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9 May 2006 : Column 204W—continued
Ministerial Working Hours
David Simpson: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what average number of hours per week each Minister in his Department spent working in each of the Departments for which they are responsible in the last 12 months. [67513]
Mr. Hain: The information requested is not held centrally and can be obtained only at disproportionate costs.
MRI Scanners
Lady Hermon: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many MRI scanners are operating in NHS hospitals in Northern Ireland; where they are located; and what their average monthly usage was in each of the last 12 months. [68556]
Paul Goggins: There are nine MRI scanners in Health and Personal Social Services hospitals. Details of the hospitals in which they are located and their average monthly usage, as provided by the Health and Social Services Trusts, are given in the following table.
| Hospital | Number of MRI scanners | Average number of hours per month scanner is in use |
| (1) New cancer centre operational from April 2006. Belvoir Park Hospital MRI scanner was in use for an average of 85 hours per month prior to closure. |
Nuisance Hedges
Lady Hermon: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland when the proposal for legislation to tackle nuisance hedges was first raised with his Department by an hon. Member; and if he will make a statement on progress made since that time. [68554]
Maria Eagle: Following suspension of the Northern Ireland Executive, the proposal for legislation to tackle nuisance high hedges was first raised with the Department of the Environment by the hon. Member for North Down in January 2004.
The Department subsequently completed a public consultation in October 2005 to assess the scale of the high hedge problem and has recently published a summary of the responses to that consultation on the Planning Service website. The Department accepts, on the basis of that consultation, that legislation is necessary but this cannot be brought forward due to a number of pressures on the legislative programme. It is now unlikely that consultation on the draft legislation will take place prior to the end of 2007.
Nursing
Mrs. Iris Robinson: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what estimate he has made of the number of nurses in the Province who have left the NHS in each of the last 10 years; and what assessment he has made of the reasons why nurses in the Province leave the NHS before the age of retirement. [49322]
Paul Goggins: The number of qualified nurses(1) leaving the HPSS in the last 10 years is provided in the following table:
| 1 April to 31 March | Headcount | Whole-time equivalent |
Information on the actual reasons for leaving is not collected. However, in addition to retirees, leavers may include staff taking a career break, those transferring to the independent/private sector or to the NHS in England, Scotland or Wales, and those leaving for other reasons such as family commitments.
(1) Qualified nurses include midwives and health visitors.
On-the-runs
Mark Durkan: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland if he will ensure that any future proposals which deal with the issue of ‘on-the-runs’ will be subjected to equality impact assessments. [66395]
Mr. Hain: Any future proposals to deal with on-the-runs would be subjected to the procedures contained in the Northern Ireland Office's Equality Scheme. The scheme requires that all policies should be subjected to an
equality screening exercise; and that, if the screening demonstrates that there might be an adverse impact or that the impact is unknown, the Department should then to proceed to consider whether a full equality impact assessment is necessary.
Route Development Fund
Mr. Gregory Campbell: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how much was spent from the Route Development Fund on flights into and out of Northern Ireland in 2005. [69469]
Maria Eagle: Total funding for the nine routes supported by the Air Route Development Fund during the 2005-06 financial year was £1,458,634.
School Funding
Chris Ruane: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what the average funding per child was in each (a) grammar school and (b) other secondary school in Northern Ireland in each of the past 10 years. [67817]
Maria Eagle: Detailed information at individual school level for Education and Library Board schools is available from the published Outturn Statements for 1999-2000 to 2003-04 which are available in the House of Commons Libraries. Similar outturn information on voluntary grammar and grant-maintained integrated schools is not available as this is prepared by individual schools.
The following tables show per pupil funding, by sector, for grammar and other post-primary schools, between 1995-96 and 2004-05 (the last year for which this information is readily available). Figures are based on information provided by each of the Education and Library Boards for their controlled grammar and other non-grammar schools, and by the relevant branches within my Department for voluntary grammar and grant-maintained integrated schools. Figures include both delegated and centre recurrent funding, but exclude special schools, capital funds and other costs such as milk and meals and transport, which are not allocated at individual school level.
| Grammar schools( 1) | |||
| Funding( 2) (£) | Full-time equivalent pupils( 2) | Average per pupil | |
| (1) All controlled and voluntary grammar schools (2) Includes some funding/pupils in preparatory departments |
| All other post-primary schools | |||
| Funding (£) | Full-time equivalent pupils | Average per pupil | |
Sure Start
Chris Ruane: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what percentage of children are on Sure Start schemes in each (a) ward, (b) county and (c) constituency in Northern Ireland. [68035]
Paul Goggins: There are currently 25 Sure Start projects in Northern Ireland offering just over 24,000 children in the 0-4 age range access to health care and family support services.
Table 1 shows the percentage of children on Sure Start schemes at Ward level. There are a total of 582 wards in Northern Ireland and Sure Start projects cover 107 wards.
| Table 1 | |
| Ward | Percentage of children that are on Sure Start schemes |
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