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Lord Maginnis of Drumglass asked Her Majesty's Government:
Whether they have a legal obligation to provide an applied behavioural analysis, otherwise known as the Lovass approach, for children with autistic spectrum disorder; how many decisions on this matter have been handed down by the courts in Northern Ireland: and how any such legal obligation can be met on the basis of the Northern Ireland Office's current approach. [HL733]
Lord Rooker: Special education provision is made to meet the individual needs of the child. There is no legal obligation on education and library boards and boards of governors of schools to put in place any specific special educational provision or to adopt any specified approach. Each case has to be assessed on its merits.
Education and library boards have a statutory duty to meet the special educational needs of children in their area for whom they are responsible
In relation to decisions handed down by the courts in this matter education and library boards have provided the following information:
Belfast Education and Library Board None
North Eastern Education and Library Board None
South Eastern Education and Library Board 3
Northern Ireland: Continence Services
Baroness Blood asked Her Majesty's Government:
What action has been taken by the Northern Ireland Department for Health, Social Services and Public Safety since the publication of Good Practice in Continence Services in 2000 in relation to (a) identification of patients in Northern Ireland with incontinence; (b) treatment in primary care within Northern Ireland; and (c) integration of primary, secondary and tertiary continence services within Northern Ireland. [HL744]
Lord Rooker: It is for each Health and Social Services Board to commission continence services appropriate to the assessed needs of its resident population. In commissioning these, services boards are expected to have regard to the recommendations of the department's Central Nursing Advisory Committee 1995 report on the review of continence services.
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I expect boards to share their experiences of best practice and draw on similar initiatives taken forward in other parts of the United Kingdom, including the Department of Health's 2000 report entitled Good Practice in Continence Services and the 2001 Essence of Care project benchmark for continence services, in developing local continence services.
Northern Ireland: Prison Early Release Scheme
Lord Maginnis of Drumglass asked Her Majesty's Government:
How the movements and activities of prisoners who obtained early release under the terms of the Belfast agreement are monitored; who determines if and when a breach of release conditions has occurred; and under what circumstances the presence of an early-release prisoner at flash-points and sectarian interfaces during civil disorder would constitute a breach of release conditions. [HL706]
Lord Rooker: An individual would not automatically be monitored purely due to the fact that they have been released early under the terms of the Belfast agreement. It is incumbent upon each individual, so released, to behave and act within the terms of their early release licence. If circumstances exist that lead the police to believe such individuals are involved in the commission of criminal acts, or are acting in breach of their early release licence, they would gather evidence and intelligence, and present it to the relevant authorities.
The Secretary of State may suspend a licence if he believes that the person concerned has broken or is likely to break a condition of his licence. He makes his decision on the basis of the information available to him and in accordance with the provisions of Section 9 of the Northern Ireland (Sentences) Act 1998.
The Secretary of State bases his decision to suspend a licence on evidential reports submitted by the Police Service of Northern Ireland.
Northern Ireland: Knife Crime
Lord Maginnis of Drumglass asked Her Majesty's Government:
Whether there is a knife culture in Northern Ireland; and, in each year from 2000 to 2004 (a) how many murders or injuries have been the result of a knife attack; (b) how many people have been charged with serious crime involving a knife; and (c) how many people have been charged with possession of a knife with intent. [HL486]
Lord Rooker: Knife crime is unacceptable in any community, in Northern Ireland as in the rest of the UK. The Government and the PSNI take it very seriously and are working to tackle it. The Government are committed to ensuring that the police have all of the powers they
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need to combat knife crime, and is bringing forward legislation in the Violent Crime Reduction Bill to address this problem.
Northern Ireland: Newspaper Funding
Lord Laird asked Her Majesty's Government:
Whether there is a requirement in Northern Ireland for government-funded newspapers to be non-political, non-sectarian or community based publications; and whether they fund any newspapers in Northern Ireland. [HL668]
Lord Rooker: Several newspapers in Northern Ireland have received funding from Northern Ireland departments, agencies and NDPBs. Funding was provided for a variety of purposes and was therefore not governed by a generic set of criteria.
Northern Ireland: Police Ombudsman
Lord Maginnis of Drumglass asked Her Majesty's Government:
What is the per capita cost of maintaining the Police Ombudsman for Northern Ireland in terms of the Police Ombudsman's budget set against total number of serving police officers in Northern Ireland, over the period April 2001 to March 2005. [HL654]
Lord Rooker: The Police Ombudsman's annual budget is set at a level to allow the Police Ombudsman to fulfil her legal obligations under Part VII of the Police (Northern Ireland) Act 1998 and is not based on numbers of serving officers within the Police Service of Northern Ireland. However the table below sets out the per capita cost of the total number of serving police officers in Northern Ireland against the budget of the Office of the Police Ombudsman.
Lord Maginnis of Drumglass asked Her Majesty's Government:
What is the per capita cost of a criminal conviction in Northern Ireland in terms of the Police Ombudsman for Northern Ireland's budget set against the total number of successful convictions arising from a Police Ombudsman recommendation to prosecute, over the period April 2001 to March 2005. [HL656]
Lord Rooker: The Police Ombudsman's primary function is to provide a system for handling all complaints against the police.
The Police Ombudsman advises that the information asked for is not available in the form requested. However the ombudsman's annual budget from April 2001 to March 2005 is as follows.
The Police Ombudsman also advises that during this period over 14,000 complaints have been handled by her office resulting in 585 files being referred to the Director of Public Prosecutions, who is also independent and makes the determination in criminal prosecutions. In 48 cases, 65 charges were recommended; to date the Director of Public Prosecutions has directed 28 charges relating to 24 police officers, some files still await direction. Of the 24 officers prosecuted, eight cases are still outstanding and of those completed four were found guilty and one other matter was dealt with by an official caution.
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