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CABINET OFFICE

Millennium Exhibition

Mr. Baker: To ask the Minister without Portfolio what are his responsibilities in respect of the Millennium Exhibition at Greenwich. [4433]

Mr. Mandelson [holding 23 June 1997]: I refer the hon. Member to the answer given today by my right hon. Friend the Prime Minister.

WALES

Teachers

Mr. Barry Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales what estimates he has made of future teacher numbers in (a) primary and (b) infant schools; and if he will make a statement. [6674]

Mr. Hain: Local education authorities and schools are responsible for the employment and deployment of teaching staff to deliver the National Curriculum and we are making additional resources available to assist them in this role. The Government also has a role in ensuring that there is a sufficient number of suitably qualified teachers from whom they can recruit.

Welfare to Work Taskforce

Mr. Barry Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales when he expects the welfare to work taskforce to visit locations in Wales; and if he will make a statement.[6679]

Mr. Hain: The Director of the Employment Service in Wales is currently organising three consultation events to take place in locations throughout Wales at the end of July. I expect the taskforce members to play a prominent role in these events.

Mr. Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales what representations he has received on the welfare to work taskforce. [6678]

Mr. Hain: None, but my right hon. Friend hopes to announce the membership of the taskforce later this month.

Unskilled Manual Workers

Mr. Barry Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales what proposals he has to assist unskilled manual workers. [6668]

Mr. Hain: The minimum wage, the social chapter, the working hours directive and statutory recognition of trade unions are all of immediate relevance. The fiscal measures we announced in the Budget will help with workers' household finances. The Education and Training Action Group, supporting our objective of lifelong learning, will help people acquire skills which will lead to more highly paid employment.

Skilled Workers (Deeside)

Mr. Barry Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales what assessment he has made of the adequacy of

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resources available to increase the number of skilled people in employment on Deeside; and if he will make a statement. [6670]

Mr. Hain: The North Wales Training and Enterprise Council and Deeside College have substantial resources to promote skills training for employment in Deeside. Extra resources to help unemployed people gain training and employment will be available through the welfare to work programme. Employers have the primary responsibility for training their employees.

Job Creation

Mr. Barry Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales how he proposes to assist job creation for young unemployed people. [6672]

Mr. Hain: The Government's New Deal will offer all 18-24 year olds in Wales, who have been unemployed for six months or more, a quality opportunity to get back to work.

Nursery Education

Mr. Barry Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales if he will make a statement on his targets in respect of the availability of full-time places in nursery schools for all children claiming a place. [6677]

Mr. Hain: We will be consulting shortly on our commitment to ensure that a free, good quality place is available to all four year olds whose parents want this, together with targets for extending provision for three year olds.

Unemployment

Mr. Barry Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales what is his estimate of the number of (a) males and (b) females aged 24 years and under who are out of work.[6673]

Mr. Hain: The information requested is shown in the following table.

Employment status of those aged 16-24, Wales, winter 1996-97

	Males	Females
Total population aged 16-24	165,000	154,000
of which
In employment	97,000	89,000
Not in employment	69,000	65,000
of which
ILO unemployed(6)	30,000	13,000
Students (not ILO unemployed)	30,000	32,000
Looking after family home	(7)--	16,000

Notes:

(6) ILO unemployed: people without a job who were available to start work in the two weeks following their Labour Force Survey interview and who either had looked for work in the four weeks prior to interview or were waiting to start a job they had already obtained.

(7) Sample size too small for reliable estimate to be given.

Source:

Labour Force Survey.

10 Jul 1997 : Column: 551

Mr. Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales what proposals he has to move long-term unemployed people in (a) Buckley and (b) Deeside into work. [6669]

Mr. Hain: My hon. Friend will be aware that we recently released details of the Government's Welfare to Work programme and how the New Deal will operate in Wales. This will make a significant contribution to getting long-term unemployed people in Buckley and Deeside into work.

School Leavers (Literacy)

Mr. Barry Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales what proposals he has to help school leavers with difficulties in (a) reading and (b) writing; and if he will make a statement. [6675]

Mr. Hain: Help is available for these young people to improve their literacy skills either through Further Education or through TEC-supported training.

Target 2000 will encourage a multi-agency approach to developing innovative means of helping young people with learning difficulties. Particular emphasis will be placed on ensuring that all young people are equipped with basic skills, including those of communication.

The Further Education Funding Council for Wales have encouraged FE institutions to provide basic education courses for students with literacy and numeracy problems. The Council are inviting OHMCI to undertake a focused assessment of basic skills provision by the FE sector, to inform future funding decisions. The FEFCW will also take into account the findings of the Kennedy report on Widening Participation in Further Education.

Training (Deeside)

Mr. Barry Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales what new investment he proposes to make in training facilities for Deeside; and if he will make a statement. [6671]

Mr. Hain: The Further Education Funding Council for Wales and the North Wales Training and Enterprise Council (CELTEC) in collaboration with Further Education Colleges and other training partners have the responsibility for securing training facilities that will meet the needs of the area.

Renovation Grants

Mr. Rowlands: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales what estimate he has made of the number of outstanding renovation grant inquiries received by each county and county borough in Wales in the last 12 months. [6878]

Mr. Win Griffiths: Information on inquiries is available for April-December 1996. During that time local authorities received 12,758 inquiries, 5,900 applications and issued 6,015 approvals. The number of outstanding applications with local authorities at 31 March 1997 was 5,325.

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The county/county borough breakdown is shown on the following table:

Renovation grant activity by unitary authority(8)

	Number of inquiries made April-December 1996	Number of applications received April-December 1996	Number of applications approved April-December 1996	(9)Number of applications outstanding at the end of March 1997(9)
Blaenau Gwent	547	398	230	*586
Bridgend	767	223	297	142
Caerphilly	1,052	405	258	1,172
Cardiff	1,112	265	701	104
Carmarthenshire	691	404	377	242
Ceredigion	575	177	208	182
Conwy	231	135	179	197
Denbighshire	336	336	208	544
Flintshire	365	207	213	284
Gwynedd	671	359	367	427
Isle of Anglesey	222	198	166	49
Merthyr Tydfil	223	119	112	*12
Monmouthshire	311	55	56	4
Neath Port Talbot	1,127	290	486	*52
Newport	432	280	185	105
Pembrokeshire	338	104	154	450
Powys	363	166	229	342
Rhondda Cynon Taff	976	881	606	50
Swansea	877	313	417	108
Torfaen	135	131	121	89
Vale of Glamorgan	612	265	245	82
Wrexham	795	189	200	102
Wales	12,758	5,900	6,015	5,325

(8) Information on the number of inquiries, applications and approvals are for those grants dealt with under the Local Government and Housing Act 1989.

(9) Includes those applications at the end of March that were outstanding under both the Local Government and Housing Act 1989 and the Housing Grants, Construction and Regeneration Act 1996. For those data marked with an "*", estimates have been provided.

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