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Marine Pollution
Mr. Dafis: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland if he will publish details of the measures taken in Northern Ireland following the recommendations of the 1995 world Government meeting on land-based sources of marine pollution; and if he will make a statement.[22232]
Mr. Moss: The UK delegation took a leading part in the conference organised by the UN Environment Programme in Washington DC on 23 October to 3 November 1995, which adopted the global programme of action for the protection of the marine environment from land-based activities. This programme of action reflects the approach being adopted throughout the United Kingdom, and by the other states in north-west Europe, to this task. Implementation in Northern Ireland will, therefore, be achieved by continuing our present policies.
Equal Opportunities
Mr. David Shaw: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what amounts of money have been paid out by (a) his Department and (b) executive agencies, non-departmental public bodies and other organisations for which he is accountable to Parliament, to how many staff or former staff in respect of (i) alleged equal opportunities breaches which do not proceed to tribunals or courts and (ii) equal opportunities breaches which proceeded to tribunals or courts in (1) the current year and (2) the two previous years. [22505]
Sir John Wheeler: Within the Northern Ireland Office, Northern Ireland Department and their agencies, information in respect of alleged equal opportunities breaches which did not proceed to tribunals or courts is as follows:
| (a) Northern Ireland Office and Northern Ireland Departments | (b)Next steps agencies | |
|---|---|---|
| 1995--96 | ||
| Staff | 1 | -- |
| Amount (£) | 3,400 | -- |
| 1994-95 | ||
| Staff | 2 | 2 |
| Amount (£) | 11,500 | 11,000 |
| 1993-94 | ||
| Staff | 4 | -- |
| Amount (£) | 31,500 | -- |
There have been no alleged equal opportunities breaches that have proceeded to a tribunal or court which have resulted in payment of a compensatory award.
28 Mar 1996 : Column: 741
Information regarding non-departmental public bodies and other organisations is not held centrally and could be obtained only at disproportionate cost.
Students
Mr. Bryan Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what estimate he has made of the total assessed parental contribution to higher education student's maintenance awards. [22222]
Mr. Ancram: The total assessed parental contribution for 1994-95, the last complete year for which information is available, was £13.3 million.
Special Educational Needs
Mr. Worthington: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what is the current provision for children in Northern Ireland with special educational needs. [22557]
Mr. Ancram: A wide range of provision is available for children in Northern Ireland with statements of special educational needs.
Education and library boards may place such children at special schools, at special education units attached to mainstream schools or in mainstream schools themselves. Special education may also be provided other than at grant-aided schools in Northern Ireland; such provision may, where appropriate, take the form of tuition in a hospital or at home, at an independent school in Northern Ireland or at an educational institution outside Northern Ireland.
Teachers (Early Retirement)
Mr. Worthington: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many teachers in Northern Ireland have taken premature retirement due to (a) ill-health and (b) other reasons in each of the past 10 years. [22561]
Mr. Ancram: The number of teachers who have taken premature retirement due to ill health and for other reasons in each of the last 10 years is set out in the table:
| Financial year | Ill health retirements | Other retirements |
|---|---|---|
| 1986-87 | 58 | 226 |
| 1987-88 | 82 | 224 |
| 1988-89 | 70 | 314 |
| 1989-90 | 105 | 306 |
| 1990-91 | 103 | 409 |
| 1991-92 | 85 | 383 |
| 1992-93 | 115 | 280 |
| 1993-94 | 136 | 248 |
| 1994-95 | 159 | 258 |
| 1995-96 | 191 | 229 |
28 Mar 1996 : Column: 742
Nursery Education
Mr. Worthington: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many nursery places are currently available in Northern Ireland. [22591]
Mr. Ancram: A total of 6,600 full-time equivalent places are available at grant-aided nursery schools and nursery units attached to grant-aided primary schools.
Department of Finance and Personnel
Mr. Nigel Evans: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what progress has been made in establishing the social and statistics division of the Department of Finance and Personnel as a next steps agency. [23319]
Sir John Wheeler: The social and statistics division of the Department of Finance and Personnel, including the census office and general register office, will be established as an executive agency on 1 April 1996. It will be known as the Northern Ireland Statistics and Research Agency.
I have set a number of key performance targets for the agency to achieve in its first year. These are as follows:
Copies of the framework document, which sets out the terms within which the agency will operate, will be placed in the Library, along with its first corporate and business plan.
85 per cent. of key Government users of the agency surveyed rating its overall service as satisfactory or better;
80 per cent. of registered non-Government users of the agency surveyed rating its overall service as satisfactory or better;
to produce at least 40 statistical publications;
to process 95 per cent. of general register office postal and personal applications within eight and three working days respectively;
to reduce by 2 per cent. the unit cost of producing certificates by the general register office;
to achieve a minimum 3 per cent. efficiency saving.
Accident and Emergency Services
Mr. John D. Taylor: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many patients each hospital trust is contracted to treat in accident and emergency in the Eastern health and social services board area; how many each treated in accident and emergency in the last year for which figures are available; and what was the percentage difference from contract in each case. [22921]
Mr. Moss: Contracts for accident and emergency services do not specify the number of patients to be treated, as such services are demand led. However, some contracts may include indicative figures based on the number of patients treated in the previous year. These may in some cases be used as a basis for renegotiating contract values during the year.
| Number | |
|---|---|
| Belfast City Hospital HSS trust | 51,036 |
| Ulster, North Down and Ards Hospitals HSS trust | 80,281 |
| Royal Group of Hospitals HSS trust | 105,462 |
| Down Lisburn HSS trust | 53,470 |
| Mater Infirmorum Hospital HSS trust | 42,491 |
Births
Mr. John D. Taylor: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many births occurred in each of the last five years in each health and social services board area; and what this was as a percentage of the total population in each area. [22922]
Sir John Wheeler: The general register office for Northern Ireland collects information on the population and the number of births occurring in each of the district council areas in Northern Ireland. The figures have been aggregated for each of the four health and social services board areas.
As the most recent information available is for 1994, the data requested are as follows:
| Health and social services board area | 1990 | 1991 | 1992 | 1993 | 1994 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Eastern | 10,133 | 10,273 | 9,888 | 9,511 | 9,179 |
| Northern | 6,196 | 6,038 | 6,052 | 5,918 | 5,881 |
| Southern | 5,301 | 5,248 | 5,007 | 4,844 | 4,868 |
| Western | 4,869 | 4,706 | 4,625 | 4,636 | 4,361 |
| Northern Ireland | 26,499 | 26,265 | 25,572 | 24,909 | 24,289 |
| Health and Social Services Board Area | 1990 | 1991 | 1992 | 1993 | 1994 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Eastern | 1.56 | 1.57 | 1.5 | 1.43 | 1.38 |
| Northern | 1.57 | 1.52 | 1.5 | 1.46 | 1.44 |
| Southern | 1.86 | 1.82 | 1.72 | 1.65 | 1.64 |
| Western | 1.87 | 1.79 | 1.74 | 1.73 | 1.62 |
| Northern Ireland | 1.67 | 1.64 | 1.58 | 1.53 | 1.48 |
Family Planning
Mr. John D. Taylor: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what was the spending on the provision of family planning services in each health and social services area in the last year for which figures are available. [22923]
Mr. Moss: Health and personal social services providers spent £1,537,770 on the provision of family planning services in the 1994-95 financial year.
The breakdown over health and social services areas is given in the table.
| Area | Expenditure £ |
|---|---|
| Northern board | 189,759 |
| Southern board | 249,447 |
| Eastern board | 891,667 |
| Western board | 206,897 |
| Total | 1,537,770 |
28 Mar 1996 : Column: 744
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