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NORTHERN IRELAND
Further Education
Mr. Worthington: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland (1) how many full and part-time lecturing staff were employed in colleges of further education using funds provided by the Training and Employment Agency in each year since 1990; [1113]
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(2) how much money has been provided by the Training and Employment Agency for the employment of lecturing staff in institutes of further and higher education in real and constant price terms. [114]
Mr. Ancram: Responsibility for the subject in question has been passed to the Training and Employment Agency under its chief executive, Mr. Ian Walters. I have asked him to arrange for a reply to be given.
Letter from Ian Walters to Mr. Tony Worthington, dated 21 November 1995:
The Secretary of State for Northern Ireland has asked me as Chief Executive of the Training and Employment Agency, to reply to your question.
The Agency purchases training from approximately 160 training providers in Northern Ireland including the Colleges of Further Education. Since these colleges also provide training which is paid for from other sources, it is therefore not possible for the Agency to determine the number of full and part-time lecturing staff whose employment is directly or indirectly due to Agency funding.
The Training and Employment Agency does not itself employ lecturing staff in Colleges of Further Education and therefore cannot provide a meaningful response to your question.
I am sorry that I cannot be more helpful on this occasion.
Neighbour Disputes
Mr. Robert McCartney: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what priority the RUC places on dealing with disputes between neighbours; what resources it has in place in North Down to counteract this problem; and what discrete statistics it maintains to monitor the scale and growth of such disputes. [74]
Sir John Wheeler: The primary duty of a police officer is to serve the whole community and protect its citizens from all unlawful and harmful acts, from whatever source. The RUC places a high priority on investigating all breaches of the law, including disputes between neighbours.
Disputes between neighbours in the North Down area are given the same priority as elsewhere in the Province. Disputes of this kind are considered within the role of normal police duty and the police liaise with relevant agencies such as Northern Ireland Housing Executive, Department of the Environment or North Down Borough Council if the dispute relates to dogs or noise.
No discrete statistics are held relating to such disputes.
Mrs. Roche:
To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what is the amount owed to those businesses whose invoices were not paid within 30 days or in accordance with contractual agreements in each of the last five years; [1120]
(2) how many orders and firms are represented by the 5.3 per cent. of invoices not paid by his Department within 30 days or in accordance with contractual agreements in 1994-95; and how many of these are related to firms with fewer than 500 employees. [940]
Sir John Wheeler:
The information is not readily available in the format requested and could be provided only at disproportionate cost.
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Mrs. Roche:
To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how his Department publicises payment practices other than as percentages of invoices paid late. [963]
Sir John Wheeler:
The Northern Ireland Office and the Northern Ireland Departments payment practices and performances are published in the departmental report. The Department of Agriculture also publishes its payment targets in the booklet "Our Service Standards".
Mrs. Roche:
To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what is the average length of time it takes for his Department to pay invoices. [925]
Sir John Wheeler:
The information requested is not available in the Northern Ireland Office, the Department of Economic Development or the Department of Health and Social Services, excluding the Child Support Agency. The average length of time taken to make payments by the other four Northern Ireland Departments and the CSA ranges from 10 days to 20 days.
Mr. Worthington:
To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many Northern Ireland students attend (a) English and Welsh, and (b) Scottish universities; and how many there are in each by academic specialism. [1219]
| English and Welsh institutions | Scottish institutions | |
|---|---|---|
| Medicine and Dentistry | 304 | 386 |
| Subjects Allied to Medicine | 613 | 242 |
| Biological Sciences | 244 | 245 |
| Veterinary Science | 55 | 59 |
| Agriculture and Related Subjects | 155 | 84 |
| Physical Sciences | 344 | 199 |
| Mathematical/Computer Sciences | 1,129 | 573 |
| Engineering and Technology | 458 | 308 |
| Architecture, Building and Planning | 1,079 | 423 |
| Social, Economic and Political Studies/Law | 1,263 | 832 |
| Business and Administrative Studies | 351 | 232 |
| Librarianship and Information Science | 205 | 100 |
| Languages | 443 | 76 |
| Humanities | 591 | 105 |
| Creative Arts | 249 | 112 |
| Education | 398 | 453 |
| Combined | 0 | 0 |
| Total | 7,881 | 4,429 |
In addition, there were 2,556 Northern Ireland domiciled students studying with the Open university.
Exclusion Orders
Mr. Worthington: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland (1) how many exclusion orders have been (a) imposed, (b) revoked, (c) reimposed at the expiry of a previous order and (d) allowed to lapse in the last 12 months; [1220]
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(2) how many exclusion orders made under the prevention of terrorism legislation are currently in force. [1221]
Sir John Wheeler: No exclusion orders have been imposed or reimposed by the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland in the past 12 months. All 10 outstanding exclusion orders for which he was responsible were revoked in February of this year.
NATIONAL HERITAGE
Scratchcards
Miss Lestor: To ask the Secretary of State for National Heritage what (a) complaints and (b) representations she has received about the sale of scratchcards to young people below the age of 16 years; and if she will make a statement. [422]
Mr. Sproat: I have received a number of representations about the national lottery. It is not possible to determine the number which have been about the sale of scratchcards to young people below the age of 16, without incurring disproportionate cost.
"Sport: Raising the Game"
Mr. Pendry: To ask the Secretary of State for National Heritage what was the total cost involved in the printing and publication of "Sport: Raising the Game". [1554]
Mr. Sproat: The total cost to the Department of National Heritage of the printing and publication of 70,000 copies of "Sport: Raising the Game" was £63,900.00.
A further 15,000 copies of the document were reprinted in October, at a cost of £19,500 to meet exceptional demand.
The cost of the distribution of the document to all schools, higher education and further education institutions and all local education authorities was approximately £28,000 and was met by the then Department for Education.
Mr. Dalyell:
To ask the Secretary of State for National Heritage what advice has been sought by representatives of the media from Her Majesty's Government about problems associated with the destruction of the airliner Pan Am 103 over Lockerbie. [1629]
Mr. Sproat:
I am not aware that any such advice has been sought from my Department.
Mr. Spellar:
To ask the Secretary of State for National Heritage if she will make a statement regarding progress on the construction of the British library. [410]
Mr. Sproat:
The building is being constructed in two phases--phase 1A and the completion phase. Phase 1A is largely complete, and work on the completion phase will continue into the last quarter of 1996. It is planned that the whole building will be completed toward the end of 1996.
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Mr. Gordon Prentice:
To ask the Secretary of State for National Heritage how many acquisitions of works of art museums in England and Wales have purchased for each year since 1985; and what was their value in each year in constant prices. [193]
Mr. Sproat:
The information requested is not held centrally and could be obtained only at disproportionate cost.
Mr. Gordon Prentice:
To ask the Secretary of State for National Heritage what would be the present value of purchase grants for museums in England and Wales had the grants been uprated in line with inflation since 1985. [192]
Mr. Sproat:
Until 1992-93, grant in aid allocations to national museums and galleries in England included a separate provision for purchases which had been kept constant since 1985. Since 1992-93, trustees of those institutions have been free to decide for themselves how much of their grant in aid should be devoted to purchases for their collections. The national museums and galleries of Wales still receives a differentiated grant in aid for running costs, building and maintenance work and purchases for the collection. Had the purchase grants for 1985-86 been increased exactly in line with the deflators for the gross domestic product, they would be as follows:
| Institution | 1995-96 |
|---|---|
| British Museum | 2.316 |
| Imperial War Museum | 0.159 |
| National Gallery | 4.362 |
| Natural History Museum | 0.301 |
| National Maritime Museum | 0.325 |
| National Portrait Gallery | 0.492 |
| Science Museum | 0.731 |
| Tate Gallery | 2.879 |
| Victoria and Albert Museum | 1.816 |
| Wallace Collection | 0.0 |
| National Museum's and Galleries of Wales | 1.757 |
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