Mr.
Hanson: I have already capped the rate at 30 per cent.
this year, pending a review.
David
Simpson: Twenty-five per cent. is a
better figure and if we could achieve that it would certainly help the
business community. On the question of eliminating rural poverty, I
welcome the fact that it is mentioned in the Government strategy. I
also welcome the fact that migration from rural areas has been
highlighted. However, the targets set by the Government for 2020 will
be difficult to hit and it will be difficult to deliver what they have
set out in the strategy by then—although I wish them well. We
live in hope, and I hope we do not have to die in despair when we come
close to
that.
Dr.
McCrea: Although it is true that the priorities and the
strategies laid out in “Lifetime Opportunities” are not
perfect, many are welcome. However, does my hon. Friend not agree that
that there is an urgent need to hear how the Minister intends
progressing and implementing them, and to know about the resources
needed from the comprehensive spending review to fund such strategies
and
priorities?
David
Simpson: I agree wholeheartedly with my hon. Friend. I
would love to know how the Government intend to implement it. Perhaps
the Minister will give us that information when winding up the debate.
I would have a problem with many issues in relation to achieving the
aims in the strategy document, but first let us hear what he has to
tell us about delivering what is in the document.
I welcome the
fact that eliminating rural poverty is mentioned in the document.
Migration from rural areas, too, has been highlighted. However, among
the most neglected and abandoned parts of Northern Ireland are the many
rural towns that were devastated by massive IRA bombs over many
years—towns such as Coleraine, Banbridge, Dungannon, Lurgan,
Portadown, and of course the city of Belfast. Jobs were lost, economies
blighted, opportunities destroyed, and the people were left to pick up
the pieces. They have never recovered.
Such towns
are going through a difficult time, and many rural towns are still
playing catch-up with the rest of the United Kingdom. The Government
are failing our rural heartlands, and they need to address the matter
urgently. Our rural towns require substantial investment. Perhaps the
Minister will give us some details about the financial input and
capital expenditure that the Government have put aside for
neighbourhood renewal schemes and public groundworks in the many
council areas and rural
towns. I
shall be brief because I know that other Members wish to speak. I
mentioned the rural community, but in my council area we have what is
known as the Craigavon and Armagh rural development board, and I serve
on it. A lot of money is available from the European fund through the
board. However, one of the most frustrating
points—it is raised time and again—is that farmers and
others living within the rural community who want to change from
farming and to develop and diversify are hindered because of the basic
planning regulations. They fail because they cannot get planning
permission. We want to lift the economy and move Northern Ireland on; I
believe that the Government need to address that point in order to help
us to lift the economy. I believe that Northern Ireland
has a great future. I believe that we are economically well positioned
in Europe, being a most vibrant global economy. We have heard today
about moving forward for devolution. Yes, it is possible to achieve
that but, as the hon. Member for Aylesbury said, one party is not here
today. Unless that party comes up to the mark in all aspects, then
devolution could unfortunately be lost. I urge the Government to put
pressure where it needs to be put.
3.44
pm
Lady
Hermon: May I say what a pleasure it is,Sir Alan,
to have you chairing our meeting? It is an historic occasion. On behalf
of the Ulster Unionist party—I am unanimous in this—I
express our gratitude to the council and the mayor for the use of the
City hall. Like the hon. Member for East Antrim, I hope that it is the
first of many meetings of the Northern Ireland Grand Committee in
Northern Ireland, but unlike him I like to think that it should meet in
all the counties of Northern Ireland. We will even find a venue in
North Down. May I
pick up on one or two points? I say to the hon. Member for Aylesbury
that it would be lovely if I could have a direct reply to the question
that I asked rather than an attack on a fellow colleague in the House
of Lords who is not here to defend himself. The Conservatives did not
vote against water charges. They did not consider the implications and
the poverty that might be wreaked on families throughout Northern
Ireland when they did not oppose water charging.
The Minister and all the
Committee members will know from my voting record— and anyone
who uses YouGov or who checks the statistics will also know—that
I am the Unionist Member who has walked more often than any other
through the Lobby in support of the Labour Government. I am not ashamed
of this. I did vote for the new deal; I did vote for additional money
for Sure Start; I did vote for additional resources in the Budget so
that we could seriously tackle poverty. However, having thus prefaced
my remarks, I am grieved this afternoon as I comment on this Government
document. I have read it from cover to cover, which is why it is so
heavily annotated. No one should worry, however, as I will wind up my
remarks well in time for the Minister to
respond. This
direct rule Administration has absolutely no one else to blame. They
cannot blame the Assembly. I remember very well standing in the House
of Commons when the Assembly was suspended in October 2002. The then
Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, who is now the Home Secretary,
made it clear that we were entering a phase of good
government—not just holding steady, not just taking care of
business in Northern Ireland, but actually moving forward. It was to be
a phase of good government.
I would urge the Minister to
reflect on a statement right at the beginning of this document which
jumped off the page as I read it. In response to a question
“What is it like to be poor”, the reply
was: “The
Government needs to accept that poverty is not a lifestyle
choice.” It is not a
lifestyle choice for 327,000 people across Northern Ireland who are
denied the opportunities to which they are entitled. That number
includes 102,000 children. I am glad the Minister finds this amusing. I
do not find it amusing. I would like the Minister to explain how the
poverty for those children was actually measured. It would be
interesting for the Committee to know that. The figure also includes
54,000 pensioners. Of a population of 1.7 million people, that is an
awful lot of people in poverty, and it is not their lifestyle
choice. The hon.
Member for South Down made some very interesting remarks, particularly
about the rural poor. The hon. Member for Upper Bann also just
mentioned the rural poor. The figures for the rural poor are not
actually on the front page of this document; one has to leaf through it
to find that there are 43,000 pensioners in rural poverty throughout
Northern Ireland. I
say to the hon. Member for Aylesbury that I am speaking as the daughter
of a lone parent. I grew up in a small 50-acre farm in County Tyrone.
There were four girls in my family, with no brothers. When I was four,
my elder sister five and the other two girls younger, my mother died on
that farm. My father was a lone parent—not through
choice—and I would ask the hon. Member for Aylesbury to speak to
his party leader and ask him to have some sensitivity when commenting
on lone parents. On
behalf of the rural poor, may I say to the Minister that my father is
still on the home farm at90 years of age. It is a disgrace
that his MP, the hon. Member for Mid-Ulster (Mr.
McGuinness), does not take a seat in the House and does not represent
his constituents, some of whom are pensioners. It is a shame and a
disgrace that Sinn Fein, a party that prides itself on social inclusion
and on tackling poverty, does not take its seats and does not make any
effort to defend my father or other pensioners in Northern
Ireland. I have
passed on a message to the hon. Member for Aylesbury and to the
Minister—[Interruption.] Does the hon. Member for Upper
Bann wish to intervene? He is welcome to do
so.
Lady
Hermon: Is the hon. Gentleman scared to
intervene? Hon.
Members have said that education is a way out of poverty. My father had
the foresight to see that education for four daughters was the way out
of poverty. I am enormously grateful to him for that and for the
opportunity, through academic selection, to go to a grammar
school. I have spoken
to the hon. Member for Wakefield about this next point. She rightly
drew attention to the huge benefits that arise from Sure Start schemes.
There are only 23 such schemes in Northern Ireland, and perhaps seven
have got off the ground since September.
The Minister corrected
an intervention to ensure it was clear that there was just a review of
capital expenditure on special needs schools on account of the Bain
report. On 7 March, the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland on 7
March announced:
“Children and young
people are to receive £61 million over the next two years to
help them get the best start in
life.” That was a huge
investment in education. However, just two weeks later, on 20 March,
the Northern Ireland Office’s website indicated that the
Secretary of State had earlier that day visited a Sure Start scheme on
the Shankill road. The press notice stated that this was by dint of
a “recently announced
£75 million Children and Young Peoples’
package.” Was £61
million or £75 million the correct figure? Perhaps the Minister
will take the opportunity to make the correction. Is it new money? Is
it packaged in some way? How is it being delivered? I repeat that an
enormous number of children in Northern
Ireland—102,000—still live in poverty. If education is
the way out of it, and if the Secretary of State is so keen regularly
to announce packages of investment in education, how can that figure be
sustained?
Mr.
Hanson: The difference between the two figures was because
the Chancellor had a Budget in between, and the consequentials were
added to the figure originally announced.
Lady
Hermon: I thank the Minister for
correcting that. I know that he will have limited time to wind up the
debate. I am aggrieved that the Labour Government have not delivered
more in the past four years of direct rule.
Mark
Durkan: The hon. Lady will recall that in spite of the
welcome announcement about the funding package for children and young
people, education and library boards found themselves at the same time
having to cut back on budgets and services and, not least, being forced
to cut back on special educational needs. Yet the relevant education
Minister in England announced last week that strategic education
authorities there would only ever be allowed in future to improve or
increase provision for special educational needs. A different rule was
imposed here.
Lady
Hermon: I am most grateful for that intervention. I agree
wholeheartedly with the hon. Gentleman’s remarks, particularly
since I had the great honour of opening Clifton special school, a new
special care school in North Down, on Maundy Thursday this year, which
was a very moving occasion. However, the budget has been so restricted
that we are concerned about the long-term future of that school,
although I shall speak to the relevant Minister afterwards.
Finally, the
Minister announced with great fanfare this afternoon that there would
be a ministerial-led forum. Rather than give us the details of who
would take part in that forum, he said that he would personally ensure
that it met in the new year, in case it got caught up in the Christmas
festivities. Let us forget about that—we need a forum set up as
quickly as possible. I do not think that anyone would have missed a
meeting
of the forum just because Christmas was coming. This is the season of
good will. We need the forum now, as the issue is serious in Northern
Ireland. I am concerned that, as the Minister well know, the Assembly
will be prorogued at the end of January, after which an election period
will be commenced. We will then enter a period of purdah and not have
any ministerial-led meetings of the forum, so why the hesitation? Why
does the Minister not move now and show good will to those in poverty
well before
Christmas. 3.56
pm
Mr.
Hanson: I am sorry that my hon. Friend the Member for
Foyle has not been able to speak. I have approximately three or four
minutes to respond to the points that hon. Members have made, and I
shall try to answer the points that I can. However, I assure hon.
Members that I shall read their contributions in Hansard and, if
a further response is required, I shall make one in due
course. I thank the
hon. Member for Aylesbury for his thoughtful contribution to the
debate. He raised a number of points about drugs and alcohol, pockets
of poverty, the pernicious impact of paramilitary groups on several of
the communities in Northern Ireland and the need to grow the private
sector generally. We share a common objective on those points, and I am
grateful for his concerns and the way in which he put them. We have our
historic enmities on issues such as the minimum wage, but that is for
another
day. The
hon. Gentleman mentioned the importance of the voluntary sector and
partnership with it, which I should like to emphasise. The Government
are trying to engage with the voluntary sector, to get it working in
partnership, and to give it roles to support the objectives of the
Government, while having the freedoms to manage its services. I assure
him that we will work in partnership with the voluntary sector
generally. My
hon. Friend the Member for Wakefield made a number of important points.
Given the time, I shall mention only one, which relates to fire alarms
and home safety, which the hon. Member for South Antrim also mentioned.
There is an ongoing programme to fit smoke alarms when undertaking
repairs and improvements to council properties in Northern Ireland, and
all new properties will have fire alarms fitted. I shall certainly
look at the current percentages, and I shall come back to my hon. Friend
and the hon. Gentleman on that in due course. My hon. Friend also mentioned
entrepreneurial skill, which it is important to engender. At the end of
the day, work remains the best route out of poverty. Poverty is not, as
the hon. Member for North Down said, a lifestyle choice, but a
lifestyle that is forced on many people through circumstance. The
objective of Government policy is to move people out of the cycle of
deprivation. The hon.
Member for Belfast, North touched on a number of points. I recognise
that there a number of areas of severe deprivation in his constituency.
We are trying to tackle that through neighbourhood renewal but, in
areas of special high risk, we are also looking at a number of
programmes throughout Northern Ireland to work on those matters as a
priority. The hon.
Gentleman mentioned children’s centres. We are establishing four
children’s centres next year and we intend to establish four
more centres by April 2008. The Under-Secretary of State for Northern
Ireland, my hon. Friend the Member for Liverpool, Garston, is looking
at the criteria and the potential locations of those centres, but that
commitment is there. That is real money and new progress. Things are
happening next year and the year after that would not happen but for
the Government’s investment, which will make a real difference
to people’s lives on the ground.
The hon. Gentleman also
mentioned the winter fuel payments, which are certainly an important
issue. I accept that they have not risen, but they are currently at
£200 for most pensioners and at £300 for those over 80.
The figure for payments is also rising dramatically. The number of
payments has increased from 242,000 to 269,000 in the past couple of
years as a result of the growing number of people in that age range,
and the amount of money being spent has risen by
nearly£9 million. Considerable work is being undertaken
on that front. It
being Four o'clock, the debate stood adjourned.
Alcohol
AbuseMotion
made, and Question proposed, That the Committee do now
adjourn.—[Mr. Michael
Foster.] 4
pm Mrs.
Iris Robinson (Strangford) (DUP): I am delighted to have
secured this debate on a subject that I feel needs Government action as
a matter of urgency. Alcohol abuse is becoming all too common in
Northern Ireland. Tragic high-profile cases such as that of the late
George Best bring home the message to everyone. To some of us, alcohol
abuse seems more socially acceptable than other drug abuse. We must
change hearts and minds on that belief. Despite medical advances, the
number of alcohol-related deaths in Northern Ireland has increased in
recent years. Dealing with the after-effects of excess alcohol uses up
a lot of staff resources, particularly late at night in accident and
emergency departments. We must seek to eradicate the culture of binge
drinking, which is particularly prevalent during Christmas and the new
year. The report
“Reducing Alcohol Related Harm in Northern Ireland”
estimated that in 1997-98, the last year for which figures were
available, alcohol-related costs to the Province’s health
service amounted to £26.8 million. That includes the cost of
occupied psychiatry and acute beds, general practice costsand
responses to alcohol-related harm. When another £7 million a
year for alcohol-related policing costs was added, the sum was more
than the total spent on all forms of health promotion in the Province.
It illustrates the extent of the problem.
The number of
alcohol-related deaths in Northern Ireland rose from 193 in 2000 to 260
in 2004. In 2003-04, 90 children under the age of 16 were admitted to
acute hospitals for alcohol-related illness. Alcohol is also strongly
associated with criminal justice problems, especially in the young. In
the 12 months leading up to May 2005, 359 young offenders committed to
Hydebank Wood young offenders centre and prison declared a dependency
on alcohol. Only 58 did not declare a dependency on alcohol or
drugs. The Department
of Health, Social Services and Public Safety carried out the first ever
census of drug and alcohol treatment services on 1 March 2005. From the
data collected, 3,074 people were being treated for alcohol misuse and
another 960 were being treated for both alcohol and drug abuse. In
2004-05, 6,581 patients in Northern Ireland were admitted with a
primary or secondary diagnosis of an alcohol-related condition, and 842
of them were under 30 years old.
Six years ago, the World Health
Organisation stated that
“alcohol is one of the greatest
public health challenges facing the European
region”. In
2001, the Royal College of Physicians declared that a culture change
was needed to move beyond merely treating the presenting disease to
tackling the underlying alcohol problem and assume wider responsibility
for health promotion. It suggested dedicated alcohol health workers, a
view reinforced by the Government’s 2004 alcohol harm reduction
strategy. That research identifies
the need to develop better practice by health care professionals when
caring for patients with alcohol
problems. This area of
health care brings challenges. There is always the danger that
addiction services and the treatment of those who abuse alcohol will
fall between two stools. It is not always automatically easy to decide
whose responsibility that ought to be. However, much good work is
already going on in this field in Northern Ireland. Indeed, Gary
Doherty has been chosen as nurse of the year for his work on alcohol
liaison services at the Mater hospital. Thanks to that service, the
number of admissions of people with alcohol-related illnesses has
reduced and patients have experienced a shorter stay in hospital and
are then better supported in the
community. The Mater
hospital is in north Belfast and, as my hon. Friend the Member for
Belfast, North will testify, it includes some of the poorest wards in
Europe. It was utilising more than 2,000 bed days over a six-month
period for patients with alcohol-related illnesses. Alcohol was
mentioned in the triage notes for more than 100 new attendances a month
at accident and emergency, so it was felt that an alcohol liaison
service should be
commenced. Individuals
were screened by means of questionnaires in the accident and emergency
department. There were a total of 527 admissions, 470 of which were
emergencies, from those living in the north and west Belfast area to
Eastern health board hospitals in respect of which the primary
diagnosis was alcohol related. For a further 1,062
admissions—1,004 of those were emergencies—from this
area, the subsidiary or secondary diagnosis was alcohol
related. There are
numerous aspects to the work. It includes providing earlier
identification of persons at risk of developing alcohol-related
illnesses and providing them with advice, education and lifestyle
interventions regarding the risks of harmful drinking. Advice was
offered on education and information to in-patients concerned about
their drinking, as well as to relatives and carers. Education and
support was also given to staff in the hospital as part of improving
care and standardising treatment for all patients with alcohol-related
illnesses. Support from other agencies or services were signposted when
indicated and links established with committed specialised alcohol
psychiatry
services. An
integrated care pathway was developedfor patients with
alcohol-related problems,which included pharmacological
guidelines. That standardised approach facilitated safer management of
patients, which was evident in the decreased number of incidents of
violence and aggression towards staff and other patients. Management of
patients who either are harmfully using or are dependent on alcohol has
improved, which in turn has improved the utilisationof beds.
Liaison with general practitioners and community groups ensures an
holistic approach for harm-reducing
interventions. The
success of the service can be measured not only by the reduction in the
number of admissions for alcohol-related illnesses, but by the bed days
saved, allowing better utilisation of resources. That was evident in
the reduced length of stay for patients with alcohol-related
illnesses.
Other
developments have included an education programme aimed at secondary
school age children—11 years and up—and
participation with Talkback, a local forum involving community groups,
Radical, a local inter-agency drug education project, and involvement
in the development of a local action
plan. It
is essential that there is sufficient investment in alcohol liaison and
support services throughout Northern Ireland, particularly those that
are community based. Continued funding for alcohol-related public
health programmes and information is important. Early intervention is
the key. A similar service operates at the Ulster hospital in my
constituency. Such services have been adopted elsewhere, and interest
is also being shown by the Causeway Health and Social Services Trust
and Tyrone and Fermanagh hospital in Omagh. The impact of excess
alcohol on lives is
enormous. Mr.
Jeffrey M. Donaldson (Lagan Valley) (DUP): I commend my
hon. Friend for her work in this field and in all areas of health in
Northern Ireland. Will she join me in commending the work of Cloona
house, which is in the Belfast, West constituency but on the edge of
mine, and which does excellent work in providing support for recovering
alcoholics? Most of the work done there is voluntary and the house
struggles to get adequate funding. Will my hon. Friend join me in
pressing the Minister to consider the voluntary services that are
available to help those recovering from alcoholism and whether those
services can be given additional financial
support?
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