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5 Jun 2006 : Column 413W—continued
Curran Report
Mrs. Iris Robinson: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what action has been taken to implement the recommendations of the Curran Report commissioned by the Department of Education in Northern Ireland. [74376]
Maria Eagle: The recommendations of the Final Report Part 1 (Parity, Performance and Progression) of the Teachers’ Pay and Conditions of Service Inquiry have been largely implemented. The Final Report Part 2 (Improving Conditions, Raising Standards and Negotiating Arrangements) made a number of wide-ranging recommendations, which, if implemented, would place a significant demand upon the education budget.
Successive Ministers have asked the Teachers’ Negotiating Committee, which comprises both employers and teacher unions, to consider how the recommendations in the report can be progressed through alternative and innovative ways of working. To this end the Committee has established a working group to identify potential strategies that will free up teachers’ time and help reduce teacher workload in line with the recommendations.
Mrs. Iris Robinson: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what estimate has been made of the costs required to implement in full the recommendations of the Curran Report. [74377]
Maria Eagle:
Of the 25 recommendations of the Final Report Part 2 (Improving Conditions, Raising Standards and Negotiating Arrangements) of the
Teachers’ Pay and Conditions of Service Inquiry (“Curran 2”), the Department of Education estimates that five would have significant financial implications, and would cost some £84 million a year to implement at 2004-05 prices.
A number of the report’s other recommendations will have cost implications but these are not expected to be significant.
Curricula
Mr. Lidington: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what the average annual cost was of educating a child in the (a) enriched curriculum and (b) traditional curriculum in 2005-06. [74690]
Maria Eagle: The enriched curriculum is primarily a pedagogical approach to teaching and learning for children in years one and two of statutory education. It is designed to be sensitive to the way young children learn naturally and to provide greater flexibility in how children learn at an early age. It is not possible to make a direct comparison in the cost of delivery of the enriched curriculum and traditional curriculum, as there are other contributory factors, such as school size and type and involvement in other initiatives that influence costs in any individual school.
Mr. Lidington: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what his policy is on the use of synthetic phonics in the enriched curriculum in Northern Ireland’s schools. [74691]
Maria Eagle: Synthetic phonics is one of a range of measures available to teachers in schools in Northern Ireland for the teaching of reading. The Department of Education has no plans to specify that schools should only use this measure.
Mr. Lidington: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what assessment was made in preparing the final report of the Early Years Enriched Curriculum Project of the contribution of the enriched and traditional curriculums to improving the educational standards achieved by children in the Shankill Road area. [74814]
Maria Eagle: The Enriched Curriculum pilot arose from concerns expressed by teachers in the Shankill area, where the traditional curriculum was not meeting the needs of their pupils. The external evaluation by Queens University was undertaken on a longitudinal basis. It compares the achievements of Enriched Curriculum pupils and traditional curriculum pupils in different classes within the same school. The findings are that children in the Enriched Curriculum in Shankill schools benefit from the approach. Their educational achievements are at least of the same standard as those taking the traditional curriculum by the end of Year 4, and in addition they demonstrate increased self-esteem, confidence, oral skills and enjoyment of learning.
Departmental Legislation
Mr. Amess: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland if he will list (a) Acts and (b) parts of Acts which received Royal Assent between 1976 and 2006 for which his Department has policy responsibility and which remain in force. [70097]
Mr. Hain: The information requested is not held centrally. It could be provided only at disproportionate cost.
Departmental Press Office
Keith Vaz: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many (a) black and Asian and (b) other people are employed in his Department's press office. [74353]
Paul Goggins: Information on ethnicity is provided by staff in the Northern Ireland Office on a voluntary basis. The purpose for which this personal data is collected is to enable the Department to monitor the effectiveness of its policies on equality of opportunity. Such monitoring is neither undertaken nor appropriate at the level of directorates, branches or offices. The following table shows the ethnic composition of the NIO both in Belfast and London as at 24 May 2006.
Departmental Staff
Ms Katy Clark: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many (a) women and (b) men are employed in the Department; what the average pay was for (i) women and (ii) men in the Department in (A) 1997 and (B) 2006; what women’s average pay is as a percentage of men’s average pay; and how many (1) women and (2) men the Department employed in each of the last five years, broken down by grade. [67778]
Paul Goggins: The information is as follows.
(a) There are 1,245 women employed in the Department at present.
(b) There are 820 men employed in the Department at present.
With regard to pay, SCS staff and those at Grade A and below are covered by two separate pay systems. The figures have, therefore, been broken down on this basis:
(i) (A) The average pay for women, both at SCS and Grade A and below, in the Department in 1997 could be obtained only at disproportionate cost.
(i) (B) The average pay for women at SCS level in the Department in 2006 is £64,506.
The average pay for women at Grade A and below in the Department in 2006 is £19,842.
(ii) (A) The average pay for men, both at SCS and Grade A and below, in the Department in 1997 could be obtained only at disproportionate cost.
(ii) (B) The average pay for men at SCS level in the Department in 2006 is £76,509.
The average pay for men at Grade A and below in the Department in 2006 is £23,074.
For those staff at SCS level, women’s average pay in 2006 is 84.3 per cent. of men’s.
For those staff at Grade A and below, women’s average pay in 2006 is 83.7 per cent. of men’s.
(1) and (2) The figures for the numbers of women and men employed in the Northern Ireland Office in each of the last five years, broken down by grade, are as follows:
| 2001 | 2002 | 2003 | 2004 | 2005 | |
David Simpson: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many Northern Ireland civil servants attended the Civil Service Islamic Society Eid-Ul-Adha event in London in 2005; and what the total cost was of their attendance. [73084]
Mr. Hain: My right hon. Friend the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster will write to the hon. Member with details of the Civil Service Islamic Society Eid-Ul-Adha event. Copies of her letter will be placed in the Library.
Domestic Violence
Mrs. Iris Robinson: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many incidents of domestic violence were reported (a) against women and (b) against men in Northern Ireland in each of the last three years. [74238]
Mr. Hanson:
Statistics on domestic violence incidents are available from the Police Service of Northern Ireland and from the Domestic Violence Helpline run by Women’s Aid Federation. The number of incidents reported and calls received are given in the following table. Within the police statistics for incidents reported there is no official breakdown available for male and female but it is known that women are the
victims in the majority of reported cases. The Domestic Violence Helpline service was only extended to cover male victims from February 2005 and it is estimated
that in 2005-06 about 200 calls to the Helpline (1 per cent.) were from male victims.
| Domestic violence incidents reported to PSNI and calls received by domestic violence helpline | ||||
| Year (April?March) | Incidents reported to PSNI | No breakdown by gender is available | Calls to the domestic violence helpline | Percentage female victims |
| Note: These figures do not represent the prevalence of the problem as domestic violence is seriously under-reported There is also likely to be some degree of overlap in the figures from the two sources as victims may report abuse to the police and also seek help and advice through the Helpline. | ||||
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