegal fuel in each district command unit in Northern Ireland in each of the past three years; and how many prosecutions were brought in each case in each year; [82593]
(7) what the cost is of carrying out a fuel dipping exercise on a vehicle in Northern Ireland; [82594]
(8) under what legislation fuel testing and dipping in Northern Ireland takes place; and whether this legislation applies only in Northern Ireland; [82595]
(9) how many vehicles were randomly tested for illegal fuel use in each district command unit in Northern Ireland in each of the past three years. [82596]
John Healey: I have been asked to reply.
The law relating to the testing of illegal fuel applies to the whole of the United Kingdom.
The number of officers present at a road checking exercise will be dependant upon the risk assessment undertaken for that exercise. There will usually be not less than two PSNI and four HMRC personnel present at a check, the precise numbers depending in the level of risk.
Each operation involving the testing of fuel in vehicles is unique in the time taken, the numbers tested and the number of personnel involved. It is not possible to estimate a cost for these operations.
Her Majesty’s Revenue and Customs does not record the number of random checks undertaken for illegal fuel by each council area or district command unit in Northern Ireland. Nor does it have the facility to identify the numbers of vehicles that have been detected using illegal fuel in each district command unit.
Knife Amnesty
Lady Hermon: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland why the knife amnesty in Northern Ireland was not extended in line with the amnesty in England and Wales; and what assessment he has made of the effectiveness of the Northern Ireland knife amnesty. [80522]
Mr. Hanson: Our approach to tackling knife crime has been different to that in other parts of the UK. We have participated in the national knife amnesty, but this has been accompanied by a year-long public information campaign aimed at addressing the culture of knife carrying among young people, which is unique to Northern Ireland. In addition to this, an education package will begin in schools in September and other measures will be introduced, including the raising of the minimum age at which a knife can be legally purchased to 18-years-old. It is our intention to hold a further knife amnesty during 2006, which again is unique to Northern Ireland and this will help us to gauge how effective these initiatives have been.
During the amnesty almost 900 items were handed in. In addition, the incidence of knife crime during the period of the amnesty fell by 30 per cent. This is clearly a good start and evidence that the amnesty has had an impact. However we intend to continue to address the problem of knife crime and I hope to make further announcements in due course.
Mr. Gregory Campbell: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what plans he has to launch the knife amnesty in Northern Ireland. [81224]
Mr.
Hanson: The knife amnesty began in Northern Ireland over
three weeks from 24 May to 13 June. Nearly 900 items were handed in
over this period, removing potential weapons from the streets. As
stated
in recent media we do plan to re-run the amnesty later this year. I have
noted that the incidence of knife crime dropped by 30 per cent. during
the period of the
amnesty.
However the amnesty is just the beginning. The public information campaign aimed at tackling the culture of knife carrying among young people is still ongoing and an educational package will be introduced into schools from September. Legislation giving powers to increase the minimum age for buying a knife will be introduced also in the autumn. We will continue to look at different strategies, policies and initiatives to tackle knife crime in Northern Ireland and introduce any we consider will have an impact on reducing the incidence of this crime.
Mr. Gregory Campbell: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many crimes were committed in Northern Ireland during 2005 where a knife was used by the perpetrator. [81225]
Mr. Hanson: In 2005-06 there were 1,130 crimes recorded where a knife was involved in the incident. The following table provides a detailed breakdown. These figures are offence-based rather than offender-based (no offender-based figures are available). While it is known that a knife was used in all incidents recorded, it is not possible to indicate how the knife was used.
| Crime type | 2005-06 |
| (1)
From April 2003, assaults with minor injuries are recorded as
AOABH. (2) Prior to April 2003, offences where the victim received minor injuries were recorded as common assault. Source: Central Statistics Unit, PSNI. | |
Lung Cancer
Mark Durkan: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many deaths from lung cancer there have been in Northern Ireland in each of the last five years; and how many of these deaths were smoking-related. [80956]
Mr. Hanson: The following table gives the number of deaths registered in Northern Ireland for each year between 2001 and 2005, by gender, due to “malignant neoplasms of trachea, bronchus and lung”(1).
Smoking history is rarely recorded on death certificates. Estimates can however be made of the number of deaths attributable to smoking, by using information on the contribution that smoking makes to specific conditions recorded at death. The Health Development Agency(2) (2004) estimated that just over nine in ten male lung cancer deaths, and eight in ten female lung cancer deaths, were attributable to smoking.
(1) International Classification of Diseases, Tenth Revision codes C33-C34.
(2) Twigg, L., Moon, G., arid Walker, S. The smoking epidemic in England, Health Development Agency, 2004: http://www.publichealth.nice.org.uk/page.aspx?o=502811.
| Number of deaths registered in Northern Ireland due to malignant neoplasms of trachea, bronchus and lung (“lung cancer”), by gender, 2001 to 2005 | |||
| Deaths due to “lung cancer” | |||
| Male | Female | Total | |
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