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Teachers' Pay Review

Mr. Beggs: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland if the pay settlement reached in the Review of Salaries for Principals and Vice Principals will be extended to (a) teaching and (b) non-teaching principals. [100064]

Jane Kennedy: The independent Inquiry's Interim Report on Principal and Vice-principal Pay applies to all principals in grant-aided schools, irrespective of the teaching duties they carry out.

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Trolley Waiting Times

Rev. Martin Smyth: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what the average trolley waits in Daisy Hill Hospital were in (a) November 2002, (b) December 2002 and (c) January 2003. [98261]

Mr. Browne: There were no trolley waits in Daisy Hill Hospital in (a) November 2002, (b) December 2002 or (c) January 2003.

Rev. Martin Smyth: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what the average trolley wait was in each hospital in Northern Ireland in January. [98262]

Mr. Browne: Trolley wait information is collected by time band. It is therefore not possible to calculate the arithmetic mean length of trolley wait. It is however possible to identify the median or mid point trolley wait.

The median length of trolley waits by hospital are provided in the table below.

	Median hours waiting	Total monthly trolley waits
Altnagelvin	Less than 1	7
Antrim	12–13	312
Belfast City	8–9	188
Causeway	13–14	152
Craigavon	17+	421
Down	4–5	11
Lagan Valley	11–12	124
Mater	13–14	242
Mid Ulster	8–9	29
Royal Group	8–9	107
Sperrin Lakeland	2–3	29
Ulster	10–11	357
Whiteabbey	8–9	1

Vehicle Fleets

Mr. Donaldson: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland whether he has issued guidelines to local authorities in Northern Ireland on the introduction of facilities for the provision of (a) retail and fleet liquefied petroleum gas and (b) compressed natural gas. [96555]

Angela Smith: No guidelines have been issued to local authorities in Northern Ireland on the introduction of such facilities.

The Environment (Northern Ireland) Order 2002 enables District Councils to undertake the assessment and management of air quality in Northern Ireland. It requires District Councils to identify areas where air quality standards are not likely to be achieved within specified timeframes. In such areas, relevant authorities can then be required to produce proposals for reduction in the pollution levels. Should pollution from road transport be identified as a significant source in a particular area, government departments, district councils and other public bodies will consider possible reduction measures, including, where relevant, any contribution that might be made by a programme supporting low emission vehicles.

Work Permits

Rev. Martin Smyth: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland whether the term Baltic dancers

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appeared in the application made in summer 2002 for a group work permit for lap dancers for the Movie Star Café. [98034]

Jane Kennedy: The name of the group stated on the application form was "Baltic Dancers".

Rev. Martin Smyth: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what discussions the Department of Employment and Learning had with Work Permits UK on the application made for a group work permit for lap dancers for the Movie Star Café in summer 2002. [98036]

Jane Kennedy: When processing work permit applications for Northern Ireland the Department for Employment and Learning applied the same criteria as used in Work Permits (UK). As no guidelines existed in respect of pole dancers, it was only after querying this aspect with Work Permits (UK) that DEL treated the application in question on the basis of an entertainment application.

Work Placements

Mr. Allen: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many university students his Department has supported or sponsored with a work placement in the last year; what his policy is on work placements; what plans he has to develop such schemes; and what his policy is on paying their university fees. [98550]

Mr. Paul Murphy: The Department has supported or sponsored 71 university work placement students during the past year. These cover the areas of Valuation, Statistics, Economics, Architecture, Quantity Surveying, Mechanical Engineering, Media Studies and IT.

There is no specific policy, however, the numbers employed are decided upon by the specialist business areas and is dependant on available funding.

There are currently no plans to further develop the schemes.

The Department employs and pays university students for the period of placement but do not pay or make any contribution to their university fees.

TRANSPORT

A46/A47 Link Road

5. Keith Vaz: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport if he will make an assessment of the effectiveness of the A46-A47 Link Road. [100181]

Mr. Spellar: No. As the A46/A47 Link Road is a local road scheme, the responsibility for monitoring its performance rests with the local highway authority, Leicester city council.

Buses

14. Mr. Webb: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what his strategy is for encouraging greater reliance on bus transport in areas where bus services are deregulated. [100191]

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Mr. Jamieson: Better partnership between bus operators and local authorities, with co-ordinated investment in infrastructure and new vehicles, is a proven way of growing bus patronage, and is particularly effective where it can relieve congestion. Other local authority policies, for example on parking restraint and park-and-ride schemes, can also encourage greater use of buses. That is why we have established the Bus Forum between the bus operators and local authorities to develop the best framework for this partnership.

New Airport (Rugby)

15. Mr. Robathan: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport if he will make a statement on the Environment Agency's submissions on the proposed site of a new airport east of Rugby. [100192]

Mr. Jamieson: The Environment Agency has engaged in the consultation process and we welcome their input. As I have said previously, we will produce a summary of the responses after the consultation has finished.

Railways

16. Mr. Swayne: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport if he will make a statement about the level of investment in the national railway infrastructure in the last financial year. [100193]

Mr. Jamieson: National Rail Trends published quarterly by the Strategic Rail Authority gives details of total investment in the rail industry. For 2001–02 this stood at £4,070 million. Of this £922 million was in respect of rolling stock. The bulk of the remaining investment spend is in respect of infrastructure.

Road Works Obstructions

17. Andrew Selous: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what assessment he has made of the cost to businesses of the overrunning of road works contracts which obstruct entry to business premises in the last five years. [100194]

Mr. Jamieson: Where a highway authority carries out works under a statutory power or duty, and performs those works properly, there is not at law any liability on the authority for loss of business.

Consequently, no assessment is made of the cost to businesses of the overrunning of road works contracts.

Nevertheless, the Highways Agency recognises the disruption these works can cause and requires its contractors to complete them as quickly as possible with minimum disruption to businesses. Every effort is made to ensure that its road works do not obstruct entry to business premises or, otherwise, alternative access arrangements are provided.

Cycling Projects Fund

18. Mr. Ben Chapman: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport if he will make a statement on the Cycling Projects Fund. [100195]

Mr. Jamieson: The Cycling Projects Fund supports cycling across England by providing funds for projects that can meet a local need and deliver an increase in

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cycling. Over £2 million was allocated in the first round and a second bidding round is now in progress, with a further £1million available.

Roads (Eastern Region)

19. Mr. Blizzard: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what plans he has to improve road links in the eastern part of the eastern region. [100196]

Mr. Jamieson: Schemes currently under construction or programmed to improve access by road to the eastern part of the eastern region include: A47-Thorney bypass, Hardwick flyover, Kings Lynn, and Blofield-North Burlingham dualling; A11-Five Ways to Thetford dualling, Roudham Heath to Attleborough dualling and Attleborough bypass dualling; A14 Haughey New street-Stowmarket improvement and Rookery Crossroads grade separated junction, and A428 Caxton Common to Hardwick dualling. We are carrying out further studies to identify the appropriate way to deal with the A47 Acle Straight and the Highways Agency are looking at ways to improve safety on the Acle Straight and at improvements to roundabouts in Great Yarmouth to increase capacity and improve safety.

Norfolk county council recently completed the Broome and Ellingham bypass and Suffolk county council are progressing with the south Lowestoft relief road for which funding will be provided once it has passed through all the statutory processes.

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