---

14 Nov 2005 : Column 1025W—continued

Truancy

Sammy Wilson: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how much has been spent on tackling truancy in the Province since 1997. [25794]

 
14 Nov 2005 : Column 1026W
 

Angela E. Smith: The information requested is not available. The money spent on tackling truancy in schools in the province is subsumed within the operating cost of the Education Welfare Service of the education and library boards. From 1 January 2004 the Department has collected information on the cost of the Education Welfare Service and the cost for the 2004 calendar year amounts to approximately £5.6 million.

Sammy Wilson: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland if he will estimate the level of truancy among (a) males and (b) females at (i) primary and (ii) secondary schools in the Province. [25795]

Angela E. Smith: The Department of Education does not collect the requested information. However, information on referrals of pupils to the Education Welfare Service is collected from each of the Education and Library Boards on an annual basis. Referrals can be for a variety of reasons, including truancy.

The following table shows the percentage of pupils referred to the Education Welfare Service at each key stage in Northern Ireland from 2000–01 to 2003–04:

	Percentage pupils referred
	2000–01	2001–02	2002–03	2003–04
Key Stage 1	0.89	1.27	1.53	1.05
Key Stage 2	1.72	1.88	2.14	1.61
Key Stage 3	4.85	5.02	5.12	4.40
Key Stage 4	8.12	8.46	8.92	6.42

Unfilled Jobs

Sammy Wilson: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what estimate he has made of the percentage of unfilled jobs in the Province that are the result of skills shortages among potential applicants. [25773]

Angela E. Smith: Results from the most recent Skills Monitoring Survey published by the Department for Employment and Learning in 2003 show that 7.3 per cent. of vacancies reported by employers, were unfilled due to external skills shortages.

University Entrants

Sammy Wilson: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what estimate he has made of entrance to university by students from less well-off families in the Province in each of the last five years. [25789]

Angela E. Smith: The following tables set out social class and socio-economic classification data collected by the Universities and Colleges Admissions Service for Ni domiciled applicants accepted to degree courses at UK Higher Education Institutions by year of entry. 2002 was the first year data were supplied according to National Statistics Socio-Economic Classification. It replaced the social class measure which was available until 2001,

Social Class	2000	Percentage (excluding unknown)	2001	Percentage (excluding unknown)
I Professional	964	10.2	1,034	10.4
II Intermediate	3,871	41.1	4,108	41.3
III Skilled Non-manual	1,676	17.8	1,709	17.2
IIIM IM Skilled Manual	1,939	20.6	2,099	21.1
IV Partly Skilled	725	7.7	734	7.4
V Unskilled	242	2.6	253	2.5
Not Known	955	—	1,171	—
Total	10,372	—	11,108	—

 
14 Nov 2005 : Column 1027W
 

Socio-Economic Classification (SEC)	2002	Percentage (excluding unknown)	2003	Percentage (excluding unknown)	2004	Percentage (excluding unknown)
1. Higher managerial and professional occupations	1,456	14.5	1,416	13.6	1,436	13.5
2. Lower managerial and professional occupations	2,916	29.1	3,030	29.1	3,113	29.4
3. Intermediate occupations	1,825	18.2	1,820	17.5	1,915	18.1
4. Small employers and own account workers	1,438	14.3	1,446	13.9	1,436	13.5
5. Lower supervisory and technical occupations	553	5.5	648	6.2	673	6.3
6. Semi-routine occupations	1,092	10.9	1,240	11.9	1,244	11.7
7. Routine occupations	745	7.4	796	7.7	789	7.4
Unknown	1,667	—	1,860	—	2,088	—
Total	11,692	—	12,256	—	12,694	—

Youth Services (Funding)

Mark Durkan: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what plans he has to consult directly with (a) children, (b) young people and (c) their families on priorities and possibilities for the funding package announced in Budget and Priorities 2006–08. [24851]

Angela E. Smith: Public consultation on the Draft Priorities and Budget 2006–08 commenced on 25 October, and will run until 5 December. In the course of this process we would welcome input from any and all interested parties, particularly in respect of the new funding packages. Comments may be made in writing, or by attending one of a series of consultation events, open to all members of the public.

Mrs. Iris Robinson: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how much was spent on children's services in the Province in each of the last five years. [24893]

Angela E. Smith: Children's services cover a wide and varied range of activities across a number of Departments. Expenditure on activities which benefit children, either directly or indirectly, cannot be easily identified as budgets and expenditure lines are constructed to identify functions and programmes rather than target groups, The information sought could, therefore, be provided only at disproportionate cost.

DEPUTY PRIME MINISTER

Call Centres

Mr. Laws: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister how many call centres were run by his Department and its agencies in (a) 2003–04, (b) 2004–05 and (c) 2005–06 to date; and how many and what proportion of calls (i) were handled by an adviser, (ii) were received but abandoned and (iii) received an engaged tone. [23297]

Jim Fitzpatrick: Both the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister (ODPM) and its agencies do not use call centres.

The number of calls received to the main ODPM switchboard prior to January 2003 is unavailable. However, a total of 24,833 calls were received January
 
14 Nov 2005 : Column 1028W
 
2003 to March 2003, 118,773 during 2003–04, 129,209 during 2004–05 and 61,408 from the start of 2005–06 to the end of September 2005. Abandoned call data are available only from October 2004, since when, out of 106,823 calls received, only 0.2 per cent. were abandoned by the caller after 15 seconds. Rather than receive an engaged tone when waiting for an operator to become available, the call continues to ring until answered.

The Fire Service College have received 15,703 calls since July 2005 (no data available prior to this date). Out of those received, 14,388 (92 per cent.) were answered within the Fire Service College's performance target of 15 seconds. All calls to the main Fire Service College switchboard are handled by advisers: no data are available concerning abandoned calls. Calls to the switchboard continue to ring until answered rather than receive an engaged tone.

The Queen Elizabeth II Conference Centre receives approximately 110,000 calls annually which none are handled by advisers: no data are held concerning abandoned calls. Calls to the main switchboard do not receive an engaged tone, but go straight to voicemail if unanswered after a short period of time.

Call data volume for the Planning Inspectorate are not held nor are statistics relating to abandoned calls. All calls to the switchboard are handled by advisers and calls are placed into a queue until an advisor is available.

Council Housing

Mr. Betts: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what proportion of Sheffield's council housing stock has been sold under the right-to-buy scheme since 1980. [26344]

Yvette Cooper: It is estimated that approximately 35 per cent. of Sheffield's local authority housing stock has been sold through the right-to-buy scheme up to the end of March 2005.

Mr. Betts: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister how many council homes were sold under the right-to-buy scheme in Sheffield in 2004-05. [26345]

Yvette Cooper: Sheffield reported 1,323 local authority dwellings were sold under the right-to-buy scheme in 2004–05.
 
14 Nov 2005 : Column 1029W
 

Dr. Iddon: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister how many council homes were sold under the right-to-buy scheme in Bolton in each year since 1980. [26351]

Yvette Cooper: The number of local authority dwellings sold under right-to-buy since 1980, as reported by Bolton is tabled as follows:
Bolton: right-to-buy sales

	Number
1979–80	0
1980–81	4
1981–82	383
1982–83	290
1983–84	209
1984–85	233
1985–86	216
1986–87	47
1987–88	24
1988–89	356
1989–90	645
1990–91	668
1991–92	265
1992–93	151
1993–94	136
1999–95	114
1995–96	87
1996–97	89
1997–98	133
1998–99	138
1999–2000	150
2000–01	231
2001–02	240
2002–03	347
2003–04	654
2004–05	774

Dr. Iddon: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what proportion of Bolton's council housing stock has been sold under the right-to-buy since 1980. [26352]

Yvette Cooper: It is estimated that approximately 25 per cent. of Bolton's local authority housing stock has been sold through the right-to-buy scheme up to the end of March 2005.

Dr. Iddon: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister if he will break down the total number of right-to-buy sales in Bolton since 1980 by (a) bedsit, (b) one-bed, (c) two-bed, (d) three-bed and (e) four or more bedrooms. [26353]

Yvette Cooper: Information is not held centrally on the numbers of bedrooms of local authority dwellings sold through right-to-buy, and could be provided only at disproportionate cost.

Dr. Iddon: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister if he will set out the total capacity receipts generated from right-to-buy sales in (a) Bolton and (b) the north-west region in each year since 1980. [26354]

Yvette Cooper: The total capital receipts from right-to-buy sales of local authority dwellings in Bolton and the north-west region in the years from 1996–97 onwards are tabulated as follows. These figures are net of discounts and are as reported by local authorities.
 
14 Nov 2005 : Column 1030W
 

Capital receipts

£ million
	Bolton	North-west
1996–97	1.4	57.8
1997–98	2.1	74.0
1998–99	2.2	69.4
1999–2000	2.4	89.6
2000–01	3.7	105.0
2001–02	4.1	120.1
2002–03	6.1	168.3
2003–04	13.4	271.7
2004–05	19.8	251.2

Source:
Quarterly P1(A/B) return received from local authorities

The information for years prior to 1996–97 is not centrally available.

---