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16 Nov 2004 : Column 1369W—continued

Night Flights

Lady Hermon: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many breaches of the late night flight curfew at Belfast City Airport there have been in each of the past five years; and which airlines were involved in each case. [197314]

Angela Smith: The total number of delayed late night flights after 21.30 hours during each of the last five years, is as follows:—
 
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	Number
1999	350
2000	334
2001	340
2002	520
2003	648

The current Planning Agreement is between the Department of the Environment and Belfast City Airport, not individual airlines. Consequently, my Department does not hold information on individual airlines delayed and late night flights.

Lady Hermon: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what enforcement action has been taken against (a) airlines and (b) the operators of Belfast City Airport for breaches of the late-night flight curfew (i) in each of the last four years and (ii) to date in 2004; and if he will make a statement. [197315]

Angela Smith: No enforcement action has been taken in relation to flights which have been delayed after 21.30 hours. However, officials have been working with the airport operators to reduce the number of flight movements after 21.30, as part of an agreed Action Plan. The target is to achieve a 10 per cent. reduction in the total number of flights operating after 21.30, including a 90 per cent. reduction in flights after 23.00.

To date, during 2004, there is an overall 15 per cent. reduction in the number of flights operating after 21.30 during the extended hours period, when compared to 2003. During 2004, one late flight occurred after midnight.

This is a significant reduction, against the background that the total number of late flights (648) during 2003 represents less than 2 per cent. of the total air traffic movements.
 
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Parades

Mr. McGrady: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, what the total policing cost of parades was from 1 April to 14 August; and what the figure was for the same period last year. [187889]

Mr. Pearson: Further to my earlier reply, I am now in a position to provide the information you requested. The policing cost for the period in question for 2004 was £5,552,544, compared with £5,217,215 for the previous year.

Rivers Agency

Mr. Donaldson: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what the religious composition is of the technical staff in the Western Regional Office of the Rivers Agency. [198510]

Mr. Pearson: The confidentiality of monitoring information and the categories of statistical analyses, which are published, is governed by statutory requirements and a Code of Practice agreed with the trade unions. In addition, under fair employment legislation, NICS is treated as a single entity for the purposes of monitoring. Equality of opportunity and fair participation is assessed by examining the compositional profile of the NICS at occupational groups and grade levels. It is information at this level, not the composition of particular offices or locations, which is used to inform the development of policies, practices and procedures which promote equality of opportunity and fair participation across the NICS as a whole.

I am sorry that my response cannot be more forthcoming, but I hope you will appreciate that we have to have proper regard to statutory requirements and the Code of Practice agreed with Trade Unions.

Mr. Donaldson: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many internal transfers have taken place in the Western Regional Area of the Rivers Agency involving (a) industrial staff and (b) technical staff in each year since 2000. [198511]

Mr. Pearson: The number of internal transfers in the Western Region of the Rivers Agency is as follows:

	Industrial staff	Professional and technical staff
2000	1	1
2001	0	3
2002	4	1
2003	1	0
2004	1	0

Students

Mr. Donaldson: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many students ordinarily resident in Northern Ireland are taking courses (a) at Northern Ireland universities and (b) at universities outside Northern Ireland. [198505]

Mr. Gardiner: (a) In 2002–03, 44,137 NI domiciled students were enrolled at the four locally established NI higher education institutions and 3,481 were enrolled at the Open University.
 
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(b) In 2002–03, 15,260 NI domiciled students were enrolled at higher education institutions in Great Britain and the Republic of Ireland.

The Department for Employment and Learning does not hold information on students enrolled at higher education institutions outside the United Kingdom and Republic of Ireland.

The Department publishes annual statistical bulletins on higher education enrolments which are available to download from: http://www.delni.gov.uk/index.cfm/area/information/page/SRHEEnrolments

Sure Start

Lady Hermon: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland if he will ensure that a multi-agency approach in service delivery is central to the proposed new Sure Start model. [198288]

Angela Smith: Sure Start promotes and adopts a partnership approach to providing co-ordinated services for families with young children. The programme is both designed and delivered at a local level through a network of local statutory agencies and community-based voluntary organisations working in the fields of health, early education and family/parenting support. Thus, in each local area, different programmes are set up according to the range of existing services and the particular needs of the community.

Tyrone County Hospital

Mr. McGrady: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland if he will make a statement on acute services provision at Tyrone County Hospital. [198272]

Angela Smith: "Developing Better Services" and the Western Board's subsequent strategic context document "Planning for Change" detail how the Tyrone County Hospital will evolve into a local hospital, in parallel with the development of the new South West Hospital in Enniskillen. The implementation of "Developing Better Services" will provide a network of fully integrated services across Northern Ireland and the new local hospital in Omagh will play a key role in that network of services. It will continue to provide some 70 per cent. of the services that people require in hospital settings, including a local assessment and treatment unit, diagnostics including X-ray and CT scanning, a mobile coronary care service, renal dialysis, in-patient beds for rehabilitation and palliative care, and a wide range of out-patient and day case surgery services, all in modern, state of the art facilities.

During the transition to the new service model set out in "Developing Better Services", I will do everything I can to ensure that standards are maintained and that no services are removed from Tyrone County Hospital until appropriate alternative provision has been put in place.

HEALTH

Accident and Emergency Services

Paul Farrelly: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what additional investments have been made in accident and emergency services in North Staffordshire since 1997. [198569]

 
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Dr. Ladyman: During the period 1999–2001, the former North Staffordshire Hospital National Health Service Trust—now the University Hospital of North Staffordshire NHS Trust—received the following amounts from the capital modernisation fund for accident and emergency.
(£000)

Wave of scheme	Details of scheme	Cost
First wave	To upgrade and modernise the A and E department	700
Second wave	To improve responsiveness, efficiency and quality of A and E services	150

The Trust has also received the following capital payments from the Department's accident and emergency incentive scheme.
(£000)

Period of incentive scheme	Qualification for payment	Payment received
March 2004	At least 94 per cent, of all patients spending under four hours in A and E during March 2004	100
First quarter 2004–05	At least 95 per cent, of all patients spending under four hours in A and E during first quarter of 2004–05	100

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