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Orimulsion

Mr. Ainger: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales when he last met Mr. O. J. Williams to discuss the application to build a jetty to import orimulsion into Milford Haven; and if he will make a statement. [35509]

Mr. Gwilym Jones: There is no record of a meeting between my right hon. Friend and a Mr. O. J. Williams.

Creutzfeldt-Jakob Disease

Dr. Marek: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales if he will list the number of cases by unitary authority of the various categories of Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease for each year since 1985. [35637]

Mr. Gwilym Jones: Details of suspected cases of Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease in the UK have been reported to the national CJD surveillance unit in Edinburgh since May 1990. Cases in Wales, since reporting began, are detailed in the table:

	Definite	Probable	Possible
May 1990 to April 1991	1	0	0
May 1991 to April 1992	2	1	0
May 1992 to April 1993	5	0	1
May 1993 to April 1994	3	0	1
May 1994 to April 1995	4	0	2
May 1995 to April 1996	5	0	0

For reasons of confidentiality, personal details, including authority of residence, are not published.

University Hospital of Wales (Road Construction)

Mr. Morgan: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales what consultations he has had with the chairmen of the University Hospital of Wales NHS trust and of the Bro Taf health authority concerning the delayed completion of the phase 1 on-slip road connecting the A48 and the University hospital of Wales site; what plans there are for the on-slip construction project to be carried out by the private finance initiative; what plans there are to re-advertise the scheme via the contracts supplement of the Official Journal of the European Communities; and if he will make a statement. [35677]

Mr. Hague: None. The University Hospital of Wales Healthcare NHS trust is currently negotiating contracts with a consortium of private sector companies. There is no reason to re-advertise the scheme.

Robert Powell (Medical Treatment)

Mr. Morgan: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales, pursuant to his answer of 17 June, Official Report, column 371, on what date it was determined that the previous Under-Secretary of State, the hon. Member for Clwyd, North-West (Mr. Richards), would play no part in consideration of the NHS complaint by the family of the late Robert Powell. [35624]

Mr. Hague: At no stage was my hon. Friend the Member for Clwyd, North-West involved in this appeal.

Children's Services

Sir Wyn Roberts: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales, pursuant to his oral statement of 17 June, Official Report, columns 521-35, if he will make a statement on his plans for children's services in Wales. [36129]

4 Jul 1996 : Column: 508

Mr. Hague: My Department has written today to all the local authorities in Wales enclosing an action plan setting out the timetable for the implementation of those recommendations contained in the Adrianne Jones report addressed to them. I have placed a copy of this letter and the associated action plan in the Library of the House. I have asked the local authorities to advise my Department by 14 October this year of the steps taken to implement the 17 recommendations that I expect to be implemented by 1 October 1996.

To assist local authorities in their task, and to implement those recommendations addressed to my Department, I have asked the chief inspector of the social services inspectorate for Wales to take immediate steps to recruit three additional inspectors. This will also enable the inspectorate to check that the implementation has been effective and that practice in local authorities continues to conform to the best practice recommended in Miss Jones's report. I have also decided to establish a development fund of £500,000 which will be used to help bring about the required improvements in practice and procedures. The fund will be available for use in this financial year and in 1997-98.

EDUCATION AND EMPLOYMENT

Socrates-Erasmus Programme

Mr. Sheerman: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment how many United Kingdom students benefit from the Socrates-Erasmus programme; and what steps she is taking to increase their number. [35478]

Mr. Forth: In the academic year 1994-95, 11,946 UK students studied abroad as part of the Socrates-Erasmus programme. This number is expected to rise for the academic year 1995-96 to nearly 13,000 students. For the past four years, the Department for Education and Employment has published a booklet entitled "The European Choice" which gives information about opportunities to study in higher education in another European country. Flyers advertising the booklet are sent out with the Universities and Colleges Admissions Service information pack to students to help inform their choice of higher education courses.

Statutory Instruments

Mr. Steen: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment how many statutory instruments his Department introduced in (a) 1994, (b) 1995, and (c) between 1 January 1996 and 1 May 1996 which had the effect of repealing one or more previous statutory instruments without replacing them with a new regulation. [35044]

Mr. Robin Squire: The number of statutory instruments referred to by the Department or former Departments in the periods in question was as follows:

1994: 0
1995: 1
1996 to 1 May: 0

4 Jul 1996 : Column: 509

School Places

Mr. Blunket: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment, pursuant to her Department's circular 6/96, annex A, paragraphs 22 to 24, if an oversubscribed school may withhold the offer of a place on the ground that the applicant's parents are unwilling to sign a home-school contract. [35454]

Mrs. Gillan: The circular emphasises that school admission authorities should have the maximum flexibility to decide how places will be allocated in the event of oversubscription. Annex A gives advice on the law as it relates to admissions procedures. It does not say that places can be withheld where parents are unwilling to sign a home-school contract, rather that admission authorities may decide that parents willing to sign should be afforded higher priority when there are more applicants than places.

Training Providers

Mr. Byers: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment what amount due to be paid to training providers in respect of training provided in 1994 and financed by the European social fund will not be paid as a result of exchange rate fluctuations; and if she will list the 50 organisations which have had the largest reductions and the amounts in each case. [35455]

Mr. Forth: It is not yet known whether any money due to be paid to training providers in respect of 1994 projects financed by the European social fund will not be paid as a result of exchange rate fluctuations. Training providers have been paid 95 per cent. of the total European social fund money to which they were entitled in their agreed final claim. Revised final claims have been submitted to the Commission for each European social fund programme. It is hoped to pay the remaining 5 per cent. to all applicants, but the precise amount will depend on the exchange rate on the day the money is received from the European Commission. The 50 organisations for whom the largest reductions were made and the amounts concerned are as follows:

Organisation name	Amount reduced (£)
Department for Education and Employment	8,952,962
Scottish Enterprise	1,274,315
Welsh Office	707,933
Employment Service	566,933
Government office for Merseyside	560,157
Government office for the west midlands	422,454
Strathclyde regional council	416,682
Government office for Yorkshire and Humberside	265,955
City of Liverpool community college	164,780
Government office for the north-east	159,330
British Coal Enterprise Ltd.	129,490
Wirral metropolitan college	122,483
Gwent tertiary college	106,463
Highlands and Islands Enterprise	103,140
Government office for the east midlands	98,954
Cardiff institute of higher education	92,065
Scottish office for mental health	90,161
University college Salford	85,543
The Sheffield college	80,699
Knowsley community college	74,723
Newcastle college	69,331
NRITEA	64,125
Government office for the south-west	64,118
The Wise Group	63,594
The British Refugee Council	62,282
University of Aberdeen	59,958
Bilston community college	57,663
City college Manchester	54,382
Pontypridd college	53,920
Government office for London	53,783
The college of north-west London	51,295
University of Leicester	50,849
Leeds city council	50,366
Cleveland county council	49,737
Sutton Coldfield college	48,731
Hugh Baird college	47,940
Southport college	46,188
Fife college	44,835
Birmingham college of FT and creative studies	42,725
Wakefield college	39,625
Manchester college of arts and technology	38,486
Community Service Volunteers	38,207
Blackburn college	37,776
ATB-Landbase	36,765
Wearside college	36,628
University of Dundee	35,890
Tameside college technology	35,840
University of Wales, Bangor	35,773
South Birmingham college	35,729
Swansea institute of higher education	35,598

4 Jul 1996 : Column: 510

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