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28 Mar 2007 : Column 1568W—continued
Recycling
Lady Hermon: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many public recycling facilities are in operation in each district council area in Northern Ireland. [129578]
David Cairns: Statistics for such facilities in each district council area have been included in the three regional Waste Management Plans. The following table contains a breakdown of the numbers of facilities by district council area.
| Council area | Civic amenity sites/household waste recycling centres | Recycling points/bring sites |
Schools: Fires
Sammy Wilson: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how much fires in schools in Northern Ireland cost in each of the last 10 years. [128392]
Maria Eagle: Information on the cost of damage to schools in Northern Ireland caused by fires in each of the last 10 yeas is not readily available. This information has been requested from the Education and Library Boards and will be provided to the hon. Gentleman in writing as soon as possible.
Social Housing
Mr. Gregory Campbell: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many new social housing dwellings he expects to be built in Northern Ireland in the next financial year. [129779]
Mr. Hanson: The target is to start 1,500 social houses in 2007-08.
Social Security Benefits: Fraud
Lady Hermon: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many staff in his Department were assigned to benefit fraud investigations in each of the last six years, broken down by grade. [129533]
Mr. Hanson: The number of staff in the Department for Social Development who were assigned to benefit fraud investigations, broken down by grade, is shown in the following table. Reliable information can be provided only for the current year and the previous two years.
| As at 31 March: | |||
| Position at | 2005 | 2006 | 2007 |
Taxis: Disabled
Mr. McGrady: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what steps the Government is taking to increase the availability of licensed disabled access taxis in Northern Ireland. [130329]
David Cairns: Regulations already require all Belfast Public Hire taxis to be wheelchair accessible and their numbers have increased from 239 in 2002-03 to 380 in 2005-06.
In August 2006 I announced that a Door-2-Door transport scheme will operate in 27 towns and cities providing services across Northern Ireland for disabled and older people who find it difficult or impossible to use conventional public transport. This has led to the licensing of a further 25 accessible taxis, bringing the estimated total to 1,500—equivalent to approximately 14 per cent. of all licensed taxis.
The draft Taxis Order (Northern Ireland) 2007 laid on 9 January contains measures intended to increase the availability of accessible taxis by requiring taxi operators to provide more taxis designed to meet the needs of older people and people with disabilities and to allow only accessible taxis to use taxi ranks. On restoration, responsibility for policy and legislation on taxis will transfer to the Northern Ireland Assembly.
Teachers: Pensions
Lady Hermon: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland if he will amend the Teachers' Superannuation Regulations (Northern Ireland) 1998 to allow teachers from independent schools to join the Northern Ireland Teachers' Superannuation Scheme; and what estimate he has made of the number of teachers affected as a result of the exclusion of independent schools from the scheme. [129666]
Maria Eagle: The Teachers' Pensions etc (Reform Amendments) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2007, coming into operation on 1 April 2007, make provision for teachers in an independent school to join the Northern Ireland Teachers' Superannuation Scheme, subject to certain conditions being met by the governing body.
There are currently 18 independent schools in Northern Ireland employing approximately 158 teachers.
Translink: Crimes of Violence
Lady Hermon: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many staff assaults were recorded on the Translink network in each of the last five years; how many people were charged with assaulting a member of Translink staff over the same period; and how many convictions occurred as a result. [128125]
David Cairns: Translink has advised that figures for the number of assaults on Translink staff are as set out in the following tables.
| Northern Ireland Railways (by financial year) | |
| Number of assaults | |
| Ulsterbus and Metro (by calendar year) | |
| Number of assaults | |
| (1) Information relating to this period is not held. | |
Translink has also advised that it does not have information to produce accurate statistics on the number of persons charged with assault of Translink staff. Translink has advised that it instigated prosecution against no more than 10 individuals in the period.
Translink: Fares
Lady Hermon: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many incidents of fare evasion were recorded on the Translink network in each of the last five years; and what penalties were imposed in each case. [128124]
David Cairns: Translink has advised that not all of the information requested is available. Translink's recorded numbers of fare evasion incidents are as set out in the following tables. Numbers in brackets indicate those dealt with through the courts or by way of formal caution.
| Northern Ireland Railways | ||
| Incidents of fare evasion | Average fine (£) | |
| Ulsterbus and Metro | ||
| Incidents of fare evasion | Average fine | |
| (1) Figures not available | ||
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