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2 May 2006 : Column 1482W—continued

General Practitioners

Mr. Gregory Campbell: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what the average (a) gross annual salary and (b) weekly working hours were of GPs in Northern Ireland in the last period for which figures are available. [65879]

 
2 May 2006 : Column 1483W
 

Mr. Woodward: (a) Following the introduction of the new General Medical Services (GMS) contract with effect from 1 April 2004, the contract for the provision of General Medical Services is between the relevant Health and Social Services Board and a GMS practice rather than individual GPs. Under the contract, each GMS practice receives payment and can generate income through a number of streams, some of which are core and some in which participation is a matter of choice for the practice concerned. It is a matter for each GMS contractor to determine how its practice is organised and how much of the funding it receives goes directly to each GP in the practice by way of salary/profit sharing. Since, as independent contractors, GPs are not required to declare information about their salaries, it is not possible to provide accurate average salary figures for the profession. However, officials estimate that in Northern Ireland, on average, the gross annual income per GP, after practice expenses, is currently in the region of £85,000 to £95,000.

(b) No weekly working hours are stipulated for a GMS contractor (practice) or each GP. However, each GMS contractor is responsible for the provision of General Medical Services to patients within core hours which are defined as,

the period beginning at 5am and ending at 6:30pm on any day from, and including, Monday to Friday except a public holiday and a local holiday agreed with the Board".

Heart and Lung Transplants

Dr. Cable: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what the average NHS waiting time for a heart and lung transplant was in each of the last five years for which records are available in Northern Ireland. [66041]

Mr. Woodward: Information on the average waiting time for a heart and lung transplant in each of the last five years is shown in the following table.

	Average waiting time for a heart and lung transplant in days
2001–02	—
2002–03	—
2003–04	1,402
2004–05	94
2005–06	21

 
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Note: An average waiting time for 2001–02 and 2002–03 is not available as no patients received a heart and lung transplant during these years. Source: Belfast City Hospital Transplant Co-ordinator.

Figures are based on the time waited by patients, normally resident in Northern Ireland, who received a heart and lung transplant during the financial year. The figures do not include patients who have been removed from the waiting list for medical/social reasons or patients who have died while waiting for the transplant operation.

Homelessness

Mr. Gregory Campbell: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what change there has been in the number of people (a) presenting themselves and (b) assessed by the Housing Executive as homeless in Northern Ireland in each of the last five years. [67548]

Mr. Hanson: During the last five financial years (1 April to 31 March 2006 each year) the information requested is as follows:

	Presenters	Increase compared to previous year	Acceptances	Increase/Decrease compared to previous year
2000–01	12,694	1,697	6,457	1,265
2001–02	14,164	1,470	7,374	917
2002–03	16,426	2,262	8,580	1,206
2003–04	17,150	724	8,594	14
2004–05	17,362	212	8,470	-124

Notes:
Figures for 2005–06 are currently being collated and quality assured and will be available for release by the Housing Executive shortly.

Invest Northern Ireland

Mark Durkan: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many jobs were secured by Invest Northern Ireland, and its predecessors, for each of Northern Ireland's constituencies in each of the last 10 years. [66404]

Angela E. Smith: The information is as follows.

Table 1 shows the number of jobs promoted within each parliamentary constituency area as a result of inward investment projects during the 10 years from 1995–96 to 2004–05.
Table 1: New jobs promoted by parliamentary constituency in inward investment projects (1995–96 to 2004–05)

Parliamentary constituency	1995–96	1996–97	1997–98	1998–99	1999–2000	2000–01
Belfast, East	0	44	419	1,149	1,310	40
Belfast, North	109	113	569	250	289	1,476
Belfast, South	60	203	1,571	988	1,920	595
Belfast, West	464	716	153	75	314	250
East Antrim	0	369	200	221	591	2,363
East Londonderry	0	771	62	77	123	26
Fermanagh and South Tyrone	193	344	22	0	236	20
Foyle	1,402	340	1,225	158	960	357
Lagan Valley	1,552	315	0	512	32	0
Mid-Ulster	449	0	75	0	0	0
Newry and Armagh	298	109	0	0	0	300
North Antrim	0	363	244	0	0	12
North Down	6	0	51	0	358	0
South Antrim	0	799	130	86	226	0
South Down	30	45	75	275	0	0
Strangford	41	11	100	14	80	0
Upper Bann	264	45	310	202	145	37
West Tyrone	61	100	0	155	0	30
NI total	4,929	4,687	5,206	4,162	6,584	5,506

 
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Parliamentary constituency	2001–02	2002–03	2003–04	2004–05	Constituency total
Belfast, East	142	0	0	410	3,514
Belfast, North	675	0	163	27	3,671
Belfast, South	45	216	649	1,379	7,626
Belfast, West	215	35	72	750	3,044
East Antrim	76	100	67	112	4,099
East Londonderry	0	0	24	0	1,083
Fermanagh and South Tyrone	108	350	202	0	1,475
Foyle	520	93	486	40	5,581
Lagan Valley	40	0	0	16	2,467
Mid-Ulster	0	32	0	166	722
Newry and Armagh	0	75	0	0	782
North Antrim	0	0	0	23	642
North Down	18	41	200	140	814
South Antrim	316	5	0	319	1,881
South Down	134	0	0	0	559
Strangford	15	70	5	19	355
Upper Bann	72	16	110	13	1,214
West Tyrone	150	0	175	53	724
NI total	2,526	1,033	2,153	3,467	40,253

Table 2 shows the number of jobs expected to be created as a result of the Start a Business Programme
 
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during the past four years (2002–03 to 2004–05). This information is not available over a longer time period.
Table 2: Jobs created in business start-ups by parliamentary constituency (2002–03 to 2005–06)

Parliamentary constituency	2002–03	2003–04	2004–05	2005–06	Constituency total
Belfast, East	57	122	146	111	436
Belfast, North	77	95	113	148	433
Belfast, South	101	163	212	161	637
Belfast, West	83	114	170	176	543
East Antrim	138	173	268	204	783
East Londonderry	130	169	304	254	857
Fermanagh and South Tyrone	186	111	433	374	1,270
Foyle	164	257	458	322	1,201
Lagan Valley	176	150	224	211	761
Mid-Ulster	222	267	342	360	1,191
Newry and Armagh	194	228	355	293	1,070
North Antrim	139	139	256	233	767
North Down	120	198	203	186	707
South Antrim	118	179	213	203	713
South Down	208	290	426	389	1,313
Strangford	151	220	269	260	900
Upper Bann	182	220	311	298	1,011
West Tyrone	130	164	234	247	775
NI total	2,576	3,425	4,937	4,430	15,368

Mark Durkan: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland whether Invest Northern Ireland has conducted an equality impact assessment on its policy for making land available for industrial use. [66405]

Angela E. Smith: Invest NI is currently carrying out an Equality Impact Assessment (EQIA) of its Business Development Solutions (BDS) programmes of assistance. The impact assessment will be sent out for public consultation later in 2006.

Invest NI's policy for making land available for industrial use" will be analysed as part of this Business Development Solutions EQIA.

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