Friday 16 March 2001
Written Answers to Questions

Boarders

Mr Taylor asked the Minister of Education to detail the number of boarders at each of the schools that provide boarding facilities.

(AQW 2111/00)

Mr M McGuinness: From the information in the school census, and provided directly by schools, the figures are:

Mr Taylor asked the Minister of Education to detail the number of pupils enrolled in each of the primary, secondary and grammar schools in the parliamentary constituency of Strangford in the 2000/01 academic year.

(AQW 2112/00)

Mr M McGuinness: From the annual school census, the information requested is as follows:

Mr K Robinson asked the Minister of Education whether he has any plans to extend the remit of the PostPrimary Review Body to include the timing, quality and impact of pre-school provision on the learning process and to make a statement.

(AQW 2158/00)

Mr M McGuinness: The Terms of Reference of the Post-Primary Review Body were agreed with the Executive and discussed with the Assembly Education Committee and relate to the arrangements for post-primary education. It would not be appropriate or practical at this stage to extend the remit of the Review Body. However a major research project on children’s progress and development from age 3 to 7 is already under way. "The Effective Pre-School Provision in Northern Ireland Project" was jointly commissioned by my Department and the then Department of Health and Social Services and is due to report in Spring 2003.

Mr K Robinson asked the Minister of Education to detail the action he is taking to increase the provision of speech and language therapy at Rostulla Special School in Jordanstown and Roddensvale School in Larne.

(AQO 1063/00)

Mr M McGuinness: My Department is not responsible for the provision of speech and language therapy. Although the need for such therapy is specified in some children’s statements of special educational needs, this is as recommended and provided by the relevant Health and Social Services Trusts.

Mr McHugh asked the Minister of Education to detail progress made by the Education Working Groups set up under the North-South Ministerial Council.

(AQO 1053/00)

Mr M McGuinness: I very much regret that there has not been a meeting of the North/South Education Sectoral Council since 3 July 2000. I reported progress from that meeting in the Assembly on 11 September. The Working Groups of officials, established under the Council, are continuing their work, and formal reports will be considered by the Council when it next meets, following which I will report to the Assembly. I am considering what further action I should take to ensure that the North/South Council meets again as soon as possible, to enable me to exercise my full range of Ministerial responsibilities, and to ensure that this important work is not delayed further.

Mr Hussey asked the Minister of Education, pursuant to AQW 1530/00, to explain the disparity in funding between Voluntary and Controlled Grammar schools.

(AQO 1028/00)

Mr M McGuinness: Differences in the per capita funding allocations arise from the additional responsibilities exercised by voluntary grammar schools compared to their counterparts in the controlled sector. In particular, voluntary grammar schools have responsibility to meet the full costs of maintenance and certain administration costs including those relating to audit and accountancy. In the case of controlled grammar schools these costs are met centrally by the Education and Library Boards. Voluntary Grammar Schools must also pay VAT whereas these costs can be reclaimed in respect of schools funded by the Boards.

Mr Shannon asked the Minister of Education to detail the steps he is taking to include the teaching of the Ulster-Scots language in the school curriculum.

(AQO 1035/00)

Mr M McGuinness: As I indicated in my answer to the Member for East Belfast, Dr Adamson, in the written answers for Friday 16 February 2001, scope already exists within the statutory curriculum for schools to introduce aspects of Ulster-Scots language, literature and culture as part of the Cultural Heritage and Education for Mutual Understanding cross-curricular themes and resource material is available from the Ulster-Scots Heritage Council.

Mr Dodds asked the Minister of Education to detail arrangements he has put in place to consult the Royal Ulster Constabulary (RUC) on issues affecting the safety of schoolchildren and the protection of school property.

(AQO 1057/00)

Mr M McGuinness: I personally have made no arrangements to consult with the RUC nor is there any necessity for me to do so. The protection of school property is the responsibility of individual school authorities and this is determined locally in light of the circumstances which prevail. My Department has issued guidance to all schools which provides practical advice and guidance on security and personal safety in schools.

Ms Lewsley asked the Minister of Education to detail (a) what guidelines he provides to schools charging additional fees or requesting special contributions from parents for items and services not covered by tuition grants and (b) if he is satisfied that parents are fully informed as to the voluntary nature of any such fees and to make a statement.

(AQO 1080/00)

Mr M McGuinness: Guidance is provided in a 1991 Department of Education Circular (No 1991/21) on the circumstances in which charges can and cannot be levied on parents of registered pupils in grant-aided schools. This has been supplemented by a number of letters from my Department to Voluntary Grammar Schools reinforcing the requirement to make clear in school prospectuses and other school literature that there is no obligation on parents to make voluntary contributions.

I am content that the arrangements for schools seeking voluntary contributions are satisfactorily set out in the legislation and circular and that parents are aware of these.

Mr Hamilton asked the Minister of Education to detail the bids he made for Executive Programme Funds.

(AQO 1062/00)

Mr M McGuinness: In the present bidding round the Department of Education has submitted a total of 24 bids, amounting to £24 million, £64 million and £88 million over the next three years, across the five Executive Programme Funds.

Earlier this month I forwarded details of the bids to the Chairman of the Education Committee and invited the Committee to let me have its views on the broad order of priority attaching to bids within each Fund and the bids generally.

Mr Berry asked the Minister of Education to detail the resources made available for capital projects.

(AQO 1050/00)

Mr M McGuinness: The capital budget for 2001/02 amounts to £96m, the largest part of which will be directed to school capital projects. On 1 March I announced a capital investment programme incorporating 17 capital projects to be taken forward under the conventional school building programme - at a cost of over £62 million - and up to 8 secondary school projects - with a capital value of some £70m - to be taken forward under Public Private Partnerships.

Mr McElduff asked the Minister of Education to detail the steps he is taking to provide Information Communication Technology (ICT) training for teachers.

(AQO 1052/00)

Mr M McGuinness: Teachers were trained in generic ICT skills by the Education and Library Boards under their Connecting Teachers to ICT programme, in preparation for their training in the use of ICT in subject teaching. There are already 30% of teachers engaged in the follow-on initiative and all teachers will have been trained when the project is completed in March 2003.

Dr Birnie asked the Minister of Education to detail when the consultation process on a common Local Management of Schools (LMS) funding formula will begin.

(AQO 1064/00)

Mr M McGuinness: A consultation paper containing proposals for a common funding formula is being finalised and will issue shortly. Consultation with schools and other education interests will take place until the end of June 2001, after which the necessary legislative and administrative arrangements will be put in place for implementation by April 2002.

Mr Maskey asked the Minister of Education to detail the progress made by the North/South Task Force for the provision of education for children suffering from autism.

(AQO 1083/00)

Mr M McGuinness: I very much regret that there has not been a meeting of the North/South Education Sectoral Council since 3 July 2000. I reported progress from that meeting in the Assembly on 11 September. The Working Group of officials, established under the Council, is continuing its work, and a formal report will be considered by the Council when it next meets, following which I will report to the Assembly. I am considering what further action I should take to ensure that the North/South Council meets again as soon as possible, to enable me to exercise my full range of Ministerial responsibilities, and to ensure that this important work is not delayed further.

Mr S Wilson asked the Minister of Education to detail the funding allocated to helping children for whom English is not their first language (excluding Irish medium education) in the year 1999/2000.

(AQO 1085/00)

Mr M McGuinness: Current arrangements provide for the Education and Library Boards to provide support centrally for all schools with pupils for whom English is not their first language, usually in the form of assistance by the peripatetic teaching service. It is estimated that some £490,000 was allocated by Boards during 1999/ 2000 for this purpose.

In addition the Belfast Education and Library Board allocates a further amount in respect of each pupil enrolled who has English as an additional language and has received less than two years full-time education here. In 1999/2000 financial year each such pupil attracted funding of £763.04.

Mr McClarty asked the Minister of Enterprise, Trade and Investment to give his view on the future marketing strategies of the Northern Ireland Tourist Board and Tourism Ireland Limited and to make a statement.

(AQW 2085/00)

The Minister of Enterprise, Trade and Investment (Sir Reg Empey): The marketing strategy of Tourism Ireland Limited will, in line with the company’s remit, focus on increasing tourism to the island of Ireland. The marketing strategy of the Northern Ireland Tourist Board will focus on promoting the Northern Ireland product. Both strategies should be complementary to help maximise tourism to Northern Ireland.

Mr McClarty asked the Minister of Enterprise, Trade and Investment to give his assessment of the decision by Tourism Ireland Limited to consider Great Britain as a foreign market.

(AQW 2086/00)

Sir Reg Empey: Tourism Ireland Limited was set up to increase tourism to the island of Ireland. In this context it will target all key tourism markets, including Great Britain which is a major source of tourism to both Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland.

Mr McClarty asked the Minister of Enterprise, Trade and Investment whether any Northern Ireland Tourist Board office will close as a result of the establishment of Tourism Ireland Limited.

(AQW 2087/00)

Sir Reg Empey: A sub-committee comprising the Chief Executive of both tourist boards together with their Human Resource Managers under the Chairmanship of the Vice Chair of Tourism Ireland Ltd has been established to consider the future structure of the new company and its operational arrangements, including premises. It is envisaged that Tourism Ireland Limited will assume responsibility for the Northern Ireland Tourist Board and Bord Failte network of offices outside the island of Ireland in its attempts to deliver its remit for destination marketing.

Mr McClarty asked the Minister of Enterprise, Trade and Investment to give his assessment of the future for Northern Ireland Tourist Board offices in Great Britain.

(AQW 2088/00)

Sir Reg Empey: Both Bord Failte and the Northern Ireland Tourist Board have offices in Great Britain. It is envisaged that Tourism Ireland Ltd will assume responsibility for these and both Boards’ current network of overseas offices. The future structure of Tourism Ireland Ltd, its operational arrangements including premises, will reflect the needs of the new organisation in taking its remit forward.

Dr Birnie asked the Minister of Enterprise, Trade and Investment to detail (a) the number of Scottish tourists who visited Northern Ireland in each of the last three years for which figures are available (b) the projected figures for 2001, 2002 and 2003 and (c) the total promotional spending by the Northern Ireland Tourist Board on the Scottish market.

(AQW 2096/00)

(a) The number of Scottish visitors who visited Northern Ireland in the last three years were:

(b) Targets set for the Scottish market for the next three years are:

(c) The total promotional spend by NITB on the Scottish market in the last three years was £71,000.

Mr Armstrong asked the Minister of Enterprise, Trade and Investment to detail unemployment statistics by District Council area within Mid Ulster for 1997, 1998 and 1999; and to give his assessment as to how these compare with the Northern Ireland average.

(AQW 2101/00)

Sir Reg Empey: Unemployment statistics at District Council level are only available from the claimant count.

Mid Ulster Parliamentary Constituency is made up of Cookstown District Council, Magherafelt District Council and six of the twenty-two wards from Dungannon District Council.

Details of claimant count unemployment in each of these Councils and comparisons with Northern Ireland as a whole can be found in the attached table.

Annual average number and rate of claimant count unemployed in Cookstown District Council,

Mr Shannon asked the Minister of Enterprise, Trade and Investment to confirm the amount of financial assistance the Industrial Development Board for Northern Ireland offered to Lamont Holdings, Ballygowan in each of the last five years for which figures are available.

(AQW 2109/00)

Sir Reg Empey: In the last five years no financial assistance by IDB was offered to B H McCleery & Co Ltd, the Lamont Holdings subsidiary located in Ballygowan.

Mr Gibson asked the Minister of Enterprise, Trade and Investment to give his assessment of the change in (a) employment and (b) unemployment in the last twelve months for which figures are available.

(AQW 2131/00)

Sir Reg Empey: The latest available employee jobs estimate relates to December 2000. At that date there were 639,570 employee jobs in Northern Ireland, the highest figure on record. Over the year December 1999 to December 2000 the number of employee jobs in Northern Ireland has increased by 5,580 (0.9%).

Unemployment data at Northern Ireland level is available from two sources - the Labour Force Survey (LFS) and the Claimant Count. LFS estimates for the 3-month period November 2000 to January 2001 indicate that there were 44,000 persons unemployed, a fall of 3,000 on the same period one year earlier. Over the same period the unemployment rate fell from 6.3% of the workforce to 5.9%.

The latest claimant count data refers to February 2001. At that date seasonally adjusted unemployment stood at 40,400, a fall of 3,400 (7.8%) compared to February 2000. Over the same period the claimant count rate fell from 5.6% to 5.2%.

Mr Douglas asked the Minister of the Environment to detail (a) whom he has employed as special adviser(s) (b) the qualifying criteria used for the appointment and (c) the remit of the special adviser(s).

(AQW 2081/00)

(a) I have employed Mr Stephen Barr as a special adviser.

(b) He was appointed on the basis of his ability to carry out the functions of the post.

(c) The remit is set out in Part 1 of Schedule 2 to the standard contract of employment for such advisers, a copy of which has been placed in the Library.

Mrs I Robinson asked the Minister of the Environment to detail consultations he has had with the Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development in relation to the welfare, housing and control of dangerous animals.

(AQW 2104/00)

Mr Foster: I intend to bring policy proposals for regulating dangerous wild animals kept by private individuals before the Executive Committee during March and to introduce a Bill into the Assembly by the end of October 2001.

Although the Bill will be concerned primarily with the public safety aspects of keeping such animals, it will also provide that welfare considerations will be a factor to be taken into account by district councils in deciding whether to grant a licence.

The Department of Agriculture and Rural Development already has overall responsibility for animal welfare issues under the Welfare of Animals Act (NI) 1972 and was consulted as part of a consultation exercise into the current proposals which was carried out in 1999.

My officials will continue to co-operate closely with their counterparts in DARD as the Bill progresses to ensure that welfare considerations are properly taken into account.

Ms Hanna asked the Minister of the Environment how often a barrister represented the Department in a case heard by the Planning Appeals Commission, where the appellant was unsuccessful, in each of the last five years.

(AQW 2116/00)

Mr Foster: The answers to questions (a) and (b), including appeals to the Planning Appeals Commission on grounds of non-determination of an application, calculated on the basis of decisions made in each of the last five years are as follows:

As regards (c), we only have complete information available for 1999/2000. In that year, 19 appellants were represented by a barrister, and 16 were successful.

Ms Hanna asked the Minister of the Environment to detail (a) the number of appeals heard by the Planning Appeals Commission (b) the number of successful appeals and (c) in how many cases was the successful appellant represented by a barrister in each of the last five years.

(AQW 2117/00)

Mr Foster: The answers to questions (a) and (b), including appeals to the Planning Appeals Commission on grounds of non-determination of an application, calculated on the basis of decisions made in each of the last five years are as follows:

As regards (c), we only have complete information available for 1999/2000. In that year, 19 appellants were represented by a barrister, and 16 were successful.

Mr Fee asked the Minister of the Environment to detail by District Council area the percentage of industrial waste which is recycled under the following categories; (a) paper (b) glass and (c) fabric in each of the last five years for which figures are available.

(AQW 2127/00)

Mr Foster: Information on the levels of recycling of individual waste types by District Council area is not currently held by my Department.

Following a pilot survey in 1998/99 on municipal waste arisings, my Department has now commissioned a more detailed survey of municipal, commercial and industrial wastes, covering all Council areas.

The survey will provide (where available) information on the percentage of industrial waste presently recycled by District Council area. This information will support District Councils in the development of their Waste Management Plans. I expect the completed report to be submitted to my Department by early July.

Mr Taylor asked the Minister of the Environment to detail (a) the date on which the planning application for the Residential Development at Riverside, Comber was received (b) when a planning decision is expected and to make a statement.

(AQW 2160/00)

Mr Foster: The application was received by the Planning Service on 12 November 1998 and an Environmental Statement was requested on 3 December 1998. This was received on 21 June 1999 and supplementary Environmental Statement reports on land contamination, flooding and archaeology were received on 22 November 1999.

My Department has now completed its assessment of this application and expects to indicate its opinion on how this application should be progressed during March 2001.

Mr Taylor asked the Minister of the Environment to detail (a) how many objections were received to planning application number Y/2000/0610/0 for development of lands at the junction of Ballyregan Road and Stoney Road, Dundonald (b) how many new homes are proposed at this site (c) what stage this planning application has reached and to make a statement.

(AQW 2161/00)

Mr Foster: The answers to your questions are set out below:

(a) 459 objections have been received;

(b) the application is for outline permission for approximately 200 dwellings on a 14.5 hectare site; and, the application was given major status under Article 31 of the Planning (Northern Ireland) Order 1991 on 21 December 2000. Certain consultation responses are awaited, and it has yet to be decided whether to proceed by way of a Public Inquiry or the issue of a Notice of Opinion.

Mr Adams asked the Minister of the Environment to detail the steps he is taking to establish a regional park across the Belfast Hills.

(AQW 2194/00)

Mr Foster: I have no plans at present to establish a regional park across the Belfast Hills.

A study into options for management of the Belfast Hills reported in 1999. It identified a lack of support, particularly among landowners, for the establishment of a Regional Park in the Belfast Hills, recommending instead the setting up of a Belfast Hills Trust to provide a co-ordinated approach between statutory bodies and others towards caring for the Belfast Hills.

Mr Adams asked the Minister of the Environment to detail the steps he is taking to conserve the Belfast Hills and, in particular, the Black Mountain.

(AQW 2195/00)

Mr Foster: An options study commissioned by Environment and Heritage Service (EHS) of my Department recommended in 1999 the setting up of a Belfast Hills Trust to provide a co-ordinated approach between statutory bodies and others towards caring for the hills.

In 2000 EHS established a Working Group which commissioned consultants to prepare a business plan for the proposed Trust.

The plan will be published later this year and will be used in a bid to secure funding for the establishment of a Belfast Hills Trust, which will provide a practical and integrated management mechanism for the Belfast side of the Hills.

Black Mountain is seen as an important component within the operational boundary of the Belfast Hills Trust area. It has particular importance because of its visual prominence on the skyline and its closeness to a large population. A strategic plan for its wise use and that of the Belfast Hills as a whole would be seen as a major priority for the Trust.

The Belfast Urban Area Plan (BUAP) 2001, the current statutory Development Plan for the greater Belfast area, identified the Belfast Hills as an Area of High Scenic Value, protected by the Green Belt. Work on the forthcoming Belfast Metropolitan Area Plan has commenced, and the future of these hills will be addressed in an ‘Issues’ Paper to be published in November 2001.

Mr Adams asked the Minister of the Environment to detail the steps he is taking to end quarrying of the Black Mountain.

(AQW 2196/00)

Mr Foster: My Department is taking no steps to end quarrying of the Black Mountain.

Quarrying is taking place under a valid planning permission, which was granted on 10 May 1988.

Over the past year, officials have routinely visited the site to assess the operator’s compliance with conditions attached to the previously approved permissions and have found no significant breaches of planning control.

Mrs Carson asked the Minister of the Environment to detail the steps he is taking to reduce agricultural waste, in particular waste silage wrap disposal.

(AQW 2226/00)

Mr Foster: Agricultural waste is currently excluded from the Waste Management Strategy. However the Strategy commits my Department and DARD to develop an agricultural waste strategy for incorporation within the overall Waste Management Strategy at its first review in 2003. Plastic wrap is an effective means of reducing the risk of damage from silage effluent and for the present, represents a good environmental option. In line with the Strategy’s aim of promoting recycling, my Department is actively looking at market development for used silage wrap.