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30 Jun 2003 : Column 88W—continued

Regulatory Bodies

Mr. Yeo: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions if he will list the (a) number of staff employed by and (b) budget of each regulatory body for which his Department is responsible in each year since 1997. [117785]

Malcolm Wicks: The information is in the table.

The Department for Work and Pensions was formed in June 2001. It took responsibility for the Occupational Pensions Regulatory Authority (OPRA) from that date and for the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) from July 2002. Responsibility for OPRA was previously with the former Department of Social Security. Responsibility for the HSE rested with the Department for the Environment, Transport and the Regions from May 1997, the Department for Transport, Local Government and the Regions from June 2001 and the Department for Transport from May 2002.

	Health and Safety Executive (HSE)(17)	Occupational Pension Regulatory Authority (OPRA)(18)
1997–98
Staff (Number)	4,077	139
Budget (£ million)	174.1	9.6
1998–99
Staff (Number)	3,932	171
Budget (£ million)	175.7	9.6
1999–2000
Staff (Number)	3,880	200
Budget (£ million)	180.6	11.4
2000–01
Staff (Number)	3,937	216
Budget (£ million)	181.3	12.9
2001–02
Staff (Number)	3,894	235
Budget (£ million)	199.4	15.9
2002–03
Staff (Number)	4,050	257
Budget (£ million)	210.4	18.7

⁽¹⁷⁾ The Health and Safety Executive staffing information is based on the whole-time equivalent as at 1 April in each year.

⁽¹⁸⁾ The staffing information in respect of OPRA is based on average numbers in each financial year and includes non civil servants.

⁽¹⁹⁾ Resource accounting and budgeting was introduced in 2001–02.

Sponsorship

Mr. Oaten: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions which of his Department's projects have received sponsorship in the last financial year; who the sponsor was in each case; what the nature of each project was; what time period was covered by each project; what the total cost of each project was; how much money was involved in each sponsorship deal; and if he will make a statement. [112400]

30 Jun 2003 : Column 89W

Malcolm Wicks: The only project within the Department that attracted sponsorship in the last financial year was the launch event of the European Year of Disabled People. £10,000 was pledged by UNUM Provident as a contribution to the costs of the launch event of the European Year of Disabled People, held on 22 January 2003.

State Pension Forecasts

Dr. Francis: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many people his Department has employed to process state pensions forecasts in 2003. [122269]

Malcolm Wicks: The number of managers and staff employed to process state pension forecasts in 2003 is the equivalent of 175 full-time staff.

NORTHERN IRELAND

11-plus

Mr. Dodds: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland if he will list the names of people appointed to serve on the panel set up to advise on the replacement of the 11-plus examination; which organisations they represent; and whether their views on the Burns Report are known to the Department. [122638]

Jane Kennedy: The Post-Primary Review Working Group is chaired by Mr. Steve Costello and the members are: Mr. Jim Clarke, Mr. Gilly Irwin, Bishop Donal McKeown, Dr. Bob Rodgers, Reverend Dr. Donald Watts, Mrs. Margaret Martin, Dr. Anne Murray, Mr. Gavin Boyd, Mr. lan Houston and Ms Avril Hall-Callaghan. The individuals have been invited to participate on the group in a personal capacity and not as representatives of particular organisations. The Department does not know the views of the individuals with regard to the Burns Report.

Acute Hospital Beds

Mrs. Iris Robinson: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many acute hospital beds he estimates there will be in Northern Ireland if the proposals in the recent ministerial announcement on developing better services are implemented. [120980]

Angela Smith: The implementation of the programme to modernise Northern Ireland's hospital services will require a period of some years; during that time, the number of acute hospital beds required will be kept under constant review. It is not possible at this point to estimate how many may be required in the future, since this is dependent on a wide range of factors, including changes in clinical practice and demand for services.

Ambulance Personnel

Lady Hermon: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many attacks on ambulance personnel there were in Northern Ireland (a) in 2001, (b) in 2002 and (c) since January 2003; how many people have been convicted for these attacks; and what action he is taking to tackle violent crime against paramedics and other ambulance staff. [120890]

30 Jun 2003 : Column 90W

Angela Smith: The number of attacks on ambulance staff in 2001, 2002 and until 23 May 2003, the most recent date for which information is available, is as follows:

Attacks on staff

	Number
2001	68
2002	96
2003 (to May 2003)	70

Information on the number of convictions is not available.

Actions being taken by the Northern Ireland Ambulance Service (NIAS) to tackle violent crime against staff include:

special training for front line staff, to enable them to respond safely to aggression or violence;


a review of the Trust's violence to staff policy;


an officer on-call system for staff subjected to violent attack;


consistent condemnation by senior managers in the media of attacks on staff;


improved Occupational Health Service support for staff who have been attacked; and


the purchase of new vehicles with enhanced security measures, including security cameras and reinforced windscreens—NIAS intends to extend the use of toughened glass to side windows.

Autism

Mrs. Iris Robinson: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many autistic children have (a) received and (b) refused applied behaviour analysis teaching in (i) the Southern Health and Social Services Board and (ii) the Belfast Board Area. [121604]

Jane Kennedy: The Education and Library Boards support pupils with an Autistic Spectrum Disorder (ASD) using a range of methods. Provision may include classroom assistance, support from ASD Advisory Officers or peripatetic teachers. This teaching provision may include aspects of Applied Behavioural Analysis (ABA), along with other interventions, such as Treatment and Education of Autistic Children and those with related Communications Handicaps (TEACCH) and Picture Exchange Communication System (PECS).

It is not, therefore, possible to quantify the number of children with an ASD who have been taught using ABA techniques in any given Education and Library Board area.

In terms of specific, commercially available ABA Programmes for individual children, information is held by Education and Library Boards not Health and Social Services Boards. The Belfast Education and Library Board (BELB) is currently funding four children. The Southern Education and Library Board (SELB) is funding none. In the SELB there have been two cases where an ABA Programme has been requested but other ASD-specific provision has been made, tailored to the individual needs of the child. In the BELB area, offers of financial support towards the cost of an ABA Programme have been made in another three cases. In one case this offer has been rejected, in the other two, negotiations are ongoing.

30 Jun 2003 : Column 91W

Centre for Traumas and Transformation

Rev. Martin Smyth: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland if he will make a statement on how the public money granted by the Northern Ireland Office to the Northern Ireland Centre for Traumas and Transformation has been spent; and what proportion has been spent on (a) salaries and (b) capital. [118305]

Angela Smith: The Northern Ireland Office has allocated £1.5 million over three years 2002–05 for the development of the Northern Ireland Centre for Trauma and Transformation (NICTT). Over the period September 2002 to 31 March 2003, the Northern Ireland Office paid £291,773 to the NICTT.

Details of spend on salaries, set up costs, fixtures and fittings, and refurbishment are given up to 31 March 2003. Details of spend on other items are not yet available beyond 31 January 2003.

	£
Salaries	96,755
Pre-Operational Centre Set Up Costs	74,432
Pre-Operational Trust Set Up Costs	10,912
Fixtures and Fittings	33,492
Refurbishment	30,239
Stationery and Printing	1,486
Fees	70
Travel and subsistence	746
Insurance	3,137
Staff Training	160
Trustee Costs	145
Sundry	668
Leasing (Computers and Copiers)	1,637
Cleaning Materials	30
Postage	182
Telephone	98
Westcare	1,250
Bank Fees	14
Recruitment Fees	1,960

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