Written Answers to Questions
Tuesday 8 May 2007
Northern Ireland
Asthma
Lady Hermon: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what steps he is taking to improve self-management of asthma in Northern Ireland; and what plans he has to increase primary care and care in the community funding to this end. [136044]
Paul Goggins: This matter is now the responsibility of the Northern Ireland Administration.
Construction: Bangor County Down
Lady Hermon: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland if he will estimate the total cost of the development of Queen’s Parade on Bangor seafront in County Down; and what financial contribution is being made by the Department of Social Development to the project, broken down by area of funding. [136070]
Mr. Hanson: A scheme acceptable to the Department for Social Development on this site has not yet been arrived at. Consultants, employed by the Department, are currently evaluating and appraising options for the site and consequently it is difficult to give an accurate estimate of the cost of the eventual scheme. Given the size and complexity of the site, indicative estimates at this stage would suggest the total cost could be up to £180 million. The design and build costs for the scheme will be met by the private sector.
So far the Department has committed to spending £175,000 on consultancy in relation to a full retail capacity analysis, a transport analysis, economic appraisal and urban design analyses of the options for the site. The Department has also acquired the Vennel car park at the centre of the proposed site for £550,000.
No decision has been made by the Department in relation to any other funding related to the scheme or to the area surrounding the proposed site.
Lady Hermon: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland if he will make a statement on the progress made in taking forward the Queen's Parade project on Bangor seafront in County Down. [136071]
Mr. Hanson:
The Department for Social Development (DSD) was approached by North Down borough council, seeking support for a development scheme at Queen’s Parade in Bangor town centre. The proposed scheme related to a mixed use development on land assembled by North Down borough council, but which was also likely to require the vesting of some additional land and properties to complete the site
assembly. The scheme was designed by Karl Greenfarm Ltd., a consortium appointed by the council as their preferred developer.
In October 2005, following some due diligence work, DSD announced that it was unable to support the scheme as then constituted, but agreed to work with the developer and the council to explore alternative options and to seek to resolve outstanding issues. Planning permission for this scheme was also subsequently refused by the Planning Service in the Department of the Environment.
In September 2006, following a public consultation to examine some alternative proposals, DSD agreed to appoint specialist consultants to carry out a full retail capacity analysis, a transport analysis, economic appraisal, legal appraisal and urban design analyses of the options for the site.
It would be premature to pre-empt the outcome of the work currently being undertaken by the Department’s consultants but the report will be published later in 2007.
Medicine: Education
Mr. Dodds: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland (1) what advice was given to Foundation 2 doctors by the Northern Ireland Medical and Dental Training Agency before January 2007 about the need for foundation trainees to sit Royal College postgraduate examinations; [134968]
(2) how many medical specialities in Northern Ireland (a) asked candidates during Medical Training Application Service round 1 interviews whether they had taken (i) Royal College examinations and (ii) an Advanced Life Support course and (b) gave consideration to Royal College examinations when scoring ST1 and FTSTA1 applicants. [134969]
Paul Goggins: The Northern Ireland Medical and Dental Training Agency (NMDTA) advised foundation 2 doctors that funding would not be available for specialist examination courses and that there was no expectation that trainees should attempt College examinations during foundation training.
A majority of medical specialties asked about Royal College examinations and life support courses undertaken.
Consideration was not given to Royal College examinations when scoring ST1 and FTSTA1 applications.
This matter is now the responsibility of the Northern Ireland Administration.
Northern Ireland Commissioner for Victims and Survivors: Public Appointments
Lady Hermon: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland (1) for what reasons no response has yet been made to the questions submitted by Mr. Justice Girvan in relation to the appointment of the Interim Victims Commissioner; [136067]
(2) what consideration he has given to providing a staged reply to the questions submitted by Mr. Justice Girvan in relation to the appointment of the Interim
Victims Commissioner as and when individual responses become available; [136068]
(3) when he expects to respond to the questions submitted by Mr. Justice Girvan in relation to the appointment of the Interim Victims Commissioner. [136069]
Mr. Hanson: The questions raised by Mr. Justice Girvan in his judgment, and which he referred to the Attorney-General, are being addressed by the Review being conducted by Peter Scott QC which will report to the Attorney-General. The progress of the Review is a matter for the Attorney-General. I can assure the hon. Lady that full co-operation is being given to the Review.
Planning Permission
Lady Hermon: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland for what reasons planning application (X/2007/0067) was withdrawn; what representations his Department received requesting that the application be withdrawn; and if he will make a statement. [136048]
Mr. Hain:
The Department of the Environment’s Planning Service received an application on 12 January
2007 for the change of use from a derelict amusement arcade to a licensed restaurant with external alterations at 27, The Parade, Donaghadee. The application currently remains under consideration and is now the responsibility of the Northern Ireland Administration.
Public Transport: Accidents
Lady Hermon: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many accidents by members of the public were recorded on each part of the Translink network in each of the last five years; and how much was paid out by Translink over the same period in compensation for these accidents. [136045]
Mr. Hain: The information is not available in the format requested. The following table details the total number of accidents recorded on the networks of Ulsterbus, Metro (formerly Citybus) and Northern Ireland Railways, in each of the last five financial years. The total compensation paid out by each company in each of these years is also provided. As compensation claims can often take some time to complete, compensation bills quoted against any one year will not necessarily reflect all expenditure paid out against the specific accidents recorded for that year.
| Ulsterbus | Metro | NIR | Total | |||||
| Accidents | Compensation (£) | Accidents | Compensation (£) | Accidents | Compensation (£) | Accidents | Compensation (£) | |
This matter is now the responsibility of the Northern Ireland Administration.
Public Transport: Disabled
Lady Hermon: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what percentage of Translink stations have disabled access; and what steps he is taking to improve disabled access to the Translink network. [136047]
Mr. Hain: Translink confirms that 94 per cent. of its stations have disabled access.
Translink also confirms that they have commenced a programme to upgrade stations farther and make them compliant with disability discrimination legislation.
This matter is now the responsibility of the Northern Ireland Administration.
Roads Service
Andrew Mackinlay: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland (1) which public consultations the Roads Service of Northern Ireland and the Department of the Environment has conducted in the past 12 months on the location of new zebra and pelican crossings; what the time period was of such consultation; what steps were taken to ensure that nearby individuals and businesses were invited to participate in the consultation; and if he will make a statement; [135595]
(2) if he will place in the Library a copy of the document setting out the criteria used to determine the location of zebra and pelican crossings in Northern Ireland; what the requirements are for the minimum distance from which such crossings must be visible to oncoming motorists; and if he will make a statement. [135597]
Mr. Hain: The Chief Executive of Roads Service (Dr. Malcolm McKibbin) was asked to write to the hon. Gentleman in response to these questions. A copy of his reply, dated 4 May, is as follows.
This matter is now the responsibility of the Northern Ireland Administration.
Letter from Dr. Malcolm McKibbin, dated 4 May 2007:
You recently asked the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland two Parliamentary Questions regarding:
1. which public consultations the Roads Service of Northern Ireland and the Department of the Environment has conducted in the past 12 months on the location of new zebra and pelican crossings; what the time period was of such consultation; what steps were taken to ensure that nearby individuals and businesses were invited to participate in the consultation; and if he will make a statement; and
2. if he will place in the Library a copy of the document setting out the criteria used to determine the location of zebra and pelican crossings in Northern Ireland; what the requirements are for the minimum distance from which such crossings must be visible to oncoming motorists; and if he will make a statement.
As this issue falls within my responsibility as Chief Executive of the Department for Regional Development’s Roads Service, I have been asked to reply.
I should explain that Roads Service’s policy in relation to pedestrian crossings is to provide such facilities where there is an identifiable need and where the conditions at any potential site make it difficult for pedestrians and cyclists to cross the road. An integral part of the process is an assessment of the ‘demand’ and ‘difficulty’ of crossing the road at the location concerned. The initial part of our assessment process uses the number of pedestrians (the initial demand factor) and the volume of traffic (the initial difficulty factor) to give an indication of the potential ‘conflict’ at a site. The assessment of the need for a crossing is then supplemented using a scorecard, which assigns scores to various other ‘demand’ and ‘difficulty’ factors, including collision history at the site. This policy is designed to assess the need and to prioritise locations “where pedestrians encounter difficulties in crossing the road due to the high volumes of vehicular traffic. This is applied consistently and impartially when assessing all requests in Northern Ireland, so that available funding can be directed at those sites with the greatest need.
Attached for information is a copy of our public information leaflet on Controlled Pedestrian Crossings (a copy will be placed in the House of Commons Library).
There is no statutory requirement for Roads Service to formerly consult on proposals to construct traffic management features such as pedestrian crossings. However, our policy is to carry out informal consultations with the police and frontagers along the length of road affected by any proposal. There is no set period for this consultation. The list at Appendix 1 details the locations of proposed zebra and pelican pedestrian crossings where consultations were carried out in 2006/07 financial year.
The requirements for the minimum distance from which all types of crossings must be visible to oncoming motorists depends on the approach speed of vehicles in the vicinity of a proposed crossings and are detailed below.
| All types of crossings—visibility requirements | ||||||
APPENDIX 1
Locations of Proposed Zebra and Pelican Controlled Pedestrian Crossings where consultation was carried out in the financial year 2006/2007
Upper Newtownards Road, Belfast, at Castleview Road
Cavehill Road, Belfast, at Henderson Avenue
Glen Road, Belfast, at La Salle school
Odpark Road, Belfast, at Carr’s Glen
Cliftonville Road, Belfast at Chestnut Gardens
Main Street, Donaghmore
Circular Road, Dungannon
Castledawson Road, Magherafelt
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