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Fracture Service
Mr. Moss: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland from what budgets the recently announced £4 million for an improved fracture service in the Northern Ireland Health Service will be funded; and how much will be distributed to each health board. [70096]
Mr. McFall:
The announcement on 20 January 1999 of £4 million for improved fracture services related to a capital scheme to enable the centralisation of fracture and accident and emergency services on the Royal Victoria Hospital site. The funding will provide enhanced and extended facilities and equipment at the Royal Victoria Hospital. The project will also involve additional investment of £1.1 million per year to provide additional scheduled theatre lists on the RVH site, increased outreach clinics in Antrim and
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Craigavon Hospitals and additional consultant sessions for outpatients. Both these sums will be met from the CSR settlement for the HPSS which I announced on 15 December 1998.
Mr. Moss:
To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many people were on waiting lists in each month in the past five years in the Northern Ireland Health Service for each recorded speciality. [70098]
Mr. McFall:
The number of people on waiting lists in the last five years in the Northern Ireland Health Service for each recorded speciality are not available monthly. Data are available on a quarterly basis from June 1994 and are set out in the table.
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Source:
CH1
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Mr. Moss:
To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland (1) how many (i) men and (ii) women aged (a) 18 to 24 and (b) over 25 years old were employed under the ACE programme each month during 1998; [70074]
(3) how many people moved from the ACE programme into permanent jobs in each of the past five years; [70071]
(4) how many (i) men and (ii) women aged (a) 18 to 24 and (b) over 25 years old were employed under the ACE programme in each of the last five years; [70075]
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(5) when the ACE programme is to be terminated. [70073]
Mr. Ingram:
Responsibility for these issues has been delegated 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. Malcolm Moss, dated 15 February 1999:
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(2) how many jobs have been lost under the ACE programme in each of the past 12 months; [70072]
Parliamentary Questions 70071-70075
The Secretary of State for Northern Ireland has asked me as Chief Executive of the Training and Employment Agency to reply to your questions about the Action for Community Employment (ACE) programme.
Parliamentary Question 70071
Details of the number of people moving from ACE into permanent employment are derived from a biannual survey of those who have left the programme. The flow into employment is therefore based on those who respond to the survey. The figures for the last five years for which data is available are:
| Year | Into employment (percentage) |
|---|---|
| 1993 | 35 |
| 1994 | 38 |
| 1995 | 38 |
| 1996 | 37 |
| 1997 | 44 |
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Parliamentary Question 70072
During 1998 there was a net reduction in the number of jobs provided by ACE but in some months there was in increase. In December 1997, 4,334 jobs were provided and the movements over the following 12 months:
Month Increase/Reduction
January -33
February +18
March -36
April -11
May -.09
June -.19
July -.63
August -81
September +12
October +44
November +20
December +62
Number of jobs at end of December 1998: 3939
Reduction over 12 month period: 496
Parliamentary Question 70073
The ACE programme will be phased out during 1999 and its replacement, Worktrain, will become operational in August 1999. Transitional arrangements will be made for those remaining in ACE beyond July 1999.
Parliamentary Question 70074
Details of the number of participants by age group in the ACE programme were not collected prior to the introduction of New Deal.
Since early 1998, approximately 25 per cent. of ACE participants were aged between 18 and 24. Following the introduction of the New Deal for 18-24 year olds, recruitment of people in this age group into ACE was discontinued. Numbers have now reduced to 194 females and 189 males. I expect that by April 1999 there will be no 18 to 24 year olds participating in ACE.
At the end of December 1998 there were 2,111 females and 1,344 males (total 3,455) in the 25+ age group participating in the ACE programme.
Parliamentary Question 70075
As I explained in my answer to question 70074, prior to the introduction of New Deal, information on the age of ACE participants was not collected. However on the assumption that approximately 25 per cent. of participants were in the 18-24 years group, (as was the situation whenever New Deal was introduced) and 7.1 per cent. were over 25 years, then the following estimates apply:
| 18-24 years old | Over 24 years old | Totals | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Year | Female | Male | Female | Male | Female | Male | Grand Total |
| 1994-95 | 1,123 | 1,188 | 3,406 | 3,575 | 4,538 | 4,762 | 9,301 |
| 1995-96 | 1,154 | 1,136 | 3,477 | 3,422 | 4,631 | 4,559 | 9,189 |
| 1996-97 | 920 | 820 | 2,769 | 2,466 | 3,689 | 3,286 | 6,975 |
| 1997-98 | 701 | 559 | 2,111 | 1,678 | 2,812 | 2,237 | 5,049 |
| 1998-99(4) | 194 | 189 | 2,206 | 1,311 | 2,400 | 1,500 | 3,900 |
(4) Estimated outturn figures
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