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27 Feb 2006 : Column 371W—continued
Invest Northern Ireland
Lady Hermon: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many people are employed by Invest Northern Ireland (a) in Northern Ireland and (b) outside Northern Ireland. [51053]
Angela E. Smith: At 31 January 2006, Invest NI employed 620 staff (equivalent to 593 full-time ): 10 of these staff are based in Invest NI Offices outside Northern Ireland.
In addition, Invest NI also engages a varying number of contracted staff in its overseas offices and in Northern Ireland to deliver specific programmes. At 31 January 2006 these numbered 34, 14 of whom were based in offices outside Northern Ireland. The costs of these staff are met from the funds of the specific programmes they are engaged to deliver.
Invoices (Non-payment)
David Simpson:
To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what the total amount of credit lost to
27 Feb 2006 : Column 372W
the Police Service of Northern Ireland through failure to pay invoices within the stated deadline was in each of the last 10 years. [53186]
Mr. Woodward: The PSNI is committed to the prompt payment of bills for goods and services received in accordance with the Government's Better Payments Practice Code and British Standard BS 7890 Achieving Good Payment Performance in commercial Transactions".
The PSNI claims early settlement discount where it is available.
During the last three financial years the PSNI has paid over 92 per cent. of all invoices within 30 days.
PSNI paid no interest to a supplier under the terms of The Late Payment of Commercial Debts (Interest) Act 1988 in any of the last three financial years.
IRA Criminality
David Simpson: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what criteria he uses to differentiate between organisational and localised IRA criminality. [53056]
Mr. Woodward: The Government have made clear that no levels of criminality are acceptable. There is a difficult but important distinction to be made between organised and localised IRA criminality. The issue is whether the IRA is living up to the commitments the organisation made last summer. The latest report from the Independent Monitoring Commission (IMC) shows that there have been significant changes in criminal activity associated with IRA. The IMC keeps the issue of ongoing criminality under careful review and its next report is due in April.
Irish Medium Education Officers
Mr. Dodds: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many Irish medium education officers are employed through (a) the education and library boards in Northern Ireland, (b) the Department of Education and (c) the Department of Employment and Learning. [54135]
Angela E. Smith: The information provided in the table is in respect of Irish medium education officers employed in each of the five education and library boards (ELBs), the Department of Education, the Department for Employment and Learning and Comhairle na Gaelscola-"ochta, the Council for Irish-medium Education.
(99) DEL does not employ any Irish Medium Education Officers, however, it provided recurrent funding of £100,000 in the 2005–06 academic year to St. Mary's University College for Irish Medium Education.
(100) Funded by DE through earmarked funding
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Learning Disabilities
Mark Durkan: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what was the Department for Employment and Learning's budget for training and access to employment for people with learning disabilities in each of the last five years; and how much was spent from this budget in each year. [52145]
Angela E. Smith: The Department for Employment and Learning provides training and access to employment for people with a range of disabilities. However, funding is not targeted at particular disability categories, such as people with a learning disability. Hence, it is not possible to identify a specific annual budget allocated to assist people with learning disabilities.
The funding is provided through the Disablement Advisory Service (DAS), Jobskills (Access strand), and three programmes funded by the European Union, namely Building Sustainable Prosperity, Peace II and the EQUAL Community Initiative.
M2 Motorway
Mr. Gregory Campbell: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what the average daily number of vehicles using the M2 Motorway Citybound was between (a) the Toome Bypass and the A26 junction, (b) the A26 junction and the Sandyknowes junction and (c) Sandyknowes junction and Belfast in the latest period for which figures are available. [52724]
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 Dr. Malcolm McKibbin:
You recently asked the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland a Parliamentary Question regarding what the average daily number of vehicles using the M2 Motorway Citybound was between (a) the Toome Bypass and the A26 junction, (b) the A26 junction and the Sandyknowes junction and (c) Sandyknowes junction and Belfast in the latest period for which figures are available.
I have been asked to reply as this issue falls within my responsibility as Chief Executive of Roads Service.
By way of background, I should explain that Roads Service collects traffic volume data by means of 270 automatic census points strategically located throughout the Northern Ireland road network. The information is recorded for one week in each quarter during the year and an annual average calculated. The results are published in Roads Service's annual Traffic and Travel Information Report, which presents the traffic volumes in a variety of formats for each site.
The latest data on the average daily number of vehicles using the M2 Motorway citybound to Belfast is shown in the table below.
| Location | Average daily flow |
|---|---|
| M2 between Toome Bypass and A26 junction. | 7,740 |
| M2 between A26 junction and Sandyknowes junction. | 16,090 |
| M2 between Sandyknowes junction and Belfast. | 31,540 |
Martin Kelly
Lady Hermon: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what recent discussions he has had with senior Police Service Northern Ireland officers in relation to the investigation into the disappearance of Martin Kelly. [49283]
Mr. Woodward: The Chief Constable has kept me informed of the progress of the investigation.
Neighbourhood Partnerships
Mr. Peter Robinson: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how much funding each Neighbourhood Partnership has received to facilitate neighbourhood renewal programmes within their areas, broken down by Neighbourhood Renewal Area. [53061]
Mr. Hanson: No funding has been paid direct to Neighbourhood Partnerships to facilitate Neighbourhood Renewal programmes within their areas. Funding awarded for such programmes will be allocated to individual service providers.
Mr. Peter Robinson: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what funding has been allocated for neighbourhood renewal partnerships in Northern Ireland; and how much has been drawn down by each partnership. [52990]
Mr. Hanson: Funding has been allocated to Neighbourhood Partnerships in Northern Ireland totalling £367,000.
The total amount that has been drawn down to date is £97,000 and the breakdown is as follows:
| Amount received(£) | |
|---|---|
| Triax Neighbourhood Partnership-Derry | 52,000 |
| Colin Neighbourhood Partnership-Belfast | 45,000 |
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