§ Mr. RowlandsTo ask the Secretary of State for Wales whether he will publish tables on the plans for Welsh housing in a similar form to that of table 9.1, table 9.3, table 9.4, table 9.5, table 9.8, table 9.9 and table 9.12 in Cm. 609.
§ Mr. GristI refer the hon. Gentleman to the reply given to my hon. Friend the Member for Cardiff, North (Mr. Jones) on 31 January by my right hon. Friend and to Cm. 617 which was laid before the House on 30 January. Information on local authority lettings is set out in the table and more detailed information will be provided in "Public Expenditure in Wales 1989–90—1990–91—A Commentary by the Welsh Office", which is to be published shortly.
§ Mr. Peter WalkerThe powers we propose in the Local Government and Housing Bill will preserve the core of the public library service—the borrowing of books and other written materials and the use for reference and consultation purposes of all such materials, microfilm materials or any catalogue of the authority's own holdings. The free service will cover Welsh as well as English language materials in these categories. It is my intention that public library authorities in Wales should have discretionary charging powers comparable to those proposed for introduction in England which were announced by my right hon. Friend the Minister for the Arts in his statement yesterday.
Many of the 70 individuals and organisations in Wales who commented on the Green Paper supported the proposals for joint ventures with the private sector. I would encourage both the private and public sectors to pursue their interest in such ventures. I shall continue to observe the progress of the incentive funding scheme introduced in England by my right hon. Friend the 763W Minister for the Arts under which pump-priming funds are to be provided for such ventures there. I shall then consider whether it would be desirable to introduce such a scheme in Wales.