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Voluntary Family Support Agencies

Mr. Battle: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills how much financial support is provided to voluntary family support agencies by (a) the Government and (b) each local authority. [175503]

Margaret Hodge: The Department for Education and Skills made £8.34 million available in support of voluntary family support organisations for the financial year ended 31 March 2004.

In addition £6.96 million was made available, through Sure Start programmes, to a range of voluntary sector organisations for work with children and families. However, it is not possible to identify what proportion has been used specifically on family support activities.
 
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Information on the level of financial support provided to voluntary family support agencies by each local authority is not held centrally.

NORTHERN IRELAND

Asbestosis

Mr. Dodds: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how much compensation has been paid from public funds in respect of asbestosis victims in Northern Ireland in each year since 1997. [176888]

Mr. Gardiner: Compensation for asbestos sufferers in Northern Ireland is administered by the Department for Employment and Learning (DEL) and Harland and Wolff (H and W) plc.

DEL administers the Pneumoconiosis Worker's Compensation Scheme which was established by the Pneumoconiosis Etc (Workers Compensation) Order 1979. The scheme provides compensation for sufferers (or their dependants) who are unable to claim damages from the employers where the dust exposure which caused the disease occurred, as the employers have ceased to carry on business. DEL has paid out the following amounts under the Pneumoconiosis Workers Compensation Scheme since 1997.
£

	Amount
1997–98	51,378
1998–99	61,530
1999–2000	nil
2000–01	27,900
2001–02	65,308
2002–03	205,689
2003–04	120,153
Total	531,958

H and W plc assumed responsibility for the settlement of Employer's Liability and Public Liability insurance claims in 2001, following the collapse of the company's insurer (Iron Trades Mutual Society). The majority of these claims have centred around asbestosis and mesothelioma suffers. H and W plc has paid out the following amounts under the Employer's Liability and Public Liability insurance claims since 2001.
£

	Amount
2000–01	171,288
2001–02	2,753,909
2002–03	4,368,638
2003–04	5,943,468
Total	13,237,302

In addition to the above, during the period 1 April to 31 May 2004 H and W plc paid £1,276,249 in insurance claims.

Departmental Secondments

Bob Spink: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many staff in his Department
 
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and its agencies were seconded from the (a) private and (b) academic sector in each of the last three years. [175363]

Mr. Pearson: In the last three years there have been 22 inward secondments from the private sector and 12 from the academic sector to the 11 departments of the Northern Ireland Administration and its agencies. In the same period there were no inward secondments from either of these sectors to the Northern Ireland Office.

Further detail is provided in the following table:

	Private sector	Academic sector
2001	11	1
2002	9	4
2003	2	7

Drug Seizures

Mrs. Iris Robinson: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what estimate he has made of the value of each type of illegal drug seized in the Province in (a) 2003 and (b) 2004. [176853]

Mr. Pearson: The street value of illicit drugs seized by the Police Service of Northern Ireland in 2003–04 and April 2004 are detailed in tables A and B. The latest published figures of drugs seized in Northern Ireland by Her Majesty's Customs and Excise are for the period 2002–03 and are detailed in Table C.

The value of drugs seized within Northern Ireland prison establishments is not calculated.
Table A: Street value of drugs seized by PSNI 1 April 2003 to 31 March 2004

Drugs seized	Amount seized	Price per unit 1(£)	Total value (£)
Cocaine
Powder (gms)	11,470.91	80/gram	917,672.80
Wraps	6	40/wrap	240.00
Crack cocaine (gms)	9.2	150/gram	1,380.00
Ecstasy
Tablets (April-October 2003)	163,316	10/tablet	1,633,160.00
Tablets (November 2003- March 2004)	59,572	5/tablet	297,860.00
Powder (gms)	72.14	37.50/gram	2,705.25
Capsules	20	12.50/capsule	250.00
LSD
Doses	0	5/dose	0
Microdots	6	4/microdots	24.00
Opiates
Powder (gms)	189.89	100/gram	18,989.00
Tablets	3	12/tablet	36.00
Ampoules	20	45/ampoule	900.00
Mls	163.57	45.00/ml	7,360.65
Wraps	2	40/wrap	80.00
Amphetamine
Powder (gms)	17,310.77	10/gram	173,107.70
Tablets	58	5/tablet	290.00
Wraps	35	10/wrap	350.00
Cannabis
Resin (gms)	2,204,235.82	5/gram	11,021,179.10
Herbal (gms)	32,849.58	10/gram	328,495.80
Plants	1,173	600/plant	703,800.00
Joints	212	2.50/joint	530.00
Oil (gms)	0	50.00/gram	0

⁽²⁸⁾ Price per unit assessed by PSNI with reference to the National Drug Price Guide compiled by the National Criminal Intelligence Service.



 
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Table B: Street value of drugs seized by PSNI 1 April 2004 to 30 April 2004

Drugs seized	Amount seized	Price per unit 1 (£)	Total value (£)
Cocaine
Powder (gms)	488.78	80/gram	39,102.40
Wraps	0	40/wrap	0
Crack cocaine (gms)	0	150/gram	0
Ecstasy
Tablets	1,381	5/tablet	6,905.00
Powder (gms)	30	37.50/gram	1,125.00
Capsules	0	12.50/capsule	0
LSD
Doses	0	5/dose	0
Microdots	0	4/microdot	0
Opiates
Powder (gms)	0	100/gram	0
Tablets	0	12/tablet	0
Ampoules	0	45/ampoule	0
Mls	0	45/ml	0
Wraps	0	40/wrap	0
Amphetamine
Powder (gms)	2,311.52	10/gram	23,115.20
Tablets	0	5/tablet	0
Wraps	0	10/wrap	0
Cannabis
Resin (gms)	3,365.85	5/gram	16,829.25
Herbal (gms)	221	10/gram	2,210.00
Plants	14	600/plant	8,400.00
Joints	11	2.50/joint	27.50
Oil (gms)	0	50/gram	0

⁽²⁹⁾ Price per unit assessed by PSNI with reference to the National Drug Price Guide compiled by the National Criminal Intelligence Service.



Table C: Street value of drugs seized by HMCE1 April 2002 to 31 March 2003

Drugs seized	Amount seized	Price per unit 1 (£)	Total value (£)
Cocaine
Grams	1,690	80/gram	135,200
Ecstasy
Tablets	6	10/tablet	60
Cannabis
Grams	20,186	10/gram	201,860.00

⁽³⁰⁾ Price per unit supplied by Her Majesty's Customs and Excise with reference to the National Drug Price Guide compiled by the National Criminal Intelligence Service.

Eating Disorders

Mrs. Iris Robinson: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what recommendations from the recent National Institute for Clinical Excellence guidelines on eating disorders he expects to introduce in Northern Ireland. [176876]

Angela Smith: Guidelines produced by the National Institute for Clinical Excellence (NICE) are only applicable to England and Wales; there is no statutory requirement to implement NICE guidelines in Northern Ireland. The Department is considering how guidelines issued by NICE can be fully assessed and applied in the context of Northern Ireland's health and social services.
 
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Work is currently underway to establish an Eating Disorder Service and at this stage of early development it is not possible to identify which recommendations in the NICE guidelines would be applicable. In setting up the service the evidence based work contained in the guidelines will be taken into consideration.

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