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4 Jul 2005 : Column 194W—continued

Further Education Colleges

Mr. Dodds: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many students there have been in colleges of further education in Northern Ireland in each year since 1997. [7840]

Angela E. Smith: Figures for total enrolments per academic year in Northern Ireland further education colleges are only available from 1998–99. The most up-to-date audited figures available are for academic year 2002–03. These figures are set out in the following table.
Total enrolments in the NI FE sector by Mode of Attendance from 1998–99 to 2002–03

	Mode of Attendance
Academic year	Full-time	Part-time (including non-voc)	Total
1998–99	26,992	156,296	183,288
1999–2000	27,245	165,962	193,207
2000–01	27,918	175,241	203,159
2001–02	27,459	169,430	196,889
2002–03	27,524	170,437	197,961

Notes:
1.Data is extracted from the Further Education Statistical Record.
2.The merger of the Northern Ireland Hotel and Catering College and the University of Ulster in 2001 is responsible for an approximate total enrolment decline of 3,000 between 2001–02 and 2002–03.

Health and Safety Inspections

Lady Hermon: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many (a) planned and (b) unannounced health and safety inspections were carried out in each health and safety district in Northern Ireland in each of the last five years for which figures are available. [7164]

Angela E. Smith: The number of inspections carried out by each district council is provided in the following table, for the years for which they are available. A breakdown between (a) planned and (b) unannounced inspections is not available.
Number of inspections carried out by district councils

	2001–02	2002–03	2003–04
Antrim	155	122	110
Ards	308	288	312
Armagh	191	123	138
Ballymena	427	425	394
Ballymoney	58	48	61
Banbridge	106	197	107
Belfast	316	714	519
Carrickfergus	62	35	70
Castlereagh	135	166	168
Coleraine	158	165	237
Cookstown	49	47	26
Craigavon	260	233	161
Down	228	319	172
Dungannon	83	24	40
Fermanagh	n/k	112	169
Larne	48	83	91
Limavady	108	133	94
Lisburn	602	617	489
Londonderry	328	310	514
Magherafelt	50	91	60
Moyle	32	24	34
Newry	176	142	136
Newtownabbey	265	127	147
North Down	288	333	347
Omagh	122	62	132
Strabane	63	80	77
Total	4,618	5,020	4,805

 
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Health and Safety Staffing

Lady Hermon: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many Health and Safety officials are employed in each health and safety district in Northern Ireland broken down by rank; and what the equivalent figures were in each of the last five years. [7163]

Angela E. Smith: The number of Officers authorised by District Councils under the Health and Safety at Work Order (NI) 1978, for the years for which they are available, are provided in the following table. Not all of these officers spent all of their time working on health and safety issues and therefore the full time equivalents are also given. Figures by rank are not available although officers will either be Environmental Health Officers or Senior Environmental Health Officers.
Number of officers authorised by district councils under the Health and Safety at Work (NI) Order 1978 and their full-time equivalents (FTEs)

	2001–02		2002–03		2003–04
District council	Number of Officers	FTEs	Number of Officers	FTEs	Number of Officers	FTEs
Antrim	3	0.9	2	0.8	2	0.8
Ards	3	1.5	3	1.5	8	1.3
Armagh	1.5	1.5	4	1.25	4	1.25
Ballymena	8	2	8	2.25	5	3
Ballymoney	4	0.16	6	0.35	6	0.36
Banbridge	1	0.6	1	0.6	4	1.8
Belfast	7	6	6.5	6.5	7	5
Carrickfergus	1	n/k	1	n/k	2	0.4
Castlereagh	6.5	1.2	5.5	1	1	1
Coleraine	2	1	7	1	10	2
Cookstown	3	0.5	3	0.33	3	0.33
Craigavon	n/k	1.5	7	2	7	1
Down	2	1.5	3	1.8	8	1.8
Dungannon	n/k	1.38	0	1.38	n/k	1.38
Fermanagh	5	1	5	1.2	8	1.8
Larne	5	0.45	5	0.75	4	0.5
Limavady	3.75	1.15	5	1.26	5	1.25
Lisburn	9	2	9	1.2	11	1.2
Londonderry	4	2.5	8	2	8	2
Magherafelt	4	0.4	5	0.35	5	0.3
Moyle	3	0.3	1	0.3	1	0.25
Newry	2	1	3	1	1	0.7
Newtonabbey	10	1.65	2	0.9	2	1.5
North Down	1.5	n/k	2	1.5	2	1.5
Omagh	n/k	0.75	1	0.4	1	0.75
Strabane	n/k	1.05	n/k	0.97	1	1.05
Totals	105	34.5	103	32.59	116	34.22

Human Rights Commission

Lady Hermon: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many applications were received for the post of Commissioner within the Northern Ireland Human Rights Commission, broken down by party political affiliation; how many applicants were short-listed, broken down by party political affiliation; and what the nationality was of each applicant. [7577]

Mr. Hanson: 164 applications were received for the post of Commissioner.

Applicants were not asked to confirm their nationality.

Applicants were not asked to confirm their party political affiliation. As is standard in public appointments, applicants were asked on their application form to indicate whether they had undertaken any of the following activities during the past five years.
 
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Obtained office as a Local Councillor, MP, MEP, MLA etc.

Stood as a candidate for one of the above offices.

Spoken on behalf of a political party or candidate.

Acted as a political agent.

Held office, such as chair, treasurer or secretary of a local branch of a political party.

Canvassed on behalf of a political party or helped at elections.

Undertaken any other political activity which they considered relevant.

Made a recordable donation to a political party.

When a candidate indicated that they had undertaken one or more activity, they were asked to indicate the party for which the activity was undertaken. This is broken down as follows for all applicants:

	Number
Alliance Party	8
Labour	8
SDLP	6
UUP	4
NI Women's Coalition	3
DUP	3
Liberal Democrat	2
Worker's Party	2
Fianna Fail	1
Green Party	1
No activity indicated	126

87 applicants met the criteria required to be short-listed for interview. The political parties for which activities were undertaken by these applicants are broken down as follows:

	Number
Labour	8
Alliance Party	4
SDLP	4
NI Women's Coalition	3
UUP	2
DUP	2
Worker's Party	1
Green Party	1
No activity indicated	62

Illiteracy

Mr. Dodds: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many adults in Northern Ireland have been classified as illiterate in each year since 1997. [7839]

Angela E. Smith: Research to date has focused on measuring levels of literacy and at present no data is available which specifically identifies the levels of illiteracy. The International Adult Literacy Survey (IALS) which was conducted in 1996 indicated that 24 per cent. of the adult population in Northern Ireland performed at the lowest level of literacy, Level 1.

Of those adults performing at the lowest level of literacy:

20 per cent. were aged between 16–25;

16 per cent. were aged between 26–35;

21 per cent. were aged between 36–45;

43 per cent. were aged over 45.

 
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Since the launch of the essential skills for living strategy in October 2002 to March 2005, 28,965 adults have been supported to improve their levels of literacy and numeracy.

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