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13 Dec 2005 : Column 1868W—continued

Road Traffic Accidents

David Simpson: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many (a) road traffic accidents and (b) fatal road traffic accidents there have been in Northern Ireland in each of the last 10 years where the major contributory factor has been (i) speed, (ii) excess alcohol and (iii) failure to maintain the vehicle. [36526]

Mr. Woodward: The information requested is contained in the following tables:
Injury road traffic collisions due to excessive speed

Number
	1995	1996	1997	1998	1999	2000	2001	2002	2003	2004	Total
Fatal collision	22	23	40	35	32	36	36	36	29	23	312
Serious collision	211	217	232	202	208	225	237	225	149	161	2,067
Slight collision	730	746	787	788	767	709	631	582	508	389	6,637
Total	963	986	1,059	1,025	1,007	970	904	843	686	573	9,016

Injury road traffic collisions due to alcohol or drugsl

Number
	1995	1996	1997	1998	1999	2000	2001	2002	2003	2004	Total
Fatal collision	32	33	43	28	32	45	37	34	37	31	352
Serious collision	109	107	123	135	104	125	123	127	116	89	1,158
Slight collision	277	295	344	350	377	395	331	322	280	238	3,209
Total	418	435	510	513	513	565	491	483	433	358	4,719

⁽²⁷⁾ Figures include alcohol/drugs—driver/rider, alcohol/drugs—pedestrian and alcohol/drugs—passenger.





 
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Injury road traffic collisions due to failure to maintain vehicle⁽²⁸⁾

Number
	1995	1996	1997	1998	1999	2000	2001	2002	2003	2004	Total
Fatal collision	2	1	2	1	1	—	2	1	1	1	12
Serious collision	5	7	12	2	7	5	4	4	2	1	49
Slight collision	18	31	18	26	19	26	22	22	13	17	212
Total	25	39	32	29	27	31	28	27	16	19	273

⁽²⁸⁾ Failure to maintain vehicle is comprised of the following factors: defective brakes, defective steering/suspension, defective front lights, defective rear lights and defective tyres.

Roads Service

David Simpson: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what penalty clauses are normally included as part of Roads Service contracts. [36339]

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, dated 13 December 2005:

You recently asked the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland a Parliamentary Question regarding what penalty clauses are normally included as part of Roads Service contracts.

I have been asked to reply as this issue falls within my responsibility as Chief Executive of Roads Service.

Penalty clauses are not included in Roads Service contracts as a means of recovering damages, as they are not enforceable in law. Where a loss is incurred through the failure of a contractor to fulfil their obligations under a contract, redress is sought through a liquidated damages clause. The amount included in a liquidated damages clause is a genuine pre-estimate, at the time of the issue of tender documents, of the loss that will be incurred in the event of a breach of contract.

I hope this information is helpful.

Alcohol Sales (Under-age Children)

David Simpson: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many (a) publicans and (b) off licence proprietors in Northern Ireland have been (i) prosecuted for and (ii) convicted of selling alcohol to underage children in each of the last five years. [36335]

Mr. Hanson: It is not possible to identify separately prosecutions brought against publicans and off licence proprietors. The prosecutions and convictions included in Table 1 are for the offences of 'selling intoxicating liquor to a minor' and 'licensee selling intoxicating liquor to a minor'.

Figures are provided for 1999 to 2003. Data beyond 2003 will become available in early 2006.
Table 1: Prosecutions and convictions for selling alcohol to a minor 1999–2003

	Number of prosecutions	Number of convictions
1999	0	0
2000	3	2
2001	1	0
2002	4	2
2003	5	3

Note:
Figures are based on the principal rule, thus only the most serious offence for which an offender is charged is recorded.





 
13 Dec 2005 : Column 1870W
 

Speed Cameras

David Simpson: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how much revenue has been generated in Northern Ireland by speed cameras in each of the last 10 years. [36525]

Mr. Woodward: I refer the hon. Gentleman to the answer given to the hon. Member for South Antrim (Dr. McCrea) on 3 November 2005, Official Report, column 1381W, which advised that figures were only available from 2001 and detailed the revenue raised by speed cameras in each year since then.

Teachers

David Simpson: To ask the Secretary of State forNorthern Ireland how many teachers in Northern Ireland left the profession in the last five years after(a) less than 10 years and (b) between 10 and 15 years. [36552]

Angela E. Smith: The information is as follows.
Number of teachers in Northern Ireland who have left the profession in Northern Ireland after (a) less than 10 years and (b) between 10 and 15 years

	Number of teachers
Less than 10 years	932
Between 10 and 15 years	102
Total	1,034

Notes:
1. The figures supplied are based on permanent teachers employed in primary and secondary schools in Northern Ireland since April 1987 who left the profession after (a) less than 10 years and (b) between 10 and 15 years.
2. Excludes teachers who commenced service on or before 1 April 1987.
3. Excludes teachers with a retirement indicator against their record.
4. Excludes substitute/temporary and part-time teachers and those employed in voluntary grammar and FE colleges.
5. Service has been calculated from pay history, on the basis of permanent pay type only and excludes any periods that a teacher was on unpaid leave.

Arlene Arkinson

Lady Hermon: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland if he will take steps to extend the remit of the forensic expert in Northern Ireland in relation to the recovery of the disappeared to include recovery of the remains of Arlene Arkinson. [35071]

Mr. Woodward: The Senior Investigating Officer (SIO) has in place a comprehensive search strategy as part of the overall investigation into the murder of Arlene Arkinson. The Chief Constable will ensure that the resources required to properly conduct the investigation
 
13 Dec 2005 : Column 1871W
 
are in place. Should the PSNI believe that any expert or specialist could add value to the investigation they will, of course, be considered.

University Students (Science)

David Simpson: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many students attending
 
13 Dec 2005 : Column 1872W
 
university in Northern Ireland have studied a science subject in each of the last 10 years, broken down by subject. [36551]

Angela E. Smith: The following table provides enrolments on science courses at NI Higher Education institutions from 1994–95 to 2003–04.

	1994–95	1995–96	1996–97	1997–98	1998–99
Medicine and Dentistry	1,194	1,213	1,176	1,202	1,233
Subjects allied to Medicine	3,445	2,944	3,332	4,949	6,103
Biological Sciences
Biology	626	742	701	749	646
Other Biological sciences	1,627	1,760	1,719	1,793	1,752
Veterinary Science, Agriculture and related subjects	384	364	394	438	541
Physical Sciences
Chemistry	315	368	358	306	219
Physics	241	223	207	229	197
Other Physical Sciences	1,003	1,057	985	1,052	1,037
Mathematical Sciences	468	503	468	468	449
Computer Science	1,799	1,955	2,165	2,589	2,867
Engineering and Technology	2,828	2,613	2,723	2,605	2,404
Architecture, Building and Planning	1,079	1,357	1,314	1,306	1,327
Total	15,009	15,099	15,542	17,686	18,775

	1999–2000	2000–01	2001–02	2002–03	2003–04
Medicine and Dentistry	1,261	1,315	1,323	1,324	1,337
Subjects allied to Medicine	6,205	6,329	6,701	7,824	8,693
Biological Sciences
Biology	542	469	533	484	472
Other Biological sciences	1,795	1,736	1,689	2,240	2,222
Veterinary Science, Agriculture and related subjects	408	413	395	323	406
Physical Sciences
Chemistry	203	183	160	179	197
Physics	176	151	184	190	208
Other Physical Sciences	1,023	1,067	1,069	1,035	1,106
Mathematical Sciences	456	415	363	386	377
Computer Science	3,205	3,511	3,685	4,139	3,789
Engineering and Technology	2,236	2,352	2,434	2,840	2,760
Architecture, Building and Planning	1,407	1,350	1,387	1,508	1,773
Total	18,917	19,291	19,923	22,473	23,340

A new subject coding system was introduced for the 2002–03 academic year in which single enrolments are split over one or more subject groups reflecting the programme of study. Comparisons between 2002–03, 2003–04 and previous years is therefore not recommended. For comparability over the 10 years, figures are based on a snapshot of enrolments at 1 December within the academic year.

Information on full-year enrolments on all higher education courses at NI institutions is available to view at: http://www.delni.gov.uk/index.cfm/area/information/page/SRHEEnrolments.

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