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Northern Ireland Office

Answer

Mr. Trimble: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many planning personnel are employed in the Downpatrick Regional Planning Office; how many planning personnel are responsible for planning matters in (a) the Ards borough council area and (b) the Castlereagh borough council area; and whether he plans to increase the resources available to the Northern Ireland Planning Service. [222079] Angela Smith: Within the Downpatrick Divisional Planning Office, on the Operations Side, there is a staff complement of 52 with 47 staff currently in post. There are currently 14 staff within Ards borough council area and eight staff in the Castlereagh borough council area responsible for planning matters. Significant additional resources have been allocated to the Planning Service over the last few years in order to employ additional staff. During 2004-05 the Planning Service has sought to recruit 125 additional staff. The Agency now has a complement of 803 staff with 756 staff in post. Workloads in the Planning Service are reviewed regularly as is the need for additional resources.

Secondary information

Type

Written question

Reference

432 c505-6W; 222079

Session

2004-05

Subjects

Northern Ireland Staff Regional planning and development Castlereagh Downpatrick Planning Service Ards

Contains statistics

Yes

Link

View this Written question on www.publications.parliament.uk