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Appendix 1                                                         

IVB recipients in Birmingham                                       

Date                   |March 1992|March 1993|March 1994           

-------------------------------------------------------------------

Birmingham Chamberlain |4,502     |4,991     |5,917                

Birmingham Heartlands  |<1>-      |<1>-      |7,377                

Birmingham North West  |4,849     |5,433     |5,803                

Birmingham South East  |5,941     |7,030     |8,205                

Birmingham South West  |4,836     |5,303     |6,335                

                       |-------   |-------   |-------              

Total                  |26,297    |30,742    |33,637               

<1> The figures relating to IVB cases recordced for this District  

for these two years were incorrectly collated due to               

administrative error in the District concerned, and have therefore 

been omitted. The figure provided for March 1994 gives the true    

figure at that date.                                               


Appendix 2                                                         

Disability premium recipients in Birmingham                        

Date                   |March 1992|March 1993|March 1994           

-------------------------------------------------------------------

Birmingham Chamberlain |2,193     |2,730     |3,323                

Birmingham Heartlands  |2,057     |2,599     |2,913                

Birmingham North West  |2,068     |2,519     |2,993                

Birmingham South East  |2,104     |2,434     |2,716                

Birmingham South West  |2,087     |2,596     |3,064                

                       |-------   |-------   |-------              

Total                  |10,509    |12,878    |15,009               


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Appendix 3                                                                                                                             

References cleared at BAMS Birmingham reference office                                                                                 

1                                |2               |3               |4               |5               |6                                

Period                           |Total           |Incapable       |Capable of      |Capable         |Others                           

                                 |cleared         |of work         |suitable        |of work                                           

                                                                   |alternative work                                                   

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Quarter ending 31 March 1993     |21,602          |17,311          |1,667           |410             |2,214                            

Quarter ending 30 June 1993      |24,383          |19,681          |1,785           |315             |2,602                            

Quarter ending 30 September 1993 |23,087          |17,785          |2,025           |340             |2,937                            

Quarter ending 31 December 1993  |23,660          |18,124          |2,258           |355             |2,923                            

Quarter ending 31 March 1994     |26,350          |18,697          |2,918           |315             |4,420                            

Social Fund

Mr. Milburn : To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security how many applications for (a) social fund grants and (b) social fund loans, that met the criteria, were refused because of budgetary constraints in each social security office in the United Kingdom in each year since 1989- 90.

Mr. Scott : The administration of the social fund is a matter for Mr. Michael Bichard, the chief executive of the Benefits Agency. He will write to the hon. Member.

Letter from Michael Bichard to Mr. Alan Milburn, dated 11 July 1994 :

The Secretary of State for Social Security has asked me to reply to your recent Parliamentary Question about Social Fund (SF) applications refused on grounds of budgetary constraints in the United Kingdom since 1989-90.

I have confined my answer to the former Department of Social Security Local Offices and Benefits Agency Districts, as questions concerning Northern Ireland are the responsibility of the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland.

I should explain that District budgets, which must not be exceeded, have to be managed so that, as far as possible, similar levels of need can be met throughout the year. Therefore, Social Fund Officers (SFOs) ensure that the highest priority needs are met whilst adopting as consistent an approach as possible.


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Information for the year 1989-90 is not available by Local Office but you may wish to know that the number of loans and grants refused nationally on the grounds of insufficient priority in that year was 138,997 and 50,342 respectively.

Details of loans and grants refused on grounds of insufficient priority for the year 1990-91 by former Departmental Local Office and for the years 1991 -92 to 1993-94 by Benefits Agency District are enclosed and copies have been placed in the Library under the heading Department of Social Security, Social Fund, Applications Refused on the Grounds of Budgetary Constraints 1990-91--1993-94 .

The new Social Fund Computer System (SFCS) introduced in 1993-94, collects additional statistics which were not held on the old system. Many statistical items are collected differently and are not directly comparable with previous years. The previous system recorded reasons for refusal per application whereas SFCS records reasons for refusal per item requested. In cases where a partial award is made a reason for refusal will also be appropriate. As SFCS was introduced into Districts on a rollout basis throughout the year, the figures for 1993-94 will be a combination of the information held on the two systems.

I hope you find this reply helpful.

TRANSPORT

Vehicle Excise Duty Discs

Mr. French : To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what is his estimate of the number of vehicle excise duty discs that are stolen from vehicles each year.


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Mr. Key : Precise figures are not available for the number of VED discs stolen from vehicles each year. However, approximately 200,000 discs are either lost or stolen annually.

Railway Industry Posts (Pay Policy)

Mr. Austin Mitchell : To ask the Secretary of State for Transport to what levels of post the public sector pay policy applies in the railway industry.

Mr. Freeman : The Government's approach to public sector pay applies to the total pay bills of the various components of the railway industry.


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Public Transport Expenditure

Mr. Hinchliffe : To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what information he keeps regarding the proportion of gross domestic product spent on (a) buses, (b) trains and (c) all public transport, annually, for the years 1979 to 1993, inclusive.

Mr. Freeman : Expenditure on public transport, by passengers and through grants and subsidies, as a percentage of GDP was as follows :


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Total of grants/subsidies and receipts                                                                                  

Year             Rail                          Bus                          Taxi           Total                        

               |£ million     |Percentage GDP|£ million     |Percentage GDP|Percentage GDP|Percentage GDP               

                                                                                          |rounded                      

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

1979           |1,751.2       |1.01          |1,738         |1.00          |-             |n/a                          

1980           |2,005.4       |1.00          |2,179         |1.08          |0.13          |2.2                          

1981           |2,293.8       |1.05          |2,335         |1.07          |0.13          |2.3                          

1982           |2,315.7       |0.97          |2,603         |1.09          |0.10          |2.2                          

1983           |2,605.6       |1.00          |2,713         |1.04          |0.12          |2.2                          

1984           |2,699.0       |0.96          |2,822         |1.01          |0.13          |2.1                          

1985           |2,878.4       |0.94          |2,844         |0.93          |0.13          |2.0                          

1986           |2,902.5       |0.89          |2,835         |0.87          |0.17          |1.9                          

1987           |3,112.5       |0.87          |2,878         |0.80          |0.17          |1.8                          

1988           |2,994.4       |0.75          |3,022         |0.76          |0.16          |1.7                          

1989           |3,292.4       |0.75          |3,175         |0.72          |0.19          |1.7                          

1990           |3,833.6       |0.80          |3,358         |0.70          |0.18          |1.7                          

1991           |4,311.5       |0.87          |3,556         |0.72          |0.19          |1.8                          

1992           |4,748.7       |0.92          |3,633         |0.71          |-             |(1.8)                        

1993           |-             |-             |-             |-             |-             |-                            

Privatisation

Mr. Campbell-Savours : To ask the Secretary of State for Transport which organisations, agencies and other bodies relating to his departmental area of responsibility have been privatised since 1990 ; and what plans he has for further privatisation.

Mr. Norris : The following organisations have been privatised since 1990 : five trust ports--Clyde, Forth, Medway, Tees and Hartlepool, and Tilbury ; two operating subsidiaries of London Buses Ltd.--London Coaches Ltd. and Stanwell Buses Ltd.; DVOIT, the former IT arm of the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency ; and three subsidiaries of British Rail-- Transmark, Meldon quarry, and special trains unit. The position on further privatisation is as follows :

The Government believe that the future of a number of the remaining larger trust ports should be within the private sector ; London Transport are planning to sell the remaining 10 operating subsidiaries of London Buses Ltd. and London Transport Advertising Ltd. by the end of this year ; my right hon. Friend announced on 30 March his decision to privatise the Transport Research Laboratory, which we hope can be achieved during 1995- 96. In addition, plans to privatise the railways include :

Three rolling stock leasing companies (Eversholt, Angel, and Porterbrook) to be offered for sale in 1995.

Twenty-five passenger franchises to be offered for sale as follows :

during 1995 :

East Coast Main Line ; Great Western Main Line ; ScotRail ; Gatwick Express ; London, Tilbury and Southend ; South West.

during 1996 :

Anglia ; Merseyrail ; South Wales and West ; South London and Sussex Coast Lines ; Cardiff Valleys ; Midland Main Line ; West Coast Main Line.


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for later sale :

Central Region ; Cross Country ; North East Region ; Thames ; West Anglia and Great Northern ; Kent Link and Kent Coast Lines ; Northampton and North London Lines ; Chiltern Line ; Great Eastern ; North West Region ; Thameslink.

Railtrack to be privatised in due course. There is no timetable for sale.

Freight businesses : Freightliner (BR's container business) and Red Star (express parcels) were advertised for sale in May 1994. BR's trainload freight services, and the Rail Express systems (mail train business) will be offered for sale in 1995. The Channel Tunnel freight services will be privatised once they have been established fully.

Fourteen Infrastructure Service Units. Sales due to be completed by April 1996.

European Passengers Services (a Government owned company). The intention is for EPS to be transferred in 1995, along with Union Railways (a subsidiary of the British Railways Board), to the consortium chosen to build and own the Channel Tunnel Rail Link. Some 30 other businesses which provide support services to the railway industry will be offered for sale as soon as possible. they include :

British Rail Telecommunications plc ;

British Rail Maintenance Ltd. and Level 5 depots ;

The Works Division ;

Marketing Services ;

Technical Services ;

Business Systems ;

Quality and Safety Systems ;

Training activities and establishments

Note : Two of these businesses will be offered to the private sector in 1994-95, BRML and Level 5 depots and BRT Ltd.

Manchester Airport

Mr. Alfred Morris : To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what role his Department has had in negotiations between Manchester airport and the Highways Agency ; when he expects the negotiations will be concluded ; and if he will make a statement.


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Mr. Key : I have kept in close touch with with the negotiations between Manchester Airport plc, the Highways Agency and officials of the Government Office for the North-West over the provision of road access to Manchester airport if consent is given for the construction of a second runway. These discussions continue.

ATTORNEY-GENERAL

Privatisation

Mr. Campbell-Savours : To ask the Attorney-General which organisations, agencies and other bodies relating to his departmental area of responsibility have been privatised since 1990 ; and what plans he has for further privatisation.

The Attorney-General : None. As to the future, I refer the hon. Member to my answer to the hon. Member for Brent, South (Mr. Boateng) on 8 July 1994, Official Report, column 337.

NORTHERN IRELAND

Orders In Council

Mr. Hunter : To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland if he will list the titles of the Orders in Council enacted under the (a) affirmative, (b) negative and (c) emergency procedures for each year since 1979.

Sir Patrick Mayhew : A list of the Orders in Council that have been made under Northern Ireland Act 1974 since 1979 will be placed in the Library.


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Schools (Capital Grants)

Rev. William McCrea : To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland if he will list all applications for capital grants from (a) grant- maintained schools and (b) integrated schools from 1990 to 1993 ; and if he will list those grants approved, the date approved and the capital fund requested and granted.

Mr. Ancram : Information in the form requested is not readily available and could be obtained only at disproportionate cost.

Housing Benefit

Rev. William McCrea : To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many claimants living in private rented accommodation had their housing benefit reduced in the last year ; and what was the average level of reduction.

Mr. Ancram : Information in the form requested is not readily available and could be provided only at disproportionate cost.

Renovation and Replacement Grants

Rev. William McCrea : To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what was the total amount of renovation and replacement grants paid out in each year since 1989-90 ; and what is the latest available information for each district council area in the Province.

Mr. Tim Smith : This is a matter for the Northern Ireland Housing Executive. However I am advised by its Chief Executive that the information requested is as follows :


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Table 1: Expenditure by grant type                                                        

£ million                                                                                 

               |Renovation<1> |Replacement<2>|Other<3>      |Total                        

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

1989-90        |22.50         |nil           |11.1          |33.6                         

1990-91        |21.00         |nil           |10.0          |31.0                         

1991-92        |22.00         |nil           |8.0           |30.0                         

1992-93        |21.00         |nil           |9.1           |30.1                         

1993-94        |23.94         |0.66          |7.8           |32.4                         

The Housing (NI) Order 1992 introduced a new grants regime and the figures supplied       

reflect comparable grants under the new and old schemes.                                  

<1> The figures for Renovation Grants include Improvement Grants and grants associated    

with disabled facilities.                                                                 

<2> Replacement grants were first introduced in the financial year 1991-92 and            

expenditure did not accrue until the 1993-94 financial year.                              

<3> "Other" includes Repair, Intermediate, Houses in Multiple Occupation, and Minor Works 

Grants.                                                                                   


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Table 2: Grant expenditure by council area 1993-94<1>                        

£000s                                                                        

Council          |Renovation |Replacement|Others     |Total                  

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------

Antrim           |-          |-          |6.4        |6.4                    

Ards             |-          |-          |38.5       |38.5                   

Armagh           |16.6       |15.0       |160.0      |191.6                  

Ballymena        |4.4        |-          |8.1        |12.5                   

Ballymoney       |38.6       |18.9       |4.1        |61.6                   

Banbridge        |1.2        |-          |19.5       |20.7                   

Belfast          |780.9      |-          |229.8      |1,010.7                

Carrickfergus    |12.3       |-          |4.3        |16.6                   

Castlereagh      |8.8        |-          |17.8       |26.6                   

Coleraine        |57.7       |16.4       |16.6       |90.7                   

Cookstown        |-          |-          |19.0       |19.0                   

Craigavon        |28.9       |-          |193.0      |221.9                  

Derry            |17.9       |-          |16.7       |34.6                   

Down             |95.4       |90.1       |14.1       |199.6                  

Dungannon        |16.7       |-          |19.1       |35.8                   

Fermanagh        |68.5       |396.9      |65.4       |530.8                  

Larne            |8.1        |-          |4.8        |12.9                   

Limavady         |-          |-          |4.1        |4.1                    

Lisburn          |129.0      |57.1       |20.3       |206.4                  

Magherafelt      |1.1        |-          |6.8        |7.9                    

Moyle            |1.1        |-          |0.8        |1.9                    

Newry and Mourne |43.5       |35.8       |105.9      |185.2                  

Newtownabbey     |45.5       |-          |11.5       |57.0                   

North Down       |8.0        |-          |29.8       |37.8                   

Omagh            |-          |-          |22.5       |22.5                   

Strabane         |7.7        |23.7       |14.3       |45.7                   

                 |---        |---        |---        |---                    

Total            |1,391.9    |653.9      |1,053.2    |3,099                  

<1> These figures only represent expenditure on grants approved under the    

Housing (NI) Order 1992.                                                     

Further expenditure of £29.3m was incurred under the previous scheme but is  

not available by Council area.                                               

Omagh-Ballygavley Road

Rev. William McCrea : To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland when he expects to commence the upgrading of the Omagh to Ballygavley road.

Mr. Tim Smith : Two schemes at Brackagh and Augher Point have been completed and a scheme to provide a climbing lane at Garvaghy will start in the 1997-98 financial year, subject to the continuing availability of finance.

Cookstown Bypass

Rev. William McCrea : To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what plans the Department of the Environment has to commence the completion of the Cookstown bypass.

Mr. Tim Smith : The completion of the Cookstown bypass is not included in the Department's current five-year major road works programme.

Workspace, Draperstown Ltd.

Rev. William McCrea : To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what grants have been received from central Government, the International Fund for Ireland and European sources by Workspace, Draperstown Ltd.

Mr. Tim Smith : Grants received by Workspace, Draperstown Ltd. and its subsidiaries from central Government and European sources are as follows :


                                   |£                        

-------------------------------------------------------------

Local Enterprise Development Unit  |986,990                  

European Regional Development Fund |197,400                  

Department of Agriculture          |2,138                    

EU LEADER Programme                |21,470                   

Training and Employment Agency     |<1>3,608,873             

EU HORIZON Programme               |130,380                  

<1> Last two years only.                                     

The question of the amount of grant aid received from the International Fund for Ireland is a matter for the board of the fund, which is independent of Her Majesty's Government.

Child Care

Rev. William McCrea : To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how much the Department of Health spends on child care ; on what provision this sum is spent ; and how many children receive the child care.


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Mr. Ancram : The Department of Health and Social Services encourages the development of child care by grant aiding regional voluntary child care organisations in Northern Ireland. In the current financial year, over £241,000 is being provided. That is in addition to the support that health and social services boards provide to local day care projects, which in 1991-92, the latest year for which the information is available, amounted to £1,598,000. In that year, boards also spent £148,000 on family day centres, although those do not cater exclusively for parents with young children. In January 1994, the Department also allocated £310,000 to the health and social services boards on a once-only basis in support of local initiatives in the child care sector.

Details of the forms of provision and number of places available, as at 31 March 1993, are as follows :


Type                  |Places             

                      |available          

------------------------------------------

Pre-school playgroups |14,742             

Day nurseries         |2,080              

Childminders          |13,492             

                                          

Total                 |30,314             

Prison Statistics

Rev. William McCrea : To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many prisoners are at present being held (a) Magilligan, (b) Maze, (c) Crumlin and (d) Maghaberry prisons.

Sir John Wheeler : The prison population in these establishments on 7 July 1994 was as follows :


Establishment        |Number of                  

                     |prisoners                  

-------------------------------------------------

HM Prison Magilligan |297                        

HM Prison Maze       |575                        

MR Prison Belfast    |547                        

HM Prison Maghaberry |327                        

Integrated Schools

Mr. William Ross : To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland if he will give the location of each (a) primary and (b) secondary integrated school in Northern Ireland, together with the catchment area from which its pupils are drawn, the number of children at each school and its capacity ; and if he will give the number of (i) voluntary grammar, (ii) maintained primary and secondary schools


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and (iii) controlled primary and secondary schools within each such catchment area, showing the number of pupils at those schools and their capacity, or as much of such information as is readily available to him.

Mr. Ancram : The "open enrolment" regulations currently in operation allow parents to state a preference for the school which they wish their child to attend. If the school has places, it must accept the child. Catchment areas as such are not prescribed and the Department does not hold information on the catchment area of each school.

The information readily available on integrated schools is as follows :


Integrated schools in Northern Ireland                                         

School name            |Location     |Capacity     |Enrolments                 

                                                   |(1993-94)                  

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Grant-maintained Integrated Primary Schools                                    

Acorn<1>               |Carrickfergus|82           |52                         

Braidside<1>           |Ballymena    |145          |118                        

Bridge                 |Banbridge    |270          |227                        

Corran<1>              |Larne        |120          |91                         

Cranmore<1>            |Belfast      |120          |38                         

Enniskillen<1>         |Enniskillen  |174          |161                        

Hazelwood              |Belfast      |305          |302                        

Lough View<1>          |Belfast      |50           |24                         

Millstrand             |Portrush     |198          |170                        

Oakgrove<1>            |Londonderry  |240          |219                        

Omagh<1>               |Omagh        |131          |110                        

Portadown<1>           |Portadown    |140          |115                        

Saints and Scholars<1> |Armagh       |100          |26                         

Windmill               |Dungannon    |121          |110                        

                                                                               

Controlled Integrated Primary Schools                                          

All Children's         |Newcastle    |176          |148                        

Carhill                |Garvagh      |97           |50                         

Forge                  |Belfast      |210          |159                        

                                                                               

Grant-maintained Integrated Secondary Schools                                  

Hazelwood College      |Belfast      |643          |585                        

Lagan College          |Belfast      |850-860      |849                        

Oakgrove College<1>    |Londonderry  |400          |180                        

                                                                               

Controlled Integrated Secondary Schools                                        

Brownlow College       |Craigavon    |400          |205                        

<1> As these schools have not been open for the full seven years of primary    

level education and five years of secondary level education. The figures       

represent planned long-term capacity.                                          

Benefits

Rev. William McCrea : To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many people in Northern Ireland were in receipt of (a) disability allowance, (b) attendance allowance, (c) family credit, (d) income support and (e) invalidity benefit, at the latest available date.

Mr. Ancram : The information available is given as follows :


<

Number of claimants in receipt of certain benefits in       

Northern Ireland                                            

May 1994                                                    

Type of benefit             |Number                         

------------------------------------------------------------

Attendance Allowance        |49,237                         

Disability Living Allowance |67,980                         

Family Credit               |19,952                         

Income Support              |222,621                        

Invalidity Benefit          |67,813                         


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Child Support Agency

Rev. William McCrea : To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland in how many cases the Child Support Agency has used earnings deduction orders to obtain maintenance payments.

Mr. Ancram : Responsibility for the subject of this question has been delegated to the Child Support Agency under its chief executive, Patrick Devlin. I have asked him to arrange for a reply to be given. Letter from Pat Devlin to Rev. William McCrea, dated 5 July 1994 :

The Secretary of State for Northern Ireland has asked me to reply to your question about the number of cases where a Deduction from Earnings Order is used to obtain maintenance.

Between April 1993 and 30 June 1994 Deductions from Earnings Orders were imposed in 297 cases.

I hope you find this information useful.

Rev. William McCrea : To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many cases have been dealt with by the Child Support Agency in Northern Ireland.

Mr. Ancram : Responsibility for the subject of this question has been delegated to the Child Support Agency under its chief executive, Patrick Devlin. I have asked him to arrange for a reply to be given. Letter from Pat Devlin to Rev. William McCrea, dated 5 July 1994 :

The Secretary of State for Northern Ireland has asked me to reply to your question about the number of cases dealt with by the Child Support Agency in Northern Ireland.

Between April 1993 and 1 July 1994 the Agency contacted 25,423 persons with care of children and in 16,990 cases application was returned. The Agency has cleared 14,121 cases in the same period. I hope you find this information useful.

Rev. William McCrea : To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many cases the Child Support Agency has pursued to date where there is a court agreement regarding maintenance in existence.

Mr. Ancram : Responsibility for the subject of this question has been delegated to the Child Support Agency under its chief executive, Patrick Devlin. I have asked him to arrange for a reply to be given. Letter from Pat Devlin to Rev. William McCrea, dated 5 July 1994 :

The Secretary of State for Northern Ireland has asked me to reply to your question about the number of cases the Child Support Agency has pursued to date where there is a court order agreement regarding maintenance in existence.

Information on the number of cases assessed where there was a previous court agreement is not collected routinely and could only be obtained at disproportionate cost.

I hope you find this information useful.

Job Creation

Rev. William McCrea : To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many jobs have been created through (a) the Industrial Development Board and (b) Local Enterprise Development Unit initiatives in each Northern Ireland constituency in each year since 1990.

Mr. Tim Smith : Information on job creations is not available in the form requested. Statistics for job creations


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are not available before 1991-92. The table below gives details of IDB and LEDU job creations for Northern Ireland since 1991-92.


                                   New jobs created               

                                  |1991-92|1992-93|1993-94        

------------------------------------------------------------------

Industrial Development Board      |2,490  |2,815  |3,289          

                                                                  

Local Enterprise Development Unit |1,750  |2,630  |2,870          

Roads

Rev. William McCrea : To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what has been the allocation of Department of the Environment finances for (a) road maintenance, (b) major and (c) minor roadworks in each of the 26 district council areas in the last financial year.

Mr. Tim Smith : Expenditure for the 1993-94 financial year is as follows :


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