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4 May 2006 : Column 1818W—continued

Housing

Mr. Gregory Campbell: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what the change in the number of households in Northern Ireland was for the period between March 2005 and February 2006. [67542]

Angela E. Smith: There are no official statistics available to answer this question directly. However, based on the 1991 and 2001 censuses and official population projections produced by the Government Actuary's Department, it is projected that there were 660,900 households in June 2005 and 668,800 households in June 2006—a projected increase over one year of 7,900 households.

Mark Durkan: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many people of (a) Catholic and (b) Protestant community background have been (i) waiting for and (ii) awarded public housing in (A)Northern Ireland, (B) Belfast, (C) Derry, (D) North Belfast, (E) South Belfast, (F) West Belfast and (G) East Belfast in each of the last five years. [66979]

 
4 May 2006 : Column 1819W
 

Mr. Hanson: Housing is allocated on the basis of need and not religious affiliation. It is dependent on existing stock becoming available for re-letting and the provision of new build social housing which can vary from area to area due to high demand and low turn over as well as the availability of land. The information is not available in the format or time span requested. However the tables set out the information that is available. This does not include transfers between Northern Ireland Housing Executive properties, nor does it include allocations made by Housing Associations. In respect of the waiting list figures no information is available before the 2001–02 financial year and figures for the 2005–06 year are not yet compiled. In respect of houses that have been awarded, information is only available from the 2003–04 financial year. The figures for the 2005–06 year are not yet compiled. In addition figures for the Belfast area reflect the Housing Executive Districts that approximately cover the four geographic areas of the city.

The information provided should also be considered in the context:

The religious composition of households is based on 'self reported' answers to the question held within the General Housing Application Form. The religion of the applicant is assumed to be the same for all individuals within the household.

The Equality Unit is currently unable to readily identify 'mixed' religion households although we are aware that a number of households currently described as 'Roman Catholic' or 'Protestant' would clearly fall into a 'mixed' category.

The breakdown of the waiting list is a snapshot of applicants for Housing Executive properties on the waiting list on the last day of the month shown.

The Housing Executive does not hold complete records prior to June 2002.

Waiting for accommodation

	At March
	2002	2003	2004	2005
Northern Ireland
Catholic	9,401	10,512	10,983	12,182
Protestant	11,407	12,237	12,512	13,222

	At March
	2002	2003	2004	2005
Belfast east
Catholic	99	109	95	101
Protestant	1,267	1,237	1,250	1,242

	At March
	2002	2003	2004	2005
Belfast north
Catholic	1,062	1,149	1,157	1,332
Protestant	386	420	451	473

	April to March
	2001–02	2002–03	2003–04	2004–05
Belfast south
Catholic	528	497	512	555
Protestant	889	858	836	868

 
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	At March
	2002	2003	2004	2005
Belfast west
Catholic	1,414	1,432	1,570	1,735
Protestant	529	612	632	661

	At March
	2002	2003	2004	2005
Londonderry
Catholic	1,019	1,270	1,250	1,407
Protestant	177	214	188	249

Awarded accommodation

	At March
	2004	2005
Northern Ireland
Catholic	580	455
Protestant	978	828

Belfast

	At March
	2004	2005
Belfast east
Catholic	8	1
Protestant	62	90

	At March
	2004	2005
Belfast north
Catholic	44	30
Protestant	64	54

	At March
	2004	2005
Belfast south
Catholic	15	0
Protestant	50	44

	At March
	2004	2005
Belfast west
Catholic	19	37
Protestant	79	55

	At March
	2004	2005
Londonderry
Catholic	75	58
Protestant	45	24

 
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Investment Strategy

Mark Durkan: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what steps will be taken in the context of the investment strategy to tackle (a) community and (b) geographic differentials in (i) economic inactivity, (ii) unemployment and (iii) housing allocation. [67212]

Angela E. Smith: Targeting social need, along with equality and promoting good relations, are central to the work of government. This is fully reflected in the process for determining our overall expenditure priorities and allocations through Priorities and Budget, which is consistent with the first three years of the Investment Strategy for Northern Ireland (ISNI) published in December 2005.

In formulating investment priorities during the development of the Strategy, departments gave due consideration to these principles to ensure that opportunities were taken to tackle disadvantage, and to promote equality including in the labour market and in health, education and housing.

As the ISNI is delivered, the opportunities to tackle disadvantage and promote equality will be kept under review as programmes and projects are rolled out. The Investment Strategy itself will be reviewed in parallel with the Comprehensive Spending Review, and in line with the development of the government's approach to tackling poverty and social need.
 
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Literacy Levels

Chris Ruane: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland if he will collect and collate statistics on literacy levels in Northern Ireland at (a) ward and (b) sub-ward level. [68034]

Angela E. Smith: There are no plans to collect and collate statistics on literacy levels in Northern Ireland at (a) ward and (b) sub-ward level. Measurement of literacy scores involves the administration of specific tests, and estimates of literacy levels in the population have depended on sample surveys (for example, the International Adult Literacy Survey which was carried out in Northern Ireland in 1996). Sample sizes for this type of survey are not large enough to enable the reporting of results at ward level or lower. Proxy information such as the proportion of the population with no qualifications is available at this level of detail for Northern Ireland (e.g. 2001 Census).

Local Government Finance

Mr. Donaldson: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what have been the total annual (a) commercial and (b) domestic rates collected in each of the last five years in (i) Lisburn city council, (ii) Antrim borough council, (iii) Newtownabbey borough council and (iv) Carrickfergus borough council. [67618]

Angela E. Smith: The following table shows the rates collected for domestic and non-domestic (commercial) rates for the period 2001–02 to 2004–05. Figures for 2005–06 are not yet available.

Figures used have been extracted from the un-audited summary of rate collection (annex A) contained in the agency's annual report and financial statements.

District/rates collected	2001–02 (£ million)	2002–03 (£)	2003–04 (£)	2004–05 (£)	2005–06
Lisburn
Domestic	15.7	17.6	19.5	21	n/a
Non-domestic	13.2	14.7	17	19.8	n/a
Antrim
Domestic	6.4	7,3	8.3	8.9	n/a
Non-domestic	7.7	8.4	8.5	8.8	n/a
Newtownabbey
Domestic	13	14.6	15.7	17.1	n/a
Non-domestic	13	14.8	15.7	15,4	n/a
Carrickfergus
Domestic	6.2	6.8	7.7	8.7	n/a
Non-domestic	4.8	5.2	5.4	4.8	n/a

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