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24 Apr 2007 : Column 1067W—continued
Public Libraries: Bangor
Lady Hermon: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what progress has been made with the renovation work to Bangor library’s Hamilton road premises; how much the work was originally forecast to cost; whether the work is on budget and on schedule; when he expects the refurbished library to open; and if he will make a statement. [133113]
Maria Eagle: Work to refurbish and extend the Bangor library commenced on 2 April 2007 and is expected to take approximately 18 months to complete. The project has been approved at a cost of some £2.3 million and to date it is on budget and on schedule.
Lady Hermon: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what progress has been made by his Department in identifying a suitable permanent facility for Bangor library whilst renovation work is carried out at its Hamilton road premises. [133114]
Maria Eagle: The Department of Culture, Arts and Leisure is the sponsor department for the Northern Ireland public library service but responsibility for delivering the service, including securing appropriate library accommodation for this area, rests with the south eastern education and library board (SEELB).
Since October 2006, the SEELB has been seeking to identify suitable alternative temporary premises and renovation work started during the week commencing 16 April 2007 on two units in the Flagship Shopping Centre to make them suitable for library use. Bangor library will open in these temporary premises by 21 May 2007 and will remain there until the completion of the new library in approximately 18 months. Until 21 May, a library service will be provided from a mobile library outside the Hamilton road library.
Queen’s University Belfast: Medicine
Mark Durkan: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many graduate students (a) applied for and (b) enrolled in medical degrees at Queen’s university, Belfast in each of the last five years. [133317]
Paul Goggins: The number of graduate entrants students applying for and enrolled in the school of medicine at Queen’s university Belfast, is set out in the following table. The number of applicants in the period 2002-04 is not available.
| Year of entry | Applicants | Entrants |
| Source: QUB | ||
Special Educational Needs
Mark Durkan: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many primary school children in Northern Ireland were given initial assessments by educational psychologists to determine special educational needs in each of the last five years, broken down by parliamentary constituency. [126321]
Maria Eagle: The number of primary school children who were given initial assessments by educational psychologists to determine special educational needs in each of the last five years is set out in the following tables. The figures refer to the first direct contact an educational psychologist had with a primary school pupil at any stage of the code of practice on the identification and assessment of special educational needs. This information is not available by parliamentary constituency as education and library board areas do not correspond to constituency areas. A response has therefore been provided by ELB area.
| BELB( 1) | NEELB( 1) | SEELB( 1) | |
| (1) Calendar years | |||
| SELB( 1) | WELB( 2) | |
| (1) Academic years (2 )Financial years | ||
Specialist Schools
David Simpson: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many special schools have been built in Northern Ireland since 1986. [132425]
Maria Eagle: Since 1986, 21 special schools have been built in Northern Ireland. In addition, 11 special schools have had capital funding approved for the replacement of existing school buildings and these are either still in the planning stages or under construction.
Suicide
Mr. McGrady: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what service will be provided to other areas of Northern Ireland for suicide prevention during the extended pilot period for the suicide prevention telephone helpline scheme. [133333]
Paul Goggins: In conjunction with the development of the telephone helpline pilot scheme, a substantial community support funding package has been rolled out to help communities with the development of initiatives that will help achieve a reduction in the levels of suicide and self-harm. Of the £1.9 million available to support the implementation the suicide prevention strategy in 2006-07, approximately £900,000 was allocated as part of this package. A sizeable portion of this funding was invested in those groups and organisations that specifically target people who are at a high risk of suicide, and who provide support for families bereaved by suicide.
In line with the increased funding of £3 million available for the implementation of the strategy in financial year 2007-08, the suicide strategy implementation body recently recommended to the Department of Health, Social Services and Public Safety that the community support package funding should be doubled to £1.8 million. Allocations are currently under consideration.
Trade and Industry
British Nuclear Group: Research
Mr. Drew: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry whether British Nuclear Group sites apart from Sellafield have retained body parts for scientific purposes; and whether consent to do so has always been sought. [133205]
Malcolm Wicks: My right hon. Friend announced on 18 April that he had asked Mr. Michael Redfern QC to carry out an investigation into certain post mortem examinations and further analysis carried out at Sellafield. If it comes to light that anyone working at British Nuclear sites apart from Sellafield was affected, I would expect that information to be part of Mr. Redfern’s considerations.
Business: Ethics
Mr. Djanogly: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry (1) what plans his Department has to improve corporate social responsibility; [132899]
(2) what steps he plans to take forward the Government’s corporate social responsibility strategy. [132901]
Margaret Hodge [holding answer 20 April 2007]: The Government encourage high standards of corporate behaviour and as such support the development and take up of corporate social responsibility. We do so by
raising awareness and promoting best practice;
setting decent minimum standards;
providing an enabling policy environment;
encouraging adherence to international standards of business behaviour.
CSR is a cross-Government agenda and the Government will continue to pursue this policy through:
supporting relevant international standards and initiatives.
For example, a tri-partite body of officials from DTI, DfID and FCO to promote the OECD Guidelines for multinational enterprises, the UN global compact which brings companies together with UN agencies, trade unions and civil society.
offering advice and guidance to business, for example, through Envirowise, WRAP and the Carbon Trust.
raising awareness and promoting best practice, for example through support for the business in the community annual awards for excellence and the CSR academy.
encouraging transparency for example through the business review requirements of the Companies Act 2006.
Mr. Djanogly: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry how many organisations joined the corporate social responsibility academy in each calendar year since it was established. [132900]
Margaret Hodge [holding answer 20 April 2007]: The CSR Academy was not a membership organisation. It was set up to improve the take up and development of the skills and competences for CSR practice through:
the development and promotion of a framework of core skills needed to integrate CSR practices into organisations of any size.
the academy website which contained a training and development map that was used as a tool to signpost users to CSR training and development opportunities.
Over 5,000 companies registered to use the framework.
Around 300 large companies and over 900 SMEs attended masterclasses and regional events.
Companies: Savings
Mr. Iain Wright: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry if he will take steps to ensure that money paid by employees into Christmas and holiday savings schemes administered by their employers is protected in the event that the company goes into administration. [126222]
Mr. McCartney:
As we have recently announced, the Christmas savings scheme industry (also known as the hamper industry) will be introducing safeguards for pre-payments made by customers through independently controlled, ring-fenced trust accounts. The trust accounts will be controlled by independent
trustees, not by the companies, with money credited to customers in the event of the company going into insolvency.
Employees taking part in Christmas savings schemes administered by employers who have signed up to these proposals will receive the same protection as any other customer. Although the scheme is voluntary, we would expect new players to this industry to comply with these standards.
Departmental Reorganisation
Alan Duncan: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what discussions he has had with the Chancellor of the Exchequer on the future shape of his Department. [133865]
Jim Fitzpatrick: My right hon. Friend regularly talks to the Chancellor of the Exchequer about a variety of issues.
Energy: Meters
Mr. Peter Ainsworth: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what consultation he has undertaken with (a) the Energy Retail Association, (b) companies in the energy sector and (c) manufacturers of energy metering devices on proposals to make smart meters available to every home. [132760]
Malcolm Wicks: Metering in both the domestic and business gas and electricity markets, including smart metering, was the subject of a recent public consultation as part of the energy review. The Department has also had further discussion with a range of interested parties, including the Energy Retail Association, energy suppliers and metering manufacturers. The Government will announce proposals on how to go forward on metering in the forthcoming energy White Paper.
Mr. Peter Ainsworth: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what estimate he has made of the total cost of installing smart meters in every home in the United Kingdom. [132761]
Malcolm Wicks: In 2006, the industry regulator, the Office of Gas and Electricity Markets (Ofgem) estimated that the total cost of installing and maintaining one-way smart meters could be up to £5-8 billion. The Government will set out their views on metering, including smart meters, in the energy White Paper.
Equal Opportunities: EC Countries
Harry Cohen: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry if he will bring forward proposals to ensure the equal treatment of workers across the European Union. [133281]
Jim Fitzpatrick: The European Union has agreed a number of measures for the equal treatment of workers across the EU. Proposing any further measures is a matter for the European Commission, having consulted with the European social partners. Such measures must be agreed by both the European Council of Ministers and the European Parliament.
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