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27 Apr 2004 : Column 914W—continued

Water

Norman Baker: To ask the hon. Member for Roxburgh and Berwickshire, representing the House of Commons Commission what volume of water was used within the House in each year from 1997 to date. [167791]

Sir Archy Kirkwood: The volume of mains water used on the Parliamentary Estate during each accounting year from 1997 to date is as follows, in cubic metres. It is not possible to provide figures for the House of Commons alone.
Cubic metres

Accounting year	Volume of mains water
1997–98	120,000
1998–99	100,000
1999–2000	150,000
2000–01	120,000
2001–02	140,000
2002–03	180,000
2003–04	190,000

WALES

Accountancy Services

Mr. Cousins: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales what the (a) nature and (b) value was of all contracts, consultancies or other services placed with the
 
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accountancy firms (i) Deloitte & Touche, (ii) Ernst & Young, (iii) KPMG and (iv) PricewaterhouseCoopers since 2000–01 by the Department. [166084]

Mr. Touhig: Since 2000 the Wales Office has not had any dealings with the named companies.

Road Maintenance

Mr. Wiggin: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales how much money was allocated for local authorities in Wales to be used for road repairs and improvements in each year since 1997; and how much of these amounts was spent on settling legal disputes arising from poor road maintenance. [168013]

Mr. Touhig: In determining the amount of block grant that local authorities receive, the length of roads within their area is taken into account by the National Assembly.

However, the local authority Revenue Support Grant is not hypothecated and it is for individual local authorities to determine how much to spend on road repairs and improvements within their own area. Legal disputes are also a matter for individual authorities.

School and Hospital Closures

Mr. Wiggin: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales how many (a) schools and (b) hospitals have been closed in Wales since 1997. [163134]

Mr. Touhig: I will answer this question in two parts:

(a) Local Education Authorities are responsible for the provision of suitable education within their locality. The Assembly has set them the target that all school buildings are to be in good physical shape and well maintained by 2010, and to that end, the Assembly has already invested over £300 million in over 3,000 school buildings. In addition, the number of pupils in schools across Wales has dropped by over 3,000 between 1997–98 and 2002–03 and in reflecting the LEAs need to provide access to high quality education for pupils, 52 schools have closed in Wales ¹ since 1997.

(b) In relation to part (b) of this question, I refer the hon. Gentleman to my earlier answer given on 27 February 2004, Official Report, column 608W.

¹  Where the proposal was to close two schools and to re-open a new school on the site of one of these, this has been counted as one closure.

NORTHERN IRELAND

Accident and Emergency Departments

Mr. Beggs: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what the average monthly waiting times in accident and emergency departments in each Northern Ireland hospital were in each of the last three years. [168270]

Angela Smith: This information is not collected centrally. Provisional data for the quarter ending 31 December 2003 indicates that 71 per cent. of patients admitted to wards from accident and emergency departments were admitted within two hours of the clinician's decision to admit.
 
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Agriculture Courses

Mrs. Iris Robinson: To ask the Secretary of State for   Northern Ireland what progress he has made towards a decision on the future location for the teaching of agriculture at university level in Northern Ireland. [167715]

Mr. Pearson: I announced on Friday 23 April that The Queen's University of Belfast would be responsible for higher-level agri-food education provision from September 2005.

Animal Transportation

Mrs. Iris Robinson: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what the maximum journey limit is for the transportation of live animals from Northern Ireland. [156115]

Mr. Pearson: In accordance with EU requirements journey limits are set in terms of time periods rather than distance and these are set at different levels for different ages and species of animals and birds in line with their differing physiological needs.

For horses, cattle, sheep, goats and pigs, journey times may not normally exceed eight hours but this may be extended if the vehicle meets a range of additional welfare standards relating to feed, bedding, ventilation, inspection and water supply. In such circumstances:

(a) Horses (except registered horses) may be transported for a maximum of 24 hours provided that they are given water and, if necessary, fed every eight hours;

(b) Pigs may be transported for a maximum of 24 hours provided that they have continuous access to water;

(c) Unweaned calves, lambs, kids, piglets and foals which are still on a milk diet may be transported for a maximum of nine hours after which they must be given a rest period of one hour in which they are given liquid and, if necessary, fed. After this rest period they may be transported again for another nine hours; and

(d) Cattle, sheep and goats may be transported for a maximum of 14 hours after which they must be given a rest period of one hour in which they are fed and watered. After this rest period they may be transported again for another 14 hours.

Poultry, domestic birds and domestic rabbits may not be transported for more than 12 hours and newly hatched chicks for not more than 24 hours unless after such time food and water are provided.

Area Plans

Mr. Trimble: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what costs have so far been incurred in the preparation of the Belfast Metropolitan Area Plan. [168216]

Angela Smith: The cost to date of the production of the Belfast Metropolitan Area Plan is £2,800,000.00.

Mr. Trimble: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many area plans are in place in   Northern Ireland; and how many are under preparation. [168217]

Angela Smith: There are currently 19 existing area plans in place and 10 area plans under preparation in Northern Ireland
 
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Autism

Mrs. Iris Robinson: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what recent changes have been made in accessing multi-agency multi-disciplinary diagnosis and assessment services at an earlier stage in relation to autistic spectrum disorder. [167719]

Angela Smith: The Department's Priorities for Action 2004–05 requires boards and trusts to establish multidisciplinary diagnostic, assessment and early intervention teams to provide for improved life outcomes for around 200 children and young people with autism per year. An additional £0.5 million has been allocated for this purpose.

Mrs. Iris Robinson: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what changes have been made in (a) school-based and (b) home-based educational and therapeutic provision since the report of the task group on autism. [167720]

Mr. Gardiner: The Department of Education and the five Education and Library Boards have responded positively to the Report of the Task Group on Autism.

The Department of Education has actively sought additional resources. In relation to school-based provision, in 2003–04, £500,000 was invested to provide an eclectic mix of training and awareness-raising programmes in the pre-school sector. £550,000 per annum will be provided from 2004–05 to allow each Board to put in place an ASD Team dedicated to the educational needs of children with Autism and to form an Inter Board ASD Group. This will enhance local provision and enable school-based support to be put in place.

In relation to home-based provision the Boards have sanctioned and are funding a number of home-based programmes for children with ASD. Consequently the   Education and Training Inspectorate (ETI) has designed a strategic pathway to enable it to evaluate and identify effective practice in this area.

Mrs. Iris Robinson: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what assessment he has made of the TEACCH educational programme for young people with autistic spectrum disorders. [167723]

Mr. Gardiner: No overall assessment has been made of the TEACCH educational programme for young people with autistic spectrum disorders. This is because during the course of school inspections the Education and Training Inspectorate (ETI) inspect the quality of the teaching and learning as it meets the individual needs of the child in the school setting. This may involve a range of programmes but the specific interventions are not inspected in isolation. Between 1998 and 2000 the ETI undertook "A Survey of Provision for Pupils with Severe and Profound Learning Difficulties in NI". This included a section on provision for pupils with autism, which commented favourably on the use of TEACCH in the classroom by the teachers surveyed.

For the Education and Library Boards, the ongoing assessment of TEACCH, as with other programmes, is a natural element of the work of school-based staff who are experienced and/or trained in this approach.
 
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Mrs. Iris Robinson: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what assessment he has made of the effects of applied behaviour analysis in the education of children with autistic spectrum disorders. [167724]

Mr. Gardiner: To date no overall assessment of the effects of commercially available home-based ABA programmes has been undertaken at service level by the Department of Education. This is because, during the course of school inspections, the Education and Training Inspectorate (ETI) inspect the quality of the teaching and learning as it meets the child's individual needs in the school setting. This may involve a range of strategies but the specific programmes are not inspected in isolation.

Several Education and Library Boards (ELBs) are currently making ABA provision for children on the basis of individual need. They will be carefully considering the progress made by pupils on these programmes and the Department will be interested in the outcomes. As a contribution to the development of ABA, the ETI is evaluating a pilot ABA programme in a pre-school setting in one ELB area. Consequently the ETI has designed a strategic pathway to enable it to evaluate and identify effective practice in home-based programmes for children with Autism.

On an on-going basis, ELBs review children with statements of special educational needs through the statutory annual review procedures.

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