Friday 27 July 2001
Written Answers to Questions (Continued)

Culture, Arts and Leisure

Grants to the Voluntary and
Community Bodies

Ms Morrice asked the Minister of Culture, Arts and Leisure to detail all grants paid to voluntary and community bodies by his Department and its NDPBs in the financial year 2000-01.

(AQW 3485/00)

The Minister of Culture, Arts and Leisure (Mr McGimpsey): The information needed to respond to these questions adequately is not readily available and is currently being sought from our NDPBs. I therefore propose to respond fully to you as soon as the information becomes available.

I trust you find this acceptable.

Ms Morrice asked the Minister of Culture, Arts and Leisure to detail all current schemes under which grants are paid by his Department and its NDPBs to the voluntary and community sector.

(AQW 3486/00)

Mr McGimpsey: The information needed to respond to these questions adequately is not readily available and is currently being sought from our NDPBs. I therefore propose to respond fully to you as soon as the information becomes available.

I trust you find this acceptable.

Mr Hussey asked the Minister of Culture, Arts and Leisure, pursuant to the Creating a Soccer Strategy for Northern Ireland report, to give his assessment of the implications for intermediate, junior and youth football in Northern Ireland.

(AQW 3586/00)

Mr McGimpsey: The ‘Creating a Soccer Strategy for Northern Ireland’ initiative, which I announced last October, has been guided by an Advisory Panel made up of expertise covering a broad range of football interests. I expect to receive the Advisory Panel’s report in September, and this report will form the basis of a draft Soccer Strategy for Northern Ireland which I will publish for widespread consultation.

Before receiving the Panel’s report, I am not in a position to give an assessment of its implications. I fully expect, however, that the report will be a comprehensive one, dealing with all issues affecting all levels of the game.

As you know from my answer to AQW 1479, all football interests have been involved in the Soccer Strategy process, including the consultation exercise at the outset.

Mr Shannon asked the Minister of Culture, Arts and Leisure to detail the steps being taken to provide angling guides and courses in the area of Strangford Lough.

(AQW 3632/00)

Mr McGimpsey: Your question touches on a number of departmental responsibilities, principally the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Investment, but as angling falls loosely within my remit I have accepted it for reply.

The Northern Ireland Tourist Board (NITB) produces separate Game and Coarse Angling Guides for Northern Ireland. (Copies of these are available on request). In addition NITB is also acting as facilitator in the development of four regional angling guides which will cover game, coarse and, where applicable, sea angling in the four regions South East, South West, North East and North West. The existing and proposed guides are and will be marketed extensively by NITB.

I have no plans to introduce angling courses as this does not fall within my Department’s remit. Nevertheless I will investigate whether it would be possible to run angling or ghillie training courses at schools or colleges.

Mr Armstrong asked the Minister of Culture, Arts and Leisure to give his assessment of the impact the Soccer Strategy Review will have on the quality of football throughout Northern Ireland.

(AQW 3656/00)

Mr McGimpsey: The ‘Creating a Soccer Strategy for Northern Ireland’ initiative, which I announced last October, has been guided by an Advisory Panel made up of expertise covering a broad range of football interests. I expect to receive the Advisory Panel’s report in September, and this report will form the basis of a draft Soccer Strategy for Northern Ireland which I will publish for widespread consultation.

The aim of producing the soccer strategy is to put in place a plan for the future development of the game in Northern Ireland. It is intended that the Strategy will help to address the difficulties facing the game, particularly at senior level, and restore it to a successful and thriving sport, having regard to modern ideas and standards. I believe that by planning now for the future, we can expect to see improvements in the quality of the game, at all levels throughout Northern Ireland.

Mr Gibson asked the Minister of Education if, at the forthcoming Conference of Commonwealth Education Ministers, he will put forward proposals to increase the funding of the Commonwealth Scholarships and Fellowships Plan.

(AQW 806/00)

The Minister of Education (Mr M McGuinness): I have no responsibility for the Commonwealth Scholarships and Fellowships Plan. This is a matter for the Ministers responsible for the Department for International Development and the Foreign and Commonwealth Office in London who jointly fund the scheme which is managed by the Commonwealth Scholarships Commission and administered by the Association of Commonwealth Universities.

Dr O’Hagan asked the Minister of Education to list the administrative data sets held by the department and its Agencies and detail whether these data sets provide qualitative data at enumeration district, electoral ward level, by District Council area or by Parliamentary Constituency.

(AQW 1239/00)

Mr M McGuinness: All Northern Ireland Civil Service Departments maintain a range of records on their staff for the purposes of carrying out their functions as employers. Many of the records for individual members of staff are held on computerised systems which are managed by the Department of Finance and Personnel on behalf of Departments and their respective Agencies. These records include personnel, payroll and training records, applicant records for recruitment competitions and superannuation records for retired civil servants. Such records are not managed in a way which routinely provides data sets by enumeration district, electoral ward, District Council or Parliamentary Constituency.

Teachers Branch/Teachers Superannuation Branch maintain a teachers/retired teachers database on behalf of the employers, namely ELBs and CCMS. These records include personnel, payroll and superannuation records for retired teachers. Up-to-date home address details are held for all teachers/pensioners currently on the payroll (except for Voluntary Grammar school teachers). Such records are not managed in a way which routinely provides data sets at the levels referred to above.

However, the following data sets are held in such a way as to enable the production of qualitative data at enumeration district, electoral ward level, by District Council area or by Parliamentary Consitiuency.

• Pre-School Education Expansion Programme
• Annual School Census
• Annual School Leavers’ Survey
• Annual School Performance Survey
• Transfer Procedure results
• Key stage Assessment results
• Data sources which include post codes as part of the address can be aggregated to all specified geographical units subject to the requirement to respect the confidentiality of the data subject.

Ms McWilliams asked the Minister of Education to give his assessment of European funded programmes such as Youth Action Northern Ireland’s Moving On and to confirm if it is his intention to adopt similar programmes here.

(AQW 1492/00)

Mr M McGuinness: I understand that the "Moving On" programme run under the auspices of Youth Action Northern Ireland provided assistance to young mothers to encourage and support them in returning to training or employment. I would support any programme which assists those disadvantaged in our society but the adoption of such programmes is not a matter within the responsibility of my Department.

Mr Leslie asked the Minister of Education to detail (a) the estimated size of the pre-school cohort in the area between Finvoy and Ballymoney (b) the proportion of this cohort for whom pre-school facilities are being provided in the current school year and (c) the proportion of this cohort for whom pre-school facilities are expected to be provided in the next school year.

(AQW 3428/00)

Mr M McGuinness: This area lies within the North- Eastern Education and Library Board (NEELB). The NEELB Pre-School Education Advisory Group’s methodology for allocating additional places under the Pre-School Education Expansion Programme involves the clustering of electoral wards and the area between Finvoy and Ballymoney falls into two separate ward clusters. These are the Dunloy, Cloughmills, Vow, Killoquin Lower and Killoquin Upper ward cluster and the Fairhill, Seacon, Route, Dervock, Benvardin and Newhill ward cluster. It is not, therefore, possible to provide the information on the basis requested.

However, in the first ward cluster the pre-school cohort is 135. In the current school year places are available for 50% of the cohort and this will rise to 89% in the 2001-02 academic year. In the second ward cluster the pre-school cohort is 168 and in the current school year places are available for 84%. In 2001-02 this level will rise to 90%.

Mrs I Robinson asked the Minister of Education to detail (a) the number of persistent non-attendance pupils in primary and post primary schools (i) per Board area (ii) per school for each of the last five academic years and (b) what steps he is taking to achieve a 50% reduction in these figures.

(AQW 3438/00)

Mr M McGuinness: My Department does not have the information sought. Data about non-attendance will be collected in aggregated form from the Education and Library Boards starting with the 2000/01 school year. Schools refer pupils who are persistent non-attenders to the Education and Library Board for follow up by the Education Welfare Service. The action taken will depend on the individual circumstances of the pupil.

My Department’s current New Targeting Social Need Action Plan contains a target to have reduced by 30%, at the end of the 2002/2003 school year, the number of pupils identified as persistent non-attenders compared to the number in 1998/99.

Mr M Murphy asked the Minister of Education to detail what financial and other support is available for small schools to assist with administration.

(AQW 3452/00)

Mr M McGuinness: The cost of administration in schools is met from each school’s delegated budget. Formulae contain a specific ‘small schools’ factor which provides a lump sum allocation for such schools to use as they wish. In some cases, schools use such resources to provide teaching cover to release the Principal from a full-time teaching commitment in order to undertake activities associated with the management of the school.

Mr Shannon asked the Minister of Education to detail the number of children from the SEELB area who were unsuccessful in obtaining places for special needs education at Killard House Special School in Newtownards.

(AQW 3474/00)

Mr M McGuinness: Initially there were no places for eight children at Killard House Special School, Newtownards, in September 2000 but two of these obtained places in the school later in the year. At the moment the school does not have places for four children in September 2001. The needs of those children unable to obtain places are catered for by the provision of classroom assistance and additional support by peripatetic teachers in mainstream schools until a place becomes available.

Mr Ford asked the Minister of Education to detail the number of looked after children excluded from school in the year 2000-01.

(AQW 3475/00)

Mr M McGuinness: My Department does not collect information about the number of looked after children excluded from school.

Mr Ford asked the Minister of Education to detail the number of children excluded from school in the year 2000-01.

(AQW 3476/00)

Mr M McGuinness: The information sought will not be available until the end of September but will be sent to the member at that time.

Mr B Bell asked the Minister of Education to detail the guidance his Department and its NDPBs give to voluntary and community bodies, on accessing, using and accounting for grants from public monies.

(AQW 3477/00)

Mr M McGuinness: I will arrange for information in respect of all current schemes and guidance to be placed in the Assembly library.

Mr B Bell asked the Minister of Education to detail all grants paid to voluntary and community bodies by his Department and its NDPBs in the financial year 2000-01.

(AQW 3478/00)

Mr M McGuinness: Grants paid by my Department and its NDPBs to voluntary and community bodies in the financial year 2000-01 are as detailed below:-

a. Youth Service Grants: These are too numerous to list here. I will arrange for the information to be placed in the Assembly Library.

b. Community Relations Grants: The information is not yet available. It will be provided as soon as possible.

Mr B Bell asked the Minister of Education to detail all current schemes under which grants are paid by his Department and its NDPBs to the voluntary and community sector.

(AQW 3479/00)

Mr M McGuinness: I will arrange for information in respect of all current schemes and guidance to be placed in the Assembly library.

Mr B Bell asked the Minister of Education to detail all grants of £100,000 or more made by his Department and its NDPBs to voluntary and community bodies in the financial year 2000-01.

(AQW 3480/00)

Mr M McGuinness: The following grants of over £100,000 have been made by my Department:-

Mr Armstrong asked the Minister of Education to detail the number of new graduates coming from teaching related degrees or courses and who successfully went on to gain jobs in the year 1999-2000 at (a) primary school level and (b) secondary school level.

(AQW 3526/00)

Mr M McGuinness: The data for 1998/99 BEd and Post Graduate Certificate in Education (PGCE) graduates are not yet available. The latest year for which data are available is 1997/98. For that year, of those for whom information was available, 91.9% found employment as follows:

• 235 in the primary sector
• 298 in the post primary sector
• 7 in further education
• 7 in special education
• 4 teaching English as a foreign language abroad
• 3 in study centres and peripatetic teaching
• 1 in a university
• 42 in institutions of unknown type.

At May 2001 Department of Enterprise, Trade and Investment statistics show that 23 newly qualified teachers were registered as seeking teaching posts.

Mr Armstrong asked the Minister of Education to list, by constituency, the ratio of computers to students at both primary and secondary level education and to distinguish them as being either controlled, maintained or integrated schools.

(AQW 3527/00)

Mr M McGuinness: As the current level of provision of computers for students is a matter for individual schools the information requested is not held centrally.

The Classroom 2000 project will, by March 2003, provide for all primary and secondary schools a managed service comprising computer infrastructure, connectivity and educational content. The ratio of computers to pupils provided by Classroom 2000 will be as follows:

Mr Armstrong asked the Minister of Education to detail the number of full-time male and female teachers, by constituency, currently teaching and the age brackets to which they belong, differentiating between controlled, maintained and integrated systems at both (a) primary school level and (b) secondary school level.

(AQW 3530/00)

Mr M McGuinness: I have arranged for the information requested to be placed in the Assembly Library.

Mr K Robinson asked the Minister of Education to give his assessment as to whether the scheme for the payment of threshold allowances to teachers is best funded centrally.

(AQW 3547/00)

Mr M McGuinness: Teachers who pass the threshold assessment move onto a new upper pay scale giving an immediate pay increase. Pay increases relating to the 2000-01 and 2001-02 financial years are being centrally funded. Consideration is being given to the most appropriate funding mechanisms for future years and no decisions have yet been reached.

Mr K Robinson asked the Minister of Education to give his assessment of the benefits to schools if teacher costs were to be funded centrally.

(AQW 3548/00)

Mr M McGuinness: Comments have been invited on this issue as part of the consultation on the LMS common funding formula.

If teacher costs were funded centrally this would be likely to require a return to a centralised staffing formula and development of arrangements for determining the organisational structure within each school.

In such a situation the Board of Governors would no longer have responsibility for determining staffing complements and would have less flexibility in terms of the organisational structure. Some schools may view this as a benefit but, undoubtedly, others would take the contrary view.

Mr K Robinson asked the Minister of Education to make it his policy that teacher threshold payments will continue to be centrally funded beyond this current financial year.

(AQW 3549/00)

Mr M McGuinness: Teachers who pass the threshold assessment move onto an upper pay scale with a consequent pay increase. Those pay increases are being centrally funded in the 2000-01 and 2001-02 financial years. Consideration is being given to the most appropriate funding mechanisms for future years and no decisions have yet been reached.

Mr K Robinson asked the Minister of Education to detail the number of teacher redundancies over the last two years that were directly linked to a budgetary shortfall in schools.

(AQW 3550/00)

Mr M McGuinness: Decisions on redundancies are made by the relevant employing authorities. The Department of Education subsequently processes redundancy payments at the request of the Education and Library Boards and the Council for Catholic Maintained Schools. During the 1999/2000 financial year the Department processed a total of 274 redundancy payments to teachers. In 2000/2001 this figure was 360. As the Department is not given the reasons for these redundancies it is not possible to say if any were directly linked to schools’ annual budget allocations.

Mr K Robinson asked the Minister of Education what assessment he has made in relation to the recent research into longitudinal evaluation of reading recovery in Northern Ireland conducted by the Department of Primary Education, University of Strathclyde, and whether he could confirm that schools are in a position to maximise the benefits of this scheme.

(AQW 3557/00)

Mr M McGuinness: This research, together with earlier research, provides a full evaluation of the impact of Reading Recovery. The detailed findings on how the delivery of Reading Recovery can be improved will be considered as part of a review of the literacy strategy currently being implemented. The finding that schools have difficulty funding Reading Recovery will be directly addressed by the injection of £6·3 million of Executive Programme Funds over the next three years.

Mr Shannon asked the Minister of Education to ensure that children within the SEELB area can receive their special-needs education at Killard House Special School in Newtownards.

(AQW 3567/00)

Mr M McGuinness: As I explained to you in my letter dated 6 July, following the Supply Debate, this school has accommodation problems which cannot easily be rectified. However, places are available at Longstone Special School, Dundonald, for secondary school age pupils with moderate learning difficulties, unable to obtain a place in Killard. Those primary school age pupils with speech and language difficulties in a similar position, receive classroom assistance and outreach teaching from Killard in primary schools until places become available in the school.

Mr Kennedy asked the Minister of Education to detail the number of secondary level teachers who received unsatisfactory teaching reports from the Education and Training Inspectorate in each of the last five years for which figures are available, and to provide a breakdown of the figures for each year by subject taught in each Board area.

(AQW 3587/00)

Mr M McGuinness: The table below sets out the information requested.

Ms McWilliams asked the Minister of Education to detail the level of capital expenditure on schools in each of the last five years.

(AQW 3625/00)

Mr M McGuinness: Capital expenditure on schools by Education and Library Boards and capital grants paid to voluntary and grant-maintained integrated schools in each of the last five years is set out below.

Mr Shannon asked the Minister of Education to detail what traffic control measures the SEELB will be taking to ensure the safety of children at the new Castle Gardens School in Newtownards.

(AQW 3650/00)

Mr M McGuinness: The South-Eastern Education and Library Board has assessed the need for a School Crossing Patrol at or on the route to the new Castle Gardens school and concluded that there is no requirement at this time. This assessment was carried out in consultation with the Department of the Environment, who have agreed that there are no exceptional road safety hazards. The Board will, however, monitor the situation in the new school term to assess the traffic flow and the possible future need for a School Crossing Patrol.

Mr Hussey asked the Minister of Education to give his assessment of the current special needs component within the overall funding allocation to schools.

(AQW 3674/00)

Mr M McGuinness: The Special Needs component is a key element in my Department’s Targeting Social Need policy. None of the existing means of allocating Special Educational Need funding is suitable for use within the proposed common funding formula for schools and I have set out a number of proposals for change in my consultation document on the Common Funding Formula which was published on 5th April. I am proposing that funding allocations should take account of educational need as measured by Key Stage 2 results but I hope that all interested parties will take the opportunity to contribute to this important aspect of the debate.

Mr Hussey asked the Minister of Education to give his assessment of the effectiveness of special educational support services to assist individual pupils and schools that must be accommodated within the overall resources available to each education board.

(AQW 3675/00)

Mr M McGuinness: The Education and Training Inspectorate is responsible for assessing the effectiveness of teaching in the Education and Library Boards’ special education support services (Peripatetic Teaching Services and Outreach Services from special schools) through the normal inspection arrangements. Inspections have taken place in recent years on the Belfast, North Eastern and Southern Boards’ Peripatetic and Western Board’s Outreach Services. I will place a copy of these inspection reports in the Assembly Library.

Mr Hussey asked the Minister of Education to detail his plans to increase the provision of educational psychologists within the education system.

(AQW 3676/00)

Mr M McGuinness: Prior to the 1999/2000 academic year my Department had transferred funds to the Education and Library Boards to enable them to support five teachers on the M Sc in Educational Psychology course at Queen’s University, Belfast, each year. From 1999/2000 additional funding was allocated to the Boards to enable eleven teachers per year to be trained and to increase the level of support available to each trainee. My Department will be discussing the future demand for educational psychologists with the Boards in the Autumn.

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