§ Mr. Humeasked the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland (1) if he will make a statement on the meeting between the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, the hon. Member for Peterborough (Dr. Mawhinney), and representatives of Belfast community organisations on Monday 14 April;
(2) what information he has on the number of community groups which have closed down in Belfast, the number of jobs which have been lost and the types of facilities and services which have ceased due to the Belfast city council adjournment policy.
§ Dr. MawhinneyCommunity group representatives advised me at the meeting that to date some 31 staff have been laid off, affecting a wide range of services provided by seven community councils, community resource centres and advice centres, which have been forced to close.
The group representatives were assured that the Government are keeping the situation under close review.
§ Mr. Humeasked the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland (1) how much money currently lies in the Department of Education's budget whose payment to Belfast city council's community services programme has been obstructed by that council's adjournment policy;
(2) what consideration he has given to exercising the Department of Education's powers under the Recreation and Youth Services (Northern Ireland) Order 1973 and the Community Relations (Amendment) (Northern Ireland) Order 1975 directly to grant aid those community organisations in Belfast which have, or are being, forced to close because of Belfast city council's adjournment policy.
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§ Dr. MawhinneyJust under £300,000 in respect of the 1986–87 financial year. While the situation is being kept under review, the Government presently have no proposals for making direct payments to the groups involved.