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26 Apr 2004 : Column 819W—continued

Cannabis

Lady Hermon: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many (a) arrests and (b) cautions there have been in Northern Ireland for (i) the possession of and (ii) the sale of cannabis since its reclassification. [164535]

Mr. Pearson: The Chief Constable advises me that PSNI record the number of persons arrested or cautioned for possession or supply of Class C drugs. The following table sets out these figures in respect of all Class C drugs since 29 January when cannabis was reclassified. Statistics relating to Class C drugs are not maintained by the type of drug involved and it is not therefore possible to disaggregate those relating solely to cannabis.

	Persons arrested	Persons cautioned
Possession of a Class C drug	94	19
Trafficking offences involving a Class C drug	33	0

Cross-Border Bodies (Salaries)

Rev. Martin Smyth: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what the salary of each chief executive of the cross border bodies was in the last financial year; when the salaries were last revised; and what the percentage increase was in each case in comparison with (a) the rate of inflation and (b) the Civil Service pay increase. [163677]

 
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Mr. Paul Murphy: The salary of each Chief Executive of the North South Implementation Bodies and Tourism Ireland in 2002–03 is set out as follows. (There was no Chief Executive in post in the Ulster Scots Agency in post during that period.) Since bodies with headquarters in Northern Ireland operate for salary purposes on 1 April-31 March financial years, the figures given in the table are those that applied throughout the financial year in question. Those bodies with headquarters in Ireland operate on a calendar year and the figures given are those that applied with effect from 1 October 2002.

The salaries of Chief Executive Officers' (CEOs) of those bodies with headquarters in Northern Ireland were last revised with effect from 1 April 2002, while those for CEOs of bodies with headquarters in Ireland were revised with effect from 1 October 2002, except for the CEO of Foras na Gaeilge whose salary was revised on 1 February 2003. The percentage increases involved in the 2002 revisions are shown in the table. The rate of inflation in the UK in 2002–03 was 3.29 per cent., while that in Ireland in 2002 was 4.6 per cent. The Northern Ireland Civil Service base pay increase for 2002–03 was 4.38 per cent. for the Senior Civil Service and 4.8 per cent. for other grades. The Irish Civil Service pay increase with effect from 1 October 2002 was 4 per cent.

Body	CEO salary	Percentage increase
Special EU Programme Body	£66,953	4.5
Waterways Ireland	£70,725	6.3
InterTradeIreland	£57,822	4.5
FCILC—Loughs Agency	£53,511	5.1
Tourism Ireland Ltd.	€126,246	4
Foras na Gaeilge	€92,949	4
Food Safety Promotion Board	€90,651	4

Curriculum Classification

David Burnside: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what the Department of Education's definition and criteria are for classifying curriculum subjects as (a) vocational and (b) academic in secondary schools in Northern Ireland. [166714]

Mr. Gardiner: No decisions have yet been taken on these issues, which will be considered in the context of the proposed Entitlement Framework.

Housing

Mr. Gregory Campbell: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what the increase has been in housing executive rents in Northern Ireland over the past five years. [168297]

Mr. Spellar: The increase in Housing Executive rents in Northern Ireland over the past five years is as follows:
Increase in housing executive rents in Northern Ireland

	Percentage
2000–01	4.5
2001–02	3
2002–03	3.5
2003–04	3.25
2004–05	3

 
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Mr. Beggs: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what discussions he has had with the Northern Ireland housing industry regarding the possible introduction of home information packs. [168187]

Mr. Spellar: I have had no representations from the housing industry regarding the possible introduction of home information packs in Northern Ireland.

I will, however, continue to monitor developments as regards the home information pack with a view to determining whether there may be merit, at some time in the future, in introducing similar measures in Northern Ireland.

Mr. Beggs: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what estimate he has made of the total of unpaid housing executive house rents in Northern Ireland in each of the last five years. [168188]

Mr. Spellar: The information is not available in the format requested, however, collectable rental income and gross arrears in each of the last five years are as follows:
£ million

	Collectable rent	Gross arrears at year end
1999–2000	286.0	14.6
2000–01	285.5	17.4
2001–02	280.4	19.0
2002–03	273.3	18.9
2003–04	265.5	19.1

Notes:
1. Collectable Rent includes rents of dwellings, garages and district heating charges.
2. Gross arrears include overpayment of housing benefit arising from tenants failing to correctly advise of thief financial circumstances.
3. Gross arrears is a rolling figure which includes un-recovered arrears from previous years.

Invest Northern Ireland

Mr. Trimble: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what the average financial assistance offered by Invest Northern Ireland was per job retained in each of the last five years. [159746]

Mr. Gardiner: The following table shows the number of jobs expected to be retained as a result of projects secured between 1998–99 and 2002–03, and the assistance Invest NI offered to retain those jobs. The information in the table does not reflect all job retention as a result of Invest NI activity, but is restricted to those generally larger indigenous businesses and inward investors for which information on job promotions/retentions are available.
Assistance offered for retained jobs

Financial year	Expected retained jobs	Assistance offered for expected retained jobs (£)	Cost per expected retained job (£)
1998–99	2,931	17,430,392	5,947
1999–2000	1,796	14,059,950	7,828
2000–01	1,896	11,936,019	6,295
2001–02	1,711	15,351,204	8,972
2002–03	4,175	26,974,296	6,461
Grand total	12,509	85,751,861	6,855

 
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Libya

David Burnside: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland if he will make a statement on the quantity of arms and explosives supplied by Libya to the Provisional IRA in the last 30 years. [165221]

Mr. Pearson: This information is only available from intelligence sources. In the view of the Government it falls within the terms of Paragraph 4 of Part II (Law enforcement and legal proceedings) of the Code of Practice on Access to Government Information. Accordingly it would be inappropriate for the Government to comment.

The Independent International Commission on Decommissioning has undertaken to provide an inventory of the arms decommissioned to the two governments when its task is completed.

Motorcar/Motorcycle Racing

David Burnside: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how much public sector money has   been allocated to (a) motorcar racing and (b) motorcycle racing in each of the last five years in Northern Ireland. [167488]

Angela Smith: The amount of public sector money allocated to (a) motorcar racing and (b) motorcycle racing in each of the last five years by the Sports Council, the Northern Ireland Events Company and the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Investment is as follows:

(a) Motorcar Racing:

Public funds (includes Sports Council Exchequer, Sports Council Lottery, Northern Ireland Events Company awards and Department of Enterprise, Trade and Investment funding administered through the Northern Ireland Tourist Board).
Motorcar racing

	£
1999–2000	86,300
2000–01	14,500
2001–02	0
2002–03	28,240
2003–04	173,000
Total	302,040

(b) Motor Cycle Racing:

Public funds (includes Sports Council Exchequer, Sports Council Lottery, Northern Ireland Events Company awards and Department of Enterprise, Trade and Investment funding administered through the Northern Ireland Tourist Board).
Motor cycle racing

	£
1999–2000	9,700
2000–01	56,461
2001–02	132,100
2002–03	282,268
2003–04	320,702
Total	801,231

The following table shows the total amount of Sports Council Exchequer funding allocated to the 2 and 4 Wheel Motorsport Steering Group Ltd. in each of the
 
26 Apr 2004 : Column 823W
 
last five years. It is not possible at this time to break this funding down into separate data for motorcar racing and motorcycle racing.
Sports Council for Northern Ireland Exchequer funding allocated to the 2 and 4 Wheel Motorsport Steering Group Ltd.

	£
1999–2000	0
2000–01	0
2001–02	0
2002–03	15,000
2003–04	200,000
Total	215,000

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