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9 Jun 2004 : Column 454W—continued
Power-Sharing Agreements
Mr. McNamara: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland whether he has discussed with representatives of Lisburn district council power-sharing agreements. [176329]
Angela Smith: There have been no discussions with representatives of Lisburn city council about power sharing arrangements. Under current legislation the Government have power to intervene in the internal affairs of a council only if it is failing to fulfil its statutory functions. Power sharing arrangements are essentially an internal matter for district councils.
The issue of governance arrangements in district councils has been raised during recent consultation on the Review of Public Administration and that it will be addressed when firm proposals on the Review are published for consultation in the autumn.
River Mourne/River Foyle
David Burnside: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what the daily fish counts for (a) June and (b) July 2003 were at Sion Mills on the River Mourne in West Tyrone. [176883]
Mr. Pearson: The counts for June and July 2003 are detailed as follows:
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David Burnside: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what the daily river height for (a) June and (b) July 2003 was at Sion Mills on the River Mourne in West Tyrone. [176884]
Mr. Pearson: The Department of Agriculture and Rural Development Rivers Agency does not have a gauging station in Sion Mills and therefore actual data on river height has been obtained from the Agency's Drumnabuoy House River Flow Gauging Station on the River Mourne near Strabane, approximately 3 km downstream of the weir in Sion Mills. This records water levels at 15-minute intervals.
Recorded water levels in June and July 2003 were in the range 2.71 metres above Ordnance Datum (OD) Belfast on 16 July to 4.28 metres OD on 10 June. On 48 of the 61 days in question the levels were below the average daily level of 3.32 m OD for this section of the River (as measured over the last 21 years).
David Burnside: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland (1) what progress has been made with regard to the buy-out of salmon net licences in the Foyle Estuary; and if he will make a statement; [176886]
(2) what reports he has received of plans for the buy-out of salmon net licences on the River Foyle; and if he will make a statement. [176885]
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Mr. Pearson: There are currently no plans to buy out salmon nets on the Foyle Estuary. The stocks of salmon returning to the Foyle catchment are managed effectively by the Loughs Agency to ensure that spawning escapement targets are achieved each year. The effectiveness of the conservation and protection regulations introduced by the Loughs Agency are continually kept under review using data collected from fish counters, population surveys and catch returns. The Loughs Agency manages the stocks with the objective of achieving maximum sustainable productivity, and has achieved adult returns in excess of conservation limits for the past number of years.
Veterinary Nursing
Mr. Martyn Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what his policy is on the funding of Veterinary Nursing NVQ training levels 2 and 3 in Northern Ireland. [177400]
Mr. Pearson: The Department of Agriculture and Rural Development (DARD), through the College of Agriculture, Food and Rural Enterprise (CAFRE), provides veterinary nursing training programmes leading to NVQ levels 2 and 3 in Northern Ireland.
Participants taking veterinary nursing programmes on a further education basis are charged programme fees and must also enrol with the Royal College of Veterinary Surgeons and pay examination fees.
Approved veterinary training practices are eligible to apply for support under the Modern Apprenticeship scheme. This covers the above fees and provides financial support to the veterinary training practice. To date only one training practice with two trainees has availed of Modern Apprenticeship.
Mr. Martyn Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how further education training courses for veterinary nursing are funded in Northern Ireland. [177448]
Mr. Pearson: The Department of Agriculture and Rural Development (DARD), through the College of Agriculture, Food and Rural Enterprise (CAFRE), provides veterinary nursing training programmes leading to NVQ levels 2 and 3 in Northern Ireland.
Participants taking veterinary nursing programmes on a further education basis are charged programme fees that were initially benchmarked against the fees for similar programmes in the UK and increased in line with inflation since 1999.
In addition, participants must also enrol with the Royal College of Veterinary Surgeons and pay examination fees.
Approved veterinary training practices are eligible to apply for support under the Modern Apprenticeship scheme. This covers the above fees and provides financial support to the veterinary training practice. To date, only one training practice with two trainees has availed of Modern Apprenticeship.
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EDUCATION AND SKILLS
Adult Learning Inspectorate
Mr. McNamara: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what responsibility the Adult Learning Inspectorate has to report on the exercise of the duty of care; what care standards inspectors will use when examining training regimes in army barracks; and in what form these standards are available in the public domain. [177476]
Mr. Ivan Lewis: These are matters for the Adult Learning Inspectorate. David Sherlock, the Chief Inspector, will write to my hon. Friend with this information and a copy of his reply will be placed in the Library.
Adult Literacy
Mr. Simmonds: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills how many people achieved (a) a Certificate in Adult Literacy (Entry Level), (b) a Certificate in Adult Literacy (level 1) and (c) a Certificate in Adult Literacy (level 2) in each year since 2000. [177383]
Mr. Ivan Lewis: Information on the number of learners achieving Certificates in Adult Literacy through LSC funded FE providers are presented as follows. The Certificate in Adult Literacy, accredited by the Qualifications and Curriculum Authority, was introduced during the 2001/02 teaching year. Prior to this, not all literacy qualifications were based on the National Qualification Framework (NQF) and accredited by national awarding bodies.
| Learners achieving (thousand) | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Qualification/level | 2000/01 | 2001/02 | 2002/03 |
| Certificate in Adult Literacy (QCA accredited) | |||
| Entry level | — | 0.2 | 11.1 |
| Level 1 | — | 0.3 | 8.1 |
| Level 2 | — | 0.1 | 3.4 |
| Total | 0.6 | 22.6 | |
| Transitional qualifications(29) | |||
| Up to level 2 | 21.6 | 21.6 | — |
| Overall total | 21.6 | 22.2 | 22.6 |
(29) Literacy qualifications certificated by national awarding bodies.
Where individual learners progress and achieve qualifications at different levels, they may be counted in more than one of the categories in the table.
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