Written Answers to Questions
Monday 15 December 2008
Northern Ireland
Departmental Early Retirement
Mr. Paterson: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many people took early retirement from his Department in each of the last five years. [243231]
Mr. Woodward: The following table provides details of the number of staff who took early retirement from the Northern Ireland Office in each of the last five years.
| Number | |
Departmental Information Officers
Mr. Hunt: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how much was spent on employing press and communications officers in his Department in each of the last three years. [240956]
Mr. Woodward: The following table shows expenditure on employing press and communications officers within the Northern Ireland Office (excluding agencies and executive NDPBs) in each of the last three financial years.
| Northern Ireland Office (£000) | |
Departmental Internet
Mr. Stephen O'Brien: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland with reference to the answer of 4 November 2008, Official Report, columns 336-37W, on Government departments: information and communications technology, which IP addresses are used by (a) his Department and (b) computers in the offices of its (i) Ministers, (ii) communications officials and (iii) special advisers. [241957]
Paul Goggins:
To help defend against electronic attack, it is standard information security practice for corporate IT systems not to publish internal IP addresses. When accessing internet websites, the IP addresses of all of the computers on the Northern Ireland Office internal
office IT system are hidden behind the following IP addresses which are publicly available—195.92.40.49 and 62.25.106.209. These IP addresses are shared with other government departments that use the Government secure intranet.
Departmental Official Hospitality
David Simpson: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what records his Department maintains of its expenditure on (a) official hospitality and (b) alcohol for official hospitality. [240456]
Mr. Woodward: Expenditure relating to official hospitality is recorded on the departmental finance system and is inclusive of any expenditure on alcohol for official hospitality.
Expenditure on hospitality is set out in accordance with the principles of Managing Public Money and the Treasury handbook on Regularity and Propriety.
Departmental Older Workers
Mr. Paterson: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland with reference to the answer of 10 November 2008, Official Report, column 772W, on departmental older workers, what recent steps his Department has taken to encourage older people to apply to work in the Department. [243528]
Mr. Woodward: All advertisements to posts in the Northern Ireland Office (NIO) carry an Equal Opportunities statement to the effect that the NIO is an Equal Opportunities Employer. This covers all section 75 categories, including age.
Departmental Pensions
Mr. Paterson: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland with reference to the answer of 24 November 2008, Official Report, column 882W, on departmental pensions, what the reasons are for the increases in the cost of pension contributions in each year. [243230]
Mr. Woodward: There are three reasons which account for the increases in the cost of pension contributions in each year. Increases in scheme membership, salaries paid and employer’s accruing superannuation liability charges.
Mr. Paterson: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland with reference to the answer of 24 November 2008, Official Report, column 882W, on departmental pensions, what the future projections are of the cost of pension contributions incurred in each financial year up to 2015. [243233]
Mr. Woodward: The Northern Ireland Office has not projected the future estimated cost of departmental pension contributions that may be incurred, beyond the 2008-09 financial year.
Departmental Press Releases
Mr. Paterson: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland with reference to the answer of 13 November 2008, Official Report, column 1318W, on departmental press releases, how many press releases his Department has issued in the last five years. [243381]
Mr. Woodward: Records of the number of press releases issued by my Department (core only) in the last five years are shown in the following table.
| Number of press releases issued by NIO | |
Mr. Paterson: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland with reference to the answer of 13 November 2008, Official Report, column 1318W, on departmental press releases, how many press releases each of his press officers has released in the last 12 months. [243382]
Mr. Woodward: The Department issued 206 press releases in the period 1 December 2007 to 30 November 2008. All press releases are issued centrally from the press office and not by individual press officers.
Departmental Recruitment
Mr. Paterson: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland with reference to the answer of 13 November 2008, Official Report, columns 1320-1W, on recruitment and religion, in what ways the Department of Finance and Personnel has liaised with representatives of ethnic communities in the last 12 months. [243504]
Mr. Woodward: The Department of Finance and Personnel is a Department within the Northern Ireland Administration and this matter is their responsibility.
Mr. Paterson: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland with reference to the answer of 13 November 2008, Official Report, columns 1320-1W, on recruitment and religion, how many people have been recruited to posts in his Department from non-Christian backgrounds in the last 12 months. [243505]
Mr. Woodward: The Northern Ireland Office (NIO) does not monitor the religion or beliefs of its staff. In accordance with the requirements of the Fair Employment and Treatment (NI) Order 1998, those NIO staff working in Northern Ireland are monitored for community background only.
Gifts
Mr. Redwood: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many members of staff in his Department have received gifts valued at £100 or higher in the course of their duties in each of the last three years; what these gifts were; and from whom they were received. [242016]
Mr. Woodward: No Northern Ireland Office staff have received gifts valued at £100 or higher in the course of their duties in the last three years.
Languages
Mr. Paterson: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what estimate he has made of the number of people in Northern Ireland who are fluent speakers of (a) Polish, (b) Mandarin, (c) Irish, (d) Ulster Scots, (f) Portuguese, (g) Spanish, (h) French and (i) German. [243201]
Mr. Woodward: My office does not hold this information as this is a devolved matter.
The provision of official information on Northern Ireland’s population is the responsibility of the Northern Ireland Statistics and Research Agency which is an Executive agency within the Department of Finance and Personnel.
Olympic Games 2012
Mr. Paterson: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland with reference to the answer of 18 November 2008, Official Report, column 260W, on the Olympic Games 2012, (1) what plans his Department has to involve Northern Ireland in the 2012 Olympic games; [243383]
(2) when he next expects to hold discussions with (a) the First Minister and (b) the Deputy First Minister on this matter. [243384]
Mr. Woodward: I have no ministerial responsibility in respect of the Olympic and Paralympic games 2012 and accordingly I have no plans to hold discussions with the First and Deputy First Minister on this matter.
However, my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport and the Minister for the Olympics are determined to ensure that the whole of the UK is engaged with and benefits from the games in 2012. His Department and the London Organising Committee for the Olympic Games are working closely with the Northern Ireland Department of Culture, Arts and Leisure, which leads and co-ordinates all aspects relating to the 2012 games for Northern Ireland, to maximise benefits for Northern Ireland.
PSNI: Finance
Mr. Donaldson: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland (1) what the estimated resource expenditure is of the Public Prosecution Service in the current three year Comprehensive Spending Review period; [241817]
(2) what the estimated resource expenditure is of the Northern Ireland Prison Service in the current three year Comprehensive Spending Review period; [241818]
(3) what the estimated resource expenditure is of the Forensic Science Northern Ireland Service in the current three year Comprehensive Spending Review period; [241819]
(4) what the estimated resource expenditure is of the Youth Justice Agency in the current three year Comprehensive Spending Review period; [241820]
(5) what the estimated resource expenditure is of the Compensation Agency in the current three year Comprehensive Spending Review period; [241821]
(6) what the estimated resource expenditure is of the Independent Assessor for Police Service of Northern Ireland Recruitment Applications in the current three year Comprehensive Spending Review period; [241822]
(7) what the estimated resource expenditure is of the Northern Ireland Policing Board in the current three year Comprehensive Spending Review period; [241823]
(8) what the estimated resource expenditure is of the Office of the Police Ombudsman in the current three year Comprehensive Spending Review period; [241824]
(9) what the estimated resource expenditure is of the Northern Ireland Police Fund in the current three year comprehensive spending review period; [241825]
(10) what the estimated resource expenditure is of the Royal Ulster Constabulary George Cross Foundation in the current three year Comprehensive Spending Review period; [241826]
(11) what the estimated resource expenditure is of the Criminal Justice Inspection Northern Ireland in the current three year Comprehensive Spending Review period; [241827]
(12) what the estimated resource expenditure is of the Northern Ireland Probation Board in the current three year Comprehensive Spending Review period; [241828]
(13) what the estimated resource expenditure is of the Northern Ireland Law Commission in the current three year Comprehensive Spending Review period; [241829]
(14) what the estimated resource expenditure is of the Independent Assessor for Police Service of Northern Ireland recruitment applications in the current three year Comprehensive Spending Review period; [241830]
(15) what the estimated resource expenditure is of the Parades Commission in the current three year Comprehensive Spending Review period; [241831]
(16) what the estimated resource expenditure is of the Police Rehabilitation and Retraining Trust in the current three year Comprehensive Spending Review period; [241832]
(17) what the estimated resource expenditure is of the Independent Monitoring Boards of (a) Maghaberry, (b) Magilligan and (c) Hydebank Wood prisons in the current three year Comprehensive Spending Review period; [241833]
(18) what the estimated resource expenditure is of the Prisoner Ombudsman in the current three year Comprehensive Spending Review period; [241834]
(19) what the estimated resource expenditure is of the Life Sentence Review Commissioners in the current three year Comprehensive Spending Review period; [241835]
(20) what the estimated resource expenditure is of the Commissioner for Hearings under Prison Rule 109B (Loss of Remission Commissioner) in the current three year Comprehensive Spending Review period; [241836]
(21) what the estimated resource expenditure is of the State Pathologist in the current three year Comprehensive Spending Review period. [241841]
Mr. Woodward: The following table shows the current resource budget allocations, under the 2007 comprehensive spending review (CSR07), for the bodies requested.
| £000 | |||
| Body | 2008-09 | 2009-10 | 2010-11 |
|
Independent Assessor for Police Service of Northern Ireland Recruitment Applications | |||
| (1) £12,000 included within Prison Service figures | |||
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