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Executive Agencies

Mr. Redmond: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what action heads of his Department's executive agencies are taking to safeguard the provision of pre-retirement courses; and if he will make a statement. [9141]

Sir John Wheeler: Staff in agencies of the Northern Ireland Departments have access to the pre-retirement courses provided by the management development centre--MDC--of the Department of Finance and Personnel, which are supported by the chief executives and which are planned to continue for the foreseeable future.

Agencies of the Northern Ireland Office attend pre-retirement courses provided by its training and development branch; these courses are, and will continue to be, demand-led. Staff also have access to the pre-retirement courses provided by MDC.

Wind Farms

Mr. William Ross: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland if he will publish a map showing all present and projected wind farms in Northern Ireland and all 33 kV electricity supply lines which are planned for construction within three miles of such sites over the next three years or as much information and for such periods as is available to him. [9124]

Mr. Ancram: A map showing the detailed information requested is not available. A drawing indicating the general location of present and projected wind farms and associated 33 kV lines has been placed in the Library. Northern Ireland Electricity plc has no firm plans to construct additional 33 kV lines within three miles of known wind farm sites.

Areas of Outstanding Natural Beauty

Mr. William Ross: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what review he has carried out into the boundaries of areas of outstanding natural beauty in Northern Ireland; and when he expects to publish the results. [9123]

Mr. Moss: The Department of the Environment for Northern Ireland has been reviewing the boundaries of areas of outstanding natural beauty since the introduction of the Nature Conservation and Amenity Lands (Northern Ireland) Order 1985. This legislation gives AONBs a broader conservation objective than the Amenity Lands Act (Northern Ireland) 1965 under which nine AONBs were originally designated.

To date four AONBs have been reviewed and redesignated under the new legislation. In each case there

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has been extensive public consultation both on the boundaries and on Government policies and proposals for each area. Presently a review of the Strangford Lough AONB is underway and the Department has commissioned a landscape assessment prior to commencing a review of the Sperrin and North Derry AONBs.

Local Government Finance

Mr. Llwyd: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what is the estimated level of Government financial support for each local authority, and for Northern Ireland as a whole in constant prices for (a) 1994-95, (b) 1995-96 and (c) 1996-97, indicating

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the percentage yearly change in each case and the overall cumulative change (i) net of community care and (ii) including community care. [8888]

Mr. Moss [holding answer 17 January 1996]: It is not possible to provide the information exactly in the form requested, as the provision of community care in Northern Ireland is the responsibility of health and social services boards rather than local authorities. The chart shows the estimated level of the financial support paid by the Department of the Enviornment for Northern Ireland, by means of general Exchequer grant, to each of the 26 district councils in Northern Ireland. Other Northern Ireland Departments also make specific grants to district councils to assist both capital and revenue programmes relating to such matters as the arts, sports and tourism.

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Table showing estimated level of Government financial support for each local authority and for Northern Ireland as a whole in constant prices (1995-96)

1994-95Percentage change1995-96Percentage change1996-97Overall
£1994-95 to 1995-96£1995-96 to 1996-97£ cumulative change
Antrim308,8198.59335,34222.79411,75033.33
Ards1,974,410-4.391,887,808-11.851,664,032-15.72
Armagh1,886,4187.432,026,595-13.691,749,221-7.27
Ballymena683,39914.07779,530-2.09763,26311.69
Ballymoney891,1240.98899,864-11.07800,286-10.19
Banbridge935,19617.871,102,325-9.86993,6686.25
Belfast6,167,3241.546,262,3433.236,464,5414.82
Carrickfergus816,1506.50869,165-54.86392,366-51.92
Castlereagh1,067,963-14.52912,9349.05995,531-6.78
Coleraine416,3182.09425,0256.17451,2338.39
Cookstown957,8957.681,031,4698.261,116,623-16.57
Craigavon2,199,775-4.602,098,505-3.102,033,368-7.56
Derry3,636,801-12.813,170,883-16.992,632,202-27.62
Down2,162,2541.212,188,385-3.602,109,288-2.45
Dungannon1,619,829-1.721,591,994-4.521,519,996-6.17
Fermanagh1,909,876-9.301,732,324-7.191,607,803-15.82
Larne772,2148.81840,230-28.56600,302-22.26
Limavady992,0787.871,070,145-5.961,006,3411.44
Lisburn1,952,817-20.061,561,015-5.931,468,383-24.81
Magherafelt1,187,74912.651,337,9548.621,453,34222.36
Moyle575,179-5.23545,049-5.26516,362-10.23
Newry and Mourne3,858,546-7.603,565,337-8.733,253,968-15.67
Newtownabbey1,421,2125.851,504,396-8.951,369,712-3.62
North Down1,261,446-30.23880,261-36.11562,348-55.42
Omagh1,777,055-2.911,828,841-6.801,704,561-4.08
Strabane1,864,718-1.971,827,997-1.331,803,594-3.28
Totals43,296,565-2.3642,275,616-6.7039,444,054-8.90

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SOCIAL SECURITY

Retirement Pensions

Mr. Redmond: To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security if he will consider making a substantial increase in the additional state retirement pension paid to pensioners over 80 years of age; and if he will make a statement. [9152]

Mr. Heald: We have no plans to uprate the 25p addition which is paid to all pensioners from the age of 80. The income support scheme also provides from that age a higher pensioner premium which is increased regularly.

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This premium, we believe, is of far more help to pensioners on low incomes, and a more effective use of resources, than increasing the existing 25p age addition for all pensioners aged 80 and over regardless of individual need.

Child Support Agency

Ms Lynne: To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security how many employees have been dismissed from each Child Support Agency centre since its creation. [8119]

Mr. Andrew Mitchell: The administration of the Child Support Agency is a matter for the chief executive, Miss Ann Chant. She will write to the hon. Member.

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Letter from Ann Chant to Ms Liz Lynne, dated 16 January 1996:


Ms Lynne: To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security what estimate he has made of the effect on maintenance collected to be set against public funds of taking on the Child Support Agency cases deferred in December 1994. [8140]

Mr. Mitchell: The administration of the Child Support Agency is a matter for the chief executive, Miss Ann Chant. She will write to the hon. Member.

Letter from Ann Chant to Ms Liz Lynne, dated 16 January 1996:


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Dr. Wright: To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security how many complaints have been made to the Child Support Agency since its inception; how many complaints have been upheld; in how many cases financial compensation has been paid and on what grounds; and what have been the amounts paid in each case and in total. [7817]

Mr. Mitchell: The administration of the Child Support Agency is a matter for the chief executive, Miss Ann Chant. She will write to the hon. Member.

Letter from Ann Chant to Dr. Tony Wright, dated 16 January 1996:


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