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NORTHERN IRELAND

School Meals

Mr. Worthington: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what action he has taken following the survey conducted by the Northern Ireland Chest, Heart and Stroke Association on the dietary content of school meals. [2676]

Mr. Ancram: The Department of Education has consulted the Department of Health and Social Services, the education and library boards and other agencies about the issues raised in the survey conducted by the Northern Ireland Chest, Heart and Stroke Association and in particular the application of recommendations made by the Committee on Medical Aspects of Food Policy about nutrition. The Department will review the existing guidelines for school meals in light of these consultations.

Mr. Worthington: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what assessment he has made of the dietary value of school meals. [2677]

Mr. Ancram: The Department of Education has issued nutritional guidelines for school meals in nursery, primary and special schools.

The Department and the education and library boards school meals service regularly assess the nutritional value of meals offered to pupils.

Mr. Worthington: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what has been the expenditure permitted on school meals per pupil in real and constant price terms in each school board area in each year since 1990. [2678]

Mr. Ancram: This information requested is in the table.

Belfast board Western board North-eastern board South-eastern Board Southern board
£££££
1990-91--actual206.54216.35234.89232.53229.04
at 1994-95 prices239.36250.73272.22269.48265.44
1991-92--actual233.31230.30255.30239.85236.53
at 1994-95 prices254.40251.12278.38261.53257.91
1992-93--actual214.58240.93254.54225.20238.97
at 1994-95 prices225.02252.65266.92236.15250.59
1993-94--actual233.93247.59248.71226.51245.58
at 1994-95 prices238.02262.10253.06230.47249.88
1994-95--actual227.40247.81260.46239.03248.53


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4 Dec 1995 : Column: 99

Roads (Belfast)

Mr. Robert McCartney: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what low-cost anti-accident measures have been considered as an alternative to the current enlargement scheme for the Balmoral avenue-Malone road junction in Belfast. [2510]

Mr. Moss: A number of low-cost options based largely on modified traffic signal arrangements were considered but none was found to be suitable. The proposed scheme is the most appropriate means of dealing with the major problems identified at the junction, a view confirmed by the independent inspectors who conducted two separate public inquiries.

Mr. McCartney: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland if the Balmoral avenue junction scheme in Belfast is part of a wider road enlargement scheme being considered in that area; and how much extra traffic it is expected to generate. [2511]

Mr. Moss: The proposed scheme at the Balmoral avenue-Malone road junction does not form part of any other scheme and is not expected to generate additional traffic.

Road Safety Education Officers

Mr. Worthington: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many road safety education officers have been employed in Northern Ireland in each of the past five years; and how many are planned to be employed in the next financial year. [2717]

Mr. Moss: The information requested is as follows:

Year Road safety education officers
1991-92(18)16
1992-9315
1993-9415
1994-9513
1995-9613

(18) Reducing to 15.


It is anticipated that the complement will be 11 road safety education officers with effect from 1 April 1996.

Social Fund

Rev. Ian Paisley: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how much receipts under the European social fund for Northern Ireland in each financial year to date were earned by (a) the private sector, (b) non-central

4 Dec 1995 : Column: 100

Government public sector bodies, and (c) central Government. [2487]

Sir John Wheeler: The information is as follows:

£ million

(a)(b)(c)
Year Private/Voluntary sector Non-central Government public bodies Central Government
1973-74------
1974-750.410.312.68
1975-76------
1976-770.770.585.05
1977-780.900.685.92
1978-791.801.3511.85
1979-801.801.3511.85
1980-812.762.0718.17
1981-823.002.2519.75
1982-834.223.1727.81
1983-844.563.4230.02
1984-854.563.4230.02
1985-863.002.2519.75
1986-876.394.8042.11
1987-886.775.0844.55
1988-894.333.2528.52
1989-904.175.5736.66
1900-914.576.0840.05
1991-924.756.3241.63
1992-933.775.0333.10
1993-943.164.2127.73
1994-956.368.4755.77
72.0569.66532.99


Rev. Ian Paisley: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how much money Northern Ireland has received in each financial year to date; how much each year represented a cash addition to the Northern Ireland economy; and how much was used to offset Government expenditure on Northern Ireland. [2484]

Sir John Wheeler: The following amounts were received from the European social fund:

Financial yearTotal £ million
1973-74--
1974-753.4
1975-760.0
1976-776.4
1977-787.5
1978-7915.0
1979-8015.0
1980-8123.0
1981-8225.0
1982-8335.2
1983-8438.0
1984-8538.0
1985-8625.0
1986-8753.3
1987-8856.4
1988-8936.1
1989-9046.4
1990-9150.7
1991-9252.7
1992-9341.9
1993-9435.1
1994-9570.6
Total674.7

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Receipts earned by the private sector and by non-central Government public sector bodies are paid to the claimant. The receipts represent cash additions to the

4 Dec 1995 : Column: 102

recipients. Receipts earned by central Government are paid into the Northern Ireland Consolidated Fund. All ESF receipts are subject to EC audit arrangements and normal government accounting requirements.

The overall level of receipts is taken in account in the Government's decisions on public expenditure allocations, and their availability enables public expenditure to be maintained at a higher level than would otherwise be feasible.

Education and Library Boards

Mr. Worthington: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what has been the budget in (a) real, and (b) constant price terms, of each education and library board in each year since 1988. [2537]

Mr. Ancram: The information requested is as follows:

4 Dec 1995 : Column: 101

Recurrent financial allocations to Education and Library Boards £000

Financial yearBelfastNorth EasternSouth EasternSouthernWesternTotal
1988-89
Actual47,95955,28444,92754,08347,841250,094
Current prices66,15276,25661,96974,59965,990344,966
1989-90
Actual53,01762,30951,24660,52853,914281,014
Current prices68,35480,33466,07178,03869,511362,308
1990-91
Actual58,88870,03659,59068,82061,371318,705
Current prices70,29183,59871,13082,14773,256380,422
1991-92
Actual141,136169,298144,105167,182146,637768,358
Current prices158,506190,135161,841187,758164,684862,924
1992-93
Actual156,957189,915159,702185,858161,017853,449
Current prices169,524205,121172,489200,739173,909921,782
1993-94
Actual161,214195,910166,957193,438170,183887,702
Current prices168,952205,314174,971202,723178,352930,312

Note: As from 1991-92, under the terms of the Education Reform (Northern Ireland) Order 1989, the Education and Library Boards became responsible for teachers' and lecturers' salary costs.


4 Dec 1995 : Column: 101

Mr. Worthington: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what resources were made available to each of the education and library boards in connection with the amalgamation of further education colleges in 1993-94 and 1994-95. [2494]

Mr. Ancram: The information is as follows:

1993-94 £ 1994-95 £
North Eastern education and library board 52,000 258,000
Southern education and library board17,00089,000
South Eastern education and library board 17,000 93,000



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