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WALES

Fire Brigades

Mr. Llwyd: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales what representations his Department has recently received from the Fire Brigades Union; and if he will make a statement. [19757]

Mr. Gwilym Jones: My right hon. Friend has received three written representations from the Fire Brigades Union and the Fire Brigades Union (Welsh region) about general issues.

Mr. Llwyd: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales how many fire brigades in Wales failed to meet the statutory minimum standards for their rescue and firefighting role in 1995-96; and if he will make a statement. [19755]

Mr. Jones: Responsibility for this matter rests with my right hon. and learned Friend the Home Secretary.

EstateCare (Privatisation)

Mr. Morgan: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales if he will place in the Library the correspondence pertaining to the decision of his predecessor to direct the chairman and Board of the Welsh Health Common Services Authority to privatise its EstateCare division. [19669]

Mr. Hague: My decision on the future of the EstateCare group of the Welsh Health Common Services Authority, and the work required to implement it, was conveyed via correspondence and meetings between my Department and the authority. These are properly internal management matters.

The Arts

Mr. Wigley: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales what steps he proposes to take to ensure adequate regional co-ordination of strategic plans for the arts, with particular reference to the funding of theatres. [20014]

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Mr. Hague: The co-ordination of strategic plans is a matter for the Arts Council of Wales and I am asking the chief executive to write to the hon. Member with the information. A copy of the letter will be placed in the Library of the House.

Education Spending

Mr. Wigley: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales if the Government will release additional funds to enable local authorities to maintain the current level of education spending in Wales. [20011]

Mr. Hague: No. My settlement decisions were approved by the House on 8 February. I have no plans to change them.

Red Squirrels

Mr. Morley: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales what is the estimated number of red squirrels on Anglesey; and if he will make a statement. [19986]

Mr. Gwilym Jones: No reliable estimates are available, but work carried out by the Forestry Commission and the Countryside Council for Wales suggests there are about 50 red squirrels. Subject to the outcome of a local consultation exercise, the Forestry Commission and the Countryside Council for Wales intend carrying out a trial project designed to bring about the recovery of Anglesey's red squirrel population.

Rural White Paper

Mr. Sweeney: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales when the Government's White Paper for rural Wales will be published; and if he will make a statement. [20719]

Mr. Hague: I will tomorrow publish "A Working Countryside for Wales", the Government's White Paper for rural Wales.

The White Paper has three main themes:

supporting rural communities
promoting vigorous sustainable economic development
and promoting the protection and conservation of the environment.

"A Working Countryside for Wales" represents a significant stage in the Government's development of policies to address the needs of rural Wales. We want to see vibrant communities where the vital spirit of enterprise is encouraged and nurtured. Only by promoting competitive enterprise will we ensure the creation of new jobs and reinvigorated communities. At the same time, we must not lose sight of our shared responsibility to pass on to the next generation a stronger heritage and a cleaner and better protected environment.

Ensuring an effective balance between the potentially conflicting pressures of economic growth while sustaining the environment will be the key to a bright future for our rural communities.

Housing Grants

Mr. Win Griffiths: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales if he will list for each housing association (a) grants received from the public purse, indicating what percentage this represents of housing association

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spending, (b) the average rent for (i) one-bedroomed, (ii) two-bedroomed and (iii) three-bedroomed properties and (c) the amounts held in reserves and its per property figure for each of the last five years. [19932]

Mr. Gwilym Jones: These are primarily matters for Housing for Wales and the chief executive has been asked to write to the hon. Member. A copy of his reply will be placed in the Library of the House.

Public Bodies

Dr. Wright: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales which of the advisory non-departmental public bodies sponsored by his Department have a statutory base, and which (a) publish their advice to Government, (b) publish an annual report and (c) lay an annual report before Parliament (i) under a statutory requirement and (ii) voluntarily. [20088]

Mr. Hague: I refer the hon. Member to the reply given to him on 28 April 1995 by my predecessor, the right hon. Member for Wokingham (Mr. Redwood), Official Report, column 728.

I regret that in that answer the Local Government Boundary Commission was described as under a statutory requirement to publish an annual report and lay it before Parliament; it published its report voluntarily. In addition, the Staff Commission for Wales publishes its advice voluntarily and the National Rivers Authority advisory committee lays an annual report before Parliament voluntarily.

Dr. Wright: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales which of the advisory non-departmental public bodies sponsored by his Department (a) hold public meetings, (b) conduct public consultation exercises, (c) conduct consultation exercises with outside commercial interests, (d) publish a register of members' interests, (e) publish agendas for meetings and (f) publish the minutes of meetings (i) under a statutory requirement and (ii) voluntarily. [20105]

Mr. Hague: The information requested is as follows:

(a) None;
(b) the Local Government Boundary Commission has a statutory duty to conduct public consultation exercises. The Staff Commission for Wales conducts such exercises voluntarily;
(c) to (f) none.

Dr. Wright: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales if he will list the executive non-departmental public bodies sponsored by his Department which (a) have a statutory base, (b) admit members of the public to all board or committee meetings and, (c) hold open meetings for the public; and if in each case this is (i) under a statutory requirement or (ii) voluntarily. [16174]

Mr. Hague [pursuant to his reply, 22 February 1996, c. 298-99]: I regret that there were two errors in the original reply.

There is no requirement for the Cardiff Bay development corporation to admit members of the public to its board meetings and access is not allowed because of the commercial in confidence nature of board business. The corporation has held many other meetings voluntarily with the public and the business community about its activities and plans.

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The Land Authority for Wales is required to open its board meetings to the public under schedule 1 to the Public Bodies (Admission to Meetings) Act 1960, as amended, but the public may, by resolution, be excluded if the nature of the business is confidential or for other special reasons.

Sea Empress Incident

Mr. Hinchliffe: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales which species of (a) birds and (b) mammals were (i) oiled and (ii) killed in Milford Haven as a result of the incident involving the Sea Empress. [19483]

Mr. Gwilym Jones: Details of oiled and dead birds recovered following the Sea Empress oil spill are in the following table. No dead or oiled mammals have been recovered.

Sea Empress spillage: Oiled birds counts to 5 March 1996

Species	Found dead	RSPCA rescued	Died in care
Manx shearwater	1	0	0
Fulmar	1	0	0
Great northern diver	2	4	1
Black throated diver	1	1	0
Red throated diver	10	35	7
Great crested grebe	2	1	0
Red necked grebe	0	4	1
Gannet	2	0	0
Shag	2	11	2
Cormorant	34	0	0
Mute swan	0	15	2
Shelduck	1	0	1
Mallard	0	1	0
Scaup	0	1	0
Scoter	1,427	2,592	594
Velvet scoter	0	3	0
Eider	0	9	1
R-B merganser	0	1	0
Oystercatcher	9	7	3
Turnstone	2	0	0
Black-H gull	2	1	1
Common gull	1	0	0
Herring gull	2	9	2
Kittiwake	2	4	0
Guillemot	720	420	132
Razorbill	178	23	10
Unidentified	143	0	0
Total	2,542	3,142	757

These are minimum figures as the complete data set is not yet available.

There may also be birds which have been picked up and cared for by members of the public, or taken to other bird hospitals which are not included in the Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals figures.

Many dead birds will remain at sea, or come ashore in inaccessible places, and not be counted.

Caution should also be noted with regard to the identification of oiled birds.

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