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Prescriptions

Mr. Peter Robinson: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many (a) paid for and (b) free prescriptions were issued in each health board area in Northern Ireland in each of the last 10 years. [33071]

Mr. Woodward: As prescription forms may include several different items, which may each attract a separate charge, the questioner's term prescriptions" is therefore interpreted as prescription items.

(a) The number of prescription items for which the full prescription charge was paid at the point of dispensing by board, from 1997 to 2004 is given in the table.

Based upon sample analyses, it is estimated that at the NI level a further 5 per cent. of prescription items are covered by pre-payment certificates (PPCs), which allow
 
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the patient to obtain as many prescription items as necessary during the four or 12 month validity of the certificate for a set fee.
Total items paid⁽¹³⁾ for at point of dispensing by health and social services board—1997 to 2004

	Northern Ireland	Eastern	Northern	Southern	Western
1997	1,182,094	528,275	350,796	194,061	108,962
1998	1,200,997	533,224	356,744	200,891	110,138
1999	1,341,795	574,913	392,984	238,229	135,669
2000	1,409,347	599,206	410,335	257,328	142,478
2001	1,472,666	624,874	429,878	269,369	148,545
2002	1,545,006	647,390	443,897	286,729	166,990
2003	1,553,759	650,009	450,732	278,222	174,796
2004	1,591,521	666,810	457,021	281,375	186,315

⁽¹³⁾Figures exclude items covered by pre-payment certificate—estimated to be 5 per cent. at the Northern Ireland level.

(b) It is estimated that at the NI level about 89 per cent. of health service prescription items are dispensed free of charge to patients. As this is an estimate these figures could not be presented by board in the following table. Therefore, the table only shows items which the patient did not pay the prescription charge (£6.40 in 2004–05) directly to the pharmacist. A further estimated 5 per cent. of all items are covered by pre-payment certificates previously purchased by the patient.
Total prescription items not paid⁽¹⁴⁾ for at point of dispensing by health and social services board—1997 to 2004

	Northern Ireland	Eastern	Northern	Southern	Western
1997	20,688,292	8,491,313	4,483,332	4,029,939	3,683,708
1998	21,314,929	8,829,638	4,592,844	4,116,488	3,775,959
1999	21,906,106	9,102,138	4,751,223	4,193,880	3,858,865
2000	22,254,285	9,313,514	4,818,510	4,215,256	3,907,005
2001	23,078,459	9,529,152	5,083,861	4,417,831	4,047,615
2002	23,874,951	9,892,410	5,293,327	4,554,270	4,134,944
2003	24,845,257	10,229,453	5,586,449	4,681,621	4,347,734
2004	25,726,828	10,593,205	5,811,504	4,837,362	4,484,757

⁽¹⁴⁾Figures include prescription items covered by pre-payment certificate, which cannot be separately identified.

Prisons

Mrs. Iris Robinson: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what the cost has been in each prison in Northern Ireland in the last five years of providing (a) educational facilities, (b) dental services, (c) medical services, including costs involved in transporting inmates to and from hospital, (d) clothing and (e) food; and if he will make a statement. [32092]

 
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Mr. Woodward: The aggregate resource costs for the whole of the last five financial years, from 2000–01 to 2004–05 are:
£000

	Education facilities	Dental services	Medical services	Clothing	Food
Maghaberry	9,013	479	13,189	104	2,442
Magilligan	6,846	364	4,208	87	1,356
Hydebank Wood 5,070		203	3,077	102	662

Magilligan Prison

Mark Durkan: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland whether the Government has commissioned an economic assessment of the impact on the North West of Northern Ireland of (a) closing Magilligan Prison and (b) the potential alternatives for the site. [32832]

Mr. Woodward: Yes, the Prison Service commissioned an assessment of the socio-economic impact of the location of the second adult prison. The report will very shortly be finalised.

The economic assessment considered the location of the new prison in its current location and at three other geographical areas with Northern Ireland. These included:

1. The Ballymena area (including Antrim);

2. Lisburn

3. Portadown/Craigavon/Dunngannon.

Public Bodies

Mark Durkan: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many public bodies in Northern Ireland have paid travel and subsistence expenses in the past five years for non-executive directors and board members who live outside the UK and Ireland. [29171]

Mr. Hanson: In the absence of my hon. Friend, the Member for Basildon (Angela E. Smith), I have been asked to reply.

One public body in Northern Ireland has paid travel and subsistence expenses in the past five years for a non-executive director or board member living outside the UK and Ireland.

Sentencing

Mr. Dodds: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland if he will publish the conclusions of the Review of Minimum Terms and Life Sentence Cases. [32686]

 
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Mr. Hanson: I refer the hon. Gentleman to the answerI gave on 16 November 2005, Official Report, column 1331W.

Smoking

Mr. Peter Robinson: To ask the Secretary of State forNorthern Ireland what assessment has been made by his Department of the medical effects of smoking by pregnant women on the health of an unborn child. [33085]

Mr. Woodward: Smoking is a critical women's health issue for both mother and child. Smoking in pregnancy is associated with many problems both for the foetus and newly born baby, including miscarriage, placenta damage, pre-term delivery, low birthweight, perinatal death and sudden infant death syndrome.

The Department of Health, Social Services and Public Safety published a five year tobacco action plan in 2003. The plan identified pregnant women as a key target group.

Stun Guns

Mr. Peter Robinson: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many people he has authorised to have stun guns. [31944]

Mr. Woodward: One person has been authorised by the Secretary of State to possess Taser guns for demonstration to the Police Service Northern Ireland.

Translink

Mr. Gregory Campbell: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland whether Translink takes into account pupils not using bus services as a result of their participation in extra-curricular activities when determining the number of bus journeys undertaken by children qualifying for the free school transport system in an academic year for the purposes of calculating the amount to be charged to the education and library boards in Northern Ireland for the service. [32217]

Mr. Hanson: In the absence of my hon. Friend, the Member for Basildon (Angela E. Smith), I have been asked to reply.

Translink does not take account of pupils attending extra-curricular activities when calculating the cost of a sessional ticket, as it is assumed that such pupils will use their sessional ticket to travel home on a later service. Pupils can use their sessional tickets on Translink services until 18.30 hours on any given school day. A sessional ticket cost is, therefore, calculated on the basis that pupils will avail of the Translink service both to and from home on each school day.
 
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WORK AND PENSIONS

Child Support Agency

Danny Alexander: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions (1) how many non-resident parents in Scotland are paying the £5 flat rate of child support per week in the latest period for which figures are available; and in how many cases these payments are being deducted from social security payments by the Child Support Agency; [31122]

(2) how many Scottish Child Support Agency claims operating under the old scheme of calculation due to transfer to the new scheme, but where the transfer had not yet taken place, there were in each month since March 2003; [31138]

(3) how many potential child support cases in Scotland are awaiting processing at the point of entry for benefit cases via the Jobcentre Plus interface; [31145]

(4) what his estimate is of the number of non-resident parents for Scottish Child Support Agency claims who (a) make maintenance payments under the Child Support Agency (CSA) rules, (b) cannot be traced to pay under the CSA, (c) are assessed to have a zero liability due to low income, (d) are assessed to make payments but do not do so regularly, (e) have made alternative maintenance arrangements outside the CSA and (f) make no payments and are not referred to the CSA; [31150]

(5) what his estimate is of the number of Scottish Child Support Agency claims (a) received and (b) cleared in each month between January 2004 and October 2005; [31151]

(6) what the Child Support Agency's Scottish caseload has been in each quarter from 1997 to the third quarter of 2005; and if he will make a statement. [31152]

Mr. Plaskitt: The information requested is not available.

Mr. Laws: To ask the Secretary of State for Workand Pensions what the (a) latest accuracy rates and (b) accuracy targets are for (i) new and (ii) old Child Support Agency cases; and if he will make a statement. [21447]

Mr. Plaskitt: The administration of the Child Support Agency is a matter for the chief executive. He will write to the hon. Member with the information requested.

Letter from Stephen Geraghty to Mr. David Laws, dated 1 December 2005:

In reply to your recent Parliamentary Question about the Child Support Agency, the Secretary of State promised a substantive reply from the Chief Executive.

You asked the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what the (a) latest accuracy rates and (b) accuracy targets are for (i)new and (ii) old Child Support Agency cases; and if he will make a statement.

The compliance targets and performance rates to September 2005 are presented in the table below.

 
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Percentage

	Target	Performance at September 2005
New scheme accuracy	90	83
Old scheme accuracy	82	80

Note:
Accuracy is measured cumulatively month-on-month throughout the year.

I hope you find this helpful.

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