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WALES
Local Government Finance
Mr. Barry Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales if he will make a statement concerning the expected levels of council tax in 1997-98. [19213]
Mr. Gwilym Jones: Local authorities in Wales are required to notify my Department of the level of council tax set for 1997-98 by 17 March 1997. The available provisional information is given in the following table. I shall write to the hon. Member when final figures are available and place a copy of my letter in the Library of the House.
(9) After damping, including amounts for police, community councils, discretionary non-domestic rate relief.
13 Mar 1997 : Column: 299
Mr. Barry Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales if he will make a statement on local authority capital expenditure plans for the year 1997-98. [19508]
Mr. Gwilym Jones: I refer the hon. Member to my right hon. Friend's statement on 12 December 1996 on public expenditure in Wales for 1997-98, Official Report, columns 405-19.
Mr. Barry Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales when he proposes to increase the percentage of capital sales receipts available to local authorities; and if he will make a statement. [19503]
Mr. Gwilym Jones: The Government currently have no plans to increase the percentage of usable capital receipts from the sale of local authority assets. Authorities have to set aside a proportion of receipts from the sale of capital assets for debt redemption. If they were allowed to spend their set-aside resources, either other areas of spending would need to be reduced to ensure that debts were paid off or public spending as a whole would rise.
Mr. Barry Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales what representations he has received relating to changes to the formulae for the standard spending assessments; and if he will make a statement. [19505]
Mr. Gwilym Jones: The distribution formula for 1997-98 was ratified by the Welsh Consultative Council on Local Government Finance. A joint Welsh Office-Welsh Local Government Association review of the formula is under way for 1998-99. Recommendations for change will be considered by the consultative council in the autumn.
Youth Unemployment
Mr. Barry Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales if he will make a statement on current levels of youth unemployment in (a) the previous county of Clwyd and (b) the county of Flintshire. [19512]
Mr. Gwilym Jones:
In January 1997 there were 3,482 persons aged under 25 on the claimant unemployment count in the former county of Clwyd. The corresponding figure for Flintshire was 985.
13 Mar 1997 : Column: 300
Mr. Morgan:
To ask the Secretary of State for Wales, pursuant to his answer of 10 March, Official Report, column 38, to the hon. Member for Clwyd, North-West (Mr. Richards) on NHS trusts mergers, what estimate he has made of (a) the transitional costs of achieving the trust merger, (b) recurring administrative savings and (c) the time which it will take to reach the recurring administrative costs. [20084]
Mr. Hague:
It is estimated by the trusts that the merger will result in recurring savings of up to £1 million starting in 1998-99. The level of transitional costs will depend upon the trust board's decisions on management arrangements in the new organisation.
Mr. Morgan:
To ask the Secretary of State for Wales, pursuant to his answer of 10 March, Official Report, column 38, to the hon. Member for Clwyd, North-West on NHS trust mergers, when he expects to appoint the (a) chairman and (b) board members of the newly merged trust. [20083]
Mr. Hague:
Interim arrangements will be announced shortly which will enable the appointments to be made in line with the code of practice for public appointments issued by the Commissioner for Public Appointments.
Mr. Morgan:
To ask the Secretary of State for Wales, pursuant to his answer of 10 March, Official Report, column 38, to the hon. Member for Clwyd, North-West on NHS trust mergers, what estimate he has made of the job losses associated with the merger (a) before 1 April 1997 and (b) after 1 April 1997; and what estimate he has made of the winding-up costs in connection with the termination of services of board members. [20085]
Mr. Hague:
There will be no job losses associated with the merger of the Pembrokeshire and Derwen NHS trusts before the new trust becomes operational on 1 April 1997. The detail of any job losses and costs incurred after that date will be a matter for the new trust board.
Mr. Richards:
To ask the Secretary of State for Wales (1) how many children in Conwy he estimates will register for nursery education by the local education authority in the next 12 months; and if he will make a statement; [19957]
Mr. Jonathan Evans:
Conwy county borough council has estimated that there will be 1,066 voucher-bearing children in their schools in the 1997 summer term. At this level, total annual voucher income for the authority would be £1,172,600.
Mr. Richards:
To ask the Secretary of State for Wales (1) what justification Conwy county borough council has submitted to him in respect of increases in (a) centrally held school budgets and related services and (b) provision for the rationalisation of nursery education; [19958]
13 Mar 1997 : Column: 301
Mr. Evans:
Statements of the financial provision local authorities plan to make for schools they maintain have to be submitted before the start of the financial year. Information has not yet been received from Conwy county borough council.
Mr. Morgan:
To ask the Secretary of State for Wales what consultations he has had with the chairman of the Welsh Health Common Services Authority concerning the quality of project management of community hospitals by (a) Beard Dove and (b) Welsh Health Estates. [20082]
Mr. Hague:
None. Welsh Health Estates does not act as project manager.
Mr. Morgan:
To ask the Secretary of State for Wales what consultations he has had with the chairman of the Llandough NHS trust concerning the termination of the services of Beard Dove as the project management company for the Barry community hospital and its replacement by Welsh Health Estates. [20086]
Mr. Hague:
None. This is a matter for the trust. However, Welsh Health Estates is not acting as project manager but is advising the trust.
Mr. Flynn:
To ask the Secretary of State for Wales how many and what percentage of the population in Wales have (a) committed suicide and (b) suffered a fatal accident in each of the last seven years; and if he will make a statement. [20036]
Mr. Gwilym Jones:
The latest available, complete, annual figures from the Office for National Statistics for residents of Wales are shown in the following table:
(2) what estimates he has made of the value of nursery voucher redemption to Conwy county borough council; and if he will make a statement. [20041]
(2) if he will make a statement on the costed items Conwy county borough council has included under the heading "Demography" in its education budget. [19959]
| Suicides(10) | Fatal accidents(11) | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Number | Rate per 100,000 | Number | Rate per 100,000 | |
| 1989 | 264 | 9.2 | 719 | 25.1 |
| 1990 | 303 | 10.5 | 711 | 24.7 |
| 1991 | 337 | 11.7 | 717 | 24.8 |
| 1992 | 335 | 11.6 | 698 | 24.1 |
| 1993 | 297 | 10.2 | 673 | 23.2 |
| 1994 | 331 | 11.8 | 690 | 24.5 |
| 1995 | 317 | 10.9 | 708 | 24.3 |
(10) International Classification of Diseases: E950-E959, E980-E989 excluding E988.8.
(11) ICD E800-E929.
Local Management of Schools (Conwy)
Mr. Richards: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales what changes Conwy county borough council has notified his Department it has made to its local management of schools scheme; and if he will make a statement. [20042]
Mr. Jonathan Evans: Conwy county borough council has not submitted any proposals for changes.
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