Mr. Alan WilliamsTo ask the Secretary of State for Wales why paragraphs 46, 47 and 48 of the Department of Education and Science circular "Grants for Education Support and Training" are omitted from the Welsh Office equivalent circular; what are the respective numbers of educational psychologists in relation to pupil numbers in Wales, England, Scotland and Ireland; what are the equivalent figures for each Welsh county; how many posts are unfilled; and whether any bilingual posts are unfilled.
§ Sir Wyn RobertsParagraph 47 of the Department of Education and Science circular is dealt with under activity 12(91) of the equivalent Welsh Office circular. The initial training of educational psychologists has not been classed as a national priority area within the Welsh Office programme for education support and training in 1991–92, because of the many and competing demands on available resources. Local authorities are free to train educational psychologists from their own resources for that year. The Welsh Office will be keeping the situation under review and will consider future support in the light of local demand and priorities.
Details of the numbers of educational psychologists in England, Scotland and Northern Ireland are set out in the following table. No comparable statistics are available for Wales but, as part of the review mentioned above, the Welsh Office will be seeking specific information from local authorities.
871W
England Scotland Northern Ireland January 1989 September 1989 October 1990 Number of educational psychologists employed by local authorities 11,400 1318 260 Pupil numbers 6,731,047 744,061 339,185 1 Full time equivalent. 2 Full time.