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5 July 2006 : Column 1176W—continued
Lindsay School
Lady Hermon: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland if he will make a statement on the future of the Lindsay School at the Forster Green Hospital in Belfast. [81812]
Maria Eagle: The South Eastern Education and Library Board has commented that the board’s education committee at a meeting on 13 June 2006, agreed to commence consultation on the possible closure of the Lindsay School. Such a closure will not take place until an alternative appropriate model of educational provision is in place.
Any proposal to close the school will require the board to publish a development proposal, which initiates a two-month public consultation period during which comments, including objections, may be submitted to the Department of Education. The Department will give full consideration to all representations made during this two-month period, before making a decision on any such proposal.
Local Government
Lady Hermon:
To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland whether the Public Record Office of Northern Ireland has been tasked with developing a
generic policy for the retention of local government documentation. [81784]
Maria Eagle:
Records of all public authorities, including local government, in Northern Ireland are subject to the provisions of public records legislation. It is the responsibility of public authorities to draw up retention/disposal policies to ensure that records of historical or other research importance are identified and, ultimately, transferred to the Public Record Office of Northern Ireland (PRONI) for permanent preservation. Under the Lord Chancellor’s Code of Practice on the Management of Records by Public Authorities, issued under Section 46 of the Freedom of Information Act 2000, it is the responsibility of local government authorities to develop policies for the
creation, keeping, management and destruction of their records. This can include the development of a generic policy for the retention of local government documentation. PRONI would advise local government in the development of the policies and quality assure them.
Lung Cancer
Mark Durkan: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many lung cancer specialists are working in Northern Ireland; and what steps are being taken to increase the number of specialists. [80955]
Paul Goggins: Information on the number of lung cancer specialists is set out as follows:
| Lung cancer specialists working within the NI HPSS by board area as at June 2006 | ||||||||
| Medical staff | Nursing staff | Other staff | Total | |||||
| Headcount | WTE | Headcount | WTE | Headcount | WTE | Headcount | WTE | |
| Notes: 1. This information was obtained directly from the NI HPSS trusts. 2. WTE = whole-time equivalent. 3. Medical staff include consultant physicians, thoracic surgeons, cardiothoracic surgeons, radiologists and oncologists, and specialist registrars. 4. Nursing staff include grade F, G and H clinical specialists. 5. Other staff include physiotherapists, speech therapists, occupational therapist and other palliative care staff. 6. Altnagelvin reported that the lung cancer specialists do not work exclusively in lung cancer but are all active members of the lung cancer multidisciplinary team. 7. Belfast City Hospital stated that all respiratory physicians within Belfast City Hospital Trust investigate lung cancer, and that lung cancer is just one of the specialties within the consultant oncologists’ job, therefore it is difficult to provide the exact time spent working on lung cancer. 8. Newry and Mourne HSS Trust stated that they have one respiratory physician who spends 5 per cent. of his time on early diagnosis of patients with lung cancer, before referring them to cancer specialists in Craigavon Area Hospital or Belfast. 9. Royal Group of Hospitals HSS Trust stated that the medical staff detailed in their reply deal with the surgical element of the lung cancer specialism only. 10. United Hospitals Group HSS Trust stated that the two physicians employed there treat lung cancer patients as part of their work, but are not solely employed as lung cancer specialists. They were unable to determine how much of their time was spent specifically on lung cancer patients. 11. Western board area figures exclude Sperrin Lakeland Trust who were unable to provide an answer to this PQ within the specified time. Source: NI HPSS Trusts | ||||||||
While local staffing arrangements are the responsibility of relevant trusts the Department has a role in ensuring that sufficient suitably qualified staff are available to meet the needs of the health and personal social services and provide modern cancer services. For example, in medicine, numbers in training in the relevant specialty areas will accommodate an increase in specialist numbers in future years.
MRI Scans
Mr. McGrady: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what measures are being taken to reduce waiting times for MRI scans at the Royal Victoria Hospital. [81617]
Paul Goggins: A range of service improvements have been implemented by the Royal Group of Hospitals HSS Trust to reduce waiting times for MRI scans at the Royal Victoria Hospital. The current MRI scanner is operated for 49 hours each week; nine of these are evening sessions funded by the Eastern Health and Social Services Board as part of a waiting list initiative. Since April 2006 an additional eight hours have been resourced to facilitate access to emergency scanning at weekends.
A computerised information system has been introduced to optimise management of the waiting list. This includes patient validation, data cleansing and regular monitoring. A partial booking system has also been implemented with an associated reduction in ‘Did Not Attend’ rates to 1 per cent.
A second MRI scanner has been procured for the new Imaging Centre at the Royal and is likely to become operational in spring 2007. This will have the potential to double current activity.
Northern Ireland Police Fund
David Simpson: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many members of staff at the Northern Ireland Police Fund are employed by his Department. [80979]
Paul Goggins: Three members of staff at the Northern Ireland Police Fund are employed by the NIO.
David Simpson: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what the names are of each (a) director and (b) former director of the Northern Ireland Police Fund. [80983]
Paul Goggins: I have been advised by the Northern Ireland Police Fund that the names of (a) the current directors of the Northern Ireland Police Fund are Mr. D. McClurg, Mrs. C. Carlisle, Mr. I. Clarke, Dr. J. Galway, Mr. C. Jenkins, Mr. R. Miller, ACC McCausland, Ms G. Rice, Mr. T. Spence and (b) the former directors of the Northern Ireland Police Fund are Ms A. Paisley, Mrs. F. Reid, Lord Rogan, Mr. R. Wilson and Sir John Semple.
David Simpson: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what meetings have been held at which the alleged 2003 security breach in the Northern Ireland Police Fund was discussed. [80984]
Paul Goggins: One meeting has been held at which the alleged security breach in the Northern Ireland Police Fund was discussed.
David Simpson: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland whether Mr. Colin Ashe is an employee of the Northern Ireland Office. [80987]
Paul Goggins: Mr. Colin Ashe is an employee of the Northern Ireland Office.
David Simpson: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many (a) serving and (b) former members of the Police Service of Northern Ireland have been forced to move house as a result of the 2003 alleged security breach at the Northern Ireland Police Fund. [80988]
Paul Goggins: I have been advised by PSNI that no serving or former officers of the PSNI have been forced to move house as a result of the 2003 alleged security breach at the Northern Ireland Police Fund.
David Simpson: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland to whom the directors of the Northern Ireland Police Fund report; by whom they were appointed; what the appointment process was; how often the directors meet; and how many have resigned since July 2003. [80992]
Paul Goggins: The directors of the Northern Ireland Police Fund are accountable to the Secretary of State. To facilitate the setting-up of the Fund, the Secretary of State put in place the first Board of Directors; subsequent appointments of directors, the associated processes and the frequency of meetings have all been matters for the Fund. A total of five directors have resigned since July 2003.
David Simpson: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland from what budget the Northern Ireland Police Fund is funded. [81007]
Paul Goggins: The Northern Ireland Police Fund is funded by the Northern Ireland Office.
David Simpson: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland whether the appointment of (a) Mr. Desmond Clayton and (b) Mr. Thomas Hale to the Northern Ireland Police Fund was conducted under the auspices of the Northern Ireland Office. [81008]
Paul Goggins: The appointment of staff to the Northern Ireland Police Fund is a matter for the Fund.
David Simpson: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland on what date Mr. Colin Ashe was appointed as acting Chief Executive of the Northern Ireland Police Fund. [81009]
Paul Goggins: Mr. Colin Ashe was appointed as acting Chief Executive on 5 July 2004.
David Simpson: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many (a) serving and (b) former members of the Police Service of Northern Ireland have written to ask about their personal details being handed over to the Provisional IRA following the 2003 alleged security breach at the Northern Ireland Police Fund. [81010]
Paul Goggins: Representations have been made to Ministers on behalf of three members of the PSNI to inquire if their personal details have been compromised following the alleged security breach at the Northern Ireland Police Fund. It has not been possible to ascertain if they were serving or former members.
Mr. Donaldson: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how much has been paid out in grants by the Northern Ireland Police Fund in each year since its foundation. [82380]
Paul Goggins: I have been advised by the Northern Ireland Police Fund that the following amount has been paid out in grants.
| Grants amount (£000) | |
This excludes the additional payments allocated by NIO to the pre-1982 widows.
Spend in the current year on grants up to 30 June is £326,000.
Mr. Donaldson: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what funding has been allocated to the Northern Ireland Police Fund in each year since its foundation. [82381]
Paul Goggins: The budget allocation for the Northern Ireland Police Fund was as follows:
| Budget allocation (£000) | |
| (1) The budget allocation for 2005-06 included a carryover of £250,000 from the previous year | |
Nurses and Midwives
Mark Durkan: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many redundancies of (a) nurses and (b) midwives there have been in each health board area in Northern Ireland in each of the last five years. [80942]
Paul Goggins: In the last five years no nurses or midwives have been made redundant in the HPSS.
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