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National Health Service (Costs)
19. Mr. Whittingdale: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales what is the total cost of health care provided by the NHS in Wales; and what was the comparable figure in 1979. [1874]
Mr. Richards: Planned expenditure on the NHS in Wales in 1995-96 is £2,191 million compared with expenditure of £466 million in 1979-80.
Inward Investment
21. Mr. Congdon: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales what is the total value of inward investment into Wales since the signing of the Maastricht treaty. [1876]
Mr. Hague: The forecast value of inward investment into Wales since February 1992 is £3.2 billion with 23,000 associated new jobs and almost 22,000 safeguarded jobs.
26. Mr. John Marshall: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales if he will make a statement about inward investment in Wales. [1881]
Mr. Hague: Inward Investment in Wales has made and continues to make a major contribution to the diversification of the industrial base and to the well-being of the economy.
Business Advice and Support
22. Mr. Robert G. Hughes: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales what steps have been taken to improve the advice and support available to the business community in Wales from governmental organisations. [1877]
Mr. Gwilym Jones: In November, the Department's small firms roadshow completed a tour of Wales. A mobile unit visited many industrial estates and business centres throughout the Principality. It was attended by advisers from the Welsh Office, the Welsh Development Agency, the Development Board for Rural Wales, the training and enterprise councils and other local business support bodies. It gave a shop window on business support to local business people and enabled the business community to air its views and have access to the support available. The roadshow provided advice to some 820 small and medium-sized firms in Wales.
The roadshow precedes the launch, on 15 January 1996, of "Business Connect Wales". This new initiative will greatly simplify access to publicly funded business support services throughout Wales. One low-cost telephone number will connect callers to the full range of services. Callers will be automatically switched to one of 34 outlets at which trained staff will either deal with the inquiry direct or refer to the source of expertise.
Further Education
23. Mr. Garnier: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales what increase there has been in enrolments on further education courses in Wales from 1979-80 to 1994-95. [1878]
Mr. Richards: The number of student enrolments on further education courses in Wales for the 1979-80 academic year was 62,207 compared with a provisional figure of 105,994 in 1994-95. This is an increase of nearly 44,000 or 70 per cent.
4 Dec 1995 : Column: 72
24. Mr. Duncan:
To ask the Secretary of State for Wales what plans he has to expand the number of places in the assisted places scheme in Wales. [1879]
Mr. Richards:
I refer my hon. Friend to the reply given by my right hon. Friend to the hon. Member for Conwy (Sir W. Roberts) on 29 November, Official Report, columns 757-58.
25. Mr. Hanson:
To ask the Secretary of State for Wales what discussions he intends to undertake with representatives of parent-teacher organisations following the Prime Minister's recent announcement of the enlargement of the assisted places scheme. [1880]
Mr. Richards:
My right hon. Friend and I will consider carefully all points made to us about our proposal to double the number of places available under the assisted places scheme in Wales.
26. Mr. John Marshall:
To ask the Secretary of State for Wales if he will make a statement about inward investment in Wales. [1881]
Mr. Hague:
Inward Investment in Wales has made and continues to make a major contribution to the diversification of the industrial base and to the well-being of the economy.
27. Mr. Gareth Wardell:
To ask the Secretary of State for Wales if he will make it his policy to require Welsh Water plc to fluoridate drinking water supplies. [1882]
Mr. Hague:
I support the principle of fluoridation but I do not have the statutory power to require Welsh Water to fluoridate drinking water supplies.
28. Mr. Merchant:
To ask the Secretary of State for Wales what progress has been made in the treatment of cancer in Wales. [1883]
Mr. Richards:
In response to the report on cancer services from the chief medical officers of England and Wales we have commissioned a review of existing services throughout the Principality which will recommend how the necessary improvements identified in the report can be implemented to bring about better quality of care to patients.
Work is being undertaken in parallel in the NHS in Wales to establish the right local framework to facilitate progress. We expect to receive a report by September 1996 which will include recommendations on links between the providers of treatment and care, clinical standards and targets and the contribution which can be made to research in this field.
29. Mr. Rowlands:
To ask the Secretary of State for Wales what proposals he has for the improvement in parliamentary accountability and scrutiny of his Department's affairs; and if he will make a statement. [1884]
4 Dec 1995 : Column: 73
Mr. Hague:
I refer the hon. Member to the statement I made on 30 November on proposed changes to procedures in the Welsh Grand Committee, Official Report, columns 1353-55.
30. Mr. Alan W. Williams:
To ask the Secretary of State for Wales what is the block grant settlement for expenditure by the Welsh Office in 1996-97; and what percentage change this represents on planned expenditure in 1995-96. [1885]
Mr. Hague:
In 1996-97 the provision for the Welsh Office will be £6,865 million, including the proceeds of the sale of the Housing for Wales loan portfolio. This represents a 1.4 per cent. increase over the original planned expenditure for 1995-96 and 2.2 per cent. higher than the forecast outturn.
Mr. Barry Jones:
To ask the Secretary of State for Wales what is his policy on community forests. [2656]
Mr. Gwilym Jones:
The Government are committed to the expansion of forests close to where people live, with benefits for local communities. We have introduced a range of measures to achieve this aim. The woodland grant scheme offers a community woodland supplement to encourage the creation of new woodlands close to towns and villages, and an annual management grant which can contribute towards the cost of providing public access in existing woodlands. We recently announced a new woodland improvement grant project to encourage owners to provide new facilities for informal public recreation in existing woodlands and a locational supplement for planting in the Aman Gwendraeth community forest project area in south Wales. In addition, the Welsh Valleys initiative encourages local people to make full use of the Forestry Commission's forests through community involvement.
Mr. Barry Jones:
To ask the Secretary of State for Wales what assessment his Department has made of the probability of BSE entering the human food chain. [2659]
Mr. Gwilym Jones:
I refer the hon. Member to the reply given to the hon. Member for Wealden (Sir G. Johnson Smith) on 28 November 1995, Official Report, columns 530-31, by my right hon. Friend the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food. The Welsh Office has issued the draft regulations for consultation in Wales.
Mr. Barry Jones:
To ask the Secretary of State for Wales what is the planned expenditure in the schools service in Wales for the year 1996-97; and if he will make a statement. [2924]
Mr. Richards:
It is for individual local authorities to determine how the resources that are made available are allocated between services, including education, in the
4 Dec 1995 : Column: 74
light of their statutory responsibilities and their perception of local needs and priorities.
Mr. Barry Jones:
To ask the Secretary of State for Wales how many pedestrians have been killed at pedestrian crossings in the past five years, and if he will make a statement. [2922]
Mr. Gwilym Jones:
The number of pedestrians recorded by the police as having been killed in road accidents at pedestrian crossings in Wales between 1990 and 1994 are as follows. These figures exclude those killed while waiting to cross or while crossing near to but not actually on the crossing.
| Year | Number killed |
|---|---|
| 1990 | 1 |
| 1991 | 3 |
| 1992 | 3 |
| 1993 | 0 |
| 1994 | 3 |
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