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Waste Transport

Bob Spink: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what proportion of London's waste was transported on the river Thames in the last year for which figures are available; and if she will make a statement. [194914]

Mr. Morley: The Government does not hold this information.
 
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NORTHERN IRELAND

Alzheimer's

Mr. McGrady: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland for what reasons Alzheimer's Disease is not included as a terminal illness in respect of claims for benefit; and if he will make a statement. [197792]

Mr. Spellar: The disability living allowance and attendance allowance "special rules" provisions for terminally ill people are not linked to specific diseases or illnesses. For the purposes of the "special rules", a person is considered to be terminally ill if they suffer from a progressive disease and their death, in consequence of that disease, can reasonably be expected within six months.

Autism (Teacher Training)

Mr. Dodds: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what money has been ringfenced for the purpose of training classroom assistants and teachers dealing with children with autism in the Belfast Education and Library Board area. [197108]

Mr. Gardiner: Children with Autism represent one of the largest growth areas in special educational needs (SEN) in recent years.

In response to this, and following the publication of the report of the NI Task Group on Autism, the Department of Education (DE) has made several specific additional earmarked allocations to the Education and Library Boards (ELBs):

DE made £54,000 available in 2003–04 and £111,000 from 2004–05 onwards to each ELB to enable the establishment of an Inter-board Autistic Spectrum Disorder (ASD) Training Group, which will develop training needs and support measures in this area. This includes the development of cross-Board training for ELB and school staff in a range of ASD strategies ands interventions;

£100,000 was provided in 2003–04 to enable each ELB to provide training, related specifically to Autism, within the pre-school sector, to teachers, classroom assistants, playgroup leaders and assistants, qualified early years specialists and relevant Board staff.

An additional £80,000 has been provided to each ELB in 2004–05 to enhance provision for children with Challenging Behaviour and ASD.

DE has produced ASD-specific resource materials to support teachers, classroom assistants and parents. The Department is also supporting a 2-year project to develop and implement a programme of training and development for classroom assistants who are appointed to support pupils with statements of special educational needs, and to enhance the skills of teachers in deploying and managing classroom assistance. I will write to the hon. Member with additional information, which the BELB will supply, on other training organised through its education department, including courses offered to schools and also those which are specific to individual pupils. This information could not be provided in the time available.
 
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Belfast Education and Library Board

Mr. Dodds: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what timetable he has set for the Belfast Education and Library Board to produce a recovery plan. [197114]

Mr. Gardiner: It remains my intention to seek recovery of the amount overspent last year but I have not yet set a timetable for the Board to produce a recovery plan. My priority in dealing with the overspend in the Belfast Education and Library Board has been to seek confirmation that the Board has quantified the precise scale and scope of the overspend in 2003–04; is tackling the systems and other weaknesses that contributed to its occurrence and late discovery; and has plans in place to contain expenditure within budget in the current year. Once I am satisfied that these plans are in place and are working, I will want to address the issue of recovery.

Civil Service

Mr. Beggs: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what estimate he has made of the number of civil service jobs which will be lost in East Antrim as a result of efficiency savings announced on 12 July; and what assistance will be provided to redundant civil service employees to help them find alternative employment. [196519]

Mr. Pearson: The details of where the reductions will take place is the subject of ongoing planning within individual Departments and will not be available until business plans for 2005–06 and subsequent years are finalised.

It is expected that the reductions and other workforce changes will be achieved through natural wastage and redeployment, without the need for redundancy schemes. Plans are being developed to support staff in moving to new posts.

Consultants

Dr. Julian Lewis: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many consultancy firms or companies have been retained by the Department since June 2001; what the projects are for which each has been retained; and what the total is of the fees paid or incurred in each case. [193422]

Mr. Pearson: Information about all consultancy contracts entered into by Departments in Northern Ireland is not held centrally and could only be obtained from individual Departments at disproportionate cost. Information on consultancy contracts awarded by the Central Procurement Directorate on behalf of Northern Ireland Departments in the last three financial years is held by that Directorate and a table listing these has been placed in the Library. These contracts were awarded to 166 consultancy firms or companies.

Pete Wishart: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how much his Department has spent in each year since 2002 on employing external consultants to deal with the press and public relations of his Department; and if he will make a statement. [195447]

 
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Mr. Pearson: The 11 Departments of the Northern Ireland Administration and the Northern Ireland Office have spent a total of £24,259.20 and £76,686.96 in the financial years 2002–03 and 2003–04 respectively on employing external consultants to deal with press and public relations. A figure for the current financial year is not yet available. Figures are in respect of core Departments only.

Disabled Pupils

Mr. Dodds: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what measures he is taking to prepare teachers and classroom assistants for the task of including children with disabilities in mainstream schools. [197109]

Mr. Gardiner: At present 60 per cent. of children with statements are already educated in mainstream schools or units. As part of the implementation of the proposed Special Educational Needs and Disability Order (NI) the Department will develop a range of information giving measures to support teachers and classroom assistants in making provision for children with disabilities in mainstream schools, including a revision of the Code of Practice on the Identification and Assessment of Special Educational Needs. The Equality Commission will also produce two Codes of Practice on Disability Discrimination. These codes will provide practical advice to teachers and classroom assistants.

The Department is also continuing to develop programmes and materials to support teachers and classroom assistants in relation to specific areas of Special Education Need, and is working with the Education and Training Inspectorate (ETI), the Regional Training Unit (RTU) and the Education and Library Boards to develop a strategic approach to the co-ordination of a comprehensive training agenda over a wide range of areas associated to inclusion.

Teacher education provision is also currently under review, the intention of which is to develop approaches that match more closely the needs of teachers entering the profession. In particular, the five teacher training providers in NI are reviewing their current practice in the light of the proposed Special Educational Needs and Disability Order.

Early Release

Lady Hermon: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many prisoners set free under the Belfast Agreement early release schemes are in (a) full-time and (b) part-time employment. [198293]

Mr. Pearson: The information requested is unavailable as the Northern Ireland Prison Service does not hold the employment details of former inmates.

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