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Labour Statistics
Mr. Barry Jones : To ask the Secretary of State for Wales how many long-term unemployed there are in (a) Wales, (b) each of the travel-to-work areas in Clwyd and (c) Alyn and Deeside local authority areas ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. David Hunt : The numbers of long-term unemployed in each of the areas requested are given in the table. The table shows unadjusted numbers of those unemployed for more than 52 weeks.
Long-term unemployed on 8 October 1992
|Number
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Wales |43,197
Travel-to-work areas which are either wholly or partially
within the county of Clwyd
Conwy and Colwyn |1,112
Denbigh |254
Shotton, Flint and Rhyl |2,003
Wrexham |1,699
Local authority area
Alyn and Deeside |722
Rent Arrears
Mr. Barry Jones : To ask the Secretary of State for Wales what is his estimate of rent arrears in each district in Wales.
Mr. Gwilym Jones : Local authorities' own estimates of both current and former tenants' rent arrears at 31 March 1993 are given in the table :
--------------------------------------------- Aberconwy BC |55,000 Alyn and Deeside DC |210,000 Arfon BC |97,000 Blaenau Gwent BC |96,201 Brecknock BC |65,400 Cardiff CC |1,000,000 Carmarthen DC |172,000 Ceredigion DC |140,000 Colwyn BC |95,000 Cynon Valley BC |22,500 Delyn BC |137,000 Dinefwr BC |129,587 Dwyfor DC |33,320 Glyndwr DC |215,000 Islwyn BC |110,000 Llanelli BC |240,243 Lliw Valley BC |174,000 Meirionnydd DC |42,000 Merthyr Tydfil BC |75,000 Monmouth BC |185,000 Montgomeryshire DC |80,000 Neath BC |217,000 Newport BC |620,000 Ogwr BC |812,000 Port Talbot BC |130,000 Preseli Pembrokeshire DC |270,000 Radnorshire DC |26,000 Rhondda BC |281,000 Rhuddlan BC |95,000 Rhymney Valley DC |530,000 South Pembrokeshire DC |177,000 Swansea CC |1,299,915 Taff Ely BC |427,000 Torfaen BC |408,000 Vale of Glamorgan BC |164,000 Wrexham Maelor BC |292,000 Ynys Mon BC |158,000
Live Music
Mr. Barry Jones : To ask the Secretary of State for Wales what is his policy on promoting live music.
Sir Wyn Roberts : In Wales, Government support for the arts is provided through the Welsh Arts Council and regional arts asssociations, with the aim of encouraging quality and innovation in all art forms. In the current financial year total Welsh Arts Council spending on live music will be almost £4 million. The regional arts associations and local authorities also fund live music.
BBC Wales Symphony Orchestra
Mr. Barry Jones : To ask the Secretary of State for Wales what have been the financial allocations to the BBC Wales symphony orchestra in 1982, 1988 and in the latest available year ; and if he will make a statement.
Sir Wyn Roberts : The BBC Wales symphony orchestra receives financial support from the Welsh Arts Council. Grants were £226,487 in 1982, £396,050 in 1988 and £517,500 in 1991.
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Truancy
Mr. Barry Jones : To ask the Secretary of State for Wales what measures he has adopted to limit truancy in the primary and secondary schools in Wales.
Sir Wyn Roberts : Truancy is a serious matter. It undermines the educational process and contributes to the juvenile crime rate. Since August this year, maintained schools are required to publish their rates of unauthorised absence. This will enable us to establish the full extent of the problem and to consider what action the Department needs to take.
Small Firms
Mr. Barry Jones : To ask the Secretary of State for Wales how many small firms have gone out of business in Wales in each of the last five years.
Mr. David Hunt : The information requested is not available. However, VAT registration and deregistration figures, which mainly comprise smaller businesses, are available for each of the years in question and show a net addition of 9,600 VAT registered businesses in Wales for the period 1987-91, bringing the total number of VAT registered businesses in Wales to 86,700.
The number of VAT registrations and deregistrations in Wales for each of the last five years, and the resulting change to the stock of businesses, is as follows :
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|1987 |1988 |1989 |1990 |1991 |1987-91
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
VAT Registrations |8,700 |10,900 |10,900 |10,200 |8,400 |49,100
VAT Deregistrations |7,200 |7,800 |7,700 |8,000 |8,800 |39,500
Change to stock of VAT-registered business |+1,500 |+3,100 |+3,200 |+2,200 |-400 |+9,600
Hearing-impaired Pupils
Mr. Barry Jones : To ask the Secretary of State for Wales what policy initiatives he has taken for the hearing impaired in the schools in Wales.
Sir Wyn Roberts : It is the responsibility of local education authorities to identify, assess and make appropriate provision for children with specialeducational needs, including those with a hearing impairment. The Welsh Office makes grant available to LEAs for the training of teachers, including teachers of the deaf.
Mr. Barry Jones : To ask the Secretary of State for Wales if he will list those schools in Wales that exist for the hearing impaired.
Sir Wyn Roberts : Maintained special schools which are approved specifically for children with hearing impairments are Bryn Glas School, Mold, Clwyd and Ashgrove School, Penarth, South Glamorgan. In addition, there are pupils with a number of difficulties, including hearing impairment, in other special schools and some ordinary maintained schools have units which cater for those with hearing difficulties but details are not available centrally.
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Orimulsion
Mr. Barry Jones : To ask the Secretary of State for Wales if he will list those locations in Wales where orimulsion is burned.
Mr. Gwilym Jones : Orimulsion is not burned on a commercial basis in Wales at the present time. National Power plc has put forward proposals for the use of the fuel at Pembroke power station and these are under consideration by the relevant authorities.
Point of Ayr
Dr. Marek : To ask the Secretary of State for Wales when he expects to receive the report and recommendations of the inspector resulting from the inquiry into proposed development at Point of Ayr by Hamilton Oil.
Sir Wyn Roberts : As soon as possible.
North East Wales TEC
Dr. Marek : To ask the Secretary of State for Wales if he will make it his policy to ensure that the North East Wales Training and Enterprise Council Ltd. does not receive any public money towards its proposal to build new offices for its managing director and staff.
Mr. David Hunt : North East Wales TEC, in collaboration with the Welsh Development Agency, will
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be establishing a business development centre in Clwyd. The contribution which the TEC will make towards the cost of this Centre comes from operating surpluses it has been able to generate from the provision of training and enterprise programmes since its inception. The business development centre will provide an effective "one stop shop" of information, advice and assistance to local businesses and a range of facilities including a lecture theatre, fully equipped training rooms, video conferencing facilities and exhibition space. It will also provide office accommodation for both the TEC and the WDA.This integrated approach will help to stimulate the growth of the north- east Wales economy, making it easier for large and small businesses to access the help they need to develop and grow and to compete in domestic and overseas markets.
Private Nursing Homes
Mr. Foulkes : To ask the Secretary of State for Wales what financial contribution will be made to local authorities for supplementation to private nursing homes for the year beginning 1 April 1993.
Mr. Gwilym Jones : I announced on 2 October that £35.9 million would be made available to local authorities in Wales in 1993-94 in respect of all their community care responsibilities.
Local Government Reorganisation
Mr. Roger Evans : To ask the Secretary of State for Wales if he will make available in the Library copies of the responses he has received to the proposals on local government reorganisation set out in his statement to the House on 3 March, at columns 171-72.
Mr. David Hunt : Yes. I am placing in the Library of the House copies of the formal response submitted to me by the Welsh local authority associations, individual authorities and others, together with the reports prepared by the structures group and its sub-groups. These latter reports were prepared as advice for the Welsh consultative Council on Local Government and do not necessarily reflect the views of the Welsh Office or the local authority associations.
Local Government Finance
Mr. Win Griffiths : To ask the Secretary of State for Wales if he will make a statement on the reasons for the different treatment of Wales from that of England and Scotland in the proposed central Government support for local authorities in table 11 of the public expenditure plans announced on 12 November.
Mr. David Hunt : The levels of central Government support for local authority spending in Wales, England and Scotland reflect the decisions taken by my right hon. Friends the Secretaries of State for the Environment and for Scotland and myself, taking account of local government functional changes for 1993-94.
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NORTHERN IRELAND
Pipers Crossroads, Moneyrea
Mr. John D. Taylor : To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what progress has been made for the scheme to widen the road at Pipers crossroads at Moneyrea ; whether the land has been acquired for the scheme ; whether the design work has been completed ; and when he expects work to commence on site.
Mr. Atkins : The vesting order to acquire the necessary land will become operative next month ; design work is at an advanced stage ; and work should commence towards the end of the current financial year, subject to the availability of finance.
EC Finance
Mr. William Ross : To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what are the total sums which are identifiable as having accrued to the Northern Ireland budget from EC sources in each year since 1973.
Mr. Mates : Northern Ireland's largest single source of funding from the European Community is the guarantee section of the European agricultural guidance and guarantee fund. The bulk of such receipts are disbursed centrally by the Intervention Board executive agency (IBEA) and details of those receipts are not maintained on a regional basis.
The following amounts, however, have been identified as receipts from the European Community's three structural funds :
Year |£ million ------------------------------ 1973-74 |0 1974-75 |4 1975-76 |4 1976-77 |16 1977-78 |14 1978-79 |19 1979-80 |31 1980-81 |44 1981-82 |41 1982-83 |53 1983-84 |51 1984-85 |58 1985-86 |44 1986-87 |77 1987-88 |111 1988-89 |96 1989-90 |95 1990-91 |110 1991-92 |132
Private Nursing Homes
Mr. Foulkes : To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what financial contribution will be made to local authorities for supplementation to private nursing homes for the year beginning 1 April 1993.
Mr. Hanley : My noble Friend the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State will be making an announcement shortly on the additional resources to be made available by way of transfer from the social security vote to the budgets of the health and social services boards. Any further additional funds secured in the current public expenditure round will be announced in due course.
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Health and Social Services Trusts
Sir Anthony Durant : To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, what is the outcome of the current application for HSS trust status in Northern Ireland.
Mr. Hanley : My noble Friend, the Earl of Arran, has decided to approve the applications for trust status from the following units : Belfast City hospital
Craigavon area hospitals group
Ulster, North Down and Ards hospitals
Green Park unit
Eastern ambulance service
Down and Lisburn unit
North Down and Ards community unit
North and West Belfast community unit
South and East Belfast community unit
The application from the Mater Infirmorum hospital has been deferred to allow the future role of the hospital to be clarified in the light of the Eastern health and social services board's current review of acute services.
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The approved HSS trusts will come into operation on 1 April 1993, apart from the last four--community-based units- -whose establishment is dependent on the passage of amending legislation and cannot therefore be before 1 April 1994.Housing
Mr. Hume : To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland if he will list, for each district office of the Housing Executive, for each of the last six quarters, their waiting list broken down by category, the number of allocations by category, the longest period for which applicants had been A1 homeless and priority transfer and the average period spent in each of those categories by the respective applicants who were allocated houses.
Mr. Atkins [holding answer 5 November 1992] : This is a matter for the Northern Ireland Housing Executive. I am advised that the available information is as follows :
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Waiting list by category --------------------------------------------------------- Antrim |77 |576 |82 |609 |72 |586 Armagh |44 |489 |62 |497 |49 |484 Ballycastle |26 |160 |21 |167 |23 |157 Ballymena |88 |565 |99 |601 |96 |651 Ballymoney |28 |287 |18 |310 |16 |326 Banbridge |60 |262 |46 |266 |41 |238 Bangor |113 |901 |120 |889 |138 |824 Belfast 1 |169 |513 |131 |524 |162 |526 Belfast 2 |177 |822 |165 |834 |131 |771 Belfast 3 |339 |451 |292 |433 |249 |418 Belfast 4 |243 |604 |217 |656 |223 |586 Belfast 5 |202 |420 |202 |408 |238 |415 Belfast 6 |132 |483 |128 |501 |138 |492 Belfast 7 |238 |1,025|220 |1,058|209 |1,025 Carrickfergus |56 |468 |45 |501 |66 |495 Castlereagh 1 |35 |248 |28 |245 |35 |207 Castlereagh 2 |63 |455 |73 |450 |69 |445 Coleraine |83 |717 |75 |698 |67 |694 Cookstown |37 |189 |21 |209 |20 |212 Craigavon |14 |223 |5 |193 |6 |173 Downpatrick |134 |597 |100 |620 |157 |667 Dungannon |28 |358 |42 |378 |26 |394 Fermanagh |92 |444 |81 |465 |76 |465 Larne |54 |364 |64 |364 |58 |352 Limavady |61 |288 |54 |367 |55 |340 Lisburn 1 |132 |512 |129 |539 |135 |495 Lisburn 2 |38 |285 |57 |320 |54 |287 Lisburn 3 |85 |326 |57 |322 |66 |321 Londonderry 1 |198 |422 |199 |432 |202 |440 Londonderry 2 |91 |339 |100 |369 |122 |394 Londonderry 3 |98 |258 |85 |249 |125 |257 Lurgan |74 |428 |57 |462 |49 |429 Magherafelt |45 |333 |51 |331 |41 |355 Newry 1 |61 |423 |41 |441 |50 |430 Newry 2 |55 |407 |63 |434 |47 |443 Newtownabbey 1 |43 |308 |41 |349 |52 |344 Newtownabbey 2 |57 |441 |47 |437 |60 |460 Newtownards 1 |116 |467 |97 |489 |87 |473 Newtownards 2 |53 |251 |28 |245 |32 |231 Omagh |42 |476 |59 |485 |58 |439 Portadown |48 |364 |47 |403 |43 |405 Strabane |71 |299 |67 |347 |67 |317
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Allocations by category
Six month period ending:-
District 30 Septe31 March30 Septembe
|As |Bs |As |Bs |As |Bs
-------------------------------------------
Antrim |82 |166|69 |152|92 |111
Armagh |48 |73 |45 |75 |51 |84
Ballycastle |15 |7 |16 |7 |21 |2
Ballymena |103|143|96 |166|81 |118
Ballymoney |34 |32 |32 |26 |21 |25
Banbridge |72 |25 |54 |26 |34 |43
Bangor |106|34 |107|49 |104|34
Belfast 1 |78 |41 |97 |45 |51 |22
Belfast 2 |123|102|108|79 |135|76
Belfast 3 |143|27 |102|28 |108|27
Belfast 4 |52 |87 |39 |62 |35 |91
Belfast 5 |76 |213|62 |221|56 |56
Belfast 6 |51 |124|58 |92 |80 |112
Belfast 7 |157|112|99 |90 |127|125
Carrickfergus |71 |80 |66 |77 |51 |68
Castlereagh 1 |35 |248|71 |117|60 |134
Castlereagh 2 |54 |37 |51 |29 |46 |27
Coleraine |95 |88 |51 |102|74 |59
Cookstown |37 |49 |24 |42 |10 |48
Craigavon |23 |79 |24 |131|16 |96
Downpatrick |95 |58 |114|61 |76 |31
Dungannon |41 |58 |45 |95 |59 |63
Fermanagh |78 |45 |71 |48 |78 |41
Larne |52 |30 |45 |39 |58 |29
Limavady |57 |24 |44 |14 |45 |16
Lisburn 1 |127|73 |131|78 |133|76
Lisburn 2 |46 |35 |40 |39 |48 |47
Lisburn 3 |52 |1 |116|11 |140|7
Londonderry 1 |80 |9 |48 |7 |93 |5
Londonderry 2 |91 |65 |88 |64 |100|41
Londonderry 3 |120|5 |113|1 |73 |0
Lurgan |41 |56 |47 |33 |48 |49
Magherafelt |36 |28 |27 |33 |37 |23
Newry 1 |64 |27 |67 |32 |68 |16
Newry 2 |52 |54 |56 |27 |74 |44
Newtownabbey 1 |32 |174|36 |152|47 |140
Newtownabbey 2 |79 |84 |54 |159|53 |82
Newtownards 1 |126|32 |100|34 |112|90
Newtownards 2 |53 |13 |48 |20 |35 |27
Omagh |65 |63 |78 |31 |69 |34
Portadown |29 |64 |27 |37 |40 |48
Strabane |32 |49 |31 |58 |33 |63
Irish Languages
Rev. Ian Paisley : To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland if he will name the schools, public bodies and Government sponsored associations involved in the promotion of the Irish language ; and how many individuals use these facilities.
Mr. Hanley [holding answer 9 November 1992] : Details of the number of pupils studying Irish in individual schools are not available. However, on the basis of a 10 per cent. sample survey relating to those schools which offered Irish as a subject in the 1988-89 academic year, it has been estimated that 26,210 were studying Irish. Those schools are listed in the annex.
There are in addition two grant-aided primary schools which teach through the medium of Irish and an Irish medium unit in an English medium primary school with a total enrolment of 648 in September 1992.
The Arts Council of Northern Ireland provides grants for relevant projects and activities involving the Irish language--for example, in the fields of drama and literature. No information is available centrally as to the numbers participating in these activities.
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The Ultach trust was established with Government support in 1989 to widen appreciation of the contribution which the Irish language makes to the cultural heritage of Northern Ireland and to increase knowledge of the language throughout the community. In 1991-92 Ultach supported 64 projects. No information is available centrally as to the numbers participating in these projects.The origins of placenames project began on 1 October 1987 and involves a team of 5 academics located in Queen's university. The Project was assigned the following task by the Department of the Environment :
"to research the origin of all names of settlements and physical features in Northern Ireland appearing on the Ordnance Survey 1 : 50, 000 scale map ; to indicate their meaning and to note any historical or other relevant information. The project will enable an authenticated Irish language version to be provided for most of these names."
Currently the Training and Employment Agency's action for community employment scheme assists employment in six projects which promote the Irish language. Information on the number of individuals using these facilities is not readily available and could be obtained only at disproportionate cost.
The British Broadcasting Corporation local radio provision includes Irish- medium and bilingual Irish-English magazine programmes and schools programmes which support Irish teaching in English-medium schools.
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A bilingual series and several Irish-medium and bilingual feature programmes have been broadcast on television. Information on the number of individuals using these facilities is not available. In the financial year 1991-92 93 prisoners used the educational and translation facilities provided by the prison service.Schools offering Irish language----1988-89
School
Abbey Grammar School, Newry
Assumption Grammar School, Ballynahinch
Carnhill High School, Londonderry
Christian Brothers' Grammar, Omagh
Christian Brothers' Grammar School, Belfast
Christian Brothers' Secondary School, Glengormley
Christian Brothers' Secondary School, Belfast
Convent Grammar School, Enniskillen
Corpus Christi College, Belfast
Cross and Passion College, Ballycastle
Cross and Passion High School, Belfast
Dean Brian Maguire High School, Carrickmore
Dominican College, Portstewart
Dominican College, Belfast
Drumcree High School, Portadown
La Salle Boy's Secondary School, Belfast
Lismore Comprehensive School, Craigavon
Little Flower Girls' Secondary School, Belfast
Loreto College, Coleraine
Loreto Convent Grammar School, Omagh
Our Lady and St. Patrick's College, Knock
Our Lady of Mercy Secondary School, Strabane
Our Lady's High School, Cookstown
Our Lady's Girls' Grammar School
Convent of Mercy, Newry
Rathmore Grammar School, Finaghy
Sacred Heart Girl's Grammar School, Newry
St. Aiden's High School, Enniskillen
St. Aiden's High School, Glenavy
St. Aloysius Secondary School, Cushendall
St. Brechan's High School, Londonderry
St. Brigid's Boys' High School, Armagh
St. Catherine's College, Armagh
St. Cecelia's Secondary School, Londonderry
St. Ciaran's Secondary, Ballygawley
St. Colm's Secondary School, Draperstown
St. Colman's High School, Strabane
St. Colman's College, Newry
St. Colmoille's High School, Crossgar
St. Columb's College, Londonderry
St. Columba's High School, Portaferry
St. Columban's High School, Kilkeel
St. Columbanus's High School, Bangor
St. Comgall's High School, Larne
St. Comgall's Secondary School, Enniskillen
St. Dominic's High School, Belfast
St. Eugene's Secondary School, Castlederg
St. Eugene's Secondary School, Enniskillen
St. Gabriel's Secondary School, Belfast
St. Gemma's Secondary School, Belfast
St. Genevieve's High School, Belfast
St. John's Secondary School, Dromore
St. Joseph's Boys' Secondary School, Newry
St. Joseph's Grammar School, Donaghmore
St. Joseph's High School, Crossmaglen
St. Joseph's High School, Coalisland
St. Joseph's Secondary School, Londonderry
St. Joseph's Secondary School, Plumbridge
St. Louis Grammar School, Ballymena
St. Louis Grammar School, Kilkeel
St. Louise's Comprehensive College, Balfast
St. MacNissi's College, Carnlough
St. Malachy's College, Belfast
St. Malachy's High School, Castlewellan
St. Mary's Convent Grammar School, Magherafelt
St. Mary's Girl's High School, Downpatrick
St. Mary's High School, Limavady
St. Mary's Junior High School, Lurgan
St. Mary's Secondary School, Londonderry
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