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8 Sept 2004 : Column 1318W—continued

Cosmetic Surgery

Mrs. Iris Robinson: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland whether practitioners performing cosmetic procedures in the Province outside the NHS have to be registered; and how such practitioners are regulated. [187452]

Angela Smith: Doctors must be registered with the General Medical Council to practise medicine in the UK, regardless of the area in which they work. Similarly nurses and allied health professionals must be registered with the statutory regulatory body for their professions, i.e. the Nursing and Midwifery Council and the Health
 
8 Sept 2004 : Column 1319W
 
Professions Council respectively. Those bodies are responsible for the registration and regulation of their professions.

Creative Writing

Mr. Dodds: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what conditions of (a) copyright and (b) royalty payments are attached to grant aid awarded by the (i) Arts Council of Northern Ireland, (ii) Department of Culture, Arts and Leisure, (iii) Ultach Trust and (iv) Foras na Gaeilge for the publication of creative writing in the Irish language in Northern Ireland. [173186]

Angela Smith: The Arts Council of Northern Ireland does not attach conditions relating to (a) copyright or (b) royalty payments to any award. The Department of Culture, Arts and Leisure's funds in support of the arts in Northern Ireland are disbursed chiefly through the Arts Council of Northern Ireland and the Department has not made any funding directly available for the publication of creative writing in the Irish language.

The Ultach Trust is a registered charitable trust. It is not directly funded by Northern Ireland Departments and it therefore would not be appropriate to disclose details of its expenditure. Foras na Gaeilge does not provide grant aid for the publication of creative writing in the Irish language in Northern Ireland.

Cycle Paths

Mr. Gregory Campbell: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how much public funding has been made available for the provision of cycle paths in Northern Ireland in each of the past five years; and how many miles of cycle paths have been provided in each of the past five years. [185153]

Mr. Spellar: The Chief Executive of Roads Service (Dr. Malcolm McKibbin) has been asked to write to the hon. Member in response to this question.

Letter from Dr. Malcolm McKibbin to Mr. Gregory Campbell

You recently asked the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland a Parliamentary Question about how much public money has been made available for the provision of cycle paths in Northern Ireland in each of the last five years; and how many miles of cycle paths have been provided in each of the last five years. I have been asked to reply as part of the issue raised falls within my responsibility as Chief Executive of Roads Service.

I can advise that in Northern Ireland the expenditure by Roads Service on the provision of cycle paths and the miles of cycle paths provided over this period is as follows:

Year	Expenditure £000	Miles
1999–00	1,732	20
2000–01	2,402	20
2001–02	1,748	20
2002–03	844	16
2003–04	818	19
2004–05(27)	820(27)	14(27)

⁽²⁷⁾ Budget and target for the current financial year

It should also be noted that other providers such as Sustrans, the Tourist Board, DARD, District Council, Sports Council for Northern Ireland, and some private developers also contribute very significantly to the mileage of cycle paths in Northern Ireland. As Roads Service does not hold the figures on cycle paths
 

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provided by these organisations I have asked my officials to write to them to request that the necessary information is sent directly to you.

Department of Health Assessment Framework

Ms Shipley: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland if he will make a statement on when the Department of Health, Social Services, and Public Safety will be implementing the Department of Health Assessment Framework in Northern Ireland. [183588]

Angela Smith: The Department of Health's performance assessment framework applies only to the NHS in England. Northern Ireland has its own system of integrated health and social care—the HPSS (Health and Personal Social Services). Under current arrangements, key service development priorities are set annually for the HPSS. Progress towards their achievement is formally managed and monitored by the Department, and work is now in hand to further develop the approach to HPSS performance assessment and reporting. While basing itself on the integrated nature of services in Northern Ireland, that work has been informed by the various performance assessment models that operate elsewhere in the UK.

Departmental Age Policy

Mr. Andrew Turner: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland whether (a) his Department and (b) agencies for which it is responsible (i) have a set retirement age which applies to all or most personnel and (ii) have a maximum age beyond which applications for employment will not be considered; and what the age is in each case. [186088]

Mr. Pearson: The compulsory age of retirement for all staff employed in the Northern Ireland Civil Service was raised to age 65 with effect from 4 October 2002. Staff who reach age 60 after that date have the option of remaining in post beyond age 60 and up to a maximum of 65.

An application for employment from any candidate who has not reached age 65 is considered valid.

Designated Accommodation

Bob Spink: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many rooms are set aside for (a) the use of smokers, (b) worship, broken down by religion and (c) nursing mothers and pregnant women in each building and set of offices for which his Department is responsible. [187309]

Mr. Pearson: The Northern Ireland Civil Service currently maintains 158 smoking rooms within the general office estate, but this will be discontinued from 1 January 2005. There are no rooms set aside for worship or for nursing mothers and pregnant women.

Digital Hearing Aids

Mrs. Iris Robinson: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many individuals are awaiting digital hearing aids in the Province; and what the (a) average and (b) longest current waiting time is. [187398]

Angela Smith: The information requested is not available.
 
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Disability Grant Fund

Jim Dobbin: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland whether the abolition of the Disability Grant Fund means test in Northern Ireland has resulted in a change in the length of waiting lists. [185193]

Mr. Spellar: With effect from 16 February 2004 we have exempted parents with disabled children from the means test that applies to Disabled Facilities Grant. While it is too early for a formal assessment of the saving in processing times in these cases, initial indications are that there will be no measurable impact on the waiting list for Disabled Facilities Grant.

Educational Attainment

Mrs. Iris Robinson: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many pupils who achieved each grade in the 11-plus examination were from (a) integrated and (b) other primary schools in the Province in each of the last five years. [187451]

Mr. Gardiner: The information requested is as follows:
(a) Integrated primary schools

	Number achieving each grade in the transfer procedure
	A	B1	B2	C1	C2	D	Total number sitting
1999–2000	173	34	37	31	27	88	390
2000–01	170	39	27	28	34	74	372
2001–02	166	38	35	40	34	115	428
2002–03	158	38	38	39	37	94	404
2003–04	196	41	47	37	33	108	462

(b) Other primary schools

	Number achieving each grade in the transfer procedure
	A	B1	B2	C1	C2	D	Total number sitting
1999–2000	6,447	1,381	1,296	1,424	1,304	5,343	17,195
2000–01	6,238	1,276	1,276	1,426	1,427	5,023	16,666
2001–02	6,329	1,359	1,271	1,363	1,371	4,678	16,371
2002–03	6,195	1,284	1,439	1,285	1,301	4,598	16,102
2003–04	5,968	1,405	1,300	1,219	1,197	4,140	15,229

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