Written Answers to Questions - Northern Ireland Assembly

Friday 20 July 2012 Written Answers
Prisoner Assessment Unit
Lord Morrow asked the Minister of Justice how many meetings have been held, or attended by, the
Northern Ireland Prison Service and his Department in relation to (i) the issues leading to the closure
of the Prisoner Assessment Unit; and (ii) the publication of the subsequent report.
(AQW 13514/11-15)
Mr Ford:
(i) Two Prison Service meetings were held prior to the decision to close the Prisoner Assessment
Unit.
(ii) Two Prison Service meetings were held to discuss requests for the disclosure or publication of the
Report into the Investigation of the Prisoner Assessment Unit.
Cases of Death in Custody
Lord Morrow asked the Minister of Justice, pursuant to AQW12906/11-15, to detail the relevant staff
associations that were in agreement.
(AQW 13515/11-15)
Mr Ford: Both the Prison Officers Association and the Prison Governors Association agreed the existing
NIPS Code of Conduct and Discipline.
Illegal Protest in Ardoyne
Lord Morrow asked the Minister of Justice, pursuant to AQW11862/11-15, with the exception of the
costs disclosed, what is the total of all other costs which have been incurred in this case, including
costs to the PSNI and the Public Prosecution Service.
(AQW 13516/11-15)
Mr Ford: The estimated court related costs incurred to date including judicial, staff and facilities are
£12,600.
Further claims for legal fees have been submitted since my previous answer and I have set out below
updated Legal Aid costs.
Fees of £5,378.08 have been paid under the Police and Criminal Evidence Act (PACE) (including VAT of
£852.62 and disbursements of £121.96).
£53,464.19 has been paid to date for proceedings at the Magistrates’ Court (including VAT of
£8,597.52 and disbursements of £9.07). Fees of £47,604.58 (including VAT of £7,859.25 and
disbursements of £9.07) were paid to solicitors and a total of £5,859.61 (including VAT of £738.27)
was paid to Counsel.
£10,005.51 has been paid to date for proceedings at the Crown Court (including VAT of £1,426.30 and
disbursements of £1,447.68).
Of these fees £5,906.88 (including VAT of £743.20 and disbursements of £1,447.68) has been paid
to solicitors and £4,098.63 (including VAT of £683.10) has been paid to Counsel.
The Police Service of Northern Ireland and the Public Prosecution Service have advised that to extract
the information required to answer this question would involve a lengthy manual exercise which would
incur disproportionate cost. They are therefore not in a position to supply the information sought.
Office of the Police Ombudsman: Complaints
Mr Weir asked the Minister of Justice to detail the process used by his Department when dealing with
complaints made against the actions of the Office of the Police Ombudsman.
(AQW 13517/11-15)
WA 596