§ Mr. RaffanTo ask the Secretary of State for Wales if he will give the amount of Government financial assistance for the Welsh language in both cash and real terms since 1979; and what was the proportion of this which has been educational expenditure.
§ Mr. Wyn Roberts[holding answer 23 February 1988]: The information is as follows:
Total Government support for the Welsh language under section 21 of the Education Act 1980 and section 26 of the Development of Rural Wales Act 1976 Cash terms (£ thousands) Real terms (£ thousands) 1(Percentage age) 1979–80 237 412 — 1980–81 893 1,310 258 1981–82 1,615 2,158 49 1982–83 1,766 2,200 49 1983–84 2,011 2,394 51 1984–85 1,987 2,264 51 1985–86 2,422 2,605 54 1986–87 2,528 2,635 57 1987–88 2,899 2,899 60 1 Proportion of expenditure in respect of educational projects under section 21 of the Education Act 1980. 2 First year of grant. The above does not include expenditure by other agencies, such as the Welsh Arts Council, not directly funded by my Department whose work involves activity related to the Welsh language, or the expenditure on S4C, which has increased as follows:
£ million 1982–83 20 1983–84 24 1984–85 28 1985–86 34 1986–87 37 1987–88 40