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22 Mar 2005 : Column 665W—continued
Primary/Secondary Education
Mr. Lidington:
To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what estimate he has made of the
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number of post-primary schools in Northern Ireland which are capable of meeting the proposed Entitlement Framework set out in the Costello Report. [223224]
Mr. Gardiner: It is not the intention that individual schools should offer access to the full Entitlement Framework entirely on their own, though a few may be capable of doing so. Rather, schools will need to develop arrangements to collaborate with other schools and with the Further Education sector so as to provide enhanced choice. The Entitlement Framework will be introduced on a phased basis to allow schools time to develop the necessary collaboration.
Mr. Lidington: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what the total cost was of producing the Costello Report on post-primary education in Northern Ireland. [223229]
Mr. Gardiner: I refer the hon. Gentleman to the reply I gave the hon. Member for Strangford (Mrs. Robinson) on 22 February 2005, Official Report, column 577W.
David Burnside: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland why primary school profiles currently being tested in the Province exclude academic ability and potential. [221769]
Mr. Gardiner: A Pupil Profile will be completed each year for each child throughout their primary and post-primary education, replacing the current Annual Pupil Report. It will provide clear and objective information about a pupil's progress and achievements across a range of curricular areas, including Literacy, Numeracy and ICT, an assessment of their attitude to learning, their aptitude for learning and their particular interests, and indicate areas for development and future learning. The information in the Pupil Profile will be based on ongoing teacher assessment, which will be moderated within and across schools.
David Burnside: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland if he will reintroduce performance league tables for the secondary school sector in the Province. [221771]
Mr. Gardiner: I refer the hon. Gentleman to the reply I gave on 7 February 2005, Official Report, column 1300W.
David Burnside: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what name will be used to describe grammar schools after the end of academic selection between the primary and secondary sector in the Province. [221772]
Mr. Gardiner: There are no plans to change the terminology applied to grammar schools after academic selection ends in Northern Ireland.
David Burnside: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what the cost is to date of the (a) Burns Report and (b) Costello Report and what the cost is of accompanying consultation exercises linked to each report. [221774]
Mr. Gardiner:
The Post-primary Review was completed on 26 January 2004 when the Government announced it had accepted and was implementing the recommendations of the Post-primary Review Working Group (the Costello Report). Arising from that Report, a public consultation on new admissions arrangements and criteria is under way.
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The costs to date are as follows:
(a) £830,000 on research, the Post-Primary Review Body costs and the publication of the Burns Report;
(c) £215,000 on the Post-primary Review Working Group and the publication and distribution of the Costello Report.
(d) £25,000 (to date) on consultation about new admissions arrangements and criteria arising from the recommendations of the Costello Report.
David Burnside: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland for what reasons the present consultation process on admissions criteria between primary and secondary schools is restricted to parents who have access to a computer. [221775]
Mr. Gardiner: This is not the case. A paper copy of the Consultation Document on New Admissions Arrangements and the Response Booklet is available by contacting the Department by telephone, in writing, byfax and by e-mail. The document can also be viewed and downloaded from the Department of Education website, and responses to the consultation can be made on-line. Over 17,000 copies of the Consultation Document have been issued to the main education interests including schools, churches, political parties, community and voluntary groups and, on request, parents.
All schools were sent leaflets to pass to parents of school-age children to provide details of the consultation and how they can respond. Advertisements were placed in the three main newspapers (Belfast Telegraph, News Letter, Irish News) giving details of the consultation and the different ways in which people can obtain a copy.
The Department is encouraging everyone to consider carefully the issues raised in the Consultation Document and to respond to this important issue.
Smoking
Lady Hermon: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what assessment he has made of the merits of extending beyond 25 March the consultation period on proposals to ban smoking in enclosed public places. [223274]
Angela Smith: Three months is the standard period for a public consultation. There are no plans to extend the period beyond 25 March 2005.
Lady Hermon: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland for what reasons the consultation period on proposals to ban smoking in enclosed public places was limited to three months. [223275]
Angela Smith: The three month consultation on the proposals to ban smoking in enclosed public places is the standard period for a consultation as set out in the 'Guide to Consultation Methods for Northern Ireland Public Authorities.'
Surplus Assets Sales
Mr. Evans: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland whether his Department sold any surplus stockon the eBay auction website, in each year since 2000–01. [220941]
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Mr. Paul Murphy: There were no items of surplus stock, belonging to the Northern Ireland Office (excluding its Agencies and NDPBs), sold on the eBay auction website in each year since 2000–01.
University Admissions
Mr. Wilson: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what proportion of school leavers in Northern Ireland entered higher education in (a) 1997 and (b) 2004, broken down by parliamentary constituency. [222856]
Mr. Gardiner: Figures for 2003/04 are not yet available. The most recent available figures are for 2001/02 school leavers.
TRADE AND INDUSTRY
Avient
Norman Lamb: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry with regard to the recent statement by the National Contact Point for the OECD Guidelines on Avient, what assessment she has made of what is covered by the term military company. [200494]
Mr. Alexander: The core business of Avient is cargo transport and logistics, in the context of the UN report, predominantly mining equipment. The NCP has seen no evidence that Avient supplied arms of any description.
Baku-Tblisi-Ceyhan Pipeline
Mr. Simon Thomas: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry how many breaches of World Bank guidelines by the monitoring consultants for the Baku-Tblisi-Ceyhan pipeline during implementation have been identified and reported to her Department. [218274]
Mr. Alexander:
The independent environmental consultant to the lender group (D'Appolonia) has identified four significant breaches of project standards. These were all rectified by BTC Co. within a reasonable
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period as required and defined by the project's Social Action Plan and the Export Credits Guarantee Department loan agreement.
Mr. Simon Thomas: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry (1) how many incidents of land being used outside the 28-metre Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan pipeline corridor have been reported to her; [218280]
(2) whether the use of unexpropriated land outside the 28-metre corridor in relation to the Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan pipeline project constitutes a breach of loan agreements. [218281]
Mr. Alexander: The use of unexpropriated land outside the 28-metre pipeline corridor would represent a breach of the Export Credits Guarantee Department (ECGD) loan agreement for the project, if it were considered to have a material effect on the project. Breaches not rectified within a reasonable period, in accordance with the project's Environment and Social Action Plan and the ECGD loan agreement, would constitute an incident for which an event of default could be called.
In its second site visit report (June-July 2004) the lender group's independent environmental consultant, D'Appolonia, reported that there had been unplanned use of land outside of the 28 metre pipeline corridor in Turkey on an unspecified number of occasions. However, these breaches of ECGD's loan agreement were rectified within the required period.
Mr. Simon Thomas: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what requirements she places on project sponsors to provide her with relevant reports on the Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan pipeline project. [218295]
Mr. Alexander: BTC Co. is required, in line with project documentation, to provide the lending group with the following reports:
The lender group's independent consultants also provide reports on the technical aspects of the project.
Mr. Simon Thomas: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what reports she has received regarding compliance by (a) BOTAS and (b) its subcontractors with appropriate standards on the Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan pipeline. [218553]
Mr. Alexander:
The lenders to the Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan pipeline project, including the Export Credits Guarantee Department, received reports from WorleyParsons, (the lender group's independent engineering consultant), and D'Appolonia (the independent environmental consultant) during the construction of the pipeline. These reports
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highlight any concerns regarding compliance by any of the BTC contractors and subcontractors with the appropriate standards.
Mr. Simon Thomas: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry whether BP has informed her of the concerns raised by its operations department with regard to certifying the Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan pipeline as fit for purpose. [218555]
Mr. Alexander: The Export Credits Guarantee Department (ECGD) has not been informed by BP or BTC Co. of any concerns raised by BP's operations department. The lender group's independent technical consultant (WorleyParsons) has also advised that it has not seen any information to suggest that BP's operations department has such concerns.
Mr. Simon Thomas: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry when she was first informed that the cathodic protection system used on the Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan pipeline was vulnerable to being rendered inoperative by coating corrosion. [218556]
Mr. Alexander: It is the Export Credits Guarantee Department's understanding that the pipeline coating protects the underlying metal pipe from the surrounding corrosive environment and it will not itself corrode.
Mr. Simon Thomas: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry (1) whether she has monitored the expropriation of land for the Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan project in Turkey using emergency powers under Article27 of the Turkish Expropriation Law; [218560]
(2) what monitoring she has undertaken of compliance by BTC with the agreed resettlement action plan for the Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan pipeline project. [218561]
Mr. Alexander: A Social and Resettlement Action Plan (SRAP) Monitoring Panel, made up of international resettlement and social development experts, has been monitoring the implementation of the Resettlement Action Plan including the expropriation of land for the project. The SRAP panel's reports are sent to the lender group and are also published on the project website at: www.caspiandevelopmentandexport.com
Mr. Simon Thomas: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry when she was first informed by the Export Credits Guarantee Department that SPC 2888, proposed to be used on the Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan pipeline, had not previously been used on a pipeline with polyethylene coating. [218562]
Mr. Alexander: ECGD informed the then Minister for Trade's office on 8 July 2004 that SPC 2888 had not previously been used on a pipeline with polyethylene coating.
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