| Previous Section | Index | Home Page |
8 Apr 2010 : Column 1551W—continued
Festivals and Special Occasions
Mr. Paterson: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how much his Department spent on (a) Christmas and (b) other religious celebrations in each of the last five years. [325471]
Mr. Woodward: Due to Prorogation it has not been possible to answer this question.
Mr. Paterson: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how much was spent on security and policing at the 12 July celebrations in each of the last five years. [325540]
Paul Goggins: This is an operational matter for the Chief Constable. I have asked him to reply directly to the hon. Gentleman, and a copy of his letter will be placed in the Library of the House.
Hotels
Mr. Paterson: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many nights he has stayed in hotels on official business in (a) Northern Ireland, (b) the Republic of Ireland, (c) Great Britain and (d) the United States of America in the last 12 months. [325429]
Mr. Woodward: The information requested is shown in the following table.
| Number of nights stayed | |
| Note: Details of overseas visits, including the United States, are published annually by the Cabinet Office. | |
Historical Enquiries Team
Mr. Paterson: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what the budget is of the Historical Enquiries Team in the next two years. [325476]
Paul Goggins: The total budget for the Historical Enquiries Team project for 2010-11 is £7.2 million. The budget is split between HET PSNI, the Office of the Police Ombudsman NI, the Public Prosecution Service and Forensic Science NI. Future budgets will form part of the next spending review.
Irish Language
Mark Durkan: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland pursuant to the answer of 10 December 2009, Official Report, column 532W, on Irish language, what steps his Department takes to assist Irish language users in using Irish when dealing with his Department. [325691]
Paul Goggins: In line with the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages the Northern Ireland Office has adopted a Code of Courtesy for the Irish language which is available to staff as guidance when dealing with Irish language users.
Mass Media
Mr. Paterson: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how much his Department has spent on press monitoring in each of the last five years. [325492]
Mr. Woodward: The Northern Ireland Office has an in-house media monitoring service to meet the needs of Ministers and senior officials within the Department. It also provides its media monitoring services to Ministers and officials in the devolved Administration and a number of external public sector stakeholders.
| Equipment costs | Media monitoring unit | Typing pool | |
Equipment costs are all the costs associated with press monitoring-for example televisions, DVD recorders, DVD discs, tapes, radios and trans-scribers.
The Department recoups a percentage of its running costs by passing on a small charge to its clients.
Currently there are four members of staff employed in the Media Monitoring Unit and a further five typists to transcribe media monitoring requests. Staffing numbers have fluctuated over this period. I have provided the average salary costs for each team.
Police Service of Northern Ireland
Andrew Mackinlay: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland for what reasons officers from the Police Service of Northern Ireland crossed the border into the Irish Republic in March 2010 and stopped cars there; and if he will make a statement. [325845]
Paul Goggins: This is an operational matter for the Chief Constable. I have asked him to reply directly to the hon. Gentleman, and a copy of his letter will be placed in the Library of the House.
Presbyterian Mutual Society
Mr. Paterson: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland (1) what recent assistance he has given to the Northern Ireland Executive in relation to the Presbyterian Mutual Society; [325423]
(2) what support his Department is giving to those with money deposited with the Presbyterian Mutual Society. [325424]
Mr. Woodward: I have huge sympathy for investors in the Presbyterian Mutual Society whose investments are at risk following the entry of the Society into administration. The Prime Minister set up the Presbyterian Mutual Society Working Group in July 2009. That group, on which I sit alongside Treasury Ministers and Ministers from the Northern Ireland Executive, continues to try and find a solution to mitigate members' losses, and to consider all proposals which could responsibly help those affected by the failure of the PMS.
Mr. Paterson: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland (1) what meetings he has had with (a) HM Treasury, (b) the Northern Ireland Executive and (c) the Presbyterian Church in Ireland on the Presbyterian Mutual Society in the last 12 months; [325425]
(2) what meetings he has had relating to the Presbyterian Mutual Society in the last 12 months; [325431]
(3) how many meetings he has had with savers from the Presbyterian Mutual Society in the last 12 months; and how many such savers he has met. [325432]
Mr. Woodward: The Prime Minister and I have held a number of meetings in recent months with the First and Deputy First Minister to discuss the Presbyterian Mutual Society. Additionally, as well as the meetings of the PMS Working Group created by the Prime Minister, I have had a number of separate discussions with Treasury Ministers and with Ministers representing the Northern Ireland Executive to discuss the matter over the last 12 months. Colleagues on the Ministerial Working Group have met with groups of PMS investors, and I have met separately with a delegation from the Presbyterian Church, as have Treasury Ministers.
Mr. Paterson: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many letters and e-mails relating to the Presbyterian Mutual Society his Department has received in the last 12 months. [325430]
Mr. Woodward: Since 1 April 2009, my Department has received 235 items of correspondence relating to the Presbyterian Mutual Society.
Mr. Paterson: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland whether he has met the General Secretary of the Presbyterian Mutual Society in the last 12 months. [325446]
Trade Unions
Mr. Paterson: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many days staff of his Department spent on trade union activity in the latest year for which figures are available; and what estimate he has made of the cost to the public purse of such activity in that year. [325499]
Paul Goggins: The Northern Ireland Office (NIO) has one full-time member of staff seconded as a full-time trade union official for the Northern Ireland Public Service Alliance (NIPSA). This official is provided with full-time administrative support. The cost of running this office in 2008-09, including staff costs, was £65,669.09.
Other members of staff throughout the Department are allowed facility time on an ad-hoc basis representing, NIPSA, First Division Association and the Public and Commercial Service Union. Facility time for trade union representatives is delegated to local Line Management. We do not hold central records of facility time for 2009. Central recording of facility time was introduced on 1 January 2010.
Village Halls
Mr. Paterson: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what steps are being taken to ensure the security and safety of community halls in Northern Ireland. [325494]
Paul Goggins: This is an operational matter for the Chief Constable. I have asked him to reply directly to the hon. Gentleman, and a copy of his letter will be placed in the Library of the House.
International Development
International Planned Parenthood Federation
Mr. Amess: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development (1) how much funding his Department has allocated to the (a) International Planned Parenthood Federation and (b) United Nations Population Fund in each year since 1997; [325882]
(2) whether his Department places restrictions on the use of funds allocated by it to the (a) International Planned Parenthood Federation and (b) United Nations Population Fund; what guidance his Department has issued to each such organisation in each year since 1997; and if he will make a statement. [325883]
Mr. Michael Foster: It has not proved possible to respond to the hon. Member in the time available before Prorogation.
United Nations Population Fund
Mr. Amess: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development (1) what assessment he has made of the effectiveness of the United Nations Population Fund in promoting non-coercive approaches to family planning in China since October 2009; and if he will make a statement; [325884]
(2) what recent discussions (a) Ministers and (b) officials in his Department have had with the United States Administration on its decision to (i) reinstate the US contribution to the United Nations Population Fund and (ii) rescind the Mexico City policy; and if he will make a statement. [325885]
Mr. Michael Foster: It has not proved possible to respond to the hon. Member in the time available before Prorogation.
Wales
Optics: Technology
Chris Ruane: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales what assessment his Department has made of the effectiveness of the Optic Research and Incubation Centre at St. Asaph Business Park in the last seven years. [325391]
Ian Lucas: I have been asked to reply.
The Department for Innovation and Skills, has made no assessment of the effectiveness of the Optic Technium at St. Asaph, which we believe is owned by the Welsh Assembly Government and funded by European Objective 1.
Children, Schools and Families
Becta: Finance
Mr. Laws: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families what Becta's budget was in the latest year for which figures are available. [321201]
Ms Diana R. Johnson: Becta's resource funding for the current financial year (2010-11) is £65,751,000. This amount is for Becta's resource and revenue costs only and takes into account any expected efficiency savings. It does not cover capital costs such as capital spending on the national Home Access programme.
Child Minding
Justine Greening: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families what estimate he made of the number of childminders in (a) England and (b) each London borough in each quarter of each year from 2005 to 2009. [325564]
Dawn Primarolo [holding answer 6 April 2010]: Ofsted have collected information on the number of registered child care providers and registered child care places available to children under eight years of age on a quarterly basis from March 2003.
All information, including numbers of childminders, by local authority, is published on Ofsted's website and can be found using the following links:
Information from 2008 onwards:
Information between September 2006 and August 2008:
Information between March 2003 and June 2006:
Children in Care
Hilary Armstrong: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families what progress has been made on the pilots in two areas of the country on introducing pedagogy in working with children in care. [325693]
Dawn Primarolo: The social pedagogy pilots are progressing well. All the children's homes have been recruited, including those homes which will not recruit pedagogues and will therefore provide a comparison. The final recruitment round for social pedagogues has also just finished. The pilots are providing some good examples of creative work with children and young people and learning is emerging about the importance of a shared daily life within the home and the opportunities which that offers for relationship building through group activities. The evaluation contract has been awarded to the Universities of Bristol and York and will report in 2012.
Bob Spink: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families what formula is used to decide the amount of funding provided to local authorities for children taken into care by social services; and if he will make a statement. [325840]
| Next Section | Index | Home Page |