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The Continuous Household Survey Bulletin 2006/07 was published today by the Central Survey Unit of the Northern Ireland Statistics and Research Agency (NISRA).

The bulletin provides summary information as well as some trend data from previous years. It includes information on - smoking, drinking, drug use, health, dental health, internet access, environmental issues, child health, household composition, accidents at work and sport and leisure.

The Survey’s key findings include:

• In 2006-07 just over a quarter of adults (26%) were smokers, a decrease from 1983 when one third of adults (33%) were smokers
• Prior to the smoking ban being implemented respondents were asked their views on the ban. The majority (86%) supported the proposed smoking ban.
• Three quarters (75%) of those aged 18 years and over consumed alcohol in 2006-07, an increase from 64% in 1986.
• Respondents aged 16-64 were asked whether they had ever used any illicit or prescription drugs other than those prescribed for them. One in five (18%) adults aged 16-64 had used these types of drugs at least once, a similar level to 2004-05 (19%). More males reported using drugs, 24% compared to 14% of females.
• Over half (56%) of respondents considered their health to be good, with a minority stating that was not good (15%).
• One third (35%) of adults in Northern Ireland reported having a long-standing illness compared to 29% in 1983.
• A small proportion (15%) of respondents reported visiting an NHS GP in the two weeks prior to being interviewed.
• Just under two thirds (62%) of people reported going to the dentist for regular checkups, significantly more females reported having regular checkups with the dentist (68% compared to 53% of males).
• Half (49%) of households in Northern Ireland had access to the internet. In 2006/07 over one third (37%) of all households had a broadband internet connection compared to 16% in 2004/05.
• Four out of five (81%) households were very concerned or fairly concerned about the environment in 2006-07.
• The most commonly cited environmental concerns were climate change (34%), household waste disposal (33%) and traffic exhaust fumes and urban smog (32%). The proportion of households citing climate change as an important problem has increased significantly each year since 2003-04.
• The proportion of households regularly recycling at least one of the following; glass, cans or paper continued to increase significantly from 81% in 2005-06 to 89% in 2006-07.
• When asked to indicate environmentally friendly actions taken the most common were using energy saving light bulbs (47%), and reducing the amount of energy used in the home (37%).
• 15% of children in Northern Ireland had a long standing illness in 2006-07, this has remained relatively unchanged since 1997-98 (15%).
• The proportion of households headed by a married couple has decreased significantly in the last two decades from 64% in 1986 to 52% in 2006-07.
• In 2006-07 13% reported having had an accident at work; the same percentage reported over the previous three years.
• Half (52%) of adults in Northern Ireland participated in sport in the previous 12 months; 60% of males compared to 46% of females. Two thirds (64%) of those who played sport did so at least once a week.
• One third (34%) visited a public library in the last year, while one fifth (19%) had never visited a public library. Most respondents (60%) were very satisfied or fairly satisfied with public library provision in Northern Ireland
• One third of respondents (30%) had visited a museum in the previous year and almost two thirds (62%) of respondents were very satisfied or fairly satisfied with museum provision in Northern Ireland.

Copies of the bulletin and tables are available from the Central Survey Unit (CSU) web site at: www.csu.nisra.gov.uk

The Big Green Challenge from NESTA is a £1 million prize fund designed to encourage and reward people working together. NESTA want you to develop and implement new approaches that will lead towards a 60% reduction of CO2 emissions in your communities.

The Big Green Challenge is one of several experimental, high-impact projects developed by the Innovation Challenges team at NESTA – the National Endowment for Science, Technology and the Arts. It is one of the ways NESTA is pioneering new approaches to stimulating innovation around the UK and building a body of evidence about how best to encourage and support innovation.

NESTA has committed a £1 million prize fund to reward the finalists who perform best.

NESTA expect the majority of the prize fund to go to an overall winner, with the remaining prize money distributed to runners-up at the discretion of the judges.

Read the full story on GrantTracker.org.

The Northern Ireland Marine Task Force today expressed its disappointment with the decision not to include a full UK Marine Bill in yesterday’s Queen’s Speech. It warned that it could jeopardise the Government’s promise of a Marine Act and the relevant devolved legislation needed to ensure healthy and productive seas in Northern Ireland. Continue reading ‘The Queen’s Speech: heels dragging over the marine environment’