Written Answers to Questions
Wednesday 26 March 2008
Leader of the House
Members: Second Homes
Mr. Frank Field: To ask the Leader of the House how many hon. Members claim for a second home (a) in London and (b) in their constituency. [195741]
Helen Goodman: Hon. Members are entitled to claim the additional costs allowance when staying away from their main home on parliamentary business. The allowance may be used for help with the cost of purchase or rental of a property, or for hotel or other overnight costs. In 2006-07 441 Members claimed the allowance for staying in London and 148 in their constituency.
Olympics
Departmental Information Officers
Mr. Jeremy Browne: To ask the Minister for the Olympics how many (a) press and (b) communications officers were employed to promote (i) the bid for and (ii) the hosting of the 2012 Summer Olympics in each year for which figures are available. [182511]
Tessa Jowell: There were no press officers employed in the Department for Culture, Media and Sport solely to work on the Olympic bid. Subsequent to London winning the bid, the Department has employed the following numbers of press officers to work on the Olympics:
| Press officers | |
The Department does not have a “communication officer” grade. The “White Book” of contacts in Government Departments and agencies contains listings for the Department and the book is updated twice yearly.
Northern Ireland
Criminal Justice and Policing
8. Mr. Harper: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what progress has been made on devolution of criminal justice and policing to Northern Ireland; and if he will make a statement. [195504]
Mr. Woodward: I refer the hon. Gentleman to the answer I gave earlier to the hon. Member for Vale of York (Miss McIntosh).
Fuel Smuggling
9. Mr. Stephen O'Brien: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what recent assessment he has made of the level of fuel smuggling in Northern Ireland. [195506]
Paul Goggins: I refer the hon. Gentleman to the answer I gave earlier to the hon. Member for Clwyd, West (Mr. Jones).
Policing Budget
10. David Simpson: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what the policing budget for Northern Ireland is in 2007-08; and if he will make a statement. [195507]
Paul Goggins: The allocation made to the Northern Ireland Policing Board in respect of policing in 2007-08 amounts to £1,231 million.
Security Situation
11. Mr. Bellingham: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what recent assessment he has made of the security situation in Northern Ireland; and if he will make a statement. [195508]
Mr. Woodward: The security situation in Northern Ireland has been dramatically transformed, not least because of the historic agreement reached exactly one year ago today by the right hon. Member for North Antrim (Rev. Ian Paisley) and the hon. Member for Belfast, West (Mr. Adams).
Abortion
12. Mark Pritchard: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland whether he plans to introduce new legislation on abortion in Northern Ireland. [195509]
Paul Goggins: The Government have no plans to amend the law on abortion in Northern Ireland.
Departmental Official Visits
David Simpson: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what the cost was of overnight accommodation for (a) civil servants, (b) special advisers and (c) Ministers in his Department staying overnight in (i) mainland Great Britain, (ii) Northern Ireland, (iii) the Republic of Ireland and (iv) other countries in the last 12 months. [193536]
Mr. Woodward: The Northern Ireland Office does not record the costs of overnight accommodation in the format requested. This information can be provided only at disproportionate cost.
Driving Offences: Sentencing
Mr. Dodds: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many (a) arrests and (b) convictions for drink-driving offences resulted in a custodial sentence in each of the last 10 years, broken down by (i) specific offence, (ii) age and (iii) sex. [194756]
Paul Goggins: Table 1 sets out the number of arrests for drink driving offences from 1998 to 2007. Breakdown by gender is available from 2002-07. However, the only information recorded on age is the average age of those arrested.
Table 2 sets out the number of convictions for drink driving offences which have resulted in a custodial sentence in each of the last 10 years, 2006 being the latest available.
Table 3 sets out the number of convictions for drink driving offences resulting in a custodial sentence categorised by age in each of the last 10 years, 2006 being the latest available.
Table 4 sets out the number of convictions for drink driving offences resulting in a custodial sentence categorised by gender in each of the last 10 years, 2006 being the latest available.
| Table 1: Breakdown of number of arrests 2002-07 | |||
| Male | Female | Average age | |
| Total number of arrests 1998 to 2001 | |
| Number | |
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