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President Putin

Andrew Mackinlay: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will make a statement on the programme for the state visit of President Putin; and for what reason special events for members of both Houses have not been included in the programme. [121561]

Mr. Rammell: As with all state visits, the programme is a mixture of traditional ceremonial, cultural and substantive elements. Members of both Houses are involved. President Putin will meet my right hon. Friend the Prime Minister for lunch and talks: as is customary he will also meet the leaders of the Conservative and Liberal Democrat Parties. Members of both Houses are also participating in the Banquets associated with the visit.

United States

Mr. Dodds: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what recent representations he has made to the US Government about fund-raising activities in the USA carried out (a) by and (b) on behalf of proscribed organisations in Northern Ireland. [121164]

Mr. MacShane: None. The US has taken steps against all Northern Ireland terrorist organisations the UK Government has specified as not being on ceasefire. These organisations are also proscribed in the UK under the Terrorism Act 2000.

UN Security Council Resolutions

Tony Worthington: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what procedures are in place whereby the legality of Resolution 1422 of the UN Security Council may be judicially determined. [121055]

Mr. Rammell: The Government are not aware of any means by which a binding judicial decision by an international tribunal on the legality of Resolution 1422 could be made. In certain circumstances the International Court of Justice may give advisory opinions, but these are not binding. The Government have no doubt as to the legality of Resolutions 1422 and 1487.

Zimbabwe

Mr. Laxton: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what recent discussions he has had with the British High Commissioner in Harare about the situation in Zimbabwe; and what recent assessment he has made of the political situation there. [120137]

Mr. Mullin: The high commissioner and his staff are in daily contact with the FCO about the political, economic and humanitarian crisis in Zimbabwe.

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The political situation remains tense. MDC leader Morgan Tsvangirai is facing two charges of treason. Other opposition figures have been arrested, harassed and intimidated. Responsibility for the present state of Zimbabwe lies squarely with its present government.

Miss McIntosh: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what steps he has taken within the United Nations to ensure that action is taken to end the crisis in Zimbabwe. [120453]

Mr. Mullin: We maintain regular contact with the UN Secretary General, the UN Development Programme (UNDP) and the World Food Programme (WFP) about Zimbabwe. We supported EU resolutions on Zimbabwe at the UN Human Rights Commission in 2002 and 2003. We will continue to encourage the UN to focus on the crisis in Zimbabwe.

NORTHERN IRELAND

Asbestos

Dr. Cable: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what actions his Department, its agencies and non-departmental public bodies are taking to comply with the requirements of the Control of Asbestos at Work Regulations 2002; whether he has made an estimate of the cost of compliance; and if he will make a statement. [118848]

Mr. Pearson: The Northern Ireland Office and Northern Ireland Departments, together with their Agencies and NDPBs, have been complying with the Control of Asbestos at Work Regulations 2002. Work is on-going to identify where asbestos is present, to assess the risk and to take action to manage such a risk.

The total cost of compliance has not yet been determined as much survey and inspection work is on-going.

Civil Service

Mr. McGrady: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many posts in the Northern Ireland civil service have been publicly advertised since 14 October 2002 for which Irish nationals have been ineligible. [120105]

Mr. Pearson: I refer the hon. Member to the reply I gave on 11 June 2003, Official Report, column 953W.

Mr. McGrady: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what steps are being taken to implement the recommendations of the Senior Civil Service Review Team on nationality restrictions. [120109]

Mr. Pearson: The consultation document which was issued following the review noted that the UK Government are committed in principle to introduce legislation to modernise the nationality rules, subject to the availability of parliamentary time. This remains the position.

Education and Library Boards

Mr. McGrady: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how much money has been allocated by the Department of Education in each of the last five

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years to Education and Library Boards in Northern Ireland to address the requirements of those who suffer from autism. [120106]

Jane Kennedy: The Department of Education gives Education and Library Boards a block grant each year from which they fund the various services they provide. Within their block grant Boards establish their own spending priorities and this includes their spending on Special Educational provision. Special Education Budgets do not specify expenditure on particular areas of Special Educational Need and for this reason, it is not possible separately to identify funding allocations for provision for children with Autism.

Children with an Autistic Spectrum Disorder can receive appropriate provision in Special Schools, Units or mainstream schools. Support in mainstream schools can include classroom assistance, support from ASD Advisory Officers or specialist peripatetic teacher support.

Mr. McGrady: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland which Education and Library Boards use the Applied Behaviour Analysis Scheme for teaching autistic children; and how many children suffer from autism in each Education and Library Board. [120112]

Jane Kennedy: The Education and Library Boards support pupils with an Autistic Spectrum Disorder using a range of methods. These will include aspects of ABA (Applied Behavioural Analysis), TEACCH (Treatment and Education of Autistic Children and those with related Communications Handicaps) and PECS (Picture Exchange Communication System).

All Educational Psychologists are trained in ABA techniques as part of their degree qualification.

The Belfast Education and Library Board and the South-Eastern Education and Library Board are each currently funding four children on specific ABA Programmes.

Figures for the number of children known to the Education and Library Boards to have an ASD are as follows*:

* As of June 2001. Figures taken from the Task Group Report on Autism.

Education board	Number of pupils
North-Eastern	112
South-Eastern	276
Southern	242
Western	145
Belfast	194

Euro

Mr. Dodds: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what the criteria are for the appointment of the members of the Northern Ireland Committee on preparations for the euro; and what the terms of the appointment are. [120620]

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Mr. Pearson: As I announced on 9 June 2003, the Committee will include representation from central and local government, Trades Unions, the voluntary sector, consumer organisations and business. Decisions on the practical arrangements, including the criteria for appointment to the Committee have still to be taken and these will be announced as soon as possible.

Hospital Appointments

Mrs. Iris Robinson: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland pursuant to his answer of 9 June 2003, Official Report, column 699W, on hospital appointments, how many (a) out-patient attendances, (b) accident and emergency assessments and (c) in-patient admissions there were at hospitals in Northern Ireland during the first quarter of 2002. [121010]

Angela Smith: Information on hospital activity in Northern Ireland during the first quarter of 2002 is detailed in the following table.

Activity	1 January 2002to 31 March 2002
(a) Out-patient Attendances—Patients Seen	376,565
(b) Accident and Emergency Attendances	157,746
(c) Normal In-patient Admissions	80,905
(c) Day Cases Admissions	34,471
(c) Total In-patient Activity (normal in-patient + day case admissions)	115,376

Housing (Room Heaters)

Mr. Gregory Campbell: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many glass-fronted room heaters have been replaced by the Northern Ireland Housing Executive in each of the past 10 years; what health and safety procedures are in place to ensure that second-hand room heaters pose no risk to those tenants having them installed; and how often these procedures are updated. [119713]

Mr. Spellar: The Housing Executive is currently in the process of replacing all glass-fronted room heaters with oil or natural gas systems and, over the last four years the number of room heaters in Housing Executive homes has been reduced from around 52,000 to 25,284. It is expected that the majority of the remaining room heaters will be replaced over the next three years. Figures for the 10 individual years are not available in the form requested and could be obtained only at a disproportionate cost.

Damaged or unserviceable glass-fronted room heaters are only replaced with second-hand units as an interim measure in situations where a full-scale heating replacement scheme has already been programmed. Each second-hand room heater is examined and assessed by a major heating contractor and if deemed to be in good order it is then fully re-conditioned before it is re-fitted. During the re-conditioning process the appliance is thoroughly checked and tested in the same manner and to the same standards applied to a new appliance. At the time of commissioning, the installation is checked in-situ to the same standards as a new appliance and a commissioning certificate produced. This procedure is now only into its second year of operation and is presently under review.

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