Asked by: Simon Kirby (Conservative - Brighton, Kemptown)
Question to the Northern Ireland Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, how many people with a disability work in her Department; and if she will make a statement.
Answered by Theresa Villiers
Given the small numbers involved, it would not be appropriate to provide this information as to do so would risk the identification of the individuals concerned.
Asked by: Simon Kirby (Conservative - Brighton, Kemptown)
Question to the Northern Ireland Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, what steps she has taken to insulate her Departmental estate in order to improve energy efficiency; and if she will make a statement.
Answered by Theresa Villiers
My Department is currently based in two sites; Stormont House in Belfast and 1 Horse Guards Road in London. Both sites are leased, with the responsibility for insulation of premises resting with the respective landlords.
Whilst the Northern Ireland Office still utilises a small area of accommodation at Hillsborough Castle for Ministers, Historic Royal Palaces took over responsibility for management of the Castle on 1 April 2014 and they are now responsible for insulation of the premises.
Asked by: Simon Kirby (Conservative - Brighton, Kemptown)
Question to the Northern Ireland Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, what steps she is taking to reduce water (a) usage and (b) bills in her Department; and if she will make a statement.
Answered by Theresa Villiers
My Department is committed to reducing water usage. In the London office, water usage is monitored by the landlord, Her Majesty’s Treasury (HMT). Northern Ireland Office officials engage with HMT regularly, along with other tenants, on meeting water efficiency targets and the costs for water usage are built in to the rental charge for the premises.
In the Belfast office, as part of a range of efficiency and reform measures, a number of working practices have been streamlined or ceased in recent months, which have resulted in reduced water usage. My Department does not pay water charges for the Belfast office.
Whilst the Northern Ireland Office still utilises a small area of accommodation at Hillsborough Castle for Ministers, Historic Royal Palaces took over responsibility for management of the Castle on 1 April 2014 and they are now responsible for water efficiency. We do not pay water charges for the accommodation at Hillsborough Castle.
Asked by: Simon Kirby (Conservative - Brighton, Kemptown)
Question to the Northern Ireland Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, what assessment she has made of the capacity of her Departmental buildings for the micro-generation of renewable energy; and if she will make a statement.
Answered by Theresa Villiers
My Department is currently based in two sites; Stormont House in Belfast and 1 Horse Guards Road in London. Both sites are leased, with the responsibility for energy supplies resting with the respective landlords.
The Northern Ireland Office managed Hillsborough Castle before handing over its responsibility to Historic Royal Palaces on 1 April 2014. Whilst under my Department’s management, a bio-mass heating system and solar panels were installed to provide the site with micro-generated, low-carbon energy.
Asked by: Simon Kirby (Conservative - Brighton, Kemptown)
Question to the Northern Ireland Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, what steps her Department is taking to ensure its services are available online; and if she will make a statement.
Answered by Theresa Villiers
My Department does not run services open to a broad range of the general public, only certain specialist security related schemes which would not be suited to on-line provision. However, general information is routinely provided by the Northern Ireland Office to the public via the Gov.uk website.
Asked by: Simon Kirby (Conservative - Brighton, Kemptown)
Question to the Northern Ireland Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, how often her Department reviews its processes regarding the logging of emails, letters and other correspondence received; and if she will make a statement.
Answered by Theresa Villiers
The Department routinely reviews the process for logging correspondence in order to respond within our 21 working day target.
Guidance on handling correspondence from Members of Parliament, Peers, MEPs and Members of devolved Administrations is available online at the following link:
Asked by: Simon Kirby (Conservative - Brighton, Kemptown)
Question to the Northern Ireland Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, how many private finance initiative projects her Department contracted for in each year from 1997 to 2010.
Answered by Theresa Villiers
Because of the devolution of policing and justice functions on 12 April 2010, and subsequent reconfiguration of the Northern Ireland Office, my Department does not hold information for the periods prior to 2010; attempting to obtain this information would incur disproportionate cost.
Asked by: Simon Kirby (Conservative - Brighton, Kemptown)
Question to the Northern Ireland Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, what the total private finance initiative liabilities of her Department are for the next 20 years; and if she will make a statement.
Answered by Theresa Villiers
My Department does not currently have any private finance initiative liabilities.
Asked by: Simon Kirby (Conservative - Brighton, Kemptown)
Question to the Northern Ireland Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, what steps she is taking to reduce energy costs in her Department; and if she will make a statement.
Answered by Theresa Villiers
My Department currently operates from two locations; 1 Horse Guards Road, London; and Stormont House, Belfast.
The relocation of the London office in February 2013 enabled a considerable reduction of the footprint from 3,098sqm to 462sqm. The move reduced energy costs through maximising open plan working and sharing resources with other departments within the building. The office space was recently reduced by 30sqm, further reducing energy costs for heating and lighting.
In our Belfast office there is a strong emphasis on encouraging staff to be energy aware and to maximise the sharing of IT equipment, turning off all appliances (computers, printers and lights) when not in use. The ‘Turn it Off’ campaign is promoted throughout the Department which also includes the use of energy efficient appliances and light bulbs.
A number of working practices have been streamlined or ceased in recent months as part of an efficiency and reform package, which has reduced energy usage in Stormont House. For example, the canteen facility has been closed and overnight accommodation is no longer used, resulting in reduced use of appliances, lighting, heating etc.
Work has recently commenced to review the use of the accommodation in Belfast which will seek to maximise efficiency within the existing footprint, and to identify potential options to reduce the NIO footprint if possible, with a view to reducing overheads and energy costs. Part of the office is a Grade II listed building so this will be taken into consideration as part of the review.
Asked by: Simon Kirby (Conservative - Brighton, Kemptown)
Question to the Northern Ireland Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, whether she has any plans to increase the number of replies within her Department's working day standard; and if she will make a statement.
Answered by Theresa Villiers
My Department endeavours to answer all correspondence within the required performance targets. According to last year’s statistics my Department increased its response times by 21%.