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Council for Voluntary Action Report
Mr. McGrady: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what assessment he has made of the report entitled, "Missing the Target: a critique of Government policy on Targeting Social Need in Northern Ireland", published by the Northern Ireland Council for Voluntary Action; and what plans he has to implement its recommendations. [9689]
Mr. Ancram: The Government have noted the report on targeting social need published by the Northern Ireland Council for Voluntary Action in December 1996. Though it contains some constructive comments, other criticisms of Government policies are not accepted, particularly when it is suggested that Northern Ireland should diverge from particular national or European Union policies. It would not be appropriate to come to a final view on the report's recommendations in advance of the Standing Advisory Commission on Human Rights' report on employment equality which is scheduled to be published in the near future and which will also deal with targeting social need.
Disability
Dr. Hendron: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many people from Belfast, West (i) are currently in receipt of disability allowance, (ii) have had applications for disability living allowance turned down in 1996, (iii) are currently in receipt of incapacity benefit and (iv) have had applications for incapacity benefit turned down in 1996. [9751]
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Mr. Moss: Responsibility for the subject in question has been delegated to the Social Security Agency under its chief executive, Mr. Alec Wylie. I have asked him to arrange for a reply to be given.
| Benefit | Number of recipients August 1996 |
|---|---|
| DLA | 10,263 |
| IB | 6,350 |
Based on 1991 population census.
Ministerial Leave
Mr. Ian McCartney: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland (1) how many days of leave he plans to take during the Christmas adjournment; [9827]
- (2) how many days leave he has taken in the Easter, Whitsun and summer adjournments; and how many days leave he took during the time in which Parliament was prorogued this year. [9826]
Sir Patrick Mayhew: I refer the hon. Member to the answer given to him earlier today by my right hon. Friend the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster.
Consultants
Mr. Milburn: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what estimate he has made of the amount spent on external consultants by his Department's non-departmental public bodies in each of the last five years. [10192]
Sir John Wheeler: Expenditure details are not immediately available for all bodies, especially in the first three years. However, from the information available to Northern Ireland Departments and the Northern Ireland Office, the amount spent by their non-departmental public bodies on external consultants in each of the last five years was:
| Year | Expenditure (£000) |
|---|---|
| 1991-92 | 968 |
| 1992-93 | 1,746 |
| 1993-94 | 1,696 |
| 1994-95 | 1,861 |
| 1995-96 | 2,890 |
Mr. Milburn: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland if he will list the actions his Department
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has taken on each of the recommendations contained in the Cabinet Office report, "The Government's Use of External Consultants". [10193]
Sir John Wheeler: The report did not extend to Northern Ireland because of the separate public expenditure accountability and administrative arrangements that exist there. However, guidance has been issued to the Northern Ireland Departments and the Northern Ireland Office based on the report's recommendations.
Language Teaching
Rev. Ian Paisley: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how much was spent on the promotion and teaching of (a) the Irish language and (b) the Ulster-Scots language in 1996 in each of the last five years. [10645]
Mr. Ancram: The table shows the identifiable expenditure on projects with an Irish language or Ulster-Scots dimension for the financial years 1991-92 to 1995-96. It includes expenditure on education through the medium of the Irish language, but does not include expenditure on the teaching of the Irish language in English medium schools because this information is not collected separately. Applications for grant assistance are assessed on their merits and the disparity between the levels of funding reflects the number of Irish language and Ulster-Scots cultural groups in Northern Ireland, and the relative stage of development of the Irish language and Ulster-Scots cultural movements.
| £ million | ||
|---|---|---|
| Year | Irish | Ulster-Scots |
| 1991-92 | 1.222 | Nil |
| 1992-93 | 1.347 | 0.004 |
| 1993-94 | 1.554 | Nil |
| 1994-95 | 1.942 | 0.003 |
| 1995-96 | 2.521 | 0.021 |
Fluoridation
Mr. Peter Robinson: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland if he will list the consulting engineers who have been involved in the M and E design work associated with the proposals for the fluoridation of the water supply in Northern Ireland. [10543]
Mr. Moss: Responsibility for the subject in question has been delegated to the Water Service under its chief executive, Mr. H. R. Plester. I have asked him to arrange for a reply to be given.
Letter from H. R. F. Plester to Mr. Peter Robinson, dated 7 January 1997:
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Rev. Ian Paisley:
To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how much money Northern Ireland has received in each financial year from EC sources apart from payments under the structural funds. [10811]
Sir John Wheeler:
The following amounts have been identified as being received in Northern Ireland from European Community sources other than the structural funds since 1987-88, when meaningful figures first became available:
Mr Moss has asked me to reply to your parliamentary question asking if he will list the consulting engineers who have been involved in the M & E design work associated with the proposals for the fluoridation of the water supply in Northern Ireland.
The Water Service has not commissioned any consulting engineers to carry out design work associated with the proposals for fluoridation of the water supply in Northern Ireland. All design work to date has been undertaken by the Water Service's own design staff.
| Financial year | Total £ million |
|---|---|
| 1987-88 | 27.6 |
| 1988-89 | 27.8 |
| 1989-90 | 46.0 |
| 1990-91 | 48.0 |
| 1991-92 | 59.5 |
| 1992-93 | 56.1 |
| 1993-94 | 89.7 |
| 1994-95 | 114.7 |
| 1995-96 | 128.7 |
These receipts are from the guarantee section of the European agricultural guidance and guarantee fund. However, it should be noted that the bulk of guarantee section receipts are disbursed centrally by the Intervention Board for Agricultural Produce and details of payments are not generally maintained at regional level. Other small payments are made by the European Commission direct to recipients which are not passed through the United Kingdom Government.
EU Social Fund
Rev. Ian Paisley: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how much money under the European social fund for Northern Ireland in each financial year to date accrued to (a) the private sector, (b) non-central Government public sector bodies and (c) central Government. [10814]
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 | -- | -- | -- |
| 1974-75 | 0.41 | 0.31 | 2.68 |
| 1975-76 | -- | -- | -- |
| 1976-77 | 0.77 | 0.58 | 5.05 |
| 1977-78 | 0.90 | 0.68 | 5.92 |
| 1978-79 | 1.80 | 1.35 | 11.85 |
| 1979-80 | 1.80 | 1.35 | 11.85 |
| 1980-81 | 2.76 | 2.07 | 18.17 |
| 1981-82 | 3.00 | 2.25 | 19.75 |
| 1982-83 | 4.22 | 3.17 | 27.81 |
| 1983-84 | 4.56 | 3.42 | 30.02 |
| 1984-85 | 4.56 | 3.42 | 30.02 |
| 1985-86 | 3.00 | 2.25 | 19.75 |
| 1986-87 | 6.39 | 4.80 | 42.11 |
| 1987-88 | 6.77 | 5.08 | 44.55 |
| 1988-89 | 4.33 | 3.25 | 28.52 |
| 1989-90 | 4.17 | 5.57 | 36.66 |
| 1990-91 | 4.57 | 6.08 | 40.05 |
| 1991-92 | 4.75 | 6.32 | 41.63 |
| 1992-93 | 3.77 | 5.03 | 33.10 |
| 1993-94 | 3.16 | 4.21 | 27.73 |
| 1994-95 | 6.36 | 8.47 | 55.77 |
| 1995-96 | 3.41 | 4.55 | 29.94 |
| 75.46 | 74.21 | 562.93 |
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