§ Mr. Wigleyasked the Secretary of State for Wales what information he has about the number of adult classes in each county of Wales for those learning the Welsh language.
§ Mr. Wyn RobertsThe centrally available information, which relates only to those courses provided by university extra-mural departments and the Workers' Educational Association, is as follows:
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Number of Welsh language learning courses provided by Responsible Bodies* 1984–85 Number Clwyd 7 Dyfed 82 Gwcnt 19 Gwynedd 113
Number Mid Glamorgan 25 Powys 3 South Glamorgan 54 West Glamorgan 63 * University extra-mural departments and Workers' Educational Association. Other Welsh language learning courses are provided at local authority adult education centres and at colleges of further and higher education, but such courses are not separately identified in central returns.
§ Mr. Wigleyasked the Secretary of State for Wales if any permanent liaison with the European bureau for lesser spoken languages has been established by his Department; and if he will make a statement.
§ Mr. Wyn RobertsYes. An official of the Welsh Office attends meetings of the United Kingdom co-ordinating committee as an observer.
§ Mr. Wigleyasked the Secretary of State for Wales if he will take steps to improve the availabilty and use of the Welsh language in medical care in Wales; and if he will update the directive, "The Health Service and the Welsh Language".
§ Mr. Wyn RobertsThe use of the Welsh language in the provision of health services is a matter for health authorities and family practitioner committees to consider in the light of local circumstances. Guidance issued in 1975 advises on action they may take to assist the use of Welsh in the Health Service in Wales. It remains departmental policy. It is recognised that the precise way in which this advice is implemented will vary considerably according to the use made of the language locally. I am not aware of any new circumstances which would warrant a revision of the guidance.
§ Mr. Wigleyasked the Secretary of State for Wales what proportion of the printing and publishing work in the Welsh language commissioned by his Department is done by firms or organisations outside Wales.
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Category 1979–80 1980–81 1981–82 1982–83 1983–84 1984–85 1985–86 1986–87 £ £ £ £ £ £ £ £ Publishing—Welsh Books Grant (via University of Wales Press Board) 91,000 109,000 — — — — — — Publishing—Welsh Books Council 55,000 68,000 285,000 300,000 318,000 335,000 345,000 360,000 Publishing—Schools Book Club (via Welsh Books Council) — — — 10,000 21,500 — 17,500 20,000 Publishing—Schools Book Club (Exhibitions Officer) — — — — 5,000 5,000 — — Publishing—Welsh National Centre for Children's Literature — — — — 13,000 14,000 16,000 17,500 Publishing—Urdd Gobaith Cymru (Magazines) 15,000 — — — — — — — Mudiad Ysgolion Meithrin (Groups) 25,000 30,000 165,000 180,000 190,000 200,000 210,000 245,000 Royal National Eisteddfod of Wales 70,000 120,000 157,000 170,000 180,000 150,000 232,000 250,000 Bwrdd Ffilmiau Cymraeg 20,000 24,000 67,000 34,100 80,000 7,000 — — Nant Gwrtheyrn — — 5,000 — 15,000 — — 8,000 Celtic Film Festival — — 2,000 — — — — — Papurau Bro (via Regional Arts Associations) — — — 15,750 18,000 21,350 21,000 24,000 Yr Academi Gymreig — — — 500 21,600 30,000 21,500 11,400 Welsh Joint Education Committee National — — — 12,000 — — — — Language Unit/Word Processor — — — 7,000 — — — — University College of Wales Aberystwyth Resource Centre — — — 15,000 — — — — Clwyd Science Survey — — — 250 — — — —
§ Mr. Wyn RobertsNo detailed records are maintained by the Department of specifically Welsh or bilingual work, but it is believed that during 1985–86 no printing or publishing work solely in the Welsh language commissioned by the Welsh Office was undertaken outside Wales, although a small amount of bilingual work of a specialist character was so undertaken. Overall it is estimated that less than half of 1 per cent. of the total printing and publishing work commissioned by the Welsh Office in 1985–86 was undertaken outside Wales.
§ Mr. Wigleyasked the Secretary of State for Wales what approaches have been made to the Commission of the EEC in relation to permitting the Welsh language to be used for labelling food and drink in Wales.
§ Mr. Wyn RobertsNone. The legislation does not specify a language for labelling purposes, but it is necessary for the customer to be able to understand the labels easily. It is a matter for the trading standards authorities to decide whether this requirement is met in individual cases. However, the European Community regulations governing the labelling of wine direct that the information on the label must be shown in an official language of the European Community.
§ Mr. Wigleyasked the Secretary of State for Wales if he will issue guidelines to local education authorities in Wales to the effect that education facilities for mentally handicapped children have regard to their home language; and if he will make a statement.
§ Mr. Wyn RobertsI refer the hon. Gentleman to the reply I gave him on 8 May 1986, at column 201.
§ Mr. Wigleyasked the Secretary of State for Wales if he will give a breakdown of the uses and projects to which the money made available for the support and development of the Welsh language since 1979 has been put.
§ Mr. Wyn RobertsThe information is given in the following table:
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Category 1979–80 1980–81 1981–82 1982–83 1983–84 1984–85 1985–86 1986–87 £ £ £ £ £ £ £ £ School Broadcasting Council for Wales — — — 10,000 — — — — Young Farmers Clubs — — — — 3,340 3,500 4,000 5,000 Place Names Advisory Committee (Honoraria) — — — — 600 600 600 600 Welsh Language Information Technology Pilot Project — — — — 5,000 — 3,750 — Cwmni Theatr Cymru — — — — 25,000 25,000 — — Welsh National Opera — — — — 500 374 — — Merched y Wawr — — — — — 10,000 11,500 12,500 Y Cymro — — — — — 300 — — Sunday Schools Council — — — — — — 13,000 14,500 Women's Institute — — — — — — 7,000 7,500 400th Anniversary of Translation of Bible into Welsh — — — — — — 5,000 10,000 Bangor and Gwynedd Samaritans — — — — — — — 200 BBC Sioe Siarad — — — — — — — 6,000 Welsh Schools Basketball Association — — — — — — — 500 St. John Ambulance — — — — — — — 5.000 Welsh Scout Council — — — — — — — 2,000 Urdd Gobaith Cymru—Llangrannog — — 140,000 145,230 — — — — Urdd Gobaith Cymru—Glanllyn — — — — 80,000 180,000 196,000 80,000 Mudiad Ysgolion Meithrin (Headquarters) 70,000 87,000 94,000 98,000 102,000 110,350 119,400 115,800 Urdd Gobaith Cymru (Headquarters) 35,134 41,597 53,260 55,497 56,496 57,626 62,236 62,485 International Youth Year — — — — — 2,670 — — Urdd Gobaith Cymru (Capital) 32,939 6,352 5,022 — — — — — Grants for Welsh Language Education (section 21, Education Act 1980) — 515,000 794,000 866,000 1,034,000 1,004,701 1,317,657 1,439,000 A detailed breaddown by projects of grants under section 21 of the Education Act 1980 could be provided only at disproportionate cost.