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25 July 2006 : Column 1412W—continued
Nursing
Mrs. Iris Robinson: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what bursary entitlements are available for nursing students from Northern Ireland who study in Great Britain. [87977]
Paul Goggins: Throughout the United Kingdom, the funding of student nurse training, including bursary support, is the responsibility of the Health Department in whose area the course of study is being undertaken.
The following table details the bursary support available for nursing students from Northern Ireland studying in Great Britain for the academic year 2006-07.
Parking
Mrs. Iris Robinson: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what legislation applying in Northern Ireland prohibits motorists from parking their cars on pavements. [86307]
David Cairns: The Acting Chief Executive of Roads Service (Mr. Geoff Allister) has been asked to write to the hon. Lady in response to this question.
Letter from Mr. Geoff Allister, dated 25 July 2006:
You recently asked the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland a Parliamentary Question regarding what legislation applying in Northern Ireland deters motorists from parking their cars on pavements.
As this issue falls within my responsibility as Acting Chief Executive of Roads Service, I have been asked to reply.
At present, the principal traffic regulation order relating to waiting and loading restrictions throughout Northern Ireland is the Roads (Restriction of Waiting) Order (Northern Ireland) 1982 (“the 1982 Order”). A yellow line waiting restriction placed on the carriageway applies to all of the side of the road on which it is located, i.e. from the center of the road to the road boundary, which may include a footway or verge. A motorist parking their vehicle on a footway adjacent to a yellow line marking on the carriageway is guilty of an offence.
In addition, the Footways (Prohibition of Waiting) (No. 2) Order (Northern Ireland) 1981 (“the 1981 Order”) prohibits the waiting by motor vehicles, at any time, on footways adjacent to clearways. Any person who contravenes the 1981 Order or the 1982 Order is liable on summary conviction to a fine not exceeding £1,000.
Article 88 (obstruction of roads) of the Roads (Northern Ireland) Order 1993 also provides that any person who, without lawful authority or reasonable excuse, in any way intentionally or negligently obstructs the free passage along a road shall be guilty of an offence and liable on summary conviction to a fine not exceeding £500.
Parliamentary Questions
David Simpson: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland (1) how many parliamentary (a) questions and (b) draft answers on Northern Ireland matters tabled by (i) hon. Members for Northern Ireland constituencies and (ii) hon. Members for constituencies in Great Britain have been notified to the North/South Inter-governmental Conference Secretariat in the last 12 months, broken down by hon. Member; [88339]
(2) for what purpose parliamentary (a) questions and (b) draft answers on Northern Ireland matters tabled by hon. Members are notified to the North/ South Inter-governmental Conference Secretariat. [88574]
Mr. Hain: I assume that the hon. Gentleman is referring to the British Irish Inter-Governmental Secretariat (BIIS).
Northern Ireland Office officials in the BIIS receive a daily list of all parliamentary questions tabled to my Department, as does every other division of my Department. Overall, they have drafted seven answers to parliamentary questions in the past 12 months.
This is broken down by hon. Member as follows.
| Number | |
A parliamentary question is drafted by the BIIS when the subject of the question is regarding the interface between the Government and the Irish Government on Northern Ireland matters. This is the purpose of the BIIS.
David Simpson: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what (a) guidance he has issued to his Department and (b) procedures are followed with regard to the processing of parliamentary (i) questions and (ii) draft answers on Northern Ireland matters tabled by (A) hon. Members for Northern Ireland constituencies and (B) hon. Members for constituencies in Great Britain. [88575]
Mr. Hain: My parliamentary clerk and his staff have lead responsibility for advising officials dealing with parliamentary questions. Furthermore, each division within the Northern Ireland Office (NIO) has a nominated parliamentary questions co-ordinator who has been fully instructed by parliamentary section in procedures relating to parliamentary questions. Guidance produced by Cabinet Office has been placed on the NIO intranet and is available to all staff.
When dealing with parliamentary questions, my officials do not differentiate between hon. Members from Northern Ireland and those from Great Britain.
Pensioners
Mark Durkan: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what percentage of pensioners in Northern Ireland live alone. [87287]
Mr. Hanson: In the 2001 Census there were 261,511 people of pension age (aged 65 or more for males, aged 60 or more for females) in Northern Ireland, of whom 80,486 (31 percent.) lived in single-person households.
Mark Durkan: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many pensioners in Northern Ireland were re-admitted to hospital as an emergency in each of the last five years. [87289]
Paul Goggins: Information on re-admissions is not currently available.
The reliable identification of individuals who have been re-admitted to hospital as an emergency is not currently feasible due to the lack of a unique patient identifier to facilitate data matching.
The introduction of the ‘Health and Care number’ which will allow each patient to be uniquely identified will greatly assist in the production of this type of information in the future.
Mark Durkan: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many people in Northern Ireland aged (a) 65 to 74 and (b) over 75 years participated in (i) publicly funded learning and (ii) volunteering in each of the last five years. [87291]
Mr. Hanson: The following table details the number of enrolments of those aged 65 and over on learning courses funded by the Department for Employment and Learning in Northern Ireland for the period 2000-01 to 2004-05 (latest available data).
| Aged 65-74 | Aged 75+ | Total | |
| Source: HESA; FESR | |||
The information is not available in the format requested but the following tables provide information on volunteers aged 60 years and over. Every five years the Department for Social Development (DSD) commissions an omnibus survey, to provide information on the nature and extent of volunteering in Northern Ireland. Figures from the 2001 survey, based on a representative sample, are provided below. The next survey will take place in September 2006.
| Formal volunteering | |
The following tables give information on volunteers supported through the Department for Social Development Volunteering Development Programmes.
Community Volunteering Scheme (Grant Programme)
Figures are only available for aged over 50.
| Total new volunteers | Volunteers aged over 50 | |
Active Communities Initiative (2001-04)
| Number/percentage | |
| Source: Evaluation of the Active Communities Initiative 2001-04 CENI 2005 | |
Due to reorganisation no figures are available from the 15 Volunteer Bureaux until 2002-03. Age of volunteers is recorded in bands. The band is for ‘60 years and over’.
| Volunteers | Volunteers aged over 60 years | |
| (1) Not available yet | ||
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