§ Mr. WigleyTo ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment what estimate he has made of the expenditure to be incurred this year by his Department on programmes or activities located in Wales as part of UK-wide programmes; and what will be the mechanism for supporting such expenditure when the National Assembly for Wales has been established. [63478]
§ Mr. MudieAs part of UK-wide programmes, I estimate that the Department for Education and Employment will spend around £200,000 on programmes or activities located in Wales. The Government of Wales Act 1998 provided for a Transfer of Functions Order to be made to transfer Ministerial functions to the National Assembly for Wales. This Order was published in draft for public consultation on 12 November. Until the content of the Order has been finalised it is not possible to say with certainty what functions will transfer. Work is continuing within government to finalise the text of the Order and to establish whether any programme expenditure relates to those functions which will transfer. Funds will be transferred as necessary on this basis.