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Cattle Cull

Mr. Llwyd: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales what progress has been made in ensuring that Welsh farmers are given access to the approved abattoirs authorised under the 30-month cattle cull scheme; and if he will make a statement. [1752]

Mr. Jonathan Evans: The Intervention Board executive agency is ensuring that an appropriate proportion of cattle from Wales is slaughtered each week in both Welsh and English abattoirs.

A5

Mr. Llwyd: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales when are the necessary remedial works on the A5 between Betws-y-Coed and Corwen at Padog bends planned to be undertaken; and if he will make a statement. [1739]

Mr. Gwilym Jones: The north Wales trunk road Agency, as agent of the Welsh Office, is currently engaged on the design of the retaining wall remedial works.

It is planned to undertake the works in 1997 on completion of the necessary procedures, including land acquisition.

Elderly People

Mr. Hanson: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales what steps he is taking to encourage local authorities and health authorities in Wales to agree criteria plans for continuing health care needs of elderly people. [1933]

Mr. Gwilym Jones: In line with guidance already issued, from 1 April this year health authorities should have in place policies and eligibility criteria for continuing health care which have been agreed with local authorities and GP fundholders.

A470

Mr. Llwyd: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales when is the scheduled completion date for the current road improvement works on the A470 between Blaenau Ffestiniog and Betws-y-Coed; and if he will make a statement. [1751]

Mr. Gwilym Jones: The Cancoed to Minffordd section of the A470 Lledr valley improvement is programmed for completion in autumn 1997.

Farmers' Incomes

Mr. Llwyd: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales what assistance and advice is available to members of the farming community who seek to diversify operations in order to supplement income; and if he will make a statement. [1851]

Mr. Jonathan Evans: The European agricultural guidance and guarantee fund, through the rural Wales objective 5b programme, 1994 to 1999, assists farming households to develop alternative sources of income and employment opportunities on and off the farm and includes provision for capital grants, advice and training. The Leader II programme also acts as a stimulus to encourage farmers to develop new and innovative enterprises.

6 Nov 1996 : Column: 513

The processing and marketing grant scheme provides support towards the capital cost of adding value to agricultural raw materials in the food sector.

The marketing development scheme provides grant aid to farmers and producer groups to undertake feasibility studies to explore food diversification projects.

Local Management of Schools

Mr. Richards: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales what progress he is making in reviewing Conwy local education authority's LMS scheme; and if he will make a statement. [2003]

Mr. Jonathan Evans: Approval of Conwy LEA's local management of schools scheme was conditional on the resolution of certain concerns about the authority's resource allocation formula. These are still under review.

Welsh Language Speech Therapy

Mr. Alex Carlile: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales if he will make a statement on (a) the level of provision of Welsh-medium speech and language therapy for children in Wales, (b) the number of trained Welsh-medium speech therapists and (c) the establishment of a Welsh-medium speech therapy course at colleges in Wales. [1764]

Mr. Hague: The level of provision of Welsh-medium speech and language therapy for children in Wales is for health authorities to determine taking into account the health needs of their areas and their own assessment of priority. Information on the number of trained Welsh-medium speech therapists in Wales is not held centrally. Responsibility for training, including the provision of a Welsh-medium course rests with individual higher education institutions. A specific bilingual option for students during the third year of study already exists at the University of Wales institute, Cardiff.

6 Nov 1996 : Column: 514

Royal Shrewsbury Hospital

Mr. Alex Carlile: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales if he will make a statement on the current policy for accepting patients from Powys at the Royal Shrewsbury hospital. [1765]

Mr. Hague: This is a matter for the Dyfed/Powys health authority and the trust concerned. Currently the agreement reached is that all patients should be admitted in accordance with the Welsh patients charter standards.

Deregulation

Mr. Steen: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales if he will list the rules and regulations he proposes to repeal or amend by means of a reference to the Deregulation Committee before the end of 1996; and if he will make a statement. [2473]

Mr. Hague: None.

School Class Sizes

Mr. Blunkett: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales (1) how many and what percentage of five, six and seven-year-olds were in classes of 31 or more, for 1995 and provisionally for 1996, per education authority and in Wales. [2425]

(2) what percentage of primary schools pupils were in classes of 31 or more for each year since 1990 (a) in Wales and (b) per authority; and what was the percentage change between 1995 and 1996. [2478]

Mr. Jonathan Evans: The information requested is not collected centrally. Data are collected about the number of classes by size band of class, but no data are collected about the exact number of pupils, or the age of pupils, in those classes. The following table shows the number of ordinary classes in maintained primary schools, by size band.

6 Nov 1996 : Column: 513

Numbers of ordinary classes in maintained primary schools in Wales, by class size and local education authority

	September 1990	September 1991	September 1992	January 1994	January 1995	January 1996(2)
Clwyd
Up to 15	78	68	74	71	54	52
16-20	113	103	118	100	89	85
21-25	290	310	302	273	260	275
26-30	510	513	534	518	506	516
31-35	290	294	265	328	355	373
36-40	38	34	46	47	60	51
41-45	2	1	4	3	4	4
46+	0	0	0	0	0	0
Total	1,321	1,323	1,343	1,340	1,328	1,356
Dyfed
Up to 15	251	284	256	202	186	176
16-20	269	350	369	315	268	252
21-25	391	394	398	428	423	452
26-30	259	243	261	318	355	350
31-35	67	71	61	70	84	83
36-40	8	7	4	3	6	9
41-45	1	0	0	0	1	1
46+	0	0	0	0	0	0
Total	1,346	1,349	1,349	1,336	1,323	1,323
Gwent
Up to 15	24	15	14	11	13	16
16-20	86	59	60	65	74	49
21-25	313	289	301	331	256	239
26-30	631	648	723	688	653	660
31-35	374	403	338	357	440	460
36-40	11	16	22	24	40	61
41-45	2	1	1	1	2	1
46+	1	0	0	0	0	0
Total	1,442	1,431	1,459	1,477	1,478	1,486
Gwynedd
Up to 15	108	102	106	87	96	90
16-20	201	191	162	175	153	154
21-25	267	244	273	255	259	248
26-30	213	231	216	228	238	248
31-35	33	40	61	70	82	93
36-40	2	2	4	7	8	9
41-45	1	1	2	1	4	2
46+	0	0	0	0	0	0
Total	825	811	824	823	840	844
Mid Glamorgan
Up to 15	12	11	7	7	10	6
16-20	58	60	67	57	47	44
21-25	279	332	331	352	360	357
26-30	862	831	854	898	901	886
31-35	491	488	486	483	487	517
36-40	24	30	30	29	22	24
41-45	0	1	2	5	3	1
46+	0	0	0	0	0	0
Total	1,726	1,753	1,777	1,831	1,830	1,835
Powys
Up to 15	78	71	73	50	44	45
16-20	107	114	108	105	96	105
21-25	127	122	130	160	166	166
26-30	81	93	107	118	115	128
31-35	25	28	23	24	34	29
36-40	3	1	2	0	4	0
41-45	1	2	0	0	0	2
46+	1	0	0	0	0	0
Total	423	431	443	457	461	475
South Glamorgan
Up to 15	20	20	14	11	10	2
16-20	80	108	91	43	54	53
21-25	377	378	372	284	334	322
26-30	632	613	624	642	664	714
31-35	177	192	222	344	304	289
36-40	0	3	3	19	10	11
41-45	0	0	0	1	1	0
46+	0	0	0	0	0	0
Total	1,286	1,314	1,326	1,344	1,377	1,391
West Glamorgan
Up to 15	28	17	16	14	16	20
16-20	75	78	90	92	71	95
21-25	343	327	365	392	368	382
26-30	593	564	541	530	563	548
31-35	177	209	202	209	203	200
36-40	11	5	13	5	11	2
41-45	0	0	0	0	1	0
46+	0	0	1	0	1	1
Total	1,227	1,200	1,228	1,242	1,234	1,248
Wales
Up to 15	599	588	560	453	429	407
16-20	1,089	1,063	1,065	952	852	837
21-25	2,387	2,369	2,472	2,475	2,428	2,441
26-30	3,781	3,736	3,860	3,940	3,995	4,050
31-35	1,634	1,725	1,658	1,885	1,989	2,044
36-40	97	98	124	134	161	167
41-45	7	6	9	11	16	11
46+	2	0	1	0	1	1
Total	9,596	9,612	9,749	9,850	9,871	9,958

(2) Provisional.

6 Nov 1996 : Column: 517

6 Nov 1996 : Column: 517

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