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Pupil Exclusions

Mr. Alex Carlile: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales how many 11 to 16-year-old pupils are

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(a) permanently excluded from (i) local education authority secondary schools and (ii) grant-maintained secondary schools, for the most recent year for which figures are available and (b) have been admitted following permanent exclusion from another school to (1) local education authority secondary schools and (2) grant-maintained secondary schools; and if he will make a statement. [39079]

Mr. Hague: The information available is in respect of pupils of all ages. In the 1994-95 academic year (i) 367 pupils were permanently excluded from local education authority secondary schools and (ii) 31 pupils were permanently excluded from grant-maintained secondary schools. Information on the numbers admitted to schools following permanent exclusion from another school is not currently available centrally.

Empty Council Properties

Mr. Alex Carlile: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales how many empty local authority properties there are in each local authority in Wales; and if he will make a statement. [39118]

Mr. Hague: The information the hon. and learned Member has requested is not yet available by unitary authority as the figures are gathered on an annual basis. However, the following table shows the numbers of vacant properties in the areas of the old district councils.

Vacant local authority dwellings(24)

Number of vacant dwellings

Aberconwy	16
Alyn and Deeside*	88
Arfon	84
Blaenau Gwent	140
Brecknock	7
Cardiff	284
Carmarthen	8
Ceredigion	23
Colwyn	40
Cynon Valley	75
Delyn*	33
Dinefwr	33
Dwyfor	23
Glyndwr	26
Islwyn	61
Llanelli	160
Lliw Valley	60
Meirionnydd*	22
Merthyr Tydfil	203
Monmouth	33
Montgomeryshire	20
Neath	118
Newport	140
Ogwr	325
Port Talbot	136
Preseli Pembrokeshire	63
Radnorshire	22
Rhondda	140
Rhuddlan	11
Rhymney Valley	99
South Pembrokeshire	15
Swansea	320
Taff-Ely	67
Torfaen	281
Vale of Glamorgan	97
Wrexham Maelor	177
Ynys Mon	71
Wales	3,521

(24) The data relate to the position on 1 April 1996 except when marked* where they relate to 1 April 1995.

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Homelessness

Mr. Alex Carlile: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales how many people were statutorily recognised as homeless in each Welsh local authority in each year since 1990; and if he will make a statement. [39191]

Mr. Hague: The information requested is in the following table:

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Number of people statutorily recognised as homeless

	1990	1991	1992	1993	1994	1995
Aberconwy	137	104	151	148	187	195
Alyn and Deeside	474	499	633	471	476	536
Arfon	77	93	103	87	56	85
Blaenau Gwent	841	761	417	668	591	584
Brecknock	269	318	318	281	359	226
Cardiff	2,483	4,052	4,555	5,649	4,638	2,052
Carmarthen	189	227	363	301	282	259
Ceredigion	331	373	340	359	269	288
Colwyn	103	178	176	274	241	210
Cynon Valley	623	1,017	543	434	241	243
Delyn	825	683	503	384	414	281
Dinefwr	181	410	542	626	519	375
Dwyfor	162	127	104	97	65	87
Glyndwr	46	87	70	86	58	91
Islwyn	370	399	414	442	807	332
Llanelli	297	383	284	259	241	156
Lliw Valley	379	369	192	169	190	111
Meirionnydd	250	257	174	141	145	174
Merthyr Tydfil	496	365	238	355	296	385
Monmouth	281	388	286	338	278	247
Montgomeryshire	188	259	296	273	251	316
Neath	610	656	757	652	526	514
Newport	2,696	2,936	2,283	1,819	1,540	1,414
Ogwr	1,332	1,809	2,095	2,520	2,260	2,693
Port Talbot	303	340	369	363	308	269
Preseli Pembrokeshire	209	255	359	311	269	312
Radnorshire	64	45	82	55	100	98
Rhondda	166	358	374	240	192	212
Rhuddlan	293	177	91	162	111	143
Rhymney Valley	439	395	335	424	340	333
South Pembrokeshire	248	205	171	214	192	231
Swansea	450	1,779	1,622	1,864	3,072	2,506
Taff-Ely	568	743	770	845	612	584
Torfaen	1,216	1,038	952	818	737	410
Vale of Glamorgan	1,160	1,184	1,139	458	391	553
Wrexham Maelor	863	730	864	613	692	660
Ynys Mon	97	111	204	294	176	197
Wales	19,716	24,110	23,169	23,494	22,122	18,362

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Class Sizes

Mr. Alex Carlile: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales if he will list the percentage of (a) primary school children and (b) secondary school children, who are taught in classes of 30 or more in Wales, and if he will make a statement. [39193]

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Mr. Hague: Information about primary school class sizes is collected centrally only in respect of the number of classes, not the number of pupils in the classes. Twenty-two per cent. of ordinary classes in primary schools had more than 30 pupils at January 1995. The information requested in respect of secondary school class sizes is not collected centrally.

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Mr. Carlile: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales (1) what research he has evaluated on the effect of class size on (a) primary and (b) secondary school children's education; and if he will make a statement;[39076]

(2) if he will make a statement on the average size of classes in (a) primary and (b) secondary schools in Wales. [39117]

Mr. Hague: Average class sizes in 1994-95--the latest year for which figures are available--were 20.2 in secondary schools and 25.9 in primary schools.

It is for individual schools to determine class sizes according to their own circumstances and priorities.

I have made no evaluations of research in this area. Good education depends on good planning and effective teaching.

In-patient Admissions

Mr. Simon Hughes: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales what was the number of ordinary in-patient admissions by region in each of the last four years. [39203]

Mr. Gwilym Jones: The information is given in the following table. Data for NHS trusts are included within the health authority area in which the trust was situated.

Number of in-patient cases(25)

Health authority area	1992-93	1993-94	1994-95	1995-96(26)
Clwyd	73,209	72,527	73,906	69,876
East Dyfed	40,606	42,353	41,033	39,747
Gwent	74,455	75,450	74,423	73,381
Gwynedd	39,567	40,123	40,421	40,180
Mid Glamorgan	96,152	97,597	98,766	101,283
Pembrokeshire	17,613	17,131	17,437	17,714
Powys	9,180	8,962	9,736	9,718
South Glamorgan	83,940	84,105	84,268	86,732
West Glamorgan	69,625	69,907	73,427	75,177
Total	504,347	508,155	513,417	513,808

(25) Discharges and deaths.

(26) Provisional.

MRSA

Mr. Alan W. Williams: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales if he will list the hospitals in Wales that have recorded incidents of MRSA--methicillin-resistant staphylococcus aureus--since 1990; and how many patients suffered in each incident. [39020]

Mr. Gwilym Jones: I refer the hon. Member to the reply given to him on 22 January, Official Report, column 102. Data available from the MRSA surveillance project under way in Wales need to be addressed with caution. Data from this project are shown in the following table:

Laboratory confirmed cases of MRSA in Wales

Laboratory	1994	1995	1996
Bangor Public Health Laboratory	92	132	113
Bridgend Princess of Wales	0	0	12
Bronglais Hospital	9	25	28
Caerphilly Hospital	18	29	55
Cardiff Public Health Laboratory	5	29	55
Cardiff Royal Infirmary	179	0	0
Carmarthen Public Health Laboratory	18	36	49
East Glamorgan Hospital	0	0	0
Llandough Hospital	104	19	204
Llanelli Prince Phillip	18	0	0
Merthyr Prince Charles	80	93	50
Nevill Hall	1	0	145
Newport Royal Gwent	2	2	53
Rhyl Public Health Laboratory	3	4	31
Swansea Morriston	9	0	0
Swansea Singleton	2	65	219
Withybush Hospital	1	0	13
Wrexham	0	8	149
Wales	541	442	1,176

Source:

CDSC Welsh Unit MRSA Surveillance Programme in Wales.

Notes:

Data on MRSA collected during the period 1994 to 22 July 1996.

Completeness of reporting by laboratory is variable.

Increased emphasis was placed on reporting in 1996 and additional features requested.

Data may include some GP referrals.

The numbers indicated are patients identified with MRSA. Only a proportion of these will have clinical illness, (estimated at 50 per cent.) due to MRSA infection. The remainder will be carriers of the organism.

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