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20 Oct 2008 : Column 85W—continued
Leader of the House
Departmental Public Participation
Mrs. May: To ask the Leader of the House how many citizens’ juries her Department has held since 1 July 2007; what the cost was of each; what issues were discussed at each event; and how many (a) Ministers and (b) members of the public attended each event. [227476]
Chris Bryant: A deliberative forum was held on the draft legislative programme which the Leader of the House of Commons attended on 20 October 2007. This was delivered by IPSOS Mori at a cost of £52,575 and was paid for by the Cabinet Office.
A total of 76 members of the public attended the event. Participants were asked to complete an exercise prior to the workshop to help get them thinking about the issues. On the day the event comprised of plenary voting sessions, using hand-held devices. Various presentations were given by IPSOS MORI researchers and detailed discussions were carried out within smaller groups.
During the day participants discussed public priorities for the Government’s legislative programme for 2007-08, how people would like to be consulted on the annual legislative programme in the future and how best to consult people on a range of individual bills.
Members: Pensions
Paul Rowen: To ask the Leader of the House what the value was of public sector pensions for hon. Members in each of the last five years; and what the cost to the public purse was of providing such pensions in each year. [228434]
Chris Bryant: The Parliamentary Contributory Pension Fund (PCPF) is a fully funded pension scheme whose income is derived from member contributions, Exchequer contributions and income from assets held.
Gross pension expenditure of the PCPF for the last five years is shown as follows. It includes pension benefits paid, payments to and on account of leavers, administrative expenses and investment management expenses. The figures for 2007-08 are provisional as the accounts for the year have not been finalised and are subject to change.
| Gross pension expenditure | |
| £ million | |
The contributions made to the PCPF by hon. Members from salary, including additional contributions for added years, and by the Exchequer from the House of Commons Members Estimate in each of the last five years are shown as follows.
| £ million | ||
| Employee contribution | Exchequer contribution | |
Northern Ireland
Christmas
Mr. Prisk: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many Christmas functions (a) he, (b) officials from his Department and (c) officials from its executive agencies (i) hosted and (ii) attended in 2007-08; what the cost to the public purse was; and if he will make a statement. [226965]
Mr. Woodward: I hosted four Christmas receptions attended by over 1,400 representatives from the criminal justice, policing, military, charity and community sectors across Northern Ireland. The total cost was £32,105.41. I also attend external engagements at Christmas time.
It is not possible to provide details on external Christmas functions that officials from my Department and Executive agencies attended, as this information would be available only at disproportionate cost.
Departmental Recruitment
Mr. Prisk: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how much (a) his Department and (b) its executive agencies spent on (i) recruitment consultants and (ii) external recruitment advertising to recruit staff in each of the last five financial years; which recruitment consultants were employed for those purposes in each of those years; and if he will make a statement. [226809]
Mr. Woodward: The Northern Ireland Prison Service uses recruitment consultants to run aptitude tests and assessment centre selection. In other parts of the Department, recruitment consultants are used only when recruitment competitions fail to produce suitable candidates or where executive searches are required to identify suitable applicants. These consultants are selected in line with NIO procurement policy.
The following tables provide details of fees paid to consultants and advertising costs in the NIO for each of the years requested.
| Table (a) (i) NIO core Department—use of consultants | ||
| Consultants used | Consultant fees (£) | |
| Table (a) (ii) NIO core Department—recruitment advertising costs | |
| Advertising costs (£) | |
| Table (b) (i) NIO Executive agencies—use of consultants | ||
| Consultants used | Consultant fees (£) | |
| Table (b) (ii) NIO Executive agencies—recruitment advertising costs | |
| Advertising costs (£) | |
Departmental Written Questions
Mr. Harper: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many and what proportion of written questions for answer on a named day his Department has answered on the due date in the current session of Parliament to date. [226892]
Paul Goggins: The Northern Ireland Office has received 87 named day questions for the current Session (as at 8 October).
Of these, 40 (46 per cent.) were answered on the due date. Of the 47 questions that were late, 43 (91 per cent.) had a due date that allowed two sitting days or fewer to provide an answer.
Homophobic Crime
Lady Hermon: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many complaints against the Police Service of Northern Ireland's handling of cases of homophobic crime were recorded in each of the last 12 months. [228394]
Paul Goggins: Dealing with such complaints is the operational responsibility of the Office of the Police Ombudsman for Northern Ireland. I have asked the Chief Executive to reply to the hon. Member directly, and will arrange for a copy of the letter to be placed in the Official Report and the Library of the House.
Police Service of Northern Ireland
Mr. Carmichael: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland (1) how many cases of sectarianism within the police force were reported within the Northern Ireland Police Service in each of the last 10 years; and how many officers (a) were found to have been sectarian, (b) were dismissed as a result and (c) received disciplinary action as a result in each year; [227394]
(2) what definition the Police Service of Northern Ireland uses of institutionalised homophobia; [227395]
(3) what percentage of recruits entering the Police Service of Northern Ireland in each of the last five years completed their full probationary period; [227397]
(4) what definition of institutionalised sectarianism the Police Service of Northern Ireland uses; [227398]
(5) what definition of institutionalised racism the Police Service of Northern Ireland uses; [227399]
(6) how many cases of racism within the Northern Ireland Police Service were reported in each of the last 10 years; and how many officers (a) were found to have been racist, (b) were dismissed as a result and (c) received disciplinary action as a result in each year; [227402]
(7) what steps the Police Service of Northern Ireland has taken to use social networking sites to encourage reporting of homophobic hate crimes and incidents; and if he will make a statement; [227415]
(8) what percentage of Northern Ireland police recruits identified themselves as gay, lesbian, bisexual or transgender in each of the last five years; and what percentage of those recruits completed their full probationary period. [227419]
Paul Goggins: That is an operational matter for the Chief Constable. I have asked him to reply directly to the hon. Member, and a copy of his letter will be placed in the Library of the House and the Official Report.
Police Service of Northern Ireland: Ethnic Groups
Mr. Carmichael: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what percentage of recruits to the Police Service of Northern Ireland who come from ethnic minorities completed their probationary period in each of the last five years. [227414]
Paul Goggins: That is an operational matter for the Chief Constable. I have asked him to reply directly to the hon. Member, and a copy of his letter will be placed in the Library of the House and the Official Report.
Police Service of Northern Ireland: Homosexuality
Mr. Carmichael: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many cases of homophobia within the Northern Ireland Police Service were reported in each of the last 10 years; and how many officers (a) were found to have been homophobic, (b) were dismissed as a result and (c) received disciplinary action as a result. [227403]
Paul Goggins: That is an operational matter for the Chief Constable. I have asked him to reply directly to the hon. Member, and a copy of his letter will be placed in the Library of the House and the Official Report.
Prosecution Rates
Mr. Carmichael: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland (1) what the prosecution rate was for racist hate crime detected by the Police Service for Northern Ireland in each of the last five years; [227421]
(2) what the prosecution rate was for homophobic hate crime detected by the Police Service for Northern Ireland in each of the last five years. [227422]
Paul Goggins: This is an operational matter for the Director of Public Prosecutions. I have asked him to reply directly to the hon. Member, and will arrange for a copy of the letter to be placed in the Official Report and the Library of the House.
Rape: Telephone Services
Mr. McGrady: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what freephone 24-hour telephone lines exist for victims of rape and sexual assault in Northern Ireland. [227223]
Paul Goggins: The Northern Ireland Office—in partnership with the Department of Health, Social Services and Public Safety (DHSSPS) and the Northern Ireland Housing Executive—jointly fund a free phone 24 hour helpline (0800 917 1414) for victims of domestic violence which is managed by Women’s Aid Federation.
A number of other organisations provide a combination of 24 hour telephone and messaging services to other victims of sexual violence. Childline operate a 24 hour free phone service while those provided by the Nexus Institute, Samaritans, Victim Support and out of hours health services incur either low or normal call rates.
The recently published Northern Ireland Regional Sexual Violence and Abuse Strategy, jointly developed by DHSSPS and NIO, contains a commitment to assess the need for a regional 24 hour helpline within the context of proposals to develop the Sexual Assault Referral Centre.
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