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27 Feb 2006 : Column 364W—continued
District Policing Partnerships
Mr. Gregory Campbell: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what the cost has been to public funds of the district policing partnerships in Northern Ireland since their inception. [53821]
Mr. Woodward: I refer the hon. Gentleman to the answer I gave on 26 January 2006, Official Report, column 2328W.
Education and Library Boards
Mr. Peter Robinson: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland if he will list the independent members sitting on each Education and Library Board in Northern Ireland. [52998]
Angela E. Smith: There are 35 members on each Education and Library Board who are drawn from three sources-nominees from district councils, nominees from transferors and trustees, and those applying through open competition. All members are appointed by the Minister for Education essentially for the individual contribution that they can make on the basis of their own interest, knowledge and experience. I therefore regard all members as individual ministerial appointees. The current list of members for each board has been placed in the Library.
Mr. Peter Robinson: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how much has been paid to each independent member of an Education and Library Board in Northern Ireland in each of the last five years, broken down by board. [52999]
Angela E. Smith:
The Chairperson is the only board member who receives an annual remuneration (£10,000) in respect of functions carried out on behalf of the board. The other members are not paid an annual remuneration but are entitled to claim travelling and subsistence and attendance or financial loss allowances from the board in respect of expenses incurred by them on official board business. Details of the allowances paid
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to each member over each of the last five years are not readily available and could only be obtained at disproportionate cost. However, details of the emoluments paid annually by each board to its members is published in the board's annual reports and annual accounts, copies of which are placed in the Libraries of both Houses. These include details of the highest payment for any board member, the aggregate amount of emoluments, and the number of members who received emoluments falling within a five-band range.
Employment Statistics
David Simpson: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many pupils in Northern Ireland who left school in June 2005 have secured full-time employment; how many secured part-time employment; how many are on a training scheme; and how many are claiming jobseeker's allowance. [53140]
Angela E. Smith: Information on the destinations of 2004–05 school leavers is not yet available; it is due to be published in June 2006.
Of the 25,650 pupils who left school in 2003–04, the School Leavers' Survey shows that 3,211 entered employment, 4,734 entered training including Jobskills and 1,103 were unemployed or seeking employment. The survey makes no distinction between full and part-time employment, and does not gather information on whether the school leavers were claiming jobseeker's allowance. In addition, there were 16,081 leavers who entered institutions of higher or further education and 521 leavers whose destination was unknown.
Fare Evasion
Mr. Gregory Campbell:
To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many convictions there have
27 Feb 2006 : Column 366W
been against those found to be travelling on (a) Northern Ireland Railways and (b) Ulsterbus without the proper payment having been made in each of the last five years. [53490]
Mr. Woodward: Translink has advised the Department that the number of convictions for fares evasion made in each of the last five years is as follows:
| NIR | U'Bus | Metro/C'Bus | Total | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2000–01 | 20 | 0 | 0 | 20 |
| 2001–02 | 17 | 0 | 0 | 17 |
| 2002–03 | 17 | 2 | 0 | 19 |
| 2003–04 | 16 | 0 | 0 | 16 |
| 2004–05 | 21 | 2 | 0 | 23 |
| 2005–06(93) | 06 | 1 | 0 | 7 |
| Total | 97 | 5 | 0 | 102 |
(93) To 16 February 2006.
Free Fares
Mr. Peter Robinson: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many (a) approved and (b) rejected applications for free fares for the elderly there were in each year since the scheme started; what the total number of people in receipt of free fares for the elderly was in each of the last five years; and what this figure was as a percentage of the total number eligible for free fares. [53241]
Mr. Woodward: Translink has advised that it does not hold records of senior citizen applications which have been rejected. Details of the number of Senior SmartPasses issued, the number of Senior SmartPasses used at least once and the number of Senior SmartPasses used at least once as a percentage of the total population aged 65 and over are given as follows.
(94) 2002 is the year when Senior SmartPasses were issued. These enable persons aged 65+ to avail of free travel. This accounts for the large number of passes issued then.
(95) To date.
(96) Population figures are taken from the Northern Ireland Statistics and Research Agency, mid-year population estimates (2002 to 2004) and population projections (2005 and 2006).
Fuel Poverty
Mr. Peter Robinson: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many fuel poor lived in each of Northern Ireland's parliamentary constituencies in the most recent three years for which figures are available. [52880]
Mr. Hanson: Figures on fuel poverty are classified in terms of households rather than individual people and are collected through the House Condition Survey rather than on an annual basis. As I explained in my response to the hon. Member for Strangford (Mrs. Robinson) on 10 November 2005, Official Report, column 764, the 2001 House Condition Survey collected the information on a district council and not a parliamentary constituency basis.
The 2004 Interim House Condition Survey, the results of which are due to be published soon, collected the information on a Northern Ireland wide basis. This indicates that the overall number of households in fuel poverty has reduced from 203,000 to 153,530 with the number of vulnerable households decreasing from 181,000 to 126,100 for the same period.
Mr. Dodds: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how much has been allocated to tackle fuel poverty in Northern Ireland in each year since 1997. [54131]
Mr. Hanson:
I refer the hon. Gentleman to the reply on 31 January 2005, Official Report, column 719W.
27 Feb 2006 : Column 367W
The updated information is as follows:
| Expenditure (£) | |
|---|---|
| 2004–05 | 65,543,316 |
| 2005–06(97) | 36,767,400 |
(97) The total spend for winter fuel payments, funding for DSD partnership schemes and the NIE Energy Efficiency Levy Programme are not yet available for this financial year. There have been no cold weather payments to date.
Fuel Retailers
Mr. Peter Robinson: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many privately-owned filling stations sell fuel in Northern Ireland; how many fuel checks on private filling stations were carried out in each of the last five years; and how many (a) fines and (b) convictions there were for the sale of illegal or doctored fuel at private filling stations in each of the last five years. [52978]
John Healey: There are 637 entities registered as retail sites operators in Northern Ireland.
The number of visits made to all registered retail sites during which fuel was tested for the last three years, are as set out in the following table.
| Number | |
|---|---|
| 2002–03 | 184 |
| 2003–04 | 190 |
| 2004–05 | 135 |
HMRC do not have figures for visits to registered retail sites prior to 2002–03.
The number of civil penalties resulting from all forms of illegal fuel activity, not just retail sites, are set out as follows:
| Civil penalties | |
|---|---|
| 2000–01 | 243 |
| 2001–02 | 714 |
| 2002–03 | 1,102 |
| 2003–04 | 901 |
| 2004–05 | 536 |
The numbers of convictions secured in Northern Ireland, which are related to all forms of illegal fuel activity during the last five years, are set out in the following table.
| Number of convictions | |
|---|---|
| 2000–01 | 5 |
| 2001–02 | 15 |
| 2002–03 | 3 |
| 2003–04 | 4 |
| 2004–05 | 0 |
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