| Previous Section | Index | Home Page |
14 Oct 2003 : Column 203W—continued
Educational Psychology
Mrs. Iris Robinson: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland (1) how many pupils are (a) being attended to by educational psychologists and (b) waiting to be attended to by educational psychologists in each of the education board areas in Northern Ireland; [131777]
- (2) how many pupils (a) requested an appointment with an educational psychologist and (b) succeeded in obtaining such an appointmenst in each of the education board areas in Northern Ireland in each of the past five years; [131778]
(3) what the average waiting times for a child to get an appointment with an educational psychologist in each of the Education Board areas in Northern Ireland was in each of the past five years. [131779]
Jane Kennedy: This information is not available from the Education and Library Boards within the time scale. I will write to the hon. Member as soon as it is available.
Mrs. Iris Robinson: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many educational psychologists are employed by each of the Education and Library Board areas in Northern Ireland; and how many (a) were employed, (b) retired and (c) recruited in each board area in each of the last five years. [131783]
Jane Kennedy: I have been informed by the Education and Library Boards that the number of Educational Psychologists employed by each Board area, in each of the past five years, is as follows.
| 1999 | 2000 | 2001 | 2002 | 2003 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| BELB(39) | 17.9 | 21 | 22 | 23.5 | 26 |
| NEELB(39) | 17.5 | 20.5 | 22 | 23 | 23 |
| SEELB(39) | 17.5 | 20 | 20 | 22.3 | 22.6 |
| SELB(39) | N/a | 22.75 | 24.8 | 26.26 | 24.1 |
| WELB(39) | 13 | 14.5 | 20.5 | 22.5 | 24.5 |
(39) Full time equivalent
In the time scale available it is not possible to provide recruitment and retirement data correlating with the data in the table above. I will write to the hon. Member later with these figures once they have been confirmed with the Education and Library Boards.
Energy Efficiency
Lady Hermon: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what recent steps he has taken to promote energy efficiency in Northern Ireland; and if he will make a statement. [131393]
14 Oct 2003 : Column 204W
Mr. Pearson: The Consultation document 'Towards a New Energy Strategy for Northern Ireland', published by DETI in April 2003, highlighted the continued importance of energy efficiency and renewable energy as the primary means of reducing the carbon footprint of the energy sector in Northern Ireland and enhancing sustainability. The final Strategy, which will be published later this year, will further sharpen the focus on energy efficiency and help co-ordinate efforts towards securing further substantial improvements.
Government are committed to promoting energy efficiency and approximately £16 million will be committed this year on energy efficiency programmes sponsored by a number of Government Departments in Northern Ireland.
For example, the Department of Social Development has lead responsibility for energy efficiency in the domestic sector, using the Northern Ireland Housing Executive as a delivery partner, and has secured a 13 per cent. saving in energy consumption since 1996 in occupied stock across all tenures. This level of saving was achieved from a broad range of schemes, such as the Warm Homes Scheme, the Housing Executive's heating replacement programme and renewable energy pilot schemes. The energy efficiency levy, which was increased by the Northern Ireland Assembly to £5 per electricity consumer was used to further underpin household energy efficiency with over 80 per cent. of this benefit being specifically targeted towards disadvantaged householders likely to be at risk of fuel poverty.
Environmental Protection Agency
Lady Hermon: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland if he will establish an independent environmental protection agency in Northern Ireland; and if he will make a statement. [131244]
Angela Smith: In April 1996, the Environment and Heritage Service (EHS) was set up as a Next Steps Agency. The Agency was significantly under-resourced in its initial years. However, following devolution, the Executive accorded environmental protection a high priority, and funding increased significantly.
There are no specific plans at present to establish an independent Environment Protection Agency. However, it is anticipated that the role of Next Steps Agencies, will be examined as part of the proposed Review of Public Administration. The review team are due to consult on their findings shortly.
Equal Opportunities
Mr. Beggs: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland if he will make a statement on cross-departmental policies to tackle (a) gender inequality and (b) racial inequality in Northern Ireland. [128289]
Jane Kennedy: We are committed to bringing forward cross-departmental gender and race equality strategies during 2003. These will strengthen work being done under section 75 of the Northern Ireland Act 1998.
A gender strategy is being developed in consultation with the Equality Commission and voluntary and community sector groups. The first draft of the strategy
14 Oct 2003 : Column 205W
has been circulated to Departments for comments and a second series of consultation workshops with the Equality Commission and voluntary and community sector groups has been scheduled for early October 2003. The aim is to publish a draft Gender Equality Strategy for consultation by later autumn 2003.
A race strategy, which will be the overarching Government policy document in relation to racial equality in Northern Ireland, was launched for consultation on 25 February 2003. The consultation period which included both public seminars and focused seminars with minority ethnic communities, closed on 31 July 2003. The consultation responses are currently being assessed and the finalised strategy and Action Plan, which will be developed in partnership with the Northern Ireland Race Forum, will be published by the end of the 2003–04 financial year.
Equality Commission
Lady Hermon: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland for what reason the Equality Commission has not yet established a consultative council as required by section 74 of the Northern Ireland Act 1998; and if he will make a statement. [130403]
Mr. Spellar: Section 74 of the Northern Ireland Act confers a power on the Commission to establish consultative councils. If this power is exercised, the Commission has a duty to have regard to the advice offered by the council(s).
The Commission's first Corporate Plan included an intention to consider and consult on options on this issue and the report of a pre-consultation exercise was considered by the Commission in 2002. I understand that little interest was expressed on the establishment of a consultative council(s) in this exercise. The Commission decided to defer a decision on a formal consultation until 2003–04 business year and this remains the position.
Mr. McGrady: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland (1) how many fair employment cases the Equality Commission is assisting through the provision of funding; and how many of these also involve discrimination prohibited on other grounds; [131420]
- (2) when the Equality Commission produced a strategic plan for investigations following reviews under Article 55 of the Fair Employment and Treatment (Northern Ireland) Order 1998; [131462]
(3) how many employers the Equality Commission has referred to the Fair Employment Tribunal because of a failure to abide by undertakings made as a result of investigations under Article 11 of the Fair Employment and Treatment Order (Northern Ireland) 1998 in each year; [131879]
(4) how many applications for assistance in terms of funding of fair employment cases the Equality Commission received (a) in the last financial year and (b) in this financial year; and how many of these also involved discrimination prohibited on other grounds; [131463]
(5) how many cases the Equality Commission is assisting through the provision of funding; [131421]
14 Oct 2003 : Column 206W
(6) how many applications for assistance in terms of funding of cases the Equality Commission has received in the (a) current and (b) last financial year; [131422]
(7) what external research the Equality Commission has commissioned on fair employment since its foundation; [131464]
(8) what (a) external and (b) internal research the Equality Commission has published on fair employment since its foundation; [131470]
(9) how many investigations under Article 11 of the Fair Employment and Treatment (Northern Ireland) Order 1998 have been initiated by the Equality Commission in each year since its foundation; [131460]
(10) if he will confirm when the Equality Commission produced a strategic plan for investigations under Article 11 of the Fair Employment and Treatment (Northern Ireland) Order 1998; [131461]
(11) how many investigations under Article 11 of the Fair Employment and Treatment Order (Northern Ireland) 1998 have been initiated by the Equality Commission in each year since its foundation; and how many of them were against an employer as a result of a finding by the Fair Employment Tribunal against that employer; [131761]
(12) what external research the Equality Commission has published on fair employment since its foundation; [131762]
(13) with how many employers the Equality Commission has agreed undertakings following investigations under Article 11 of the Fair Employment and Treatment Order (Northern Ireland) 1998 in each year since its foundation. [131881]
Mr. Spellar: I have asked the Chief Executive of the Equality Commission for Northern Ireland to write to the hon. Gentleman. A copy of the letter will be placed in the Library.
| Next Section | Index | Home Page |