Written Answers to Questions
Tuesday 16 December 2008
Northern Ireland
Crime Prevention: Northern Ireland
Mr. McGrady: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what funding guidelines there are for community safety partnerships in Northern Ireland. [242931]
Paul Goggins: The community safety unit of the Northern Ireland Office has allocated a total of £6.175 million to Community Safety Partnerships (CSPs) to deliver local initiatives and projects over the 2008-09, 2009-10 and 2010-11 financial years. The indicative allocation for each CSP has been determined using a funding formula which takes account of population, levels of recorded crime and deprivation in each locality. As part of these funding arrangements, CSPs are required to submit annual action plans supported by a strategic assessment of local needs and to agree to a set of terms and conditions. In addition, they have been directed to take cognisance of the NIO Safer Communities Public Service Agreement Key Performance Indicators around reducing antisocial behaviour incidents and violent crime and to contribute to a range of regional priorities for community safety.
Departmental Drinking Water
Mr. Paterson: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland with reference to the answer of 24 November 2008, Official Report, column 881W, on departmental hospitality, what the origins are of the water used. [243227]
Mr. Woodward: The water used on departmental hospitality was sourced in either the UK or Ireland.
My Department’s general policy is to use tap water where it is available.
Mr. Paterson: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many litres of water were used by his Department’s water coolers in each of the last 12 months. [243229]
Mr. Woodward: Information on the number of litres of water used by my Department is not held and could be provided only at disproportionate cost.
My Department’s general policy is to use tap water where it is available.
Departmental Sick Leave
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
departmental sick leave, which illnesses resulted in working days being lost. [243388]
Paul Goggins: The 15,287.57 working days lost within the Northern Ireland Office for the period 1 October 2007 to 30 September 2008 have been recorded under the following 11 categories:
Musculoskeletal;
Blood and Cardiovascular;
Respiratory;
Digestive, Endocrine, Renal;
Nervous System, Eyes, Ears;
Pregnancy-related/Post-natal;
Psychiatric/Psychological;
Viral/Bacterial Infections;
Injury/Accident/Assault;
Medical Tests and Observation; and
Non-specific/Other.
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 departmental sick leave, how many people were absent for more than a month due to ill health in the last 12 months. [243389]
Paul Goggins: Statistics provided by the Northern Ireland Statistics and Research Agency show that 164 staff in the Northern Ireland Office had one or more periods of long-term absence due to ill health in 2007-08. Long-term absence is defined as a period of 20 working days or more.
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 departmental sick leave, what steps are being taken to reduce the number of working days lost. [243390]
Paul Goggins: The Northern Ireland Office has a series of policies and procedures in place which aim to reduce the number of working days lost through illness. These include:
daily monitoring of sickness absence;
referral of absent staff to occupational health professionals for independent assessment of their fitness for work;
meetings of the Welfare Support Service with staff to focus on how to facilitate an early return to work;
staff returning from long term absence can return sooner by way of phased returns;
Welfare Support Services are available to meet with staff who are in work to help deal with issues which might otherwise cause them to be absent from work;
staff are encouraged to attend organised Health Awareness events;
fitness programmes are offered to NIO staff annually to encourage staff to improve their physical and emotional health;
variable working patterns are available to staff to enable a work life balance to be achieved;
mandatory return to work interviews are conducted to ensure that managers understand the reasons for absence and staff understand the consequences of absence;
cases where staff have repeated or persistent absence are considered individually and inefficiency due to absenteeism can ultimately lead to dismissal.
Mr. Paterson: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many working days have been lost through sickness absence by Northern Ireland Office staff in each of the last five years. [243391]
Paul Goggins: The following table details the number of working days lost through sickness absence within the Northern Ireland Office in each of the last five years. The Northern Ireland Office employs Northern Ireland civil servants and Home civil servants. The figure for 2003-04 includes Northern Ireland civil servants only. The remaining figures include Northern Ireland civil servants and Home civil servants.
| Total days absence | |
Prisoners Release
Mr. Garnier: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many prisoners in Northern Ireland were released into the custody of the UK Border Agency and its predecessors in each of the last 12 months. [244480]
Paul Goggins: From 1 December 2007 to 1 December 2008 the total number of prisoners released from custody in the Northern Ireland Prison Service to the UK Border Agency and its predecessors was 56, broken down by month as follows:
| Number | |
Reoffenders
Mr. Paterson: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland with reference to the answer of 13 November 2008, Official Report, column 1321W, on reoffenders, what steps he is taking to reduce reoffending rates. [243439]
Paul Goggins: Under the Northern Ireland Office's PSA target of Making Communities Safer, the Department is committed to reduce re-offending in Northern Ireland. While much is being done to address re-offending across the criminal justice system, a cross-government strategic approach is essential to making significant inroads into level of re-offending. To achieve this joined-up approach:
An Inter-Ministerial Group is being established—the NIO has secured agreement from OFMDFM to the establishment of a Ministerial Group on Reducing Offending to promote a cross departmental approach and ensure that a coherent, coordinated strategy is adopted to all aspects of offending;
A women offenders strategy is under development—a specific approach to women offenders is being progressed through a women’s strategy. As part of this initiative, a pilot women’s centre has been established to develop appropriate assessment tools and programmes focused on sustaining and supporting women offenders in the community;
Offenders learning and skills deficits are being addressed—the MO, in partnership with the Departments of Education and Employment and Learning, is establishing a Learning and Skills Forum. The forum will focus on making better use of existing education and skills training to provide a more joined up service for existing offenders and young people at risk of offending.
Reparation of Offenders
Mr. McGrady: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland which 15 community-based restorative justice schemes have been given accreditation under the Protocol for Community-based Restorative Justice Schemes. [242934]
Paul Goggins: A list of accredited community-based restorative justice schemes is maintained by the Secretary of State and is available on the Northern Ireland Office website. The 15 schemes accredited under the Protocol for Community-based Restorative Justice (CBRJ) Schemes to date are as follows:
East Belfast Alternatives, East Belfast;
Greater Shankill Alternatives, West Belfast;
North Belfast Alternatives, North Belfast;
North Down Alternatives, Bangor;
Northern Ireland Alternatives Central Office, West Belfast;
Community Restorative Justice Ireland (CRJI) Central Office, West Belfast;
CRJI Colin, Belfast;
CRJI Falls, Belfast;
CRJI Greater Andersonstown, Belfast;
CRJI Upper Springfield, Belfast;
CRJI Derry Head Office, Derry;
CRJI Ballymagroarty, Derry;
CRJI Brandywell, Derry;
CRJI Creggan, Derry; and
CRJI Shantallow, Derry.
Terrorism
Mr. Gregory Campbell: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many cases in Northern Ireland have been dealt with under the auspices of the Historical Enquiries Team; and how many of these have (a) resulted in judicial proceedings and (b) led to prosecutions. [243464]
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.
Young Offender Institutions: Construction
Mr. Paterson: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland with reference to the answer of 13 November 2008, Official Report, column 1320W, on prison construction, what recent discussions he has had on building new young offender institutions. [243446]
Paul Goggins: There have been no recent discussions on building new young offender institutions.
House of Commons Commission
Portcullis House: Mobile Phones
Mr. Whittingdale: To ask the hon. Member for North Devon, representing the House of Commons Commission if the Commission will take steps to improve mobile telephone reception in Portcullis House. [243845]
Nick Harvey: Parliamentary ICT are nearing the completion of a project to install the infrastructure needed to allow mobile carriers to boost their signals within Portcullis House. This work has been undertaken with T Mobile which is the default carrier for Parliament's mobile computing service. Improvements to T Mobile's signal strength should be available by February 2009. Other carriers will be invited to use the infrastructure also.
Scotland
Departmental Data Protection
Paul Holmes: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland how many civil servants in his Department have been (a) investigated, (b) suspended and (c) dismissed for (i) losing and (ii) deliberately disclosing (A) data stored on departmental equipment and (B) confidential information in each year since 1997. [242916]
Ann McKechin: The Scotland office was established on 1 July 1999. Since this date no civil servants have been investigated, suspended or dismissed for losing or deliberately disclosing data or confidential information stored on departmental equipment.
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