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Stalking Legislation

Mr. Robert McCartney: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what consultation he has undertaken with the Home Secretary in order to have Northern Ireland included in the proposed stalking legislation. [2454]

Sir John Wheeler: I refer the hon. and learned Gentleman to the reply I gave him on 23 July 1996, Official Report, column 256. The separate Northern Ireland consultation paper was published in September, with a closing date for comments of 2 December. When all these have been received, I shall consider what legislation is required for Northern Ireland and how best to proceed.

Fair Employment (Teachers)

Mr. Robert McCartney: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many teaching jobs otherwise exempted form the fair employment legislation are

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required, by the internal guidelines of (a) the five education and library boards and (b) the Council for Catholic Maintained Schools to have appointments made under fair employment procedures. [2458]

Mr. Ancram: The guidance procedures to be used in individual cases is a matter for the relevant employing authority, and details are not available centrally.

Waiting Times

Mr. McGrady: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many people were referred by general practitioners for (a) orthopaedic operations, (b) coronary bypass surgery and (c) coronary angiograms in each health and social services trust in Northern Ireland (i) between 1 April and 30 September 1996 and (ii) between 1 April 1995 and 31 March 1996; how many of those in (a) have been placed on a waiting list; how long they have been waiting; and what is the expected date for their operations. [2387]

Mr. Moss: General practitioners usually refer patients for consultant out-patient appointments in the first instance, with decisions regarding any subsequent action,

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including a decision to place on a waiting list for treatment, being taken following assessment at a consultant out-patient clinic.

In the year ending 31 March 1996--latest figures available--there were 24,440 GP written referrals for out-patient appointments in the trauma and orthopaedics specialty and 7,676 in the cardiology specialty. Patients are not referred by GPs for coronary angiograms. The procedure which an individual patient may require is not determined until he/she is seen by the cardiologist at the first appointment. The latter information is not available centrally. In the cardiac surgery specialty, there were 823 consultant referrals for out-patient appointments. GPs do not refer directly to the cardiac surgery specialty--they refer patients to a cardiologist in the first instance. It is not possible to break down these overall Northern Ireland figures into the particular trust wherein the referring GPs are located.

The numbers of those waiting for a first out-patient appointment at 31 March 1996 in these specialties, together with the time waiting for those who had not cancelled an appointment offered or who had not failed to attend such an appointment are given in the table:

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Specialty	Total	Patients who had cancelled or failed to attend a previous appointment	Patients who has not cancelled or failed to attend a previous appointment		Time waiting of those who had not cancelled or failed to attend(37)
				< 6 mths per cent.	> 6-12 mths per cent.	> 12 mths + per cent.
Orthopaedics	3,010	602	2,408	82	9	9
Cardiology	1,783	239	1,544	97	3	1
Cardiac Surgery	74	19	55	42	36	22

(37) Percentages may not sum to 100 per cent. as a result of rounding. Percentages exclude a small proportion of cases where waiting time for admission was not known.

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The waiting times for admissions of elective in-patients in the trauma and orthopaedics specialty during the year ending 31 March 1996 are given in the table, with the waiting times for admission of those elective in-patients whose primary procedures in the same period were coronary bypass surgery or coronary angiogram.

			Waiting time for admission(38)
Specialty	Total	<6 months	>6 <12 months	>12 months
		Per cent.	Per cent.	Per cent.
Trauma and orthopaedics procedure	8,988	73	21	6
Coronary bypass	713	65	28	6
Angiogram	974	97	2	(<1)

(38) Percentages may not sum to 100 per cent. as a result of rounding. Percentages exclude a small proportion of cases where waiting time for admission was not known.

Mr. McGrady: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what assessment he has made of the length of national health service waiting lists in Northern Ireland; and if he will make a statement. [2389]

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Mr. Moss: The table shows that between 30 June 1995 and 30 June 1996--the latest available figures--the overall number waiting for treatment changed very little.

	Number waiting for first appointment	For ordinary admission	For day case admission
June 1995	67,750	21,070	14,688
June 1996	62,765	21,687	16,890

Mr. McGrady: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what steps he will take to reduce the waiting lists for coronary angiograms in each of the health and social services trusts in Northern Ireland; and if he will make a statement. [2388]

Mr. Moss: Information is not available on waiting lists for individual procedures. However, the table gives the number of elective in-patients who had coronary angiograms as their primary procedure in the last three years and the time they had to wait between the decision to admit them to hospital and the date of their admission. The table shows that there has been a 20 per cent. increase in the number of angiograms performed over this period.

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Coronary angiograms

		Waiting time for admission(39)
	Total	6 months	6 to 12 months	12 months +
		Per cent.	Per cent.	Per cent.
1993-94	814	95	5	(-1)
1994-95	799	96	3	1
1995-96	974	97	2	(-1)

(39) Percentages may not sum to 100 per cent. as a result of rounding. Percentages exclude a small proportion of cases where waiting time for admission was not known.

Blood Spreading

Mr. John D. Taylor: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what is the cause of the unusual smell at Ballymaglaff road, Comber; what substances have been spread on that land; and if he will make a statement. [2444]

Mr. Ancram: I understand that the smell at Ballymaglaff road, Comber arose from the spreading of blood on land.

The practice of spreading blood on land as an agricultural fertiliser is an acceptable method of disposal.

Educational Qualifications

Mr. Robert McCartney: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what steps his Department is taking to ensure that the Irish Republic gives full mutual recognition to educational qualifications obtained in Northern Ireland; and what issues are outstanding. [2456]

Mr. Ancram: The Republic of Ireland is currently establishing new arrangements for the certification of vocational and other qualifications. Officials of my Department have initiated contact with their counterparts and will be raising issues relating to mutual recognition.

Queen's Speech

Mr. Robert McCartney: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland which of the Bills announced in the Queen's Speech and not yet published will include Northern Ireland in their extent; and what were the reasons for not including Northern Ireland in the others. [2453]

Sir Patrick Mayhew: Excluding the two Scottish measures in the Queen's Speech, nine of the remaining 12 Bills will apply wholly or in part to Northern Ireland. The nine Bills in question are: the Benefit Fraud Bill, the Compensation Recovery Bill, the Crime (Sentences) Bill, the Decommissioning Bill, the Education Bill, the Merchant Shipping and Maritime Security Bill, the National Heritage Bill, the Police Bill and the Primary Health Care Bill.

The possibility of extending the Firearms (Amendment) Bill to Northern Ireland is still being considered.

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Students

Mr. Robert McCartney: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what estimate he has made of the effect on the number of students from the Irish Republic attending colleges in Northern Ireland of the introduction of free tuition in the Republic. [2457]

Mr. Ancram: None.

Local Government Structure

Mr. Robert McCartney: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland if he will make it his policy to review Northern Ireland's local government structure so as to reform the functions and powers of the district councils in line with the proposed rearrangements for the education and library boards. [2627]

Mr. Moss: The Government keep the arrangements for local government in Northern Ireland under continual review. I see no case at present for reforming the functions and powers of district councils.

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