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14 Nov 2005 : Column 1017W—continued
Coroner Services
Mark Durkan: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland in how many cases the remains of deceased people from Foyle constituency have been retained in Belfast for three days or more since the amalgamation of the Derry Coroner's District with the Greater Belfast Coroner's District. [24730]
Mr. Hain:
The Derry Coroner's District amalgamated with the Greater Belfast Coroner's District on 26 September 2005. From 26 September until 4 November 20 bodies from the Derry area were referred for post mortem examination. One body was held for more than three days, a suspicious death which required a second post mortem by a pathologist for the defence.
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Disability Services
Mr. Peter Robinson: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what percentage of funding that makes up the learning disability programme of care is allocated to each aspect of the programme. [25213]
Mr. Woodward: The answer is detailed in the following table.
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Early Release
Mr. Dodds: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many prisoners who have applied for early release following the signing of the Belfast Agreement for crimes committed prior to that agreement have been (a) released and (b) refused release. [25688]
Mr. Woodward: Under the terms of the Northern Ireland (Sentences) Act 1998, 447 prisoners have been released early; 127 applications for release under the Act have been unsuccessful. Among those 127 there were 14 prisoners who were released, having served their sentence, before the Sentence Review Commissioners reached a decision on their application.
Eglinton Primary School
Mark Durkan: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland if he will make a statement on (a) (i) pupil numbers and (ii) condition of the building at Eglinton primary school and (b) the prospects for a new school building. [27243]
Angela E. Smith: The current enrolment of Eglinton primary school is 212 pupils.
The Department inspected the school in July 2004 and is aware that it has a number of shortcomings. Among those noted were poor condition of walls and windows; need for re-wiring; re-plumbing and replacement of toilets. There is a serious shortage of storage space. There are three mobile classrooms.
The Western education and library board has submitted an economic appraisal to the Department for a capital major works scheme. While the school's needs are recognised it is not possible at this stage to say when a new building would be approved.
Grammar Schools
Sammy Wilson: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many individuals who were considered to come from the (a) Protestant, (b) Roman Catholic and (c) other communities have attended each grammar school in the Province in the last 10 years. [25796]
Angela E. Smith:
The information has been placed in the Library.
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Housing
Mr. Gregory Campbell: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many homes were sold to the tenant and subsequently repurchased by the Northern Ireland Housing Executive from the tenant, in each of the past five years. [27021]
Mr. Hanson: The information requested for each of the last five financial years (1 April to 31 March each year) is as follows;
| Number | |
|---|---|
| 2000–01 | 12 |
| 2001–02 | 33 |
| 2002–03 | 31 |
| 2003–04 | 18 |
| 2004–05 | 11 |
| 2005–06 (9 November 2005) | 20 |
Insurance Premiums
Mr. Dodds: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what estimate he has made of the change in insurance premiums for small and medium-sized businesses in 2004–05. [27765]
Angela E. Smith: A survey of business insurance premiums in Northern Ireland is undertaken annually by the Department of Enterprise Trade and Investment. The last survey was undertaken at the end of 2004 and showed a reduction of 16.1 per cent. in the average (median) insurance premiums for small and medium businesses compared to the previous year.
The next set of results from the survey which will provide an estimate of the change in insurance premiums between 2004 and 2005 will be published in spring 2006.
Irish League Premier Division
Mr. Gregory Campbell: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what progress is being made in funding the improvements in facilities for customer safety and comfort at each of the Irish league premier division grounds. [27019]
Mr. Hanson: Responsibility for funding improvements to facilities for customer safety and comfort at Irish league premier division grounds rests with the venue operators. Assistance in funding such improvements is available from the Sports Council for Northern Ireland (SCNI). SCNI has already provided the following assistance:
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SCNI is currently considering applications for further assistance to improve customer safety and comfort at three Irish league premier division grounds.
Literacy and Numeracy
Dr. McCrea: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many employees in his Department have requested training to improve their (a) literacy and (b) numeracy skills in each year since 2001. [25784]
Mr. Hanson: Since 2001, 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. Ongoing support is being provided to the student. No staff have sought assistance with numeracy skills although basic numeracy skills are included in the Department's financial training courses.
M2
Mr. Gregory Campbell: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what assessment he has made of changes in commuter travel time at peak times from junction 5 of the M2 motorway to Belfast city centre over the last five years. [27015]
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 Dr. Malcolm McKibbin to Mr. Gregory Campbell, dated 14 November 2005:
You recently asked the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland a Parliamentary Question regarding what assessment he has made of changes in commuter travel time at peak times from junction 5 of the M2 motorway to Belfast City Centre over the last five years. I have been asked to reply as this issue falls within my responsibility as Chief Executive of Roads Service.
Roads Service monitors journey times on the strategic routes in Northern Ireland including the routes from Larne to Belfast to Newry (A8, M2, Ml and Al). These surveys commenced in 1996 and the most recent information available is for 2003.
Unfortunately, we have no journey time information that relates to the specific journey between junction 5 (Templepatrick) and Belfast City Centre. However, a comparison of journey times between Templepatrick and the Divis Street junction on Westlink would suggest that the average journey time in the morning peak over this section has increased by 3 to 4 minutes between 1998 and 2003.
We fully appreciate the significant delays experienced by southbound traffic approaching Sandyknowes on the M2. Roads Service acknowledges that these delays are a direct result of capacity restrictions downstream of Sandyknowes where only 2 traffic lanes are available to cater for both mainline M2 traffic and the considerable flow joining the motorway from the Sandyknowes roundabout. Consequently we plan to widen the Belfast-bound carriageway of the M2 motorway to create an additional southbound lane between the Sandyknowes and Greencastle junctions. This will make it easier for traffic to join the
- M2 from the Sandyknowes junction, particularly during the morning peak traffic, and also provide greater capacity on the Belfast-bound section of the M2 towards Greencastle. Construction of these improvements on the M2 is expected to start during 2008.
The £30 million M2 Widening Scheme is one of three schemes forming part of the £100 million Roads Service Design, Build, Finance and Operate Package 1, along with the Ml/Westlink Project and the Antrim Hospital slip roads.
I can also advise that the Belfast Metropolitan Transport Plan proposes modifications to the Sandyknowes roundabout to minimise conflicts between different traffic movements and afford greater priority to the strategic M2 and A8 movements. Roads Service is currently investigating various design options.
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