HC Deb 19 November 1990 vol 181 cc36-7W
Mr. Kilfedder

To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many staff of Enterprise Ulster are to be declared redundant in 1990 and 1991; and how many of these are remunerated within the range £7,000 to £12,000 per annum.

Mr. Needham

Fifty, of whom 49 are likely to be in the £7,000 to £12,000 per annum wages or salary range. The precise position will not be known until after the present offer of voluntary redundancy to all staff closes on 27 November 1990.

Mr. Kilfedder

To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what kinds of material used by Enterprise Ulster have been conveyed to the private homes of staff members for the purpose of material testing; how long the testing lasted; and when reports on the test results were submitted and to whom.

Mr. Needham

The only known material conveyed to a member of staffs private home, for the purpose of material testing, was Colfix bitumen emulsion. This was in December 1980, with the results of the experiment published in January 1981 and circulated to line management.

The Colfix bitumen and the small quantity of stones used were paid for by the member of staff.

Mr. Kilfedder

To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many staff of Enterprise Ulster whose remuneration is in excess of £12,000 per annum are to be transferred to other work in the Government service; how many are to be retained in Enterprise Ulster; and how many are to be declared redundant.

Mr. Needham

Enterprise Ulster is a statutory body established in 1973. As such, there are no arrangements in place which allow its staff to be transferred to other work in the Government service. Of the up to 50 staff being made redundant in 1990 and 1991, it is likely that there may be one whose remuneration is in excess of £12,000 per annum.

Mr. Kilfedder

To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what projects were undertaken by Enterprise Ulster in 1988 and 1989; and what was the total cost of each, showing separately the amount contributed by the client or sponsor and the value placed on unused materials returned to Enterprise Ulster depots.

Mr. Needham

In the 1988–89 financial year, Enterprise Ulster undertook 385 projects at a total gross cost of £2,083,124 to which clients contributed £419,663. In 1989–90, a total of 312 projects were undertaken at a total gross cost of £913,446 to which clients contributed £219,881. No record is kept of unused materials which were either returned to the client or on agreement, transferred to another project of the client or if purchased by Enterprise Ulster, returned to its depots.

Details of the projects undertaken in the two years, along with Enterprise Ulster's expenditure and income from clients have been placed in the Library of the House.