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19 Apr 2004 : Column 275W—continued

Special Immigration Appeals Commission

Mr. Dismore: To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Department for Constitutional Affairs whether the Special Immigration Appeals Commission is a court; and if he will make a statement. [165390]

Mr. Lammy: The Special Immigration Appeals Commission is a superior court of record pursuant to Section 1(3) of the Special Immigration Appeals Commission Act 1997 as amended by Section 35 of the Anti-terrorism, Crime and Security Act 2001. The amendment to the status of the commission took effect from 13 December 2001.

Whistleblowers

Mr. McNamara: To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Department for Constitutional Affairs what provisions are made across departments of Government to reward whistleblowers for providing information leading to successful detection of fraud or other crime; and how many and what sizes of rewards have been made in the past five years. [145211]

Mr. Lammy: My Department is not responsible for whistleblowing provisions across Government Departments.

However, we do have a whistleblowing policy that provides a confidential reporting procedure for employees to voice concerns about any aspect of work within the Department.

There is no policy of rewarding whistleblowers, and in the past year no rewards have been made.
 
19 Apr 2004 : Column 276W
 

NORTHERN IRELAND

Ulster-Scots

Mr. Dodds: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many people who completed the 2001 Census in Northern Ireland entered Ulster-Scots in response to the question on language. [166481]

Mr. Pearson: None. The question on language asked in the 2001 Census related specifically to Irish and allowed only tick-box responses.

A26

Mr. Gregory Campbell: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what the average volume per day of vehicles using the A26 between Ballymena and Coleraine was in each of the last 10 years. [165732]

Mr. Spellar: The Chief Executive of Roads Service (Dr. Malcolm McKibbin) has written to the hon. Gentleman in response to this question.

Letter from Dr Malcolm McKibbin to Mr Gregory Campbell dated 5 April 2004:

You recently asked the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland a Parliamentary Question regarding the average volume per day of vehicles using the A26 between Ballymena and Coleraine was in the last 10 years. I have been asked to reply as the issues fall within my responsibility as Chief Executive of Roads Service.

Roads Service collects traffic data from 4 locations along the A26 between Ballymena and Coleraine. The counters occasionally mal-function and/or require maintenance resulting in periods where traffic flow information is not available. The available data on the average volume of vehicles per day recorded in each of the last 10 years is shown in the attached table.

I hope you find this information helpful.

Location	1994	1995	1996	1997	1998	1999	2000	2001	2002	2003
Dual carriageway between Ballymena and Glarryford	13,940	15,230	—	15,170	—	—	15,170	—	16,910	17,880
A44 Ballycastle junction to Ballymoney Bypass	9,640	10,260	10,760	11,410	11,040	11,860	11,740	12,630	12,860	—
Ballymoney Bypass	11,300	13,990	13,150	11,990	13,370	14,100	13,440	14,560	14,940	15,660
Between Ballymoney and Coleraine	11,750	12,170	12,050	13,170	13,870	14,630	14,610	15,060	14,920	15,670

Attendance Allowance

Mr. Gregory Campbell: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many attendance allowance claims have been subject to appeal in Northern Ireland in each of the last five years; and what the percentage rate of success was. [165995]

Mr. Spellar: The number of attendance allowance appeals heard during the last five financial years and the percentage success rate was:

	Total	Success rate (percentage)
1999–2000	57	26.3
2000–01	43	25.6
2001–02	118	20.3
2002–03	143	27.3
2003–04	108	21.3

Car Ownership

Mr. Gregory Campbell: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what estimate he has made of the change in the numbers of those owning cars in Northern Ireland over the past 10 years. [165998]

Mr. Pearson: Information on the numbers of people owning cars in Northern Ireland is not readily available. However, the 1991 Census of Population showed that residents of 64.5 per cent. of households had access to at least one car or van, rising to 73.7 per cent. of households in the 2001 Census of Population.

Civil Servants

Mr. Beggs: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many travel warrants were issued to civil servants employed by his Department for travel between Northern Ireland and Great Britain via (a) Belfast City Airport and (b) Belfast International Airport in each of the last three years. [165774]

Mr. Pearson: The number of travel warrants issued to civil servants employed by the 11 Departments of the Northern Ireland Civil Service and the Northern Ireland Office for travel between Northern Ireland and Great
 
19 Apr 2004 : Column 277W
 
Britain via (a) Belfast City Airport, and (b) Belfast International Airport, in each of the last three years is set out in the table.
£

	Belfast City	Belfast International
2001–02	11,947	4,568
2002–03	17,890	1,687
2003–04	16,981	2,507

These figures relate only to flights booked through the NICS and NIO contracted travel agency services and do not include any journeys undertaken and which were booked through other channels, as to obtain this information would be at disproportionate cost to Departments.

Mr. Beggs: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what the cost of air travel for civil servants employed by his Department travelling between Northern Ireland and each of Great Britain's airports via (a) Belfast City Airport and (b) Belfast International Airport was in each of the last three years. [165775]

Mr. Pearson: The cost of air travel for civil servants employed by the 11 Departments of the Northern Ireland Civil Service and the Northern Ireland Office travelling between Northern Ireland and each of Great Britain's airports for each of the last three years is set out in the table.
£

	Belfast City	Belfast International
2001–02	2,418,932	990,101
2002–03	3,983,798	239,348
2003–04	3,154,379	210,216

These figures relate only to flights booked through the NICS and NIO contracted travel agency services and do not include any journeys undertaken and which were booked through other channels, as to obtain this information would be at disproportionate cost to Departments.

Mr. Beggs: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many civil servants flew from Belfast International Airport to (a) London Luton, (b) London Stansted and (c) London Gatwick in each of the last three years; and what the average return fare was. [165776]

Mr. Pearson: The number of civil servants who flew from Belfast International Airport to (a) London Luton, (b) London Stansted and (c) London Gatwick in each of the last three years is set out below along with the average return fare in each case.

	2001–02	2002–03	2003–04
(a)
London Luton	7	92	309
Air fair (return)	£59.92	£77.94	£105.53
(b)
London Stansted	23	19	359
Air fair (return)	£66.78	£95.75	£104.23
(c)
London Gatwick	640	12	206
Air fair (return)	£159.48	£88.27	£76.08

 
19 Apr 2004 : Column 278W
 

These figures relate only to flights booked through the NICS and NIO contracted travel agency services and do not include any journeys undertaken and which were booked through other channels, as to obtain this information would be at disproportionate cost to Departments.

Mr. Beggs: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many civil servants flew from Belfast City Airport to (a) London Heathrow and (b) London Gatwick in each of the last three years; and what the average return fare was. [165777]

Mr. Pearson: The number of civil servants who flew from Belfast City Airport to (a) London Heathrow and (b) London Gatwick in each of the last three years is set out below along with the average return fare in each case.
Flights from Belfast City Airport

	2001–02	2002–03	2003–04
(a)
London Heathrow	2,776	7,771	9,898
Air fare return	£139.75	£183.03	£183.88
(b)
London Gatwick	2,333	2,619	1,456
Air fare return	£227.77	£160.90	£175.58

These figures relate only to flights booked through the NICS and NIO contracted travel agency services and do not include any journeys undertaken and which were booked through other channels as to obtain this information would be at disproportionate cost to Departments.

Bob Spink: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland if he will list for each civil service grade within his Department, the total number of staff employed, broken down by (a) gender, (b) ethnic group, (c) registered disabled and (d) age group. [166402]

Mr. Pearson: At 1 January 2004 the total number of staff in the Northern Ireland Departments and the Northern Ireland Office was 31,439. The following tables show the breakdown, for each grade level, by (a) gender, (b) ethnic origin, (c) those who have declared a disability, and (d) age group:
(a) Permanent staff by grade level and gender

	Gender
Grade level	Female	Male	Total
Grade 5 and above	56	229	285
Grade 6/7	409	1,020	1,429
Deputy Principal	838	1,700	2,538
Staff Officer	1,099	1,887	2,986
Executive Officer I/II	4,528	4,511	9,039
Administrative Officer	6,735	2,506	9,241
Administrative Assistant	1,968	1,214	3,182
Industrial	67	2,672	2,739
Total	15,700	15,739	31,439

 
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(b) Permanent staff by grade level and ethnic origin

	Ethnic origin
Grade level	White	Black African	Black Caribbean	Bangladeshi	Chinese	Indian	Pakistani	Other	Total
Grade 5 and above	263	0	1	0	0	2	0	0	266
Grade 6/7	1,295	1	0	0	2	1	0	2	1,301
Deputy Principal	2,309	1	0	0	2	1	1	3	2,317
Staff Officer	2,675	2	0	1	0	3	2	0	2,683
Executive Officer I/II	7,699	3	3	0	0	3	2	6	7,716
Administrative Officer	7,863	4	3	0	0	1	0	4	7,875
Administrative Assistant	2,855	6	0	0	1	2	0	2	2,866
Industrial	1,555	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	1,555
Total	26,514	17	7	1	5	13	5	17	26,579

Note:
For 4,860 of the 31,439 staff (15.5 per cent.) no ethnic origin information has been provided.





(c) Permanent staff by grade level and declared disability

Grade level	Declared disabled
Grade 5 and above	8
Grade 6/7	44
Deputy Principal	102
Staff Officer	107
Executive Officer I/II	385
Administrative Officer	362
Administrative Assistant	164
Industrial	106
Total	1,278

Note:
For 4,540 of the 31,439 staff (14.4 per cent.) no disability information has been provided.





(d) Permanent staff by grade level and age group

	Age
Grade level	16 to 19 years	20 to 29 years	30 to 39 years	40 to 49 years	50 to 59 years	60 plus years	Total
Grade 5 and above	0	0	17	93	167	8	285
Grade 6/7	0	11	195	589	607	27	1,429
Deputy Principal	0	107	654	978	768	31	2,538
Staff Officer	0	360	751	1,147	702	26	2,986
Executive Officer I/II	1	1,053	3,374	3,306	1,237	68	9,039
Administrative Officer	86	2,951	2,806	2,406	856	136	9,241
Administrative Assistant	184	1,423	619	528	330	98	3,182
Industrial	7	183	643	941	745	220	2,739
Total	278	6,088	9,059	9,988	5,412	614	31,439

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