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2 Jun 2008 : Column 627W—continued
In 2007-08, £557,000 was paid to all staff in the Department and its agencies as end-of-year performance bonuses.
In 2007-08, of the aforementioned amount at (a), £298,650 was paid to SCS staff as end-of-year performance bonuses.
The aforementioned payments were made to a total of 364 staff in the 2007-08 financial year, and related to performance in the 2006-07 reporting year. These bonuses, which are non-consolidated and non-pensionable, are used to reward excellent performance throughout the year, and are based on a judgment of how well an individual has performed relative to their peers.
Departmental Pensions
Mr. Gregory Campbell: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what steps are being taken to ensure that Northern Ireland-based civil servants in his Department who are entitled to take up added years or additional voluntary contributions are aware of how to apply. [207728]
Mr. Woodward: Circulars are issued to existing staff by our pension providers whenever new information becomes available. Staff were informed in November 2007 of the withdrawal of the facility to top up pension benefits by buying added years of pensionable service from 1 March 2008, and provided with details on the introduction of added pension from the same date.
Existing staff have been advised that information about the Principal Civil Service Pension Scheme, including information on additional voluntary contributions (AVCs) is available on the following websites:
for Northern Ireland Civil Servants and
Mr. Gregory Campbell: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what steps are taken to ensure that at the commencement of employment in his Department staff are informed of the benefits of additional voluntary schemes. [207729]
Mr. Woodward: All new entrants are provided with a pension pack at the commencement of their employment which includes information on additional voluntary contributions and refers them to the information contained on the following websites:
for Northern Ireland Civil Servants and
Mr. Gregory Campbell: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many and what percentage of his Department’s staff in the salary ranges of (a) up to £15,000 per annum, (b) between £15,001 and £30,000 per annum, (c) between £30,001 and £50,000 per annum and (d) over £50,000 per annum participated in additional voluntary contributions schemes in the most recent period for which figures are available. [207730]
Mr. Woodward: In 2007-08, 3.1 per cent. of the Department participated in additional voluntary contributions schemes, the numbers of which are broken down as follows:
(a) Up to £15,000: 6 staff;
(b) £15,001 to £30,000: 25 staff;
(c) £30,001 to £50,000: 23 staff;
(d) Over £50,000: 6 staff.
Departmental Public Participation
Stewart Hosie: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how much his Department spent on (a) written consultations, (b) consultation roadshows and (c) stakeholder focus groups in each of the last three years. [205842]
Mr. Woodward: The following table displays the amount the Northern Ireland Office and its Executive agencies has spent on (a) written consultation, (b) consultation roadshows and (c) stakeholder focus groups in each of the last three years:
| £ | |||
| Written consultation | Consultation roadshows | Stakeholder focus groups | |
Stewart Hosie: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what consultants have been contracted by his Department to conduct public participation activities in the last three years; and how much expenditure his Department has incurred on each such contract to date. [206220]
Mr. Woodward: In each of the last three years the Northern Ireland Office and executive agencies have contracted the following consultants to conduct public participation activities:
| Consultant contracted to conduct the public participation activity | Cost of contract to date (£) | |
| (1 )This company was contracted to carry out a customer satisfaction survey which involved meeting members of the public. | ||
Deportation: Northern Ireland
Mr. Garnier: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many foreign nationals received a recommendation for deportation by the sentencing judge in Northern Ireland in each of the last five years. [206896]
Paul Goggins: Data are available only from 1 October 2006. Between 1 October 2006 and 30 September 2007, six persons received a recommendation for deportation.
Domestic Violence
Mr. Dodds: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many persons were convicted of domestic abuse offences in (a) A District Command Unit area, (b) B District Command Unit area and (c) Northern Ireland in each of the last 10 years; and what average sentence was imposed. [207755]
Paul Goggins: At present specific information on domestic assaults is not included in court conviction and sentencing data. It is not possible, therefore, to separate domestic violence from other violent offences.
It is, however, possible to give the number convicted of offences which, by their definition, relate to domestic violence. Specifically for the requested policing districts these are: 'breach of non-molestation order' and 'breach of occupation order'. Conviction and sentencing data
for these offences are documented in Tables 1 and 2 for Policing District A, Tables 3 and 4 for Policing District B and Tables 5 and 6 for Northern Ireland. An additional domestic violence offence of "breach of exclusion requirement' is documented in Table 7 for Northern Ireland.
A wider range of information on the incidence and impact of domestic violence is available from the Northern Ireland Crime Survey at:
http://www.nio.gov.uk/experience_of_domestic_violence_findings_from_the_ 2005_northern_ireland_crime_survey.pdf
Data are only available from 2000 onwards and the data in the following tables cover the calendar years 2000 to 2006 (the latest available years). Data are collated on the principal offence rule; so only the most serious offence with which an offender is charged is included.
| Table 1: Number of convictions, number sentenced to immediate custody and average sentence length (in months) for 'breach of non-molestation order' for Policing District A 2000- 06. | |||||||
| 2000 | 2001 | 2002 | 2003 | 2004 | 2005 | 2006 | |
| Table 2: Number of convictions, number sentenced to immediate custody and average sentence length (in months) for 'breach of occupation order' for Policing District A 2000-06. | |||||||
| 2000 | 2001 | 2002 | 2003 | 2004 | 2005 | 2006 | |
| Table 3: Number of convictions, number sentenced to immediate custody and average sentence length (in months) for 'breach of non-molestation order' for Policing District B 2000-06. | |||||||
| 2000 | 2001 | 2002 | 2003 | 2004 | 2005 | 2006 | |
| Table 4: Number of convictions, number sentenced to immediate custody and average sentence length (in months) for 'breach of occupation order' for Policing District B 2000-06. | |||||||
| 2000 | 2001 | 2002 | 2003 | 2004 | 2005 | 2006 | |
| Table 5: Number of convictions, number sentenced to immediate custody and average sentence length (in months) for 'breach of non-molestation order' for Northern Ireland 2000-06. | |||||||
| 2000 | 2001 | 2002 | 2003( 1) | 2004 | 2005 | 2006 | |
| (1) Average sentence length in 2003 excludes one sentenced to juvenile justice centre order. | |||||||
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