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12 Nov 2009 : Column 904W—continued
Northern Ireland Office funding to the Inquiry covers expenditure by the Bloody Sunday Inquiry, including staff, accommodation, IT, travel and legal costs for some participants. Ministry of Defence funding represents the cost of legal representation.
Chief Electoral Officer for Northern Ireland
Mr. Dodds: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what assessment he has made of the performance of the Electoral Office for Northern Ireland. [299001]
Paul Goggins: The Electoral Office for Northern Ireland supports the Chief Electoral Officer for Northern Ireland in carrying out his statutory duties. Its performance against its 2008-09 business plan is assessed in chapter 2 and annexe A of the Chief Electoral Officer's annual report for 2008-09 which can be found at:
Christmas
Mr. Philip Hammond: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how much (a) his Department and (b) its agencies have spent on Christmas (i) cards, (ii) parties and (iii) decorations in the last 12 months. [299264]
Paul Goggins: It has not proved possible to respond to the hon. Member in the time available before Prorogation.
Criminal Records
Mr. Donaldson: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many people in Northern Ireland have a criminal record. [298807]
Paul Goggins: There are currently 288,689 people who have records shown on the Northern Ireland Criminal Records Database.
Departmental Air Travel
Mr. Heald: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many first-class flights were taken by each Minister in his Department in 2008-09; and what the (a) origin, (b) destination and (c) cost was of each such flight. [298748]
Paul Goggins: Travel by Ministers is undertaken in accordance with the Ministerial Code. The information on ministerial flights costing over £500 is published annually by the Cabinet Office in respect of all Departments.
Information in relation to the 2008-09 year can be found on the Cabinet Office website using the following link:
There were no first class flights undertaken by Ministers costing less than £500.
Departmental Data Protection
Mrs. Laing: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland whether his Department's information assurance procedures have been subject to an independent audit. [299381]
Paul Goggins: The Northern Ireland Office has subjected its information assurance procedures to an independent audit in April 2009 as mandated by the Cabinet Secretary's report into data handling processes across Government and the Security Policy Framework.
Departmental Energy
Grant Shapps: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what the (a) energy rating and (b) energy band of each building occupied by his Department and its agencies was in each year for which figures are available. [299699]
Paul Goggins: Information on the energy rating/band of departmental and agency buildings is only available for those buildings that require either an Energy Performance Certificate or a Display Energy Certificate as set out in the Energy Performance of Buildings Regulations 2008. The following buildings have a Display Energy Certificate:
Hillsborough Castle-energy rating 110, energy band E;
HMP Maghaberry-energy rating 200, energy band G;
Young Offenders Centre, Hydebank-energy rating 200, energy band G.
Departmental Official Cars
Mr. Heald: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what the cost of provision of Government cars to special advisers in his Department was in the last 12 months. [299592]
Mr. Woodward: No special advisers are provided with an allocated Government car and driver. As with all civil servants, special advisers may use an official car or taxi in properly defined circumstances. Details of such use are not held centrally and could be provided only at disproportionate cost.
Departmental Pay
Mr. Philip Hammond: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how much was claimed in reimbursable expenses by press officers in his Department and its agencies in 2008-09. [299280]
Paul Goggins: Reimbursable expenses claimed by press officers in the Northern Ireland Office (NIO), including its arm's length bodies and the Public Prosecution Service Northern Ireland but excluding its NDPBs, and the Northern Ireland Prison Service is shown in the following table.
| £ | |
The NIO provides press office support to the Compensation Agency, Forensic Science Northern Ireland and Youth Justice Agency. These expenses include travel undertaken in support of Ministers.
Departmental Postal Services
Mr. Graham Stuart: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland with which providers (a) his Department and (b) its agencies had a contract to provide postal services in (i) 2007, (ii) 2008, (iii) between 1 January 2009 and 1 July 2009 and (iv) since 1 July 2009. [299422]
Mr. Woodward: Royal Mail provide external postal services to my Department and Agencies. There were no contracted services for the dates listed.
Departmental Procurement
Mr. Philip Hammond: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland whether there has been any nugatory cost to his Department and its agencies on procurement under tender because the tender process had been cancelled prior to the award of the contract in the last 12 months. [299355]
Paul Goggins: There has been no nugatory cost to the Northern Ireland Office, including the Public Prosecution Service Northern Ireland and its agencies but excluding its non-departmental public bodies, on procurement under tender because the tender process has been cancelled prior to the award of the contract in the last 12 months.
Departmental Statistics
Chris Ruane: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what proportion of the statistical datasets collected by his Department are published. [299658]
Paul Goggins: It is not possible to answer the question in the form requested. However, the presumption underlying statistical work in the Department is that publication will be made from all statistical datasets collected by the Department and that such statistical datasets will be appropriately archived at a later point.
Departmental Travel
Norman Baker: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many miles (a) Ministers and (b) officials in his Department travelled by (i) car, (ii) rail and (iii) air on Government business in each year since 1997. [298548]
Paul Goggins: The nature of the business in my Department requires that Ministers and staff are required to work in both Northern Ireland and London, requiring regular air travel each week. My Department holds the following records in relation to the miles travelled by Ministers and staff.
The number of miles flown by Ministers in my Department is set out in the following table.
| Miles flown | |
The figure for 2006-07 is for scheduled flights only. The figures for 2007-08 and 2008-09 include all flights. Information for previous years is not available. We do not hold information on the number of miles travelled by Ministers by car or rail.
The following table records the number of miles travelled by staff in their own vehicles, in respect of which they have made claims for reimbursement from the Department.
| Mileage for which expenses claimed | |
Information for previous years is not available. The number of miles travelled by staff on rail journeys is not available.
The number of air miles travelled by staff is shown in the following table.
| Miles flown | |
Information on previous years is not available.
EC Grants and Loans
Mr. Dodds: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how much has been allocated to Northern Ireland under the (a) Peace I, (b) Peace II and (c) Peace III EU programmes. [297445]
Mr. Byrne: I have been asked to reply.
The European Commission allocated funding to the Northern Ireland Executive under the Peace programmes. The planning and implementation of the EU Peace programmes in Northern Ireland is a devolved matter and information on EU Peace funding is included in the Northern Ireland Executive's budget documents.
Elections
Mr. Dodds: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what representations he has received on changes on electoral law relating to local authorities in Northern Ireland. [299000]
Paul Goggins: The Minister of the Environment in the Northern Ireland Executive and the Northern Ireland Local Government Association have written to me about the arrangements for filling casual vacancies arising in district councils. A full public consultation on this issue was launched on 23 October 2009. The consultation closes on 15 January 2010 and the consultation paper can be found on the Northern Ireland Office website:
Electoral Register
Mr. Dodds: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many people have been (a) added and (b) deleted from the electoral register for each parliamentary constituency in Northern Ireland in each year since 2005. [299002]
Paul Goggins: The Chief Electoral Officer for Northern Ireland is responsible for maintaining the register of electors in Northern Ireland. The hon. Member may wish to write to the Chief Electoral Officer directly to obtain information relating to the register.
Mr. Dodds: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many schools have (a) co-operated and (b) declined to co-operate with the Electoral Office for Northern Ireland to seek to ensure that all pupils over the age of 18 years are registered to vote. [299003]
Paul Goggins: This is an operational matter for the Chief Electoral Officer for Northern Ireland who is responsible for the registration of electors in Northern Ireland. The hon. Member may wish to write to the Chief Electoral Officer directly to obtain the information he seeks.
Mr. Dodds: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how much has been spent on advertising to encourage voter registration (a) in the press, (b) on television and (c) on the radio in each year since 2005. [299004]
Paul Goggins: The Electoral Commission is responsible for promoting public awareness relating to electoral registration, including advertising in the press, television and radio. The hon. Member may wish to write to the Commission directly to obtain the information he seeks.
Firearms: Licensing
Mr. Dodds: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what recent representations he has received from the Northern Ireland Policing Board on Police Service of Northern Ireland's policy on the issuing of firearms certificates. [297583]
Paul Goggins: The Secretary of State has received no representations from the Northern Ireland Policing Board in relation to the grant of firearm certificates.
Fireworks: Prosecutions
Mr. Dodds: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many people have been (a) charged with and (b) convicted of offences involving the use of fireworks in Northern Ireland in each year since 2005. [297586]
Paul Goggins: It has not proved possible to respond to the hon. Member in the time available before Prorogation.
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