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Treasury Building
Mr. Timms: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer when he expects the final contract to be signed with Exchequer Partnerships plc for the development of the Treasury building. [12146]
Mr. Jack [holding answer 22 January 1997]: The aim is to conclude the final contract, the development framework agreement, as soon as practicable.
Mr. Timms: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what information he proposes to make available about the plans for the Treasury building following the signing of the commercial heads of terms agreement with Exchequer Partnerships plc. [12148]
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Mr. Jack [holding answer 22 January 1997]: I refer the hon. Member to the reply I gave to my hon. Friend the Member for Southport (Mr. Banks) on 16 January 1997, Official Report, column 382.
WALES
Personalised Number Plates (Executive Agencies)
Mr. Donohoe: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales how many personalised number plates there are in the ownership of the executive agencies operated by his Department; and if he will list them. [11409]
Mr. Hague: My Department has sole responsibility for one executive agency, which is Cadw. It has no personalised number plates.
Unemployment
Mr. Wigley: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales what was the total number of unemployed people in Wales on the basis of (a) those who claim benefits and (b) those recorded in the labour force survey as desiring to work, at the latest available date in each case; and if he will indicate what factors underlie any differences between the two figures. [12024]
Mr. Hague: On 12 December 1996, there were 93,084 persons on the claimant unemployment count in Wales. The latest figure from the labour force survey is for autumn--September to November--1996, when an estimated 109,000 people in Wales were classified as International Labour Organisation unemployed. The above figures are not seasonally adjusted.
The first figure is from a monthly count of those claiming unemployment-related benefits. It is an administrative measure and records the number of claimants on one particular day each month. In contrast, the labour force survey measure is based on a sample survey of around 3,000 households in Wales each quarter. It uses the internationally standard ILO definition of unemployment. This classifies as unemployed those who were without a job at the time the survey was conducted and were available to start work in the next fortnight and had either actively looked for work in the last four weeks or had found a job and were waiting to start.
The ILO unemployed are not asked if they would like to have a job because, in order to be classified as unemployed, they will need already to have stated that they have looked, and are available, for work. Respondents are questioned only on whether they would like a job if they are economically inactive and have not looked for a job in the last four weeks. These people are not ILO unemployed.
The Office for National Statistics has published a booklet "How exactly is unemployment measured" which describes the claimant count and labour force survey measures of unemployment in more detail. Copies are available in the Library of the House.
Mr. Ieuan Wyn Jones:
To ask the Secretary of State for Wales what measures he is taking to (a) monitor and (b) deal with the problem of processing statutory
27 Jan 1997 : Column: 39
assessments of children with special educational needs within the legal deadline of six months with particular reference to dyslexia. [11576]
Mr. Jonathan Evans:
Local education authorities have a responsibility to comply with the time scales prescribed in regulations for the assessment of children with special educational needs, including those with dyslexia. Should the local education authority fail to meet the time scales, there is a right of complaint to my right hon. Friend. Health authorities and social services departments also have duties in relation to these statutory time scales.
Mr. Jones:
To ask the Secretary of State for Wales what measures he is taking to ensure implementation of the principle of partnership with parents of children with special needs from April. [11577]
Mr. Evans:
The code of practice on the identification and assessment of special educational needs, to which all agencies involved with children with special educational needs have to have regard, stresses the principle of partnership with parents. In support of this, my right hon. Friend has, for a number of years, allocated grant to the special needs advisory project--SNAP--and, through the grants for educational support and training programme, has allocated grant to local education authorities to assist them in their duty of identifying a name person to help parents in the statementing process. The GEST funding is to continue in 1997-98 and the Welsh Office is considering an application from SNAP for further funding from April 1997.
Mr. Jones:
To ask the Secretary of State for Wales how many children in (a) Ynys Mon and (b) Wales are the subject of statements of special educational needs; and how many of these are estimated to be related to dyslexia or specific literacy difficulties. [11578]
Mr. Evans:
At January 1996, according to returns to the schools census, 15,909 children in schools in Wales had statements of special educational needs, and of these 372 were in schools in Ynys Mon. Information is not available about the number of children with dyslexia or specific literacy difficulties, although they are likely to be included in the number identified as having specific learning difficulties: 2,529 children in schools in Wales had statements which recorded this category as their major difficulty; of these, 114 were in schools in Ynys Mon. Further data on children with statements of special educational needs are contained in the recently published Welsh Office volume "Welsh Education and Training Statistics Bulletin No. 3: Pupils with Statements of Special Educational Needs 1993-94--1995-96", a copy of which is in the Library of the House.
Mr. Jones:
To ask the Secretary of State for Wales what measures he proposes to ensure that an adequate number of teachers hold specialist qualifications in dyslexia in Ynys Mon. [11579]
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Mr. Evans:
It is for local education authorities and schools to ensure that suitable education is provided for children who are dyslexic. The Welsh Office provides funding through the grants for education support and training programme to local education authorities for the training of teachers of children with special educational needs, including specifically those with dyslexia.
Mr. Ron Davies:
To ask the Secretary of State for Wales what applications he has received for assistance from public funds for the demolition of the Greenmeadow inn, Waterloo, Machen, and for the subsequent redevelopment of the site; and if he will make a statement.[11930]
Mr. Hague:
No application for financial assistance for demolition and redevelopment of this site has been made to my Department.
Ms Ruddock:
To ask the Secretary of State for Wales if he will list the (a) White Papers, (b) Green Papers, (c) consultation papers, (d) draft regulations and (e) circulars, for which his Department has been responsible issued in 1996 which his Department assesses could give rise, (i) directly and (ii) indirectly, to significant environmental effects. [12715]
Mr. Jonathan Evans:
The Welsh Office issues a great number of these documents and many could give rise, to a greater or lesser extent, to environmental effects. No central records are maintained of the environmental assessments undertaken by the Department, and listings could not be provided without incurring disproportionate costs. The main environmental initiatives under way or planned by the Welsh Office are described in "The Environment in Wales Fifth Report" published last November, a copy of which is in the Library of the House.
Mr. Ainger:
To ask the Secretary of State for Wales what was the pre-registration nurse education intake in each year from 1987-88 to 1995-96. [12689]
Mr. Gwilym Jones:
Information on the intake for nursing education is published by the Welsh National Board for Nursing, Midwifery and Health visiting in its annual report, copies of which are available in the Library.
Mr. Ainger:
To ask the Secretary of State for Wales how many nurses in Wales were aged (a) between 20 and 30, (b) between 31 and 40, (c) between 41 and 50, and (d) over 50 years in each year from 1987-88 to 1995-96.[12691]
Mr. Jones:
The available information, which relates to all nursing and midwifery staff directly employed by the NHS in Wales excluding pre-registration learners, is given in the table.
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| 20 to 29 | 30 to 39 | 40 to 49 | 50 and over | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1987 | 8,700 | 7,200 | 7,400 | 5,400 |
| 1988 | 8,700 | 7,500 | 7,600 | 5,600 |
| 1989 | 8,500 | 8,000 | 7,700 | 5,700 |
| 1990 | 8,200 | 8,500 | 7,800 | 5,900 |
| 1991 | 7,400 | 9,200 | 7,900 | 6,200 |
| 1992 | 8,000 | 10,100 | 8,200 | 6,100 |
| 1993 | n/a | n/a | n/a | n/a |
| 1994 | 7,400 | 11,400 | 8,500 | 6,000 |
| 1995 | 6,800 | 12,100 | 8,600 | 6,000 |
| 1996 | 6,500 | 12,600 | 8,900 | 6,100 |
n/a = Not available.
(19) Figures are rounded to the nearest hundred. Some nurses may be counted more than once--such as when they have more than one contract--and a small number of nurses on local payscales, who cannot be identified centrally as nursing and midwifery staff, may be excluded.
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