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30 Jan 2006 : Column 127W—continued

Community Restorative Justice

Mr. McGrady: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland pursuant to the answer of 23 November 2005, Official Report, column 1984W, on community restorative justice, when he expects to write to the hon. Member for South Down with the findings of his Department's research. [46834]

Mr. Hanson: I replied to the hon. Gentleman on 19 January 2006.

Community Safety Partnership

Mr. Dodds: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how much was spent on Community Safety Partnership strategies in Northern Ireland in 2005. [44891]

Mr. Hanson: Strategies developed by Community Safety Partnerships were launched in June last year. £677,750 was made available to CSPs for the 2005–06 financial year to enable them to develop projects to reduce crime, the fear of crime and antisocial behaviour in line with their local strategies.

Crosshill Quarry

Dr. McCrea: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland pursuant to the answer of 3 November 2005, Official Report, column 1369W, on Crosshill Quarry, what the terms of reference were for the Health and Safety Executive's investigation into the dismantling of railway carriages in Crosshill Quarry, Crumlin; and what the findings were of that investigation. [46616]

Angela E. Smith: The Health and Safety Executive for Northern Ireland investigated the dismantling of disused railway carriages at Crosshill Quarry as a result of a complaint made by a representative from the Crumlin Against Asbestos action group that these carriages had been crushed.

The investigation revealed that the carriages had been cut by hydraulic shears into sections to facilitate movement and there was no evidence to indicate that there was any contravention of health and safety at work legislation on the part of the site operators. It was concluded that the movement of these carriages did not pose a health risk to either the operators concerned or members of the public in the vicinity of the quarry.

Dentistry (Special Needs Treatment)

Dr. Alasdair McDonnell: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland whether the waiting lists for special
 
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needs treatment at the School of Dentistry, Royal Victoria hospital, Belfast are as a result of a shortage of (a) dental surgeons, (b) anaesthetists and (c) other reasons. [46519]

Mr. Woodward: The current waiting list for learning disabled patients requiring dental treatment under general anaesthesia is largely as a result of unavailability of anaesthetists and suitable facilities to treat this group of patients.

Departmental Finance

Mr. Dodds: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what measures have been taken by the Northern Ireland Office to implement the 2004 spending review settlement. [44515]

Mr. Woodward: Following the 2004 spending review settlement, the NIO undertook a detailed consultation exercise across its directorates and allocated funding accordingly. Extensive work has also been undertaken to ensure that the Department achieves the efficiency targets set out in the settlement.

Disability Living Allowance

Sammy Wilson: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many people were in receipt of disability living allowance in Northern Ireland in each of the last five years. [46331]

Mr. Hanson: The figures requested are shown as follows.

	Number of people
2001	141,451
2002	146,979
2003	153,791
2004	162,529
2005	167,369

Energy Efficiency

Mr. Gregory Campbell: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many homeowners in Northern Ireland received grant assistance to install (a) energy efficiency measures and (b) solar panels in 2005. [46790]

Mr. Hanson: (a) In 2005 just over 10,000 households received assistance to install energy efficiency measures through the Warm Homes Scheme, the Replacement and Renovation Grants Schemes and the Disabled Facilities Grant Scheme.

(b) In 2005 approximately 55 households received grant assistance to install solar thermal panels and 15 for the installation of solar photovoltaic panels.

Fishing Fleet

Mr. McGrady: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what steps he is taking to assist the new build and modernisation of the Northern Ireland fishing fleet; and how much has been allocated to this in 2006–07. [46781]

 
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Angela E. Smith: In 2006–07 the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development plans to allocate around £l million towards safety and quality improvements for the Northern Ireland fleet. There is no provision for assistance to new build in the fleet.

In addition, the South Down Fishing Taskforce has allocated £125,000 in 2006–07 to enable the Northern Ireland fleet to upgrade and modernise accommodation on-board fishing vessels.

Guns

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many guns were reported missing in Northern Ireland in each year since 1997 by (a) the armed forces, (b) the police and (c) members of the public with licensed weapons, broken down by the type of weapon. [43749]

Mr. Woodward: The Chief Constable is unable to provide an answer in the form requested as it would involve a manual trawl of files which could be carried out only at disproportionate cost. The total number of firearms reported missing in Northern Ireland since 1997 is 1,228. 22 by the police and 1,206 by civilians (including five reported missing by members of the Ulster Defence Regiment/Royal Irish Regiment who held personal protection weapons on a firearms certificate issued by the Chief Constable). The yearly totals are shown in Table A. The breakdown of the total by firearm type is shown in Table B. A yearly breakdown of the firearm type figures is not available. The MOD is unable to supply information about the armed forces at present and I will write to the hon. Member when the information becomes available.
Table A

	Number of firearms
1997	128
1998	165
1999	132
2000	117
2001	151
2002	166
2003	150
2004	108
2005	108
2006	3
Total	1,228

Table B

Firearms type	Number of firearms
Shotguns	768
Air Rifles	171
Rifles	123
Pistols	90
Revolvers	55
Humane Killers	11
Sub Machine Guns	3
Signalling Device	1
Starting Pistol	1
Air Pistols	5

 
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Healthier Lifestyles

Mr. Gregory Campbell: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what steps he is taking to promote a healthier lifestyle among people aged 40 and over in Northern Ireland. [46647]

Mr. Woodward: The Investing for Health Strategy provides a framework within which the Department of Health, Social Services and Public Safety has developed population strategies and programmes on issues such as, physical activity, smoking and food and nutrition, to promote healthier lifestyles, including to those aged 40 and over.

Public information campaigns developed by the Health Promotion Agency on smoking have been targeted at adult smokers aged 30+ and the Get a Life—Get Active" campaign has aimed, in particular, to encourage 40 to 60-year-olds to undertake regular physical activity. The Eating Well in Winter" grants programme and A Guide to Healthier Eating for the over 60s" were both recently launched by the Food Standards Agency in Northern Ireland to encourage and support older people to eat more healthily.

Mr. Gregory Campbell: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what steps he is taking to promote a healthier lifestyle among children in Northern Ireland whom health professionals consider overweight. [46648]

Mr. Woodward: The Northern Ireland Priorities and Budget 2005–08 report includes a cross-departmental target to stop the increase in levels of obesity in children by 2010. In August 2004, a taskforce was established under the aegis of the Ministerial Group on Public Health to examine options for tackling overweight and obesity in children and young people and to make recommendations on how to stop the rise in levels of obesity in children. Recommendations will be published in February 2006 and will inform revised strategies and action plans on food and nutrition and physical activity.

The Department of Health, Social Services and Public Safety is working with other Departments and agencies, including local health and social services boards and trusts, to deliver a range of initiatives to support children in schools and nurseries to adopt healthier lifestyles. These include programmes which aim to promote healthy eating and physical activity as well as programmes that offer direct support to parents and children. Later this year the Health Promotion Agency will launch a new public information campaign, targeted at the parents of young children, to encourage participation in regular physical activity.

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