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31 Oct 2005 : Column 795W—continued

Robert McCartney

Mr. Peter Robinson: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many people are investigating the murder of Robert McCartney. [22994]

Mr. Woodward: PSNI have confirmed that a team of officers under the leadership of a senior investigating officer are investigating the murder of Robert McCartney. The allocation of police resources is, however, a matter for the Chief Constable.

Secure Training Centres

Dr. McCrea: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many young people have been admitted to hospital from secure training centres in Northern Ireland in each of the last four years. [21647]

 
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Mr. Hanson: There are no secure training centres within Northern Ireland. The Juvenile Justice Centre, which houses children aged 10 to 17, records such information on individual children's medical files but does not aggregate the data as there are very few occasions when this happens. The information requested is not therefore held centrally.

Security

Mr. Holloway: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland if he will make a statement on the security situation in the Province. [22735]

Mr. Woodward: The security situation is improving. The latest Independent Monitoring Commission (IMC) report stated that the initial signs following the Provisional IRA statement were encouraging. However, paramilitaries, especially Loyalists and dissident Republicans, continue to exert a malign influence over communities.

The Secretary of State published an updated normalisation programme on 1 August. This will be taken forward, provided the enabling environment is maintained.

St. Luke's Hospital

David Simpson: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what procedures have changed in relation to what personal items patients have use of in ward 3 of St. Luke's Hospital, Armagh since the death of Michelle Fitzpatrick on 25 March 2002. [21859]

Mr. Woodward: Following this young women's death a multidisciplinary meeting was held to review her care and treatment. A number of recommendations were made including a risk assessment of all identified and possible ligature points and current nursing observation levels in acute and intensive care units. These recommendations were actioned, however there were no specific recommendations in the use of personal items.

Staff Assaults

Mrs. Iris Robinson: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what costs were incurred by the Department of Health, Social Services and Public Safety as a result of attacks on fire crews and their vehicles over the last three years; and if he will make a statement. [22635]

Mr. Woodward: The following tables detail the cost resulting from attacks on fire crews and their vehicles over the last three years.
Cost of injuries to fire fighters as a result of attacks (days lost and ill-health retirements)

	£
2002	45,583
2003	3,031
2004	4,436
Total	53,050

 
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Cost of repair to damaged fire appliances

	£
2002	2,714
2003	2,047
2004	1,794
Total	6,555

While there has been a year on year reduction in the number of attacks, the safety of fire fighters while carrying out their duties remains of paramount importance. Legislation is being introduced early next year to ensure that the perpetrators of such attacks will be prosecuted. Attacks on fire fighters and their equipment not only puts fire crews at risk, but also reduces their ability to deliver vital services, which may have tragic results for those unfortunate enough to be trapped by fire.

Surplus School Places

Mr. Lidington: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many surplus places there were in (a) primary and (b) secondary schools in each education and library board area in (i) 2000 and (ii) 2005; and what the projected number of such places is in (A) 2012 and (B) 2015 in each case, broken down by type of school management. [21502]

 
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Angela E. Smith: In the 2000–01 school year, there were an estimated 12,200 surplus places in controlled primary schools and 12,900 surplus places in maintained primary schools. In the 2004–05 school year these figures increased to an estimated 15,800 in both sectors. In 2000–01 in post-primary schools, there were an estimated 6,500 surplus places in controlled schools and 6,900 in maintained schools. In 2004–05 these figures increased to an estimated 7,500 and 8,200 respectively. The following table shows the breakdown of the figures requested by education and library board area. Figures for the 2005–06 school year are not yet available.

The Northern Ireland Statistics and Research Agency projections indicate that the number of children of compulsory school age is set to decline by a further 30,000 over the next 10 years. The Department's pupil projection figures are only currently available to the period 2011–12 and these indicate that primary school numbers will fall from an estimated 162,200 in 2004–05 to 147,600 in 2011–12, (a reduction of 14,600 pupils) and that post-primary school numbers will fall from an estimated 152,600 to 140,100 in the same period, (a reduction of 12,500 pupils). It is not possible to break down these projected figures by management type. The projected fall in pupil numbers will not necessarily lead to a corresponding increase in surplus places—changes to the schools' estate in the intervening period, through the major capital works programme and as a result of proposals from school authorities for closures or amalgamations should remove a considerable number of surplus places.
Surplus places

		2000–01		2004–05
Board area/ school type	Sector	Number of schools with surplus places	Estimated number of surplus places	Number of schools with surplus places	Estimated number of surplus places
Belfast
Primary	Controlled	36	3,900	35	5,300
	Maintained	33	2,700	27	3,900
Post-primary	Controlled	7	1,200	8	1,700
	Maintained	16	1,300	15	1,300
North-Eastern
Primary	Controlled	56	2,900	44	3,700
	Maintained	39	2,500	32	2,700
Post-primary	Controlled	15	1,700	18	2,000
	Maintained	12	1,900	17	2,200
South-Eastern
Primary	Controlled	49	3,400	43	4,300
	Maintained	27	1,900	26	2,400
Post-primary	Controlled	11	1,300	17	1,800
	Maintained	8	600	12	700
Southern
Primary	Controlled	37	1,300	32	1,400
	Maintained	52	2,100	39	2,600
Post-primary	Controlled	17	1,300	16	1,300
	Maintained	16	1,500	14	1,700
Western
Primary	Controlled	26	700	20	1,100
	Maintained	72	3,700	62	4,300
Post-primary	Controlled	8	900	6	700
	Maintained	24	1,700	27	2,200
Overall totals:		561	38,500	510	47,300

 
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Summary

	2000		2004
Totals	Number of schools with surplus places	Estimated number of surplus places	Number of schools with surplus places	Estimated number of surplus places
Primary
Controlled	204	12,200	174	15,800
Maintained	223	12,900	186	15,800
Post-Primary
Controlled	58	6,500	65	7,500
Maintained	76	6,900	85	8,200
Totals	561	38,500	510	47,300

Teacher Training Places

Lady Hermon: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many teacher training places the Government are funding in teacher training colleges and universities in Northern Ireland in 2005–06; and how many were funded in each of the last three years. [22331]

Angela E. Smith: The total number of funded teacher training enrolments is as follows:

	Number
2002–03	1922
2003–04	1966
2004–05	1980
2005–06	1961

The number of funded teacher training intakes each year is as follows:

	Number
2002–03	861
2003–04	836
2004–05	830
2005–06	796

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