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Special Schools
Mr. Peter Robinson: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what the average funding per pupil was for children in special schools in each of the last five years, broken down by education board. [19525]
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Angela E. Smith: The average cost for educational provision per pupil in special schools within the individual Board areas, broken down by Education and Library Board in the period 2000–01 to 2004–05 is as follows:
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The Southern Education and Library Board only has special schools for children with Severe Learning Difficulties.
The other four Boards have schools for children with both Moderate and Severe Learning Difficulties. This would largely account for the higher average cost for Southern Education and Library Board special schools.
Suicides
Mr. Peter Robinson: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many suicides there were in each region in the most recent year for which figures are available by young people aged 15 to 24, broken down by sex and expressed as (a) a percentage of all suicides and (b) the number ranked in descending order. [21183]
Angela E. Smith: The following tables give the number of deaths registered in Northern Ireland for 2004 due to 'suicide and self-inflicted injury' 1 or 'undetermined injury whether accidentally or purposefully inflicted' 2 by local government district, sex and age-group. Mortality data for the 2004 registration year are provisional until the publication of the Annual Report of the Registrar General in autumn 2005.
2 International Classification of Diseases, Tenth Revision codes Y10-Y34, Y87.2
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Surplus School Places
Mr. Lidington: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland if he will place in the Library details of the methodology used by the Department of Education Northern Ireland to determine the number of surplus places in schools. [21503]
Angela E. Smith: The calculation of surplus places in post-primary schools, is based on the enrolment which can be accommodated by the total physical capacity of teaching spaces less the actual number of pupils attending.
For primary schools, the methodology is based on the schedules of accommodation in the Department of Education Building Handbook for Primary Schools, which uses enrolment bands to determine the number of classrooms that a school should have eg the enrolment band for a seven classroom school is in the range 176–205 pupils. Many primary schools have a number of classrooms which are not used for teaching purposes and therefore to make some allowance for these non-teaching classrooms, the methodology for calculating surplus places has deemed the capacity of each primary school to be the lower end of the enrolment band. The actual enrolment is subtracted from this to produce an estimate of the surplus places.
I have arranged for this information to be placed in the Library.
Sustainable Development
Mark Williams: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what has been identified as the most significant sustainable development impacts in relation to the operation of his Department's estate. [18439]
Mr. Hain: The Department has established a comprehensive programme to deliver its sustainable development strategy. Key to that programme has been the establishment of a network of 'Green Champions' across the Department. This is a group of committed and enthusiastic individuals who collectively are driving forward the message of reduce, reuse and recycle in relation to the operation and management of the Department's estate.
This answer only applies to the Northern Ireland Office and not to the 11 Departments of the devolved administration.
Tor Bank Special School
Mrs. Iris Robinson:
To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland if he will make a statement on progress with completion of capital works at Tor Bank Special school in Dundonald; how the amount of finance
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allocated by the Department of Education for this project was calculated; when this finance was allocated; and how much remains unspent. [21371]
Angela E. Smith: It is expected that the invitation to negotiate for this public private partnership project (PPP) will issue to bidders before Christmas and that construction will start in the latter part of 2006. The estimated capital value of this project was calculated on the basis of construction, fees and furniture and equipment. As with all PPP projects, no financial allocation will be made until after a preferred bidder is appointed and the Department has approved the full business case. This is because thecunitary payment, which will be paid for the duration of the contract, does not commence until thecschool becomes operational.
Mrs. Iris Robinson: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland when the replacement of Tor Bank special needs school is expected to commence; and if he will make a statement. [21199]
Angela E. Smith: Tor Bank special school was announced in 2002 as part of a public-private partnership cluster along with Lagan college. It is anticipated that the invitation to negotiate will issue to bidders for this project before the end of the year and that construction would start in the latter part of 2006.
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