| Previous Section | Index | Home Page |
21 Nov 2006 : Column 71W—continued
Teacher Training
Mr. Lidington: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many students were enrolled on teacher-training courses in Northern Ireland in (a) 2003-04, (b) 2004-05 and (c) 2005-06; how many students withdrew from such courses (i) temporarily and (ii) permanently in each year, broken down by age; and if he will make a statement. [100710]
Maria Eagle: In 2003-04, 2,015 students were enrolled on initial teacher training courses at Northern Ireland higher education institutions. The equivalent figure for 2004-05 was 2,034. Data for the 2005-06 academic year are not available.
The table gives details of the number of students who withdrew from these courses, broken down by age. It is not possible to determine from the data collected whether students who withdraw do so on a temporary or permanent basis.
| Age | 2003-04 | 2004-05 |
| Source: Higher Education Statistics Agency | ||
Waste Management
Mark Durkan: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how much funding will be allocated for waste management infrastructure and waste management initiatives in addition to the waste management grant paid to local councils for 2007-08. [101337]
David Cairns: In addition to the waste management grant allocations for 2007-08, the Department of Environment is setting up a programme delivery support unit to advise the councils' waste management groups on their major infrastructure procurement projects.
The Department is also preparing a strategic business case to establish the options for central Government funding to local government for waste management as part of the CSR 2007 process.
Mark Durkan: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how much funding was earmarked in the Central Spending Review for (a) waste management infrastructure and (b) waste management initiatives from 2008 onwards. [101338]
David Cairns: The Department of Environment is currently preparing a Strategic Business Case to establish the options for central Government funding to local government for waste management as part of the CSR 2007 process.
Decisions on allocations for 2008-09 and beyond will be taken as part of next year's Budget and Priorities process and published in the draft Budget in the autumn of 2007.
Health
Air Ambulances
Tim Farron: To ask the Secretary of State for Health if her Department will review funding provision for air ambulances. [101801]
Ms Rosie Winterton: Since 1 April 2002, the cost of clinical staff on air ambulances should be met by the national health service. It is for NHS trusts to decide whether they give any additional funding to charities who provide air ambulances.
Audiology Services
Mr. Carswell: To ask the Secretary of State for Health (1) how many patients in Tendring were treated by an audiologist in each of the last six years; [101576]
(2) how much is estimated to be spent on audiology services in Tendring in 2006-07; and how much was spent in each of the last five years. [101575]
Mr. Ivan Lewis: The information requested is not held centrally.
From 2000 to 2005, funding of £125 million for the provision of digital hearing aids was ring-fenced through the modernising hearing aid services programme.
In 2006-07, the Department allocated national health service central revenue budgets on 25 July 2006. This amounted to a total allocation of £5.5 billion across all the strategic health authorities (SHAs) and is the aggregate value of all the individual allocations from many different budgets, including audiology. It is the responsibility of SHAs to reach agreement with their local NHS trusts and primary care trusts over the allocation of these resources to best meet local need. In addition capital allocations for audiology services in 2006-07 amounted to £26 million.
Care Home Policy Guidelines
Anne Main: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what steps her Department is taking to ensure consistency of interpretation of care home policy guidelines by local authorities; and if she will make a statement. [101399]
Mr. Ivan Lewis: It is for the Commission for Social Care Inspection (CSCI), as the Regulator, to inspect all care homes in England, whether in the private, voluntary or local authority sectors, to ensure they are compliant with the Care Homes Regulations 2001. In doing so, CSCI will have regard to national minimum standards, which apply across the country and which are intended to ensure consistency in the quality of services.
CSCI also inspects local authority social services departments to judge how well they are running and commissioning social care services for adults and children. This and other information forms part of the overall star rating judgment on councils that CSCI publishes once each year. Ratings can be viewed on the CSCI website at
www.csci.org.uk/care_professionals/councils/star_ratings.aspx.
Delayed Discharges
Julia Goldsworthy: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many delayed discharges there were of people aged 75 years and over in each (a) NHS region and (b) health authority in each quarter from Q1 2005-06 to Q1 2006-07. [102008]
Mr. Ivan Lewis: Information on delayed discharges is collected by strategic health authority. The information is in the table.
| Next Section | Index | Home Page |