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Employment Statistics

Chris Ruane: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many and what percentage of people were involved in the social economy in each (a) ward, (b) county and (c) constituency in Northern Ireland in 2004–05. [55567]

Angela E. Smith: The Department of Enterprise, Trade and Investment (DETI) does not hold statistical information on the number of people in the NI social economy. However, as the Department with lead responsibility for developing a more integrated approach to the sector, DETI plans to undertake and publish the results of the first Biennial Survey of social economy enterprises in NI in 2006–07.

Chris Ruane: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what the economic inactivity rates were for each ward in Northern Ireland in the latest period for which figures are available. [55572]

Angela E. Smith: The table giving the number of 16 to 74-year-olds who are economically inactive in each electoral ward in Northern Ireland from the 2001 Census and the percentage of the population they represent, has been placed in the Library.

In the 2001 Census a person was defined as economically inactive if (i) they were retired, a student (excludes those students who were working or in some other way were economically active), looking after a family or home, permanently sick or disabled, or (ii) if they were looking for work but were not available to start work within two weeks.
 
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Energy Surveys

David Simpson: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how much funding has been allocated to energy surveys and courses in Northern Ireland over the last four years; how much of this was spent on consultants based in (a) Northern Ireland and (b) Great Britain; and if he will use more Northern Ireland based consultants for such work. [56396]

Angela E. Smith: The Department of Enterprise, Trade and Investment (DETI) has over the past four years funded two strategic energy surveys valued at £133,840. None of this expenditure was spent on consultants based in Northern Ireland and £51,000 was spent on consultants based in Great Britain.

Spend on energy surveys and training courses for businesses in Northern Ireland is managed for the whole of the UK by the Carbon Trust. Information on the amount of spend split between Northern Ireland and Great Britain is not readily available.

In procuring consultancy, Carbon Trust select on the basis of having the skill sets and competency necessary to complete the assignment. The number of Northern Ireland based consultants that have registered for inclusion on the Carbon Trust list with the necessary skills and competency remains low.

Engagements

Sarah Teather: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many (a) public speeches and (b) official visits he has made since 5 May 2005; and how many letters he sent in this period. [55707]

Mr. Hain: The information sought can be provided only at disproportionate cost. I would however advise that the Cabinet Office, on an annual basis, publishes a report to Parliament on the performance of Departments in replying to Members/peers correspondence. The report for 2004 was published on 6 April 2005, Official Report, columns 137–140WS). Reports for earlier years are available in the Library of the House. The report for 2005 will be published in due course.

Farm Subsidies

Mark Durkan: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many farmers in Foyle constituency have yet to receive their Integrated Admission and Control System (IACS) payment for 2005; and how many applications from farmers in the Foyle constituency who have applied for the Countryside Management Scheme are being held up because they have yet to receive their 2005 IACS payment. [55867]

Angela E. Smith: The Department of Agriculture and Rural Development does not hold details of subsidy payments on a constituency basis. To date 87 per cent. (36,267 claims) of interim payments under the 2005 Single Farm Payment Scheme have been processed. At this point 5,383 cases are outstanding. In general, IACS queries do not hold up the processing of Countryside Management Scheme applications.
 
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Home Education

David Simpson: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many children in Northern Ireland have been educated at home in each of the last 10 years. [56399]

Angela E. Smith: The Department of Education does not collect the information requested.

The Education and Library Boards hold information about children being educated at home, which are made known to them. They do not hold all the information requested, however the following table gives details provided by them in relation to each of the last four years:

Board area	2002–03	2003–04	2004–05	2005–06
BELB	n/a	3	8	6
WELB	5	6	6	8
NEELB	48	54	43	54
SEELB	5	3	5	22
SELB	64	68	67	68
Total	122	134	129	158

n/a=not available.

The boards have advised that some children in 2005–06 may also be contained in figures for the previous years as they have been educated at home for some time.

InterTrade Ireland

Mr. Gregory Campbell: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many of the executive staff of InterTradeIreland are based in (a) Northern Ireland and (b) the Republic of Ireland. [57090]

Angela E. Smith: InterTradeIreland currently employs 38 permanent staff. All are based in Northern Ireland.

Mr. Gregory Campbell: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what the expenditure of InterTradeIreland is estimated to be for 2005–06; and what percentage is made up of (a) staff (i) salaries, (ii)expenses and (iii) pension costs and (b) other staff costs. [57091]

Angela E. Smith: The estimates of expenditure for 2006, InterTradeIreland's current operating year, are set out as follows.

		£ million	Percentage
	Total expenditure	10.219	100
(a)	Staff
(i)	salaries	1.400	14
(ii)	expenses	0.045	0.5
(iii)	pension costs	0. 082	1
(b)	Other staff costs	0.095	1

InterTradeIreland

Mr. Gregory Campbell: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many and what percentage of the executive staff of InterTradeIreland are identified as being from each category of religious background. [57089]

 
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Angela E. Smith: At 1 March 2006, InterTradeIreland employed 38 permanent staff. The religious backgrounds of these staff have been identified as follows.

	Number	Percentage
Catholic	31	81
Protestant	6	16
Non-determined	1	3

Literacy

Chris Ruane: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what the literacy levels were in each (a) ward, (b) constituency and (c) county in Northern Ireland in the latest year for which figures are available, listed in descending order. [55558]

Angela E. Smith: Information relating to adult literacy levels in Northern Ireland is not available at local Government district, parliamentary constituency or county level.

The International Adult Literacy Survey (IALS), which was conducted in 1996, indicated that the literacy levels of the adult population in Northern Ireland where Level 1 is the lowest level is as follows:

	Percentage
Level 1:	24
Level 2:	30
Level 3:	31
Level 4 to 5:	15

In response to the IALS report, the Department for Employment and Learning launched the essential skills for living strategy in October 2002 and has met its interim target of supporting 25,000 adults to improve their levels of literacy and numeracy by March 2005.

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