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5 Dec 2006 : Column 305W—continued
Lady Hermon: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what assistance his Department provides to homeless people in Northern Ireland; and if he will make a statement. [107630]
Mr. Hanson: The Department for Social Development and the Northern Ireland Housing Executive provide assistance in various forms in terms of accommodation through housing and hostels, support through Supporting People and benefits through the Social Security Agency.
In addition to the provision of general housing, the Department specifically provides funding for the building and renovation of hostels for the homeless and, in its five-year social housing development plan, has made provision to grant aid registered housing
associations to build new or upgrade 20 hostels. Of these, seven are under construction or are planned to start this year.
The Northern Ireland Housing Executive provides funding in respect of services associated with the use of temporary accommodation, including the payment of housing benefit. It also provides funding to a range of voluntary bodies for special projects to tackle and prevent homelessness; these include the provision of practical support for projects such as outreach services, the Homeless Support Team, housing advice services, dealing with street drinkers, rent guarantee schemes and education programmes.
Over the last three years, the Department made funds available around Christmas time for non housing items to be provided to homeless agencies.
The Department, as part of its wide remit for providing assistance to vulnerable groups including the homeless, also makes funding available through the Supporting People programme for housing support services.
Lady Hermon: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what (a) meetings and (b) correspondence he has had with representatives of the Simon Community on his Department’s policy on homelessness in each of the last five years. [107689]
Mr. Hanson: The Department for Social Development is responsible for establishing policy on homelessness in Northern Ireland. The current policies were given a statutory basis in the Housing (Northern Ireland) Order 1988 and since then there have been regular and ongoing discussions and exchanges of correspondence about the implementation and delivery of policy initiatives with a range of key stakeholders, including the Simon Community.
There have not, however, been any meetings or exchanges of correspondence with the Simon Community specifically relating to policy on homelessness.
IT Projects
Dr. Cable: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland which information technology projects are being undertaken by (a) his Department and (b) its agencies; what the (i) start date, (ii) original planned completion date, (iii) expected completion date, (iv) originally planned costs and (v) estimated planned costs are of each; and if he will make a statement. [101587]
Paul Goggins: Throughout the NIO there is requirement for a large number of information technology projects, the majority of these are relatively small and are developed in-house with minimum cost. To compile information to support all projects would be at disproportionate cost therefore the information within the following table relates only to current IT projects which cost in excess of £1 million.
| Causeway | PRISM | Access NI | |
| (1) The agreed budget for Causeway is £42 million. The business case and financial projections are currently being reviewed to take account of recent developments in the programme. | |||
Knife Amnesty
Mr. Gregory Campbell: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what criteria were used to decide the most appropriate locations for the recently announced knife amnesty in Northern Ireland. [106920]
Mr. Hanson: Police Service of Northern Ireland DCU Commanders consulted with the District Policing Partnerships to identify suitable locations of the knife bins for the current knife amnesty. Risk assessments were carried out on each site to establish suitability. As a result of the consultation process and risk assessments it was agreed that council amenity sites would remain the preferred option. Bins are also located at Extern at the Hammer Centre, Agnes Street, Shankill and at the Harbour Estate.
Knife Crime
Mr. Gregory Campbell: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what progress has been made in Northern Ireland with legislation aimed at reducing knife crime. [104022]
Mr. Hanson:
Along with England and Wales, the Violent Crime Reduction Act (“the Act”) made three changes to the law in Northern Ireland with regard to
knives. The Act raised the age at which knives can be legally purchased from 16 to 18 years of age; created a new offence of using someone to mind a weapon, which includes specified knives and bladed weapons, with a penalty of up to four years imprisonment; and reduced the threshold for a constable to exercise his power of entry and search of a school and a person on school premises for weapons including knives.
The Government recently concluded a public consultation exercise including a major conference taking views on a series of proposals to improve further Northern Ireland’s laws on knives. The proposals included increasing the penalty for possession of a knife in a public place; extending the list of “offensive weapons”; and increasing penalties for the illegal sale of knives. The consultation also sought views on a knife licensing scheme. I am currently considering the way forward in light of the consultation and the conference.
Lady Hermon: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what percentage of those convicted of the possession of knives or bladed articles in Northern Ireland received (a) a fine, (b) a community order, (c) a conditional discharge and (d) a custodial sentence in each of the last five years. [104368]
Mr. Hanson: There is no offence relating to the possession of a “knife” specifically. Offences for which statistics are available refer to the possession of “offensive weapon” or
“article with blade or point”,
within which knives are included. While offensive weapons may not solely be knives further detail relating to type of weapon is not recorded in conviction datasets.
Tables 1 to 5 provide details on the total convicted of offensive weapon offences by offence type and disposal type for 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: Total number convicted of offensive weapon offences by offence type and disposal type 2000 | ||||||
| Fine | Supervision in the community | Conditional discharge | Custodial sentence | Other( 1) | Total | |
| (1) Includes suspended custody. | ||||||
| Table 2: Total number convicted of offensive weapon offences by offence type and disposal type 2001 | ||||||
| Fine | Supervision in the community | Conditional discharge | Custodial sentence | Other( 1) | Total | |
| (1) Includes suspended custody. | ||||||
| Table 3: Total number convicted of offensive weapon offences by offence type and disposal type 2002 | ||||||
| Fine | Supervision in the community | Conditional discharge | Custodial sentence | Other( 1) | Total | |
| (1) Includes suspended custody. | ||||||
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