HL Deb 18 December 1989 vol 514 cc107-8WA
Lord Brougham and Vaux

asked Her Majesty's Government:

Whether they will provide support for the International Peto Institute.

The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Department of Health (Baroness Hooper)

The Government continue to value conductive education as practised at the Peto Institute in Budapest and welcome the Hungarian Government's plans to build a new international institute in response to increasing demand from a number of countries as well as the UK.

The Government wish conductive education to be one of the range of techniques available for children in the UK who have a motor disability and have concluded that the best way to ensure this is to enter into an agreement with the Hungarian Government that in return for a financial contribution towards the capital costs of the new institute the UK would have guaranteed access in a proportion commensurate with our contribution of the available places both for children to receive conductive education and for trainees to be trained as conductors. In this way the UK would secure the continuing availability of conductive education for children in Budapest while building up a nucleus of trained conductors to provide this service in this country.

The Government have therefore agreed to provide a total of £5 million over the next four financial years towards the capital costs of the new institute subject to conclusion of a satisfactory agreement covering access for children and trainee conductors and to satisfactory progress with construction. In addition, the Government will be seeking to stimulate interest in the private and voluntary sectors with a view to supplementing this by a similar amount raised from these sources. Officials will be taking forward the detailed negotiations with the Hungarian authorities early in the New Year.