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Paramilitary Prisoners

Mr. Lidington: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many prisoners in Northern Ireland are being given separated status; and how many belong to each relevant paramilitary group. [208577]

Mr. Pearson: Currently 64 prisoners have been given separated status. This is made up of 22 republican and 42 loyalist prisoners.

It is not possible to provide figures for affiliations to each paramilitary group with absolute certainty.

However, the perceived affiliations are as follows.

	Number
Republican	22
Made up of:
CIRA	4
RIRA	14
PIRA	3
INLA	1
Loyalist	42
Made up of:
UVF	14
UFF	5
UDA	21
Loyalist	1
No traces	1

Mr. Lidington: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many prisoners at HMP Maghaberry have (a) applied for and (b) been granted separated status since its introduction. [208578]

Mr. Pearson: Since the introduction of separated status at Maghaberry prison there have been 161 applications of which 111 have been granted, 37 were withdrawn and 13 have been refused.

Pollution (Belfast)

Mr. McNamara: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland if he will estimate the number of deaths brought forward in 2003–04 (a) due to the overall pollution in Belfast and (b) as a direct result of pollution from Belfast City Airport, using the same methodology as the 1998 Committee on the Medical Effects of Air Pollutants report on The Quantification of the Effects of Air Pollution on Health in the United Kingdom. [204209]

Angela Smith: Calculations carried out by the Government consultants for 2003–04 have not yet been completed. Calculations are available for 2002.

These calculations follow the methods recommended in 1998 by the Committee on the Medical Effects of Air Pollutants (COMEAP) in their report on The Quantification of the Effects of Air Pollution on Health in the United Kingdom. Deaths brought forward due to PM10 were 166 in Northern Ireland as a whole with 34
 
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in Belfast city district. The deaths brought forward from emissions from the airport are not quantifiable given the scale and the number of emission sources that contribute to local air quality in the vicinity of the airport.

The pollutant PM10 has been chosen to calculate the number of deaths brought forward as it encompasses the majority of health effects related to ambient air pollution. In addition, the PM10 COMEAP coefficient is considered to be more robust.

COMEAP plans to revisit the 1998 report on the Quantification of the Effects of Air Pollution on Health in the United Kingdom (commonly referred to as the QUARK report) next year. The QUARK 2 group will start work early in 2005 with a report expected by mid-2006.

Street Lighting

Lady Hermon: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many recorded incidents, excluding those caused by weather, vandalism or damage caused by contractors, resulted in the interruption of electricity supplies to street lighting in Northern Ireland in the last 12 months; and what the average duration was of such faults to the electricity supply. [209121]

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

Letter from Dr. Malcolm McKibbin to Lady Hermon, dated 19 January 2005:

You recently asked the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland a Parliamentary Question about the number of recorded incidents and average duration of interruption of electricity supplies to street lighting in the last 12 months (209121). I have been asked to reply as the issue of street lighting falls within my responsibility as Chief Executive of Roads Service.

I should explain that while Roads Service is responsible for the provision and maintenance of street lighting, responsibility for the continuity of electrical supply to the lights rests with Northern Ireland Electricity (NIE).

Roads Service officials are presently liaising with NIE to obtain the details that you have requested, and I will forward the information to you in due course.

I hope this information is helpful.

Titanic Quarter

Lady Hermon: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what progress has been made to facilitate the creation of a museum dedicated to the Titanic story at Titanic Quarter; and what assessment has been made of the benefits of such a museum on the Northern Ireland economy and tourist sector. [209122]

Angela Smith: The provision of a museum in the Titanic Quarter is being dealt with as part of the development of a strategy of the Titanic area being taken forward by the Northern Ireland Tourist Board (NITB) and Belfast city council (BCC). NITB in their Strategic Framework for Action listed Titanic (Maritime) Belfast as one of their five signature projects for tourism development in Northern Ireland. BCC and NITB have established a Titanic Forum comprising all the main stakeholders, including the Department of
 
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Culture, Arts and Leisure (DCAL) and the National Museums and Galleries of Northern Ireland (MAGNI), and have commissioned consultants to prepare and agree a vision for the Titanic Project, prepare a business plan for the delivery and implementation and undertake an economic appraisal of the project which will include quantification of the social and economic impact. This is due to be completed in April 2005.

Water and Sewerage Charges

Mr. Lidington: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland whether it is his policy to allocate additional resources to (a) schools, (b) hospitals and (c) Government departments in order to compensate them for the impact of the introduction of water and sewerage charges from April 2006. [208600]

Mr. Pearson: Schools, hospitals and Government Departments in Northern Ireland already pay water charges. They will also become liable for sewerage charges once the new arrangements for financing the water service in Northern Ireland begin to be introduced. The phased approach to be used in introducing these new charges means that this was not an issue in the recent Priorities and Budget 2005–08 process. The allocation of resources beyond this period will be considered in future Budget processes.

Mr. Lidington: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what assumptions have been made in planning his budgets for the Northern Ireland departments over the three years from April 2006 about the amount of money in each year that will be released for other public expenditure in Northern Ireland as a result of the introduction of a self-financing regime for water and sewage services. [208601]

Mr. Pearson: Allocations to NI departments for 2006–07, as set out in the recent Priorities and Budget 2005–08 publication, assume that one third of charging income will be paid in that year, and that £50–80 million of the current operating costs of the Water Service would be available for allocation to other public services.

The position for 2007–08 and beyond will be an issue for future Budget processes.

TREASURY

AIDS Vaccine

Mr. Bercow: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer when his Department's first tranche of funding for the advance purchase scheme for AIDS vaccine research will begin. [209071]

Mr. Boateng: The Chancellor has announced that the UK will explore, with other G7 countries, how to construct "advance purchase contracts" for malaria and AIDS vaccines.

Advance purchase contracts are structured so that payment by the commissioning party is made upon delivery of the good or service. In this example therefore, the UK government's first tranche of funding for the advance purchase scheme for AIDS will issue once an effective AIDS vaccine has been developed.
 
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Central Government Grant

Mr. Rosindell: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how much each (a) nation and (b) region of the United Kingdom received in central Government grant in the latest year for which figures are available, listed in descending order. [209293]

Mr. Boateng: Data relating to total identifiable expenditure by central and local government can be found within chapter 8 of "Public Expenditure, Statistical Analyses 2004" (Cm6201), a copy of which can be found in the Library of the House. Table 8.1 details identifiable expenditure by nation and region of the United Kingdom for the years 1998–99 to 2002–03, the latest year for which data are available.

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