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Child Services
Mrs. Iris Robinson: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what plans are in place to manage the process of change between existing health boards and trusts in the Province and the new Health and Social Services Authority in relation to services for children, young people and families. [83686]
Paul Goggins: By April 2007 the 18 existing trusts will be formally dissolved and the five new Health and Social Care trusts will become fully operational. The new Health and Social Services Authority will subsequently be established by April 2008. The new authority will have a role in commissioning the full range of services, including those for children, young people and families, either centrally or through the Local Commissioning Groups. The services will be delivered by the five new trusts and, where appropriate, the community and voluntary sector.
Specific plans are being developed to ensurethat continuity and appropriate governance and accountability arrangements are maintained for services to children and families and, where necessary, strengthened in the move to the new commissioning and service provision arrangements. This work is being taken forward collaboratively by the Department, boards, trusts and the Northern Ireland Social Care Council with input from representatives of service users and carers.
Mrs. Iris Robinson: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what expenditure is planned on each of the measures contained in Theme 3 of the Children and Young People Funding Package on improving education provision and support for looked-after children and vulnerable young adults in 2006-07; and on what timetable. [83687]
Paul Goggins: The information is as follows;
1. Supporting and equipping foster carers to discharge their role effectively as "First Educators" of the children in their care:
The planned expenditure for this initiative in 2006-07 is£1.04 million. The service will be provided by a voluntary organisation (or consortia), selected in the autumn following a public tender process. Interim arrangements are currently being finalised to deliver the scheme in the meantime.
2. Supporting staff in residential care settings to promote improved educational outcomes for the children in their care:
An outreach worker will be employed in each of the education and library board areas to support staff in residential care settings to promote improved educational outcomes for the children in their care. Expenditure in 2006-07 is expected to be some £200,000.
A further one-off figure of £0.1 million is available in 2006-07 to refresh computer equipment in children’s homes. Expenditure in the Western health and social
services board has been approved and its trusts are currently purchasing equipment. The other three boards are finalising their costs. The boards have been asked to implement this initiative as quickly as possible.
3. Enabling young people who are not yet ready for independence to remain living with their foster carers, and to encourage more young people leaving care to continue in education or training up to age 21:
The planned expenditure for this initiative in 2006-07 is£0.75 million. At the end of June 2006, this funding has supported 80 young people in foster placements. By March 2007, we expect this initiative will enable a further 70 young people to benefit from this scheme.
4. Empowering children and young people in care to engage actively in the process of ensuring the system works in their best interests:
The planned expenditure for this initiative in 2006-07 is£0.66 million. The service will be provided by a voluntary organisation (or consortia), selected in September following a public tender process. Interim arrangements are being finalised to deliver the scheme in the meantime.
Child Worker Vetting
Mark Durkan: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what measures are in place for co-ordination between authorities in Northern Ireland and (a) the UK and (b) the Republic of Ireland to ensure that people deemed unsuitable for work with children in one jurisdiction are unable to secure such employment in the other. [83023]
Paul Goggins: With effect from 1 April 2005, the Protection of Children and Vulnerable Adults (NI) Order 2003 (POCVA) introduced a statutory requirement for childcare organisations to carry out a vetting check on prospective employees wishing to work with children in a paid or unpaid capacity in Northern Ireland. As part of the services introduced under POCVA, employers in Northern Ireland can check to confirm that a prospective employee or volunteer is not disqualified from working with children.
Where previous addresses indicate that an individual may have resided in:
England or Wales, a criminal records check is carried out with the relevant police forces for that jurisdiction and a check is also carried out against the relevant Disqualification Lists for that jurisdiction;
Scotland, a criminal records check is carried out. Discussions are ongoing to allow Northern Ireland access to Scotland’s Disqualification Lists;
Republic of Ireland, a criminal records check will be requested from the Garda Vetting Unit by the PSNI.
Where an individual resides in England/Wales or Scotland and wishes to work or volunteer to work with children, the onus will be on the prospective employer to carry out a vetting check through the Criminal Records Bureau (CRB) or Disclosure Scotland respectively. If the individual has a previous address in Northern Ireland CRB or Disclosure Scotland will request a criminal records check from the PSNI. PSNI will also check if individuals have been listed on the Department of Health, Social Services and Public Safety (DHSSPS) and the Department of Education (DE) Disqualification Lists.
Employers in Republic of Ireland (ROI) can also register with the DHSSPS to ascertain whether prospective employees resident in ROI but with previous addresses in Northern Ireland are included on the DHSSPS Disqualification list.
Correspondence
Mr. Amess: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what the average cost to his Department was of replying to a letter written (a) by an hon. Member and (b) by a member of the public in the latest period for which figures are available; and how much of that sum is accounted for by (i) officials’ time, (ii) cost of stationery and (iii) postage costs. [80489]
Mr. Hain: The information requested is notrecorded centrally and could be obtained only at disproportionate cost.
However, on an annual basis the Cabinet Office publishes a report to Parliament on the performanceof departments in replying to Members/Peers correspondence. The report for 2005 was published on 30 March 2006, Official Report, columns 76-78WS.
Dentistry
David Simpson: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what percentage of (a) children, (b) adults and (c) the population in Northern Ireland were registered with a dentist in each of the last five years (i) in total and (ii) by board. [83945]
Paul Goggins: The information requested is detailed in the following table. Registration figures by Health and Social Services Board for 2000 are not available.
David Simpson: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many (a) fillings and (b) extractions were carried out on children’s teeth in Northern Ireland in each of the last five years (i) in total and (ii) in each board area. [83946]
Paul Goggins: The information requested is detailed in the following table:
| EHSSB | NHSSB | SHSSB | WHSSB | Total | |
| Note: Children
are defined as those aged 0-17
years Source: Central Services
Agency | |||||
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