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Hospital-acquired Infections

Mrs. Iris Robinson: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many infections were acquired (a) in hospitals and (b) elsewhere within the health service in the Province in each of the last 10 years. [24921]

Mr. Woodward: The information is not available in the format requested. Current surveillance cannot differentiate between infections that were acquired in hospitals or those that were acquired elsewhere.

Housing Associations

Mr. Dodds: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland (1) what the average length of time taken to process planning applications for housing associations in Northern Ireland was in each year since 2001; [24064]

(2) how many applications for planning have been made by housing associations in Northern Ireland in each year since 1999; what the average approval time
 
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was; what the average validation time was; and what the annual percentage change in planning fees was. [24065]

 
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Angela E. Smith: The information requested is included in the following tables.
Table 1: Number of planning applications from housing associations between 2000 and 2005 with average processing and validation times.

	2000	2001	2002	2003	2004	2005
Number of applications	97	85	81	80	110	81
Average processing times in weeks	23.3	22.7	28.8	28	27.4	29.1
Average processing times to approval in weeks	23.3	22.7	28.8	27.2	27.1	27.7
Average validation times in weeks	2.2	3	2.5	2	3.4	2.7

Notes:
1. It is only possible to provide accurate data for the last five years, as all the information for 1999 is not held electronically by the planning service. It would be possible to extract the information for 1999 but at a disproportionate cost as it would involve a manual examination of approximately 22,182 files.
2. It should be noted that it is not always explicit that an application is on behalf of a housing association as applications may be submitted by an agent without reference to the association on the application forms.




Table 2: Percentage increase in planning fees between 1999 and 2005 Percentage

	Increase in planning fees
1999	0
2000	0
2001	3
2002	0
2003	14
2004	10
2005	12

Knockmore Link Road

Mr. Donaldson: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland whether the Roads Service plans to proceed with the proposed new Knockmore Link Road in Lisburn. [25496]

Mr. Woodward: The chief executive of Roads Service (Dr. Malcolm McKibbin) has been asked to write to the hon. Gentleman in response to this question.

Letter from Malcolm McKibbin to Mr. Jeffrey M. Donaldson, dated 7 November 2005:

You recently asked the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland a Parliamentary Question regarding what plans Roads Service has to proceed with the proposed new Knockmore Link Road in Lisburn. I have been asked to reply as this issue falls within my responsibility as Chief Executive of Roads Service.

Roads Service has identified the Knockmore Link scheme within the Belfast Metropolitan Transport Plan 2015, which was published in November 2004. The scheme, which would provide access to the West Lisburn site as a major employment location, is also included in the Draft Belfast Metropolitan Area Plan 2015 (BMAP).

Roads Service has no current proposals for the implementation of this scheme and therefore it has not been included in any forward planning programmes. This non-strategic road scheme will be subject to the Area Plan Inquiry which is scheduled for 2006. As stated in the Draft BMAP 2015, developers will be responsible for either full or substantial part funding for the scheme. Therefore, delivery of the scheme will be dependent on developer proposals following the outcome of the Area Plan Inquiry.

I hope this information is helpful.

Lagan Valley Hospital

Mr. Donaldson: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what plans the Department of Health, social services and public safety has to provide capital funding for improvement works at Lagan Valley hospital. [25033]

Mr. Woodward: The Department received a business case from Down Lisburn Trust dated 9 June for the re-development of Lagan Valley site at an estimated capital cost of £62 million. The Department has since been working with the Trust to develop these plans. In the meantime the Department has recently approved £350,000 capital funding for the upgrading of sterile services at the hospital and is considering further interim proposals which include additional theatre accommodation.

Departmental Staff (Literacy and Numeracy)

Mr. Gibb: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what steps he is taking to promote uptake of the national tests in adult literacy and numeracy among employees of his Department. [23413]

Mr. Hanson: The Knowledge 'skills for life' programme is a key part of the Northern Ireland Office learning programme. It forms a part of a 'ladder for development' to Modern Apprenticeships and all other training development opportunities offered by the Department. The programme is open to all NIO staff, although it is not expected that those currently holding a GCSE in English and/or maths would typically require this type of support. The programme is promoted during the Induction programme and by means of information flyers. Literacy and numeracy training is also embedded in the Department's general course training programme.

Mr. Gibb: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many employees in his Department requested training to improve their (a) literacy and (b) numeracy skills in each year since 2002. [23418]

Mr. Hanson: Since 2002, one member of staff in the Northern Ireland Office has requested training to improve their literacy skills. The applicant was interviewed to assess their training requirement and an appropriate course was identified with a local College. On-going support is being provided to the student throughout the duration of the course. No one has sought assistance with numeracy skills although basic figure work would be included as part of the Department's financial training courses.
 
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Manufacturing Employment

Mr. Peter Robinson: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many people were employed in the manufacturing sector in each parliamentary constituency in Northern Ireland in each of the last 10 years. [25150]

 
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Angela E. Smith: Estimates of the number of employee jobs below Northern Ireland level are only available from the Census of Employment on a biennial basis and the most up-to-date figures relate to September 2003. The estimates of employee jobs in the manufacturing sector for the period September 1995 to September 2003 for each parliamentary constituency area within Northern Ireland can be found in Table 1.
Table 1: Number of employee jobs in the manufacturing sector at September 1995, September 1997, September 1999, September 2001 and September 2003 for each parliamentary constituency area

Parliamentary constituency area	September 1995	September 1997	September 1999	September 2001	September 2003
Belfast East	10,259	9,689	9,506	9,537	7,600
Belfast North	5,209	5,228	4,617	4,377	3,712
Belfast South	3,556	3,279	2,767	2,819	2,557
Belfast West	2,085	2,546	2,785	2,801	2,466
East Antrim	4,690	5,085	4,925	4,883	3,646
East Londonderry	5,446	5,748	5,964	5,276	4,905
Fermanagh and South Tyrone	6,424	7,304	7,541	7,103	7,083
Foyle	8,703	9,015	7,987	6,640	5,765
Lagan Valley	5,755	6,040	6,488	7,322	6,664
Mid-Ulster	5,299	5,682	6,052	6,418	6,876
Newry and Armagh	3,853	4,163	4,075	3,958	4,041
North Antrim	7,699	8,151	8,160	7,201	7,205
North Down	2,872	3,073	2,809	2,399	1,995
South Antrim	6,259	6,706	6,591	6,505	6,218
South Down	3,246	3,496	3,551	3,268	3,408
Strangford	5,343	5,243	4,916	4,624	4,200
Upper Bann	12,604	12,583	12,193	10,494	9,490
West Tyrone	4,666	4,893	4,883	4,561	4,053
Northern Ireland	103,968	107,924	105,810	100,186	91,884

Source:
Census of Employment, DETI

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