Less-favoured Areas (Hansard, 6 December 1993)

§ Mr. Barry Jones
To ask the Secretary of State for Wales what assessment he has made of the impact of the Budget Statement upon prospects for 1994 in the less-favoured areas of Wales.

§ Mr. Redwood
I announced last week that direct Government support during 1994–95 for agriculture in Wales will be £233.9 million. This means an extra £18.6 million, 8.6 per cent., for Welsh agriculture, compared to planned provision for the current financial year. Despite the need to keep a firm control on public spending, this demonstrates the Government's continuing commitment to the agriculture industry in Wales. The agriculture industry in Wales is currently in a much healthier state, helped in part by much lower interest rates and very low inflation. These factors benefit hill farmers as much as other parts of the economy.

§ Mr. Barry Jones
To ask the Secretary of State for Wales if he will list the grant-maintained schools and those schools seeking grant-maintained status in each of the less-favoured areas of Wales, giving the amount of extra cash grants for each of the grant-maintained schools; and if he will make a statement.

§ Sir Wyn Roberts
The only formal designation of less-favoured areas is under European Community directives concerned with farming. There is no connection with education expenditure. However, in such areas in Wales there are six grant-maintained schools. They are:

Cwmcarn Comprehensive, Gwent

Bishop Vaughan Catholic Comprehensive, West Glamorgan

Brynmawr Comprehensive, Gwent

Caergeiliog Primary, Gwynedd

Llanerfyl Church in Wales Primary, Powys; and

Ysgol Derwen, Clwyd

In addition, St. Albans comprehensive in Pontypool, Gwent which has been approved for grant-maintained status from 1 January 1994, lies in a less-favoured area.
The funding of grant-maintained schools reflects the level of resources that a school would have received had it remained with its former local education authority. All grant-maintained schools, irrespective of whether they are in a less-favoured area, are eligible for transitional grants, special purpose grants, and capital grants over and above their annual maintenance grant.