§ Mr. Peter RobinsonTo ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland (1) how many public bodies operated in Northern Ireland in the last year for which figures are available; [123786]
(2) how many people on each of the public bodies in Northern Ireland are members of the (a) DUP. (b) UUP, (c) SF, (d) AP and (e) SDLP. [123787]
§ Mr. PearsonInformation on quangos is available in "Public Bodies", a publication produced annually by the Cabinet Office. This publication provides information on the size, spend and membership of public bodies in the UK and includes non-departmental public bodies attached to the Northern Ireland Office and Northern Ireland Departments. The current edition of the publication, "Public Bodies 2002" is available in the House of Commons Library.
Information on the political affiliation of those appointed to serve on quangos is not available. However, the Public Appointments Annual Report provides an analysis of all appointments made by Northern Ireland Departments and includes statistics on applicants and appointees who have declared political activity within the past five years. A copy of the latest report (covering the period April 2001 to March 2002) was placed in the Library of the House in January 2002.