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Local Authority Debt
Mr. Jonathan Evans : To ask the Secretary of State for Wales what was the accumulated debt for each Welsh local authority in the last financial year.
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Mr. Gwilym Jones : The information requested is given in the table.
Outstanding loan debt as at 31 March 1992
|£000
-------------------------------------------------------
Alyn and Deeside |36,188
Colwyn |27,398
Delyn |29,452
Glyndwr |19,569
Rhuddlan |23,406
Wrexham Maelor |64,371
Carmarthen |51,289
Ceredigion |33,617
Dinefwr |26,124
Llanelli |45,201
Preseli Pembrokeshire |52,291
South Pembrokeshire |26,320
Blaenau Gwent |129,014
Islwyn |79,650
Monmouth |49,977
Newport |134,978
Torfaen |93,191
Aberconwy |13,628
Arfon |35,025
Dwyfor |12,435
Meirionnydd |16,156
Ynys Mon |59,678
Cynon Valley |63,909
Merthyr Tydfil |68,299
Ogwr |114,335
Rhondda |145,229
Rhymney Valley |90,599
Taff Ely |56,510
Brecknock |29,014
Montgomeryshire |24,370
Radnorshire |14,249
Cardiff |234,557
Vale of Glamorgan |62,243
Port Talbot |39,825
Lliw Valley |47,001
Neath |45,795
Swansea |159,989
Clwyd |112,133
Dyfed |103,198
Gwent |126,377
Gwynedd |64,897
Mid Glamorgan |76,475
Powys |48,329
South Glamorgan |143,525
West Glamorgan |143,307
Dyfed Powys Joint Police Authority |3,989
North Wales Joint Police Authority |2,714
South Wales Joint Police Authority |7,761
|---------
Total Wales |3,087,587
Local Government Finance
Mr. Jonathan Evans : To ask the Secretary of State for Wales whether he intends to review the guidance issued to local authorities by his Department on the operation of section 49 of the Local Government Finance Act 1988.
Mr. David Hunt : I have no plans to review the guidance issued to authorities on the circumstances in which relief might be offered to ratepayers. Decisions are entirely at the discretion of authorities. They have the freedom to help ratepayers if they believe the needs of an area justify such help and after taking into account the fact that 25 per cent. of the cost of any relief is borne by local community chargepayers.
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Council Rents
Mr. Jonathan Evans : To ask the Secretary of State for Wales if he will publish a table of outstanding council rents by district council in Wales for each of the last three years.
Mr. Gwilym Jones : Local authorities' own estimates of both current and former tenants' rent arrears for the financial years 1989-90 to 1991-92 are shown in the following tables :
Rent arrears (£'s) |Rent arrears (£'s) |Rent arrears (£'s) |Local Authority ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Aberconwy BC |99,608 |110,000 |54,879 Alyn and Deeside DC |138,800 |135,000 |209,529 Arfon BC |139,678 |105,000 |106,471 Blaenau Gwent BC |147,876 |156,012 |101,265 Brecknock BC |58,444 |61,000 |65,428 Cardiff CC |911,439 |1,100,000 |955,970 Carmarthen DC |130,015 |156,000 |156,584 Ceredigion DC |110,718 |121,000 |114,000 Colwyn BC |156,968 |145,000 |99,468 Cynon Valley BC |159,430 |165,000 |90,500 Delyn BC |126,637 |115,000 |120,668 Dinefwr BC |140,665 |143,309 |117,366 Dwyfor DC |27,256 |30,000 |33,156 Glyndwr DC |189,304 |216,540 |231,081 Islwyn BC |92,683 |103,000 |105,991 Llanelli BC |120,520 |120,000 |249,977 Lliw Valley BC |262,727 |220,000 |167,436 Meirionnydd DC |60,780 |53,000 |42,393 Merthyr Tydfil BC |125,830 |115,000 |78,010 Monmouth BC |210,419 |210,418 |197,396 Montgomeryshire DC |129,713 |148,350 |89,152 Neath BC |246,004 |264,500 |273,439 Newport BC |530,000 |400,000 |591,000 Ogwr BC |1,009,779 |896,260 |636,770 Port Talbot BC |141,600 |143,000 |158,707 Preseli Pembs DC |239,992 |264,000 |250,000 Radnorshire DC |17,000 |18,500 |25,456 Rhondda BC |313,814 |240,000 |305,997 Rhuddlan BC |66,800 |54,470 |115,000 Rhymney Valley DC |381,000 |381,000 |488,877 South Pembs DC |99,975 |100,000 |78,027 Swansea CC |893,319 |821,800 |1,242,265 Taff Ely BC |359,325 |370,000 |398,611 Torfaen BC |466,200 |467,000 |530,258 Vale of Glamorgan BC |150,500 |170,000 |149,097 Wrexham Maelor BC |356,210 |365,000 |280,926 Ynys Mon BC |159,259 |178,000 |164,018
Renewable Energy Mr. Dafis : To ask the Secretary of State for Wales, pursuant to his answer of 18 November, Official Report, column 219, what is the projected cost of generation for each individual renewable project and in total ; and what contribution the generated energy will make towards the United Kingdom-wide energy supply.
Mr. Gwilym Jones : The generation costs of individual projects are commercially confidential. Should all 22 renewable energy projects approved so far in Wales under the non fossil-fuel obligation proceed as planned, they will have a rated capacity totalling 102.42 MW.
Education Bill
Mr. Llew Smith : To ask the Secretary of State for Wales what plans he has to meet the Welsh Joint Education Committee to discuss the impact of the Education Bill on education in Wales.
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Sir Wyn Roberts : I met the Welsh Joint Education Committee to discuss the Education Bill on 2 December 1992.
Dentists
Mr. Gareth Wardell : To ask the Secretary of State for Wales how many dentists have given written notice to each family health services authority to remove their names from the dental list in each week since 8 July ; and what is the total for this period.
Mr. Gwilym Jones : The information is not available centrally in the form requested. Fortnightly returns from family health services authorities in Wales indicate that, as a direct result of the new fee scale introduced on 8 July, 21 general dental practitioners gave written notice to have their names removed from dental lists from 1 August 1992 to 4 December 1992, while 26 new dentists joined the dental lists during that period. The figures on a fortnightly basis are as follows :
Fortnight ending |Number of Dentists |Number of Dentists
|leaving Dental list|joining Dental list
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
14 August 1992 |1 |5
28 August |0 |1
11 September |5 |3
25 September |7 |4
9 October |1 |1
23 October |2 |1
6 November |3 |4
20 November |1 |3
4 December |1 |4
|-- |--
Totals |21 |26
Mr. Gareth Wardell : To ask the Secretary of State for Wales how many patients have reported to each family health services authority that they have been unable to arrange national health service dental treatment in each week since 8 July.
Mr. Gwilym Jones : The information is not held centrally. The family health service authorities are responsible for directing patients to the community dental service in its "safety net" capacity.
Mr. Gareth Wardell : To ask the Secretary of State for Wales how many family health services authorities have been unable to provide emergency dental services in each week since 8 July.
Mr. Gwilym Jones : It is the responsibility of general dental practitioners to ensure that emergency treatment is available for those patients registered with them. Fortnightly returns submitted by family health services authorities in Wales for the period from 1 August to date indicate that only Gwynedd FHSA has been unable to provide out-of-hours emergency dental services for unregistered patients in each fortnight since 1 August 1992. The community dental services act as a safety net for unregistered patients needing emergency dental treatment within normal hours. Discussions are now taking place between Gwynedd family health services authority and Gwynedd health authority with a view to providing a weekend emergency service in Bangor for those patients not registered with a general dental practitioner.
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Mr. Gareth Wardell : To ask the Secretary of State for Wales how many dentists who have not given notice to leave the dental list have given written notice to each family health services authority to terminate or deregister some or all of their capitation arrangements for child patients in each week since 8 July ; how many dentists have deregistered patients ; and how many patients have been deregistered.
Mr. Gwilym Jones : The information is not available in the form requested. Fortnightly returns submitted by family health services authorities in Wales can be summarised as in the tables for the period 1 August 1992 to 4 December 1992.
Fortnight ending |Number of capitation|Number of dentists
|patients
|de-registered
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
14 August 1992 |3 |2
28 August 1992 |3 |1
11 September 1992 |- |-
25 September 1992 |- |-
9 October 1992 |-
23 October 1992 |2 |1
6 November 1992 |6 |2
20 November 1992 |1 |1
4 December 1992 |- |-
The information given in these fortnightly returns was intended for general managerial purposes and is not statistically validated.
Mr. Gareth Wardell : To ask the Secretary of State for Wales how many family health services authorities have referred patients who have been unable to obtain treatment from a general dental practitioner, to (a) the community dental service, (b) the hospital dental service and (c) a salaried dentist in each week since July.
Mr. Gwilym Jones : The information is not available in the form requested. Fortnightly returns from family health services authorities indicate that all FHSAs in Wales have referred patients to either the community or hospital dental services at some stage between 1 August 1992 and 4 December 1992.
Mr. Gareth Wardell : To ask the Secretary of State for Wales if he will list the family health services authorities which have (a) held no dental services committee meeting and (b) cancelled a meeting in each months since July.
Mr. Gwilym Jones : Dental services committee meetings are only held when there are sufficient cases to be considered. Meetings may not therefore be required on a regular monthly basis. Information as to the frequency of FHSA service committee meetings is not held centrally.
Mr. Gareth Wardell : To ask the Secretary of State for Wales how many patients have contacted each family health services authority asking for help in finding a dentist in each week since 8 July.
Mr. Gwilym Jones : Accordingly to the fortnightly returns submitted by family health services authorities in Wales the information requested is as follows :
Fortnight ending |Patients ---------------------------------------------------- 14 August 1992 |742 28 August 1992 |754 11 September 1992 |715 25 September 1992 |644 9 October 1992 |681 23 October 1992 |673 6 November 1992 |714 20 November 1992 |632 4 December 1992 |569
The information given in these fortnightly returns was intended for general managerial purposes and is not statistically validated.
Mr. Gareth Wardell : To ask the Secretary of State for Wales how many dentists who have not given notice to leave the dental list have given written notice to each family health services authority to deregister some or all of their continuing care arrangements for adult patients in each week since 8 July ; how many dentists have deregistered patients ; and how many patients have been deregistered.
Mr. Gwilym Jones : The information is not available in the form requested. Fortnightly returns submitted by family health services authorities can be summarised as in the following table for the period 1 August 1992 to 4 December 1992.
Fortnight ending |Number of continuing|Number of dentists
|care patients |de-registering
|de-registered |continuing care
|patients
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
14 August 1992 |3 |4
28 August 1992 |4,003 |5
11 September 1992 |1,781 |6
25 September 1992 |238 |8
9 October 1992 |212 |7
23 October 1992 |1,112 |9
6 November 1992 |183 |9
20 November 1992 |42 |2
4 December 1992 |438 |8
The information given in these fortnightly returns was intended for general managerial purposes and is not statistically validated.
Pre-school Playgroups
Mr. Barry Jones : To ask the Secretary of State for Wales if he will meet the Clwyd Pre-school Playgroups Association committee to discuss the assisted places scheme.
Sir Wyn Roberts : The Secretary of State currently has no plans to meet with the Clwyd Pre-School Playgroups Association committee.
Mr. Barry Jones : To ask the Secretary of State for Wales if he will increase the Wales Pre-School Playgroups Association grant ; and if he will make a statement.
Sir Wyn Roberts : Grant awarded to Wales Pre-School Playgroups Association in 1992-93 to support the organisation's core costs was £158,023, compared with £143,657 in each of the previous three financial years.
Wales Pre-School Playgroups Association has applied for grant in 1993-94. The application is under consideration. It is hoped to announce a decision by the end of January 1993.
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Mr. Barry Jones : To ask the Secretary of State for Wales (1) if he will list the moneys given to each of the county social services departments which is earmarked for pre-school playgroup assisted places ;
(2) if he will make extra funds available to county authorities to enable them to expand their assisted places schemes ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Gwilym Jones : Earmarked special funds are allocated to counties under the all-Wales mental handicap strategy, to provide a comprehensive pattern of new services including developments for children with a mental handicap. The specific amount allocated to pre-school playgroup assisted places for such children is for decision each year by county joint planning teams who are best placed to decide on local needs and priorities.
Mr. Barry Jones : To ask the Secretary of State for Wales if he will list the number of times and dates when he has met the Wales Pre-school Playgroups Association.
Sir Wyn Roberts : I meet representatives of the Wales Pre-school Playgroups Association informally from time to time and attended the launch of Wales Pre-school Playgroups Association "Plymouth" in Newport on 5 June 1992.
Homelessness
Mr. Llew Smith : To ask the Secretary of State for Wales what is his estimate of the number of people who will be homeless in Wales over the Christmas period ; and what policies he has to provide homes to accommodate those without a fixed place to live.
Mr. Gwilym Jones : Data are collected only with respect to the last day of each quarter. Figures for 31 December 1992 will be available in April 1993. Local housing authorities secure permanent accommodation and other support for all homeless people under part III of the Housing Act 1985.
Mr. Alfred Morris : To ask the Secretary of State for Wales how many homeless households are currently living in temporary accommodation in Wales.
Mr. Gwilym Jones : The number of households accepted as homeless and accommodated temporarily by local authorities was 1,205 at the end of September 1992.
Christmas Trees
Mr. Llew Smith : To ask the Secretary of State for Wales if he will make a statement on the effect of acid rain deposition on Christmas tree plantations in Wales.
Sir Wyn Roberts : I am not aware of any evidence that acid rain deposition has affected Christmas tree plantations in Wales.
Housing Revenue Account
Mr. Richards : To ask the Secretary of State for Wales when he expects to make his housing revenue account subsidy determinations for 1993 -94.
Mr. Gwilym Jones : I expect to make the determinations very shortly and will place copies in the Library of the House.
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I am proposing to confirm an average guideline rent increase of 4 per cent. in real terms with a minimum increase of £1.25 per week and a maximum of £2.75 per week. I estimate that the average guideline rent increase would be £1.84 per week and the resulting average weekly guideline rent £29.17.For management and maintenance allowances, I propose to confirm an average increase of 1 per cent. in real terms. I estimate that this would raise the average allowance to £794 per annum per dwelling, an increase of £28.
I have placed estimates of the rent guidelines and management and maintenance allowances for each authority in the Library of the House.
The rent guidelines and management and maintenance allowances are the assumptions to be made for subsidy purposes. It is for councils themselves to set their rents and decide how much to spend on management and maintenance within their legal obligations.
Litigation (Health Authorities)
Mr. Alex Carlile : To ask the Secretary of State for Wales (1) what is the source of the funds used to satisfy damages and costs awarded in litigation against district health authorities in Wales ; (2) what is to be the source of the funds used to satisfy damages and costs awarded in litigation against NHS trusts in Wales ; and if he will make a statement ;
(3) if NHS trusts in Wales will be required to carry insurance against claims for medical negligence and other forms of public liability ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Gwilym Jones : Health authorities and NHS trusts in Wales meet the first £30,000 of any claim made under legal obligation from their own resources. The exess costs above this level are met from a centrally managed pool to which contributions are made by participating health authorities and trusts. The pool also covers risks of loss above this threshold arising from incidents of fire/arson, theft, subsidence, flooding and storm damage. In the case of medical negligence, 80 per cent. of any excess above a further threshold of £300,000 is met by the Medical Defence Organisation reserves while these remain.
Participation in these pooling arrangements is not compulsory. It is open to health authorities and trusts to take out commercial insurance for all risks other than medical negligence if they perceive this to be advantageous. Indeed, pool participants may choose to insure themselves against such risks where claims fall below the £30,000 threshold for access to the pool. However, in the case of medical negligence, any NHS bodies which decide to remain outside the pooling arrangements must bear their own risk for all costs other than the 80 per cent. above the £300,000 which may be claimed from the Medical Defence Organisation reserves. In such circumstances health authorities would be able to seek repayable temporary cash allocation increases from the Department, and NHS trusts would be able to seek increased loan finance from approved sources where necessary to meet large claims.
NHS trusts will not be expected to bear the cost of meeting any claims which have arisen prior to the date at which the trust concerned became operational. However, if they choose to participate in the pooling arrangements, their contributions will be geared to anticipated claims on the pool irrespective of the date at which the incident
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giving rise to the claim occurred. The pool is a system of mutual risk sharing, and participants must accept all of the shared costs as well as all of the shared benefits of pool membership.Hill Livestock Compensatory Allowances
Mr. Alex Carlile : To ask the Secretary of State for Wales if he will make a statement on the effect upon Welsh farming incomes of changes in hill livestock compensatory allowances.
Mr. David Hunt : The rates of hill livestock compensatory allowances for 1993 recently announced will in themselves mean reduced receipts of about £6.8 million for sheep producers in the severely disadvantaged area--SDA--of Wales. This, however, will be more than offset by increased receipts from the sheep annual premium consequent upon green pound devaluations already announced. The HLCA rate payable on ewes in the disadvantaged area has not yet been determined.
Dr. Marek : To ask the Secretary of State for Wales if he will ensure that hill livestock compensatory allowance payments are made by the end of February 1993.
Mr. David Hunt : Producers submit claims for hill livestock compensatory allowances throughout the period from January to the end of March, and some do so thereafter. My Department aims to pay 80 per cent. of claims received by the end of March.
Mr. Jonathan Evans : To ask the Secretary of State for Wales if he will publish a table outlining the effect of the proposed reduction in hill livestock compensatory allowances in each Welsh county.
Mr. David Hunt : The effect on producer receipts of the proposed reduction in hill livestock compensatory allowances in each of the Welsh Counties is shown in the followng table. The figures are based on the number of hardy ewes and other ewes qualifying for SDA payments in 1991.
County |Loss of HLCA
|receipts
|£
---------------------------------------------------
Gwynedd |1,423,334
South and West Glamorgan |129,765
Mid Glamorgan |302,647
Gwent |160,123
Dyfed |1,144,185
Powys |2,780,774
Clwyd |868,182
Mr. Jonathan Evans : To ask the Secretary of State for Wales what has been the value, at 1980 prices, of Welsh hill livestock compensatory allowances for each year since 1980.
Mr. David Hunt : The information is as follows :
Year |Value in real terms
|£ million
------------------------------------------------------------
1980 |19.8
1981 |20.4
1982 |19.3
1983 |18.7
1984 |17.9
1985 |17.9
1986 |18.9
1987 |18.8
1988 |18.4
1989 |17.6
1990 |17.6
1991 |19.1
Sensory Impairments
Mr. Win Griffiths : To ask the Secretary of State for Wales (1) what assessment he has made of the number of teachers of the hearing impaired that have to be trained annually in order to ensure that there is a sufficient supply of such teachers ;
(2) whether he intends to undertake any action to ensure that there is sufficient funding allocated for the training of teachers of hearing impaired and visually impaired children when their funding ceases to be ring fenced in April 1993 ;
(3) what steps he is taking to ensure that money allocated to local education authorities for the training of specialist teachers for children with sensory impairment is used for this purpose ; (4) if he will make a statement outlining the extent to which local education authorities have been given extra resources to cover the reduction in his support for the training of teachers of hearing impaired children.
Sir Wyn Roberts : There has been no ring fencing of funding for the training of teachers of children with special educational needs in Wales since April 1992. Under the education support and training programme grants, local education authorities have been invited to draw up proposals for special needs training, including the training of teachers of children with sensory impairment, against a pool of resources. This gives local education authorities flexibility in their training programmes to allocate resources according to their assessment of local needs and priorities. The proposed special needs training programme for 1993-94 represents an increase of 17 per cent. compared with the level of expenditure supported in 1992-93, which is itself an increase over the previous year.
In formulating their plans for training, local education authorities are asked to provide their assessment of needs. Their plans have also to meet the objectives and priorities of the overall programme and have to include measures for the monitoring and evaluation of authorities' performance.
Mr. Win Griffiths : To ask the Secretary of State for Wales whether he will make it his policy to extend the mandatory training requirement for full-time teachers of hearing impaired children to peripatetic teachers of deaf children.
Sir Wyn Roberts : My right hon. Friend has no plans to do so.
Mr. Win Griffiths : To ask the Secretary of State for Wales if he will make it his policy to base the indicative allocation system for the training of specialist teachers on
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the number of children with sensory impairment and severe learning difficulties in a local education authority area rather than the total number of pupils in that area.Sir Wyn Roberts : Following consultation with Welsh local education authorities, funds for the in-service training of teachers of special needs are allocated to authorities mainly on the basis of teacher numbers. However, my right hon. Friend will bear this request in mind when allocation arrangements are reviewed.
Mr. Win Griffiths : To ask the Secretary of State for Wales whether he intends to take any further measures in concert with the changes he plans in school education to ensure adequate funding for the training of a sufficient supply of teachers for children with (a) hearing impairment and (b) visual impairment.
Sir Wyn Roberts : Under the grants for education support and training programme for 1993-94, we are making available to local education authorities more than £1 million of supported expenditure for the training of special needs specialist teachers. Funding for the training of such teachers in grant-maintained schools is available through special purpose grants. The responsibility for special educational needs and for the training of specialist teachers lies at local level.
Operation Wizard
Mr. Morgan : To ask the Secretary of State for Wales if he will make a statement on the initiating, funding and accounting of the Operation Wizard exercise carried out by the Welsh Development Agency.
Mr. David Hunt : The rationale for, and functions of, all non- departmental public bodies, and where and by whom they are best carried out, are subject to regular review, both quinquenially as part of financial and management policy reviews and otherwise from time to time. Fees incurred on such studies in 1988-89, 1989-90 and 1990-91 were included in the agency's audited accounts for those years.
Mr. Morgan : To ask the Secretary of State for Wales what consultations he has had with the chairman of the Welsh Development Agency into the fees paid to Barclays de Zoete Wedd and 3i's for the Operation Wizard exercise.
Hospital Beds
Mr. Win Griffiths : To ask the Secretary of State for Wales if he will undertake and publish a study of the number of beds and locations needed for acute operations in Wales over (a) the next five years and (b) the next 10 years.
Mr. Gwilym Jones : We have no such plans.
Hamilton Oil
Dr. Marek : To ask the Secretary of State for Wales if he has yet received the inspector's recommendations as a result of the inquiry into proposals by Hamilton Oil at Point of Ayr ; and when he now expects to announce his decision.
Sir Wyn Roberts : I hope to receive the inspector's report soon. A decision will be announced as soon as possible after the report has been considered.
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Welsh Language
Mr. Wigley : To ask the Secretary of State for Wales what advice he has received from the chairman and members of the Welsh Language Board on the Welsh Language Bill ; and if he will make a statement.
Sir Wyn Roberts : The Secretary of State and I have had a number of meetings with the chairman and members of the Welsh Language Board and they have made a significant contribution to the Bill which we hope to introduce very soon.
Mr. Wigley : To ask the Secretary of State for Wales (1) if he will ensure that copies of the Welsh Language Bill are posted to everyone who made representations to the Welsh Office about the contents of such a Bill, as part of the Welsh Office's public consultation procedures as soon as the Bill is published ;
(2) if he will ensure that the Welsh Language Bill is printed and available to (a) hon. Members, (b) the press and (c) the general public prior to 17 December.
Sir Wyn Roberts : The Welsh Language Bill will be published following its presentation to Parliament. I will be arranging for copies to be sent to all Welsh constituency Members of Parliament. Copies of the Bill will also be made available through HMSO in the normal way.
Welsh Development Agency
Dr. Marek : To ask the Secretary of State for Wales if the Welsh Development Agency will acquire the derelict United Engineering Steels site at Brymbo ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. David Hunt : I understand that negotiations are proceeding.
Mr. Morgan : To ask the Secretary of State for Wales what steps he proposes to take to advertise the post of chairman of the Welsh Development Agency ; and when he expects to make an announcement.
Mr. David Hunt : I am considering the matter.
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