§ Sir Wyn RobertsTo ask the Secretary of State for Wales what proposals he has for transferring responsibilities for support for specific grants to local authorities for bilingual education projects to the Welsh Language Board. [37419]
§ Mr. HagueAt present, my Department makes specific grants for this purpose to local education authorities under section 21 of the Education Act 1980; these resources are largely used to support teams of area teachers—athrawon bro—which assist schools to deliver Welsh in the national curriculum.
In accordance with a commitment in the White Paper "A Working Countryside for Wales", I have consulted local government in Wales about transferring this responsibility to the Welsh Language Board. I have now decided that this responsibility, together with appropriate resources. should be transferred to the board with effect from 1 April 1997; it will therefore be for the board later 296W this year to invite bids from local education authorities for support for bilingual education projects from 1997–98. The board will be able to make grants for this purpose under its existing statutory powers. Grants from the board to local authorities in support of bilingual education will remain specific grants within aggregate external finance and cannot be transferred to other expenditure categories.
I am asking the board to convene an early meeting with officials of the Welsh Local Government Association and with the Office of Her Majesty's Chief Inspector to take this matter forward.