To ask the Secretary of State for Wales if he will list for each of the health authorities in Wales the number of (a) full-time and (b) part-time staff who are employed on administration for the latest date for which figures are available, together with the corresponding figures for each of the past six years.

It is essential that the NHS is sufficiently staffed at the administrative level to manage effectively its record budget, in the best interests of patients.

The percentage of children in primary schools who speak Welsh fluently as a first language in each school education authority in Wales since 1986–87 are shown in the following table.The available information relates to staff in the administrative and clerical group, which includes senior managers. The figures include staff within the groups performing clinically related duties which account for over 25 per cent. of the total, so freeing clerical staff to concentrate their skills and experience on direct patient care.Part of the increase in the size of this group is due to the transfer of some nursing and other professional staff to the senior manager grades.The 1992 figures for Pembrokeshire are not readily available and I will supply these as soon as possible.