Previous Section Index Home Page

20 Feb 2007 : Column 634W—continued


Independent Commission on Policing for Northern Ireland

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many of the recommendations of the Patten Report in 1999 have been implemented. [119313]

Paul Goggins: The Policing Oversight Commissioner has reported that of the 175 recommendations detailed in the Patten Report 129 have been implemented. The Oversight Commissioner issues regular reports outlining the progress against the various recommendations and these are available at: www.oversightcommissioner.org

In accordance with the Police (Northern Ireland) Act 2000 copies of his reports are placed in the Libraries of both Houses.

Londonderry

Mr. Gregory Campbell: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what the total cost to the public purse was of the legal action undertaken by the city council in Londonderry regarding the name of the city. [120564]

Mr. Hain: The court concluded that the Government and Derry city council should each pay their own costs. I do not yet have available details of the total cost to
20 Feb 2007 : Column 635W
Government but will write to the hon. Gentleman with this information once it becomes available. I am not able to provide any information on the costs incurred by Derry city council.

Mental Health Services

Mrs. Iris Robinson: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what plans there are to enhance the range of services and treatments available for people with depression in the Province. [120348]

Paul Goggins: Depression is a common disorder of varying severity, which can be treated by a range of services and treatments. Services can be accessed in community, primary and secondary care settings and range from self-help and peer support to specialist mental health in-patient services.

The Bamford Review acknowledges that more could be done to prevent mental disorders and that there should be greater access to treatments other than medication. Taking forward the Bamford recommendations will be the key in enhancing access to a full range of services and treatments.

Muckamore Abbey Hospital

Lady Hermon: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what assessment he has made of the child safety implications of housing children with learning disabilities in close proximity to convicted sex offenders at Muckamore Abbey hospital. [120552]


20 Feb 2007 : Column 636W

Paul Goggins: The North and West Belfast Trust carried out a “Review of Policies and Procedures to Safeguard Children and Vulnerable Adults in Muckamore Abbey Hospital” in December 2005 and made a series of recommendations including risk assessments, supervision of patients and child protection. These recommendations have been implemented. Muckamore has its own Child Protection Committee which is supported by the North and West Belfast Trust Child Protection Panel. All staff receive child protection training as appropriate to their needs. Risk assessments are carried out as part of patient’s care plans.

While children at Muckamore are not currently at risk, the children in Conicar ward are being moved to a more appropriate location on the site. The action plan announced on 30 January 2007 will ensure that no children are accommodated in Muckamore Abbey hospital after 31 March 2009.

Post-mortems

Mrs. Iris Robinson: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many autopsies were conducted in Northern Ireland in each of the last 10 years. [120342]

Paul Goggins: There are two types of post-mortem, consented hospital post-mortems and coroner post-mortems. Coroner post-mortems are conducted either by the State Pathology Department or in hospital. The total number of post-mortems for each of the last 10 years are detailed as follows:

Coroner post-mortems
Consented hospital post-mortems( 1) Carried out in hospitals( 1) Conducted by State Pathology Department( 2) Total post-mortems

1997

629

855

1,495

2,979

1998

645

820

1,673

3,138

1999

647

821

1,514

2,982

2000

515

832

1,333

2,680

2001

338

844

1,408

2,590

2002

195

665

1,438

2,298

2003

184

475

1,395

2,054

2004

256

369

1,523

2,148

2005

283

232

1,522

2,037

2006

252

178

1,498

1,928

Sources:
(1) HPSS Trusts.
(2) State Pathology Department Northern Ireland.

Terrorism

Mark Durkan: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland whether funding was provided by his Department for the McCord investigation and other similar investigations. [120497]

Mr. Hain: The Police Ombudsman for Northern Ireland receives public funding to enable her to fulfil investigatory functions under Part VII of the Police (Northern Ireland) Act 1998. Such funding would cover the McCord investigation and other similar investigations.

Mark Durkan: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what the Government's plans are with regard to “on the runs”; and whether he has given assurances to any political party about “on the runs”. [120508]

Mr. Hain: In my letter to the hon. Gentleman of 1 November 2006 I made clear that while the Government continue to accept that the position of “on the runs” is an anomaly, and we believe that the anomaly will need to be addressed at some stage, we have no plans to bring forward any legislation on “on the runs”, or to introduce an amnesty. In my letters of 1 November, I gave that assurance to the leaders of all the political parties involved in the St. Andrews talks, and that remains the Government’s position.


20 Feb 2007 : Column 637W

Valuation and Lands Agency

Mr. Pickles: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many photographs of domestic properties in Northern Ireland the Valuation and Lands Agency holds on its Photoviewer database. [120768]

Mr. Hanson: 40,000 images are currently held under the Valuation and Lands Agency’s photoviewer process.

Trade and Industry

Alternative Energy

Mr. Malik: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry how much Government money was spent on researching re-usable energy sources in (a) the last year for which figures are available and (b) 1997. [120916]

Jim Fitzpatrick: The Government spend on R and D on renewable energy is set out in the following table.

£ million
1997-98 2005-06

Research councils

(1)7

(1)15.8

Government Department (DTI, DEFRA, DfT)

6.2

11. 8

(1) Exceeds

The Research Councils also spent £16.6 million in 1997-98 and £20.6 million in 2005-06 on nuclear fusion research. They are also providing funding of £13.88 million over the period 2004-09 for the UK Energy Research Centre (which undertakes a range of research relating to sustainable and renewable energy) and £15.8 million over the period 2000-08 to the Tyndall Centre for Climate Change research (which includes some research on renewable energy). In addition the Council for the Central Laboratory of the Research Councils estimate that access for energy research to its facilities accounted for £4.5 million in 2005-06.

The Government also fund the Carbon Trust, which provides support for research into low carbon energy activities amongst other activities.

Banks: Loans

Dr. Blackman-Woods: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what plans he has to discourage lending by banks and other financial institutions to vulnerable people and those unable to make repayments. [121547]

Mr. McCartney: The Government are keen to promote responsible lending as part of their strategy to minimise over-indebtedness. The Consumer Credit Act 2006 introduces a number of provisions that should encourage responsible lending. The Act will enable consumers to challenge unfair credit relationships and it makes specific provision for the Office of Fair Trading to take into account evidence of irresponsible lending in determining fitness to hold a consumer credit licence.

It is important that lenders take proper account of an individual's credit history in taking decisions on whether to make further loans. We are currently exploring whether the opening up of information on
20 Feb 2007 : Column 638W
accounts where lenders do not have the customer’s express permission to share the data would help responsible lending. We are in the process of analysing the responses to a consultation on this and will report back shortly.

In addition, the industry’s own codes of practice include provisions on responsible lending. The Banking Code is currently under review and I have made it clear to the independent reviewer that I would like to see these provisions strengthened.

Business: EC Grants and Loans

Mr. Prisk: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what the total value was of grants provided under the EU Frameworks Programme to UK small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in (a) 2004, (b) 2005 and (c) 2006; and what the total value was of contributions to project costs made by those SMEs in each year. [120025]

Margaret Hodge: The European Commission is responsible for providing member states with data on the implementation of the Framework Programme. The Sixth Framework Programme (FP6) covered the years 2003 to 2007. The latest FP6 data provided by the European Commission cover all projects where a contract has been signed up to July 2006. These are, however, only interim figures. We expect the European Commission to provide more complete data on FP6 in the next two to three months.

The data provided by the European Commission show that, in 2004, 303 contracts were signed for SME-specific projects involving UK small and medium-sized enterprises. These had an overall value of €51.1 million, with an EC contribution of €31.2 million.

In 2005, 207 contracts were signed for SME-specific projects involving UK small and medium-sized enterprises. These had an overall value of €47.1 million, with an EC contribution of €27.9 million.

The European Commission data for 2006 cover projects signed up to July 2006. Three contracts were signed for SME-specific projects involving UK small and medium-sized enterprises. These had an overall value of €0.81 million, with an EC contribution of €0.42 million.

These figures represent funding of projects in the FP6 SME-specific programmes. The European Commission is not yet able to provide precise data for funding of SMEs in non-SME specific projects.

Mr. Prisk: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what the total value was of grants provided under the EU Frameworks Programme to UK companies which are not small and medium-sized enterprises in (a) 2004, (b) 2005 and (c) 2006; and what the total value was of contributions to project costs made by those companies in each year. [120026]

Malcolm Wicks: The European Commission is responsible for providing member states with data on the implementation of the Framework Programme. The Sixth Framework Programme (FP6) covered the years 2003 to 2007. The latest FP6 data provided by the European Commission cover all projects where a contract has been signed up to July 2006. These are, however, only interim figures. We expect the European
20 Feb 2007 : Column 639W
Commission to provide more complete data on FP6 in the next two to three months.

The data provided by the European Commission show that, in 2004, 437 contracts were signed for projects involving UK companies that are not small and medium-sized enterprises. These had an overall value of €171.1 million, with an EC contribution of €84.6 million.

In 2005, 436 contracts were signed for projects involving with UK companies that are not small and medium-sized enterprises. These had an overall value of €165.7 million, with an EC contribution of €89.0 million.

The European Commission data for 2006 cover projects signed up to July 2006. 72 contracts were signed involving UK companies that are not small and medium-sized enterprises. These had an overall value of €41.5 million, with an EC contribution of €13.6 million.

Carbon Emissions

Julia Goldsworthy: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what plans he has to reduce the carbon emissions associated with the generation of grid electricity. [112137]

Jim Fitzpatrick: All emissions related to the production, distribution and consumption of electricity are capped under the European Union Emissions Trading scheme (EU ETS). Last summer the UK announced its tight cap under EU ETS Phase II, which will result in reductions over the period 2008-12 of 29 million tonnes of carbon dioxide (MtCO2) against projected “business as usual” emissions.

In order to help generators to achieve these reductions, the Government use a number of policy instruments directed at both energy supply and demand. These include the renewables obligation to incentivise renewable forms of generation, R and D support for developing low carbon technologies (e.g. through the forthcoming Energy Technologies Institute), domestic energy efficiency measures (such as the Energy Efficiency Commitment), and support for business energy efficiency (for example, through the work of the Carbon Trust).


Next Section Index Home Page