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9 Oct 2006 : Column 339W—continued
Mrs. Iris Robinson: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what the sickness levels were within the Police Service of Northern Ireland in (a) the Ards, (b) the Castlereagh and (c) the Down District Command Units in each of the last three years; and if he will make a statement. [89315]
Paul Goggins: The PSNI average work days lost over the last three years for police officers and police staff in Ards, Castlereagh and Down District Command Units are as follows:
| Average work days lost per police officer | |||
| Financial year | Ards DCU | Down DCU | Castlereagh DCU |
| Average work day lost per police staff member | |||
| Financial year | Ards DCU | Down DCU | Castlereagh DCU |
Mrs. Iris Robinson: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many officers of the Police Service of Northern Ireland were assaulted in (a) the Ards, (b) the Castlereagh and (c) the Down District Command Units in each of the last three years; and if he will make a statement. [89316]
Paul Goggins: The number of ‘assault on police’ offences recorded is as follows:
| District Command Unit | 2003-04 | 2004-05 | 2005-06 |
These figures do not include all instances in which a police office was assaulted. Assaults resulting in serious injury eg wounding or GBH, are not included as they are counted in the specific wounding or GBH categories and these figures are not broken down by the occupation of the victim.
Mrs. Iris Robinson: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland (1) how many Police Service of Northern Ireland applicants progressed to the merit pool of suitably qualified candidates in each of the recruitment campaigns completed since the creation of the service, broken down by (a) religion and (b) sex; and if he will make a statement; [89307]
(2) what the (a) religion and (b) sex was of applicants appointed as constables to the Police Service of Northern Ireland as a result of each competition that has been completed since the creation of the Service; and if he will make a statement. [89310]
Mr. Hanson: I am advised by the PSNI that the number of applicants who progressed to the merit pool of suitably qualified candidates in each of the recruitment campaigns completed since the creation of the service, broken down by (a) religion and (b) sex; and the (a) religion and (b) sex of applicants appointed as constables to the Police Service of Northern Ireland as a result of each respective competition is set out in the following tables:
| Candidates in merit pool competitions 1 to 9 | ||||||
| Competition No. | Male | Female | Protestant | Catholic | Not determined | Total |
| Police trainee intakes competitions 1 to 9 | ||||||
| Competition No. | Male | Female | Protestant | Catholic | Not determined | Total |
The PSNI continues to attract large numbers of high calibre applicants from throughout the community. With the large number of applications to join the Police Service, the number of suitable candidates is far in excess of the finite number of trainee posts available. This means that candidates of both religious traditions and genders will sadly experience the disappointment of an unsuccessful application.
The latest campaign saw the highest number of applications yet, with 7,691 applicants competing for 220 places. 37 per cent. of these applications were from the Catholic community, which is the highest rate to date, and the number of female and ethnic minority applications has increased.
In terms of religion, the Government believe that the temporary recruitment provisions are necessary and reasonable to correct an historic imbalance in the composition of the PSNI. These exceptional measures are reviewed every three years, with the next, and hopefully final, such review due later this year. This will be subject to detailed review of the policy, extensive consultation, and debate in both Houses.
Catholic composition in the PSNI regulars has increased from 8.3 per cent. to 20.05 per cent. Our goal is to increase Catholic representation to 30 per cent. by 2010-11, the date envisaged by Patten. I am pleased to say that we are on track to meet this, which would not be possible if the 50:50 provisions were not in place.
Although our efforts have focused on the imbalance between the number of Catholics and Protestants in the composition of the Police Service, we also recognise the importance of gender and ethnic minority representation. It is notable that female composition has risen from 13 per cent. to 20.54 per cent. and the ethnic minority background composition compares favourably with the overall level of the working age ethnic minority population in Northern Ireland.
Mrs. Iris Robinson: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many Police Service of Northern Ireland officers were stationed in the Ards District Command Unit in each of the last five years. [89274]
Paul Goggins: The number of PSNI officers attached to Ards DCU in July of each year is as follows:
| Regular | Full-time reserve | Part-time reserve | |
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