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15 Mar 2006 : Column 2263W—continued
Serious Organised Crime
14. Michael Fabricant: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what recent assessment he has made of the involvement of paramilitary groups in serious organised crime; and if he will make a statement. [57314]
Mr. Woodward: The eighth report of the Independent Monitoring Commission, published on 1 February 2006, provided a clear assessment of the activities of all paramilitary groups up to the end of November. The latest report, published on 8 March, stated that PIRA no longer pose a paramilitary threat.
The Government, through the Organised Crime Task Force, is relentlessly pursuing organised criminals in Northern Ireland, regardless of whether they are linked to paramilitary groups or not. Good progress is being made—last year 28 top level organised crime gangs in NI were disrupted or dismantled as a result of law enforcement activity.
Post-primary Education
15. Mr. Harper: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland if he will make a statement on the future of post-primary education in Northern Ireland. [57315]
Angela E. Smith: The Government are introducing a number of reforms including a revised curriculum, an Entitlement Framework to widen access to academic and vocational courses for all pupils, and new admissions arrangements which will replace academic selection at age 11 by a system based on informed parental choice.
Sammy Wilson: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland on what educational research the proposed framework entitlement for post-primary pupils in Northern Ireland is based. [58676]
Angela E. Smith: The Post-Primary Review Working Group (Costello Group) considered the range of courses available in post-primary schools and found that the educational provision and choice available to pupils varied greatly, across Northern Ireland. To enable all post-primary pupils to reach their full potential and to gain the knowledge and skills necessary for life and work in the 21st century, the group considered it important to establish a framework of educational entitlement for every pupil.
The group recommended that the minimum entitlement at key stage 4 and post-16 should be set at a level that is capable of being provided in a locality,
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ensuring that all pupils have choice from a wide range of courses including a blend of academic and vocational courses.
The Strategic Advisory Group established to provide advice to the Department on the implementation of the Costello recommendations, examined the current range of educational provision at key stage 4 and post-16 and endorsed the minimum requirements set for the Entitlement Framework.
Ballyrobert Primary School
Dr. McCrea: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland when the Department of Education will announce a new school build for Ballyrobert primary school. [58054]
Angela E. Smith: An economic appraisal for this school was submitted to the Department of Education by the North-Eastern Education and Library Board in December 2005 and is currently under consideration. I cannot say at this time when the scheme may be in a position to proceed.
Bathing Water Quality
Mr. Gregory Campbell: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what recent assessment he has made of the quality of bathing water at each of Northern Ireland's designated beaches. [57675]
Angela E. Smith: The Environment and Heritage Service, an agency within the Department of Environment, is responsible for monitoring bathing waters in Northern Ireland to ensure compliance with the mandatory standards of the EC Bathing Waters Directive.
In 2005, 15 of the 16 identified bathing waters in Northern Ireland met the mandatory standards of the EC Bathing Water compared to 14 in 2004. Newcastle was the only identified bathing water not to meet the mandatory standard in 2005.
An additional 11 sites are monitored and in 2005, 100 per cent. compliance was achieved compared to 73 per cent. in 2004.
The Bathing Water Directive also contains a more stringent guideline standard. 11 of the 16 identified sites met the tighter standards in 2005 compared to nine sites in 2004. In both 2004 and 2005, seven of the additional sites complied with the guideline standard.
The two main factors contributing to non compliance are considered to be inadequate sewerage infrastructure and sewage treatment and increased agricultural runoff during periods of heavy rainfall.
CCTV (South Antrim)
Dr. McCrea: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland (1) when new CCTV projects will be provided in the Antrim borough council area; [58055]
(2) when funding will be made available for new CCTV projects in the Newtownabbey borough council area to assist in tackling crime. [58056]
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Mr. Hanson: At the present time, the Northern Ireland Office is holding a competition, the purpose of which is to extend the coverage of CCTV systems in town centres across Northern Ireland. The closing date for applications is 14 April and I understand that bids may be made by town centres in both council areas. However as this is a competition, there can be no guarantee towns in either council area will succeed.
Curriculum and Assessment
Mr. Donaldson: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland (1) whether it is compulsory for secondary schools in Northern Ireland to teach pupils at Key Stage 3 from the NICCEA curriculum; [58491]
(2) whether secondary schools in Northern Ireland may teach pupils at Key Stage 3 based on the National Curriculum developed in England. [58492]
Angela E. Smith:
All grant-aided schools in Northern Ireland must follow the statutory Northern Ireland Curriculum at each Key Stage. The statutory curriculum is not, however, meant to take up all of the teaching time available and it is a matter for schools to decide what additional material they wish to cover. This can include material based on the National Curriculum in England.
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Drug-related Crime
Chris Ruane: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many successful prosecutions there have been for drug trafficking in each (a) county and (b) constituency in Northern Ireland in each of the last 30 years. [55556]
Mr. Hanson: Data covering the calendar years 1993–2003 have been provided. Data beyond 2003 are currently not available and data prior to 1993 are not compatible with new software.
Due to a lack of reliable post coded prosecution and conviction data, statistics by county and constituency are not readily available, therefore, alternative geographical breakdowns have been used.
In place of county, the seven court divisions (based on where a case was heard) have been provided, figures for which are included in Table 1.
For constituency, the figures provided are based on the 12 police divisions for the years 1993–1999 and police district command units for 2000–2003 (Tables 2 and 3). Due to a change in the prosecutions data source in 2000, Tables 2 and 3 differ in terms of the method of collation used—in Table 2 figures relate to the police division to which an offence was reported, while figures within Table 3 relate to the police district command unit in which an offender's address falls.
(2) Figures based on the court division in which an offence was tried.
(3) Figures based on the police division to which the offence was reported.
Note:
Divisional Headquarters are included within brackets.
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Notes:
1. Figures are based on the police district command unit in which an offender's address falls.
2. Police district command units became operational in April 2001. However, calendar year 2000 data are also disaggregated by DCU, rather than police division.
3. Missing data relate to those for which district command unit information is not available.
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