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25 Oct 2006 : Column 1865W—continued
Parliamentary Boundaries
Mr. Pickles: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what the timetable is for the ratification of parliamentary boundary changes in Northern Ireland. [95901]
Mr. Hanson: The Parliamentary Boundary Commission for Northern Ireland is required to submit its final report to the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland by June 2007. The Secretary of State must then lay the Commission’s final recommendations (with or without modifications) before Parliament for approval.
Programme for Government Committee
Lembit Öpik: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what assistance he plans to provide to the Programme for Government Committee in its work to agree priorities for the new Executive; and if he will make a statement. [95161]
Mr. Hain: In the wake of the St. Andrews Agreement, I remain convinced that the circumstances are now right to make vital progress and ultimately to see a permanent political settlement in Northern Ireland. The work of the Programme for Government Committee is key to this process and I have asked my officials in the Northern Ireland Departments to be at the disposal of the Committee and to offer whatever information is required in carrying out the task of agreeing priorities for the new Executive.
I look forward to the outcome of their discussions.
Schools
David Simpson: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland (1) how many incidents of bullying have been reported in schools in Northern Ireland in each of the last three years (a) in total and (b) by education and library board; [95528]
(2) which 10 schools in Northern Ireland have had the highest number of incidents of bullying in each of the last three years. [95529]
Maria Eagle: The Department of Education does not collect the information requested.
Information about the scale and nature of bullying in Northern Ireland schools is contained in a research report published in October 2002. A research briefing summary is available on the Department’s website at www.deni.gov.uk/rb8_2002.pdf. The Department has commissioned updated research into bullying, in all its forms, and the results are expected to be ready for publication by mid 2007.
Seat Belts
Sammy Wilson: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many motorists in Northern Ireland have been prosecuted for not wearing seat belts in each of the last five years. [92888]
Mr. Hanson: Data for prosecutions for not wearing a seatbelt include both drivers and passengers. Table 1 provides the number of prosecutions for the offences of failing to wear a seatbelt and carrying a child under 14 years without a seatbelt.
Data covers the calendar years 2000 to 2004, the latter being the most up-to-date available at present. It should be noted that data are collated on the principal offence rule, thus only the most serious offence with which an offender is charged is included.
| Table 1: Prosecutions for failing to wear a seatbelt 2000-04( 1) | |||
| Failure to wear seatbelt( 2) | Carrying child under 14 years without a seatbelt( 3) | Total | |
| (1 )Data for 2004 are provisional. (2 )Prosecution data cannot be disaggregated for drivers and passengers and the figures for ‘failing to wear seatbelt’ include both these categories. (3 )Includes ‘carrying child under 14 years without seatbelt (front)’ and ‘carrying child under 14 years without seatbelt (rear)’. | |||
Sex Offenders
David Simpson: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many people in Northern Ireland have been (a) prosecuted for and (b) convicted of serious sexual assaults in each of the last three years. [96437]
Mr. Hanson: Table 1 provides the number prosecuted and subsequently convicted for rape, attempted rape and indecent assault.
Data covers the calendar years 2002 to 2004, the latter being the most up-to-date available at present.
It should be noted that data are collated on the principal offence rule, thus only the most serious offence with which an offender is charged is included.
| Table 1: Prosecutions and convictions for rape, attempted rape and indecent assault 2002-2004( 1) | ||||||
| 2002 | 2003 | 2004 | ||||
| Prosecutions | Convictions | Prosecutions | Convictions | Prosecutions | Convictions | |
| (1 )Data for 2004 are provisional. (2 )Includes attempted rape and assault with intent to rape. (3 )Includes indecent assault on female, indecent assault on male, indecent assault on female child and indecent assault on male child. | ||||||
Sports Strategy
David Simpson: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what progress has been made on the new sports strategy for Northern Ireland. [96135]
Maria Eagle: The Department of Culture Arts and Leisure (DCAL) has prepared a new draft Sports Strategy in partnership with the Sports Council for Northern Ireland (SCNI). This draft is currently being amended to reflect the outcome of a stakeholder testing exercise undertaken in April 2006. I hope to publish the amended draft for consultation later this year.
Violent Crime
David Simpson: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many violent crimes in which the victim’s occupation or the victim type was given as taxi driver have been carried out in Northern Ireland in each of the last three years, broken down by (a) district command unit and (b) council area. [94964]
Paul Goggins: PSNI have advised the following breakdown of violent crime where the victim was a taxi driver.
As district command unit and council area are coterminous the statistics are outlined only by district command unit and included a Belfast total.
| Violent crime recorded by the police( 1) where the victim was a taxi driver( 2) | |||
| 2003-04 | 2004-05 | 2005-06 | |
| (1) Violent crime includes offences against the person, sexual offences and robbery. (2) Figures are based on the victim type or victim occupation being categorised as a taxi or mini cab driver. | |||
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