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5 Jun 2006 : Column 464W—continued
| 2004-05 | ||
| District council area | Bridge Strengthening Programmes | Total Maintenance |
| Notes: 1. Spend figures exclude notional costs 2. Bridge strengthening figures include both capital and maintenance costs 3. Total maintenance includes all maintenance costs e.g. structural maintenance (includes resurfacing, reconstruction, surface dressing, patching etc), routine maintenance (grass cutting, gully emptying and environmental work), traffic management and car park maintenance costs. | ||
Road Traffic Accidents
David Simpson: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland pursuant to the Answer of 11 May 2006, Official Report, column 507W, on road traffic accidents, to what he attributes the increase in road traffic accidents involving police vehicles in the last three years; and what steps have been taken to reduce the number of accidents. [73078]
Paul Goggins: As detailed in the answer to the hon. Gentleman of 11 May 2006, both major and minor traffic collisions have reduced during the period 2003-2005. Only ‘slight contact’ collisions have increased, and these have only recently been recorded under this category.
PSNI Transport Services are in the process of fitting over 1,500 vehicle Black Box collision data recorders to PSNI operational vehicles. The black box recorder holds data relating to vehicle speed, emergency operational and vehicle electrical systems in use and ensures accurate information is collected when a vehicle collision occurs. When this system was introduced in the London Metropolitan Police, accidents were reduced by over 20 per cent.
It should also be noted that all drivers of police vehicles are trained to national driving standards in response driving and advanced driving.
Roads
Mr. Gregory Campbell: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how much salt was (a) acquired for use to treat salted road networks and (b) left unused by the Department for Regional Development in Northern Ireland during the winter of 2005-06. [74212]
David Cairns: The Chief Executive of Roads Service (Dr. Malcolm McKibbin) has been asked to write to the hon. Gentleman in response to this question.
Letter from Malcolm McKibbin, dated 30 May 2006:
You recently asked the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland a Parliamentary Question regarding how much salt was (a) acquired for use to treat salted road networks and (b) left unused by the Department for Regional Development in Northern Ireland during the winter of 2005-06.
As this issue falls within my responsibility as Chief Executive of Roads Service, I have been asked to reply.
The total salt purchased during the period 1 May 2005-30 April 2006 was 59,270 tonnes. This was in addition to approximately 23,000 tonnes already in storage from the previous year. The total salt left unused at the end of April 2006 was approximately 25,400 tonnes.
Rural Development Council
Mr. McGrady: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland whether the Rural Development Council will be designated as a non-departmental public body under the review of public administration. [73424]
David Cairns: The decision not to designate the RDC as an NDPB was taken by the Secretary of State in his announcement on 21 March 2006 about a reduction in public bodies. His statement read that the delivery of rural development functions will transfer to local government while the remaining policy functions of the Rural Development Council will transfer to central Government.
Mr. McGrady: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland whether Rural Development Council staff will be able to transfer to (a) local government and (b) central Government agencies with a rural development function. [73425]
David Cairns: The Department of Agriculture and Rural Development officials are currently working through what is a complex issue with the RDC and other stakeholders to determine how the council’s staff will be affected by the RPA decisions. It is premature therefore to determine what that outcome may be.
School Children
Mrs. Iris Robinson: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many school children there are in each education and library board area in Northern Ireland. [74317]
Maria Eagle: The requested information is as follows.
| Education and library board area | Number of school children in 2005-06 |
| Note: Figures exclude children in voluntary and private pre-school centres, and independent and hospital schools. | |
School Meals
Mr. Gregory Campbell: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what progress has been made in ensuring that all school meals in Northern Ireland offer a healthy balanced diet. [74278]
Maria Eagle: The Department of Education, in conjunction with the education and library boards, began the implementation of New Nutritional Standards for School Meals in September 2005. Over 800 schools have now implemented the standards and the remainder will be included by the end of 2006.
The standards aim to help pupils make healthy choices by providing a range of healthy meals, conveying the meaning and importance of a healthy diet and contributing to a reduction in levels of child obesity.
It is proposed that the standards programme be extended to include other sources of food in schools, such as tuck shops and vending machines. The Department is currently consulting on the issue of providing only healthy choices in these areas.
Sex Offenders
Mr. Lidington:
To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many people resident in Northern Ireland are on the register of sex offenders;
and in how many of those cases the police do not know the offender's current residential address. [67658]
Mr. Hanson [pursuant to the reply, 11 May 2006, Official Report, c. 508W]: The information I provided the hon. Gentleman contained an error. The answer should have stated that in 14 of the cases the police do not have a current residential address. The correct answer in full is as follows. I apologise to the hon. Gentleman for this error.
On 28 April 2006, 644 people in Northern Ireland were subject to the notification requirements of the Sexual Offences Act 2003 and in 14 of these cases the police do not have a current residential address. This represents a compliance rate of over 97 per cent.
In line with the Police Service of Northern Ireland's zero tolerance policy on breaches of the notification requirements of the Sexual Offences Act, all offenders who do not comply are pursued and reported to the Public Prosecution Service with a view to prosecution.
Sheep-worrying (Dogs)
Mrs. Iris Robinson: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many dogs have been put down for sheep-worrying under court orders in Northern Ireland in the last five years, broken down by constituency. [74726]
David Cairns: Information on the number of dogs put down for sheep-worrying under court orders in Northern Ireland in the last five years is not available by constituency but is provided in the following table by council area.
| Number of dogs put down for sheep-worrying | |||||
| Council name | 2001 | 2002 | 2003 | 2004 | 2005 |
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