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16 Jan 2006 : Column 987W—continued
Electricity Supply
Mr. Gregory Campbell: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what steps are being taken to ensure continuity of supply to Northern Ireland electricity consumers following the recent problems at Coolkeeragh Power Station. [42274]
Angela E. Smith: In order to meet Northern Ireland's electricity demand during the current unavailability of Coolkeeragh power station, Northern Ireland's available generating capacity is being augmented by imports from Great Britain via the Moyle Interconnector and by energy trades with the Republic of Ireland via the North-South interconnector. In addition, Northern Ireland Electricity plc has taken steps to help maintain electricity supplies by ensuring that adequate stocks of back-up fuel are held at the Ballylumford and Kilroot power stations.
Coolkeeragh is in the process of resolving its current problem and expects to be able to generate again by 20 January 2006.
Health Boards (Agency Staff)
Mrs. Iris Robinson:
To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what the costs have been to each
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health board of employing private agency staff in each of the last three years; and if he will make a statement. [42267]
Mr. Woodward: The bulk of the costs in question are incurred by the 19 HSS trusts. The information provided in the table relates agency expenditure to a trust's host Board i.e. the area in which each trust is located.
| Board | 2002–03 | 2003–04 | 2004–05 |
|---|---|---|---|
| EHSSB | 14,822 | 16,503 | 19,428 |
| NHSSB | 3,247 | 8,209 | 8,258 |
| SHSSB | 1,272 | 1,108 | 811 |
| WHSSB | 2,777 | 3,506 | 4,522 |
| Total | 22,118 | 29,326 | 33,019 |
In addition, the Northern Ireland Ambulance Service, in providing its regional service, incurred expenditure on agency staff of £267,000 and £306,000 in the years 2003–04 and 2004–05 respectively. It incurred no such expenditure in 2002–03.
Hospital Parking
Mrs. Iris Robinson: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many car parking spaces were provided by (a) Belfast City Hospital, (b) Mater Infirmorum Hospital, (c) the Royal Group of Hospitals and (d) Ulster Hospital in the last year for which figures are available; and how much was raised through parking charges by each hospital in that year. [40938]
Mr. Woodward: The information requested is set out in the following table.
| Number of parking spaces | Amount generated for Trusts in 2004–05 | |
|---|---|---|
| Belfast City Hospital | 1,080 | 623,000 |
| Mater Infirmorum Hospital | 357 | 117,000 |
| Royal Group of Hospitals | 2,311 | 0 |
| Ulster Hospital | 1,082 | 357,000 |
Parking at the Royal Group of Hospitals is operated by Private Finance Initiative (PFI) and the car parking charges do not generate any income for the Trust.
Hospitals (Delayed Discharges)
Mrs. Iris Robinson: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what the rate of delayed discharge was in each major hospital in Northern Ireland on the last date for which figures are available. [42266]
Mr. Woodward: The rate of delayed discharge, within each hospital who had any delayed discharges at 31 March 2005, is detailed in the following table.
Notes:
Rate of delayed discharge is calculated by dividing the number of delayed discharges as at 31 March 2005 by the average number of available beds over the period 2004–05 for each hospital.
Source:
Hospital Information Branch
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Invest NI
Mrs. Iris Robinson: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what investment was made in Strangford constituency in the last five years by Invest NI; and if he will make a statement. [42264]
Angela E. Smith: During the past five years from April 2000 to March 2005, Invest NI, and its predecessor agencies offered assistance worth £9.5 million to businesses within the Strangford parliamentary constituency area. This contributed towards a total planned investment of £42.6 million.
This includes £1.4 million assistance offered to inward investment projects within Strangford, contributing towards a planned investment of £6.3 million.
The Invest NI Local Office Network actively promotes enterprise and business start-ups in the area through partnerships with local business development bodies and the district councils. The Start a Business Programme has supported 667 locally focused business starts within Strangford since September 2001 to date. These are estimated to produce an associated additional investment within the Strangford area of almost £6.7 million.
Northern Ireland Statistics and Research Agency
Sammy Wilson: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland (1) how many people are employed as researchers by the Northern Ireland Statistics and Research Agency; [40828]
(2) when payment of the last annual wage increase commenced for researchers within the Northern Ireland Statistics and Research Agency. [40829]
16 Jan 2006 : Column 990W
Angela E. Smith: Staff working in the Northern Ireland Statistics and Research Agency are employed by the Department of Finance and Personnel. At the end of December 2005 none of those staff were graded as researchers.
Sammy Wilson: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what contracts the Northern Ireland Statistics and Research Agency holds to collect statistics. [40830]
Angela E. Smith: The Northern Ireland Statistics and Research Agency currently holds two contracts:
Sammy Wilson: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland if he will make a statement on the stepsbeing taken to resolve the current pay disputes within the Northern Ireland Statistics and Research Agency. [40831]
Angela E. Smith: The chief executive of NISRA has sought delegated authority for the pay of survey interviewers with a view to resolving the outstanding pay issue for this group. The relevant trade union has been consulted on this issue and its views are currently being considered by the Department.
Sammy Wilson: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many people are employed by the Northern Ireland Statistics and Research Agency; and how many of these are regarded as employees of the Northern Ireland civil service. [40832]
Angela E. Smith: The number of staff working in the Northern Ireland Statistics and Research Agency at the end of December 2005 was 369, of whom 110 were graded as administrative staff and 242 were graded as statisticians. In addition, NISRA had 17 other staff (including students) on a casual basis. NISRA also has a field-force of 298 fee-paid survey interviewers who have a non-guaranteed hours contract unique to their role.
All staff working in the Northern Ireland Statistics and Research Agency are employed by the Department of Finance and Personnel, a Department of the Northern Ireland civil service.
The status of the interviewers is that they are employees of the Department but are not employed under the full range of terms and conditions of service applicable to civil servants.
Sammy Wilson: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what contracts the Northern Ireland Statistics and Research Agency has lost in each of the last three years. [40833]
Angela E. Smith: The Northern Ireland Statistics and Research Agency has not lost any contracts in the last three financial years.
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