§ Mr. MichaelTo ask the Secretary of State for Wales what additional funds have been made available to voluntary organisations specifically to provide care in the community for the financial year 1990–91.
§ Mr. Nicholas BennettVoluntary organisations receive funding from a wide range of sources, including social service and health authorities in the discharge of their statutory responsibilities. Voluntary organisations have benefited from the general increase in resources made available to these statutory authorities by the Welsh Office for mainstream funding, as well as specific grants for the developments of community care under our various strategies and initiatives. Direct funding to voluntary organisations in Wales under Welsh Office strategies and grant schemes in 1990–91 for community care activities was; £0.3 million under the elderly initiative; £0.25 million under the mental handicap strategy; £0.59 million under the mental illness strategy and £0.47 million grant aid for organisations operating at the all-Wales level, to help further their activities in co-ordinating the work of local voluntary bodies and to represent their client group interests. In total these represent a 138 per cent. increase over 1989–90 expenditure.