Belfast (Hansard, 28 July 1988)

§ Sir John Biggs-Davison
To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what new funds are being provided to promote enterprises, employment and social improvement in the poorer parts of Belfast; and if he will make a statement.

§ Mr. Needham
I refer my hon. Friend to the reply given to a question by my hon. Friend the Member for Beaconsfield (Mr. Smith) on 19 July 1988 at column562

§ Rev. Martin Smyth
To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what consultations took place with Lisburn district council and Newtonabbey district council before the Whitehouse, Coole and Collin wards were included in areas of special need contained in "Making Belfast Work".

§ Mr. Needham
Wards within the Belfast urban area were assessed as areas of need on the basis of objective indices of deprivation and this did not, therefore, require consultation with any of the district councils.

§ Rev. Martin Smyth
To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what criteria were used in defining areas of social need as Catholic West Belfast and Protestant West Belfast as contained in the map on figure 1 of "Making Belfast Work".

§ Mr. Needham
As the published material indicates, wards within the area were designated as either Protestant or Catholic on the basis of the 1981 census of population, after making allowance for those persons not stating their religion and those not enumerated. Objective indices of deprivation were used in defining the areas of social need.

§ Rev. Martin Smyth
To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what was the amount of money invested in the area defined in the document "Making Belfast Work" published by his Department, as Catholic West Belfast, in projects for industrial development, housing, assistance to voluntary projects, health and social services and education for each year from 1970 through to 1980 and from 1980 until 1987.

§ Mr. Needham
The area in the document is defined by reference to council wards. The information requested is not held at ward level and could be obtained only at disproportionate cost.