§ Mr. Goronwy Robertsasked the Secretary of State for Wales if he will make a statement giving details of the administration of the grant to publications in the Welsh language, the agencies appointed for the purpose, the amount administered by each agency, the periodical publications so assisted and the grants made in each case, and the guide-lines issued to such agencies.
§ Mr. Peter ThomasThe Government grant to assist publications in the Welsh language was instituted in 1956, when the annual rate was set at £1,000. Since then the amount of the grant has been increased in stages; it will be £12,500 this year and in the following two years. Up to 1969–70, in which year the grant was £7,500, the total number of books assisted was over 640, rising from an average of under 30 in the first four years to over 60 in the last four. The grant has throughout been administered by the University of Wales Press Board. The only guide-line issued to the Board, on whose discretion I rely, is that the grant moneys must be applied "for the purpose of encouraging the publication of books in the Welsh language". Periodical publications do not qualify for this grant, though the Welsh Arts Council assists such publications under its own arrangements, and I would refer the right hon. Member to the reply given by my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Education and Science to the hon. Gentleman the Member for Carmarthen (Mr. Gwynoro Jones) on 9th December.—[Vol. 808, c.138]