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7 Dec 2006 : Column 627W—continued

Prisoner Education

Paul Holmes: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills how many higher education qualifications were achieved by prisoners in each of the last five years. [105836]

Bill Rammell [holding answer 28 November 2006]: The data is not held centrally.


7 Dec 2006 : Column 628W

Schools: Arson

Mr. Stewart Jackson: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what the total cost of arson in schools was in (a) the Eastern Region, (b) Cambridgeshire and (c) Peterborough local education authority in each year since 1997; and if he will make a statement. [107152]

Jim Knight [holding answer 4 December 2006]: We do not have figures for school fires broken down by local authority area. The data we have is provided by the Department for Communities and Local Government (DCLG), which collects figures from the fire and rescue service. The earliest figures we have on school fires from DCLG are for 2000, and the most recent for 2004. These cover England and Wales. The costs are rounded to the nearest million and are derived from the then ODPM publication “Economic Cost of Fire, estimates for 2004”. They cover property damage and the costs of the fire and rescue services attending the fires.

Number of fires Total costs (£ million)

2000

1,275

45

2001

1,529

67

2002

1,332

67

2003

1,313

61

2004

1,291

52


The available data do not differentiate between primary and secondary schools, or between the public and independent sectors.

For the years covered, just over 60 per cent. of the school fires were considered to be the result of deliberate fire setting. Because of this, we have included advice on improving security and preventing arson in our new guide on fire safety in schools, Building Bulletin 100, “Designing and Managing against the Risk of fire in Schools”. This will be completed shortly and we expect to publish it before Easter next year.

University Applications

Mr. Waterson: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills how many people from Eastbourne constituency applied to attend university in the UK in each of the last 10 years. [105107]

Bill Rammell: The available information on the numbers of entrants to undergraduate courses from the Eastbourne parliamentary constituency is shown in the table. The figures for 2005/06 will be available in January 2007.


7 Dec 2006 : Column 629W
Number of entrants to undergraduate courses at UK higher education institutions from the Eastbourne parliamentary constituency
Academic year Entrants to undergraduate courses( 1)

1995/96

685

1996/97

600

1997/98

595

1998/99

695

1999/00

730

2000/01

745

2001/02

755

2002/03

825

2003/04

890

2004/05

915

(1) Students from the Eastbourne parliamentary constituency have been identified by their home postcode. Before 1998/99, figures may not be comparable with later figures because some institutions did not provide a valid postcode for their entrants.
Note:
The figures are on a snapshot basis as at 1 of December and are rounded to the nearest 5. They cover part-time and full-time students and exclude students on writing up, sabbatical and dormant modes of study.
Source:
Higher Education Statistics Agency (HESA).

The Universities and Colleges Admissions Service (UCAS) collects information on applicants to full-time undergraduate courses at UK higher education institutions but does not produce figures on the number of applicants by parliamentary constituency.

Northern Ireland

Benefits

Lady Hermon: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many people were in receipt of state benefits in Northern Ireland in each of the last five years, broken down by benefit. [107620]

Mr. Hanson: The number of people in receipt of benefits in Northern Ireland in each of the last five years is shown in the following table.


7 Dec 2006 : Column 630W
Benefit statistics
Number of recipients
Benefit type October 2002 October 2003 October 2004 October 2005 October 2006

Income Support(1)

207,011

210,340

116,277

115,299

112,186

Job Seeker's Allowance(1)

42,129

40,653

35,829

33,543

30,911

Pension Credit(1)

106,647

112,699

112,788

Retirement Pension

250,648

257,737

260,991

265,206

269,787

Incapacity Benefit

108,593

112,615

112,723

115,608

115,598

Attendance Allowance

70,983

71,369

71,279

69,467

68,454

Disability Living Allowance

146,971

153,518

162,466

167,993

170,689

Carers Allowance

35,893

38,572

43,327

45,091

46,221

Housing Benefit(2)

125,602

125,469

125,817

129,588

130,839

Widow's Benefit

6,707

6,016

5,199

4,558

3,928

Bereavement Benefit

1,120

1,430

1,503

1,618

1,749

Industrial Injuries Disablement Benefit

(3)1,351

12,038

12,459

12,785

11,463

(1) Figures relate to actual beneficiaries, namely claimant and partner as these are means tested benefits.
(2 )It has not been possible to provide adult beneficiaries, namely claimant and partner for housing benefit. The information in question was unavailable for this point in time.
(3 )This figure does not include all types of industrial injuries disablement benefit. The information in question was unavailable for this point in time.
Note:
This table represents the benefit specific situation for the point in time i.e. October of each year.

Correspondence

Lady Hermon: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland when he will reply to the letter dated 6 October 2006 from the hon. Member for North Down in relation to a patient being cared for in the Fintona North Ward at Muckamore Abbey Hospital. [107019]

Paul Goggins: I apologise for the delay in providing a comprehensive response to the hon. Lady’s letter of6 October 2006. This has now been issued.

Cross-community Commemoration

Mr. McGrady: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what plans his Department has to assist those people who are working to commemorate on a cross-community basis significant events in the history of Northern Ireland. [101181]

Maria Eagle: The Arts Council of Northern Ireland is currently operating three programmes which can assist with the creation of works of art across all art forms and which may have a theme of commemoration. These are: Re-imaging Communities, the Public Art Programme and the Project Funding Programme.

Re-imaging Communities is a three-year programme to encourage the creation of vibrant and attractive shared public space through the use of the creative arts in the public realm, which will celebrate life, enhance the physical and natural environment and help people feel part of the community in which they live.

The aim of the Public Art Programme and the Project Funding Programme is to assist organisations to deliver arts projects which contribute to the growth of arts in the community for new and existing audiences and which reflect the diversity of Northern Ireland’s society and culture. The Public Art Programme is designed to support the commissioning of new art for public places throughout Northern Ireland. The Project Funding Programme includes projects which promote inter-cultural dialogue and programmes aimed at growing audiences in areas of social and economic deprivation.

Departmental Expenditure

Mr. Laws: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how much has been spent by his Department on media training in each year since 1997-98. [103175]

Mr. Hain: The amount spent on media training in the Northern Ireland Office is given in the following table.

Information for the years 1997-98 to 2001-02 could be provided only at disproportionate cost.


7 Dec 2006 : Column 631W
Financial year Expenditure (£)

2006-07

670

2005-06

Nil

2004-05

430

2003-04

Nil

2002-03

Nil


Departmental Statistics

Mrs. Villiers: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how much his Department spent on statistics relating to the work of his Department in each of the last five years. [107276]

Mr. Hanson: The Northern Ireland Office produces each year a wide range of statistical reports relating to the major areas of interest in the criminal justice field. The past five years have, in addition, seen the implementation of major reform of the criminal justice system in Northern Ireland through the Criminal Justice Review. The Statistics and Research Branch of the Department has underpinned this work with analyses and evaluations of many of the key reforms including in 2005-06 research in relation to topics such as equity monitoring, domestic violence, bail and youth diversion. Table 1 provides information on the amount of money spent on statistics and research relating to the work of the Northern Ireland Office from 2001-02 to 2005-06.

Table 1: Amount spent on statistics and research 2001-02 to 2005-06( 1)
£
2001-02 2002-03 2003-04 2004-05 2005-06

Criminology research

350,429

222,899

291,186

245,361

262,605

Criminal justice review research

133,067

278,158

215,244

568,184

Consultancy fees

27,822

Salaries

440,681

545,398

552,914

577,854

626,241

Total

818,932

901,364

1,122,258

1,038,459

1,457,030

(1) It should be noted that these figures refer to the amount spent on statistics and research for the work of the Northern Ireland Office only and not to that spent by Northern Ireland Departments or Agencies.

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