asked the Secretary of State for Wales what are the numbers of inpatients and outpatients being treated in National Health Service hospitals in Wales; in (a) 1979 and (b) the last year for which figures are available.

In 1979, 349,695 inpatients were treated in Welsh hospitals. The latest year for which figures are available is 1984, when the number of inpatients treated was 412,866. Outpatient attendances in 1979 totalled 1,803,313 and, in 1984, 2,130,709. In both cases that was an increase of over 18 per cent.

Does my hon. Friend agree that that enormous increase represents an extra strain on the National Health Service, which the Government have been able to fund? Is he aware that a Lloyd's Bank survey recently showed that public identifiable expenditure in Wales had quadrupled in the past 10 years and that a higher proportion of people living in Wales own their own television sets, refrigerators and telephones—[Interruption.]—than do people living in Scotland or Northern Ireland? How does he—

Order. That goes very wide of the question.

I note the welcome support that my hon. Friend gives to our policies in this respect. Perhaps I should point out that between 1979 and 1984 Welsh hospitals treated 60,000 more inpatients and 333,000 more outpatients.

Will the Minister comment on a statement by Dr. Whitaker of leukaemia fame that, two and a half years after the first transplant in Cardiff, we still do not have our own bone marrow transplant unit?

I have knowledge of the statement to which the hon. Gentleman refers, which is not true. We are hoping to undertake 12 bone marrow transplant operations in this financial year and we have announced the setting up of a special unit for this purpose.

As an inevitable consequence of the expansion of the NHS since 1979, there are now six hospitals in south Glamorgan experiencing difficulty in recruiting an ample supply of nurses. Is my hon. Friend confident that the training provision meets the extra demand for nurses?

We are constantly looking at training provision, as are the health authorities, which have responsibility for managing the staffing resources within their areas.

How can the Minister justify the situation in Mid-Glamorgan, which has the third highest waiting list in England and Wales, where more than 60 per cent. of patients have been waiting for more than 12 months for surgery and where the area health authority is being forced by the Government to cut expenditure by £5·5 million, resulting in the closure of hospitals and wards and the sacking of 240 Health Service staff? Is that the sort of service the hon. Gentleman wants to see?

Funding for Mid-Glamorgan since 1979 has increased, in line with funding for other health authorities, to the tune of 19 per cent. As Deloitte's report points out, Mid-Glamorgan's problems are connected with its own management, and the health authority concerned is now having to look at ways to tackle those problems. It is receiving additional resources, in line with every other health authority.

I congratulate my hon. Friend on his new post. Is he aware that there has been a 16 per cent. real increase in Health Service spending throughout Wales since 1979?

I am aware of that. In fact, the figure in terms of the GDP deflater is 2125 per cent.

The Minister has made a foolish and unwarranted attack on management in the Mid-Glamorgan area health authority. Will he consider withdrawing it? Will he bear in mind that Mid-Glamorgan is arguably one of the most deprived areas in Europe and that the deprivation levels are the result of the Government's economic policies?

I cannot accept what the hon. Gentleman has said. We are making additional resources available to Mid-Glamorgan to help it out of its current difficulties.

asked the Secretary of State for Wales if, when he next meets the chairman of the National Coal Board, he will raise with him the question of the implications of the importation of United States coking coal for the future of coking coal collieries; and if he will make a statement.

The chairman of the National Coal Board is well aware of the damage caused by the miners' strike and of the even greater need now to make the industry cost competitive. In 1984, 2·9 million tonnes of American coking coal were imported. In 1983, before the strike, the figure was 0·8 million tonnes.

Is the Secretary of State aware that in Wales he is considered as a waster because he has wasted Welsh national assets and those of the Welsh coalfield? Is he further aware that since I asked a question about coking coal imports three weeks ago the St. John's and Garw collieries in my constituency have closed, making 1,400 miners redundant? How can he equate that with the policies that the Government are pursuing? Is he engaged in a political vendetta against the miners and others in my constituency who supported the miners' strike to the hilt?

The hon. Gentleman knows that the south Wales coalfield has been losing massive sums of money, and now the management of the coalfield has begun to reduce those losses. As a result of the strike that the hon. Gentleman supported, imports were substantially increased, as I pointed out, and the orders then placed will affect the mining industry in south Wales for some time to come.

Are there any signs of resuming the export of coal from south Wales to France to the tune of 600,000 tonnes per annum—an order that was lost because of Scargill's political, unwarranted strike?

Obviously, as the cost competitiveness of Welsh coal improves—it is improving rapidly—so will the chance both to expand exports and reduce imports, although there will always be a requirement for the import of some coking coal to get the required mix. I hope that with improved competitiveness that will be possible.

asked the Secretary of State for Wales what representations he has received from builders' and housebuilders' organisations in south Wales concerning the availability of land for housebuilding; and if he will make a statement.

We are in regular touch with the Housebuilders Federation and I am aware of its concern about land availability.

Is my hon. Friend aware that while builders appreciate the need for protecting the environment, they are deeply concerned about this matter? Is he further aware that both the Housebuilders' Federation and the Federation of Master Builders have expressed concern about the view of the various county and district planning authorities that houses should be built where planners want them and not where people are willing to buy? Will he consult the builders' organisations, the planning authorities and the Land Authority for Wales about this problem?

We are aware of the problem about the availability of small sites. It is with that in mind that my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State has today issued a consultation document to local authorities in Wales concerning the availability of land for housing for senior management in Wales. There is a shortage of such housing in Wales. We hope that this important initiative will help to cure that.

Is the hon. Gentleman aware that the 15 per cent. VAT is having a disastrous effect on house alterations and the building trade? Has he any plans to abolish VAT?

The hon. Gentleman will be aware that this matter is within the purview of my right hon. Friend the Chancellor of the Exchequer.

Is my hon. Friend aware of the contrary danger that the Welsh Office may acquire a reputation of excessively overruling local authority planning decisions so as to permit development in areas where it will be undesirable?

We have at present no plans to change the pattern of planning procedures, which, as I am sure my hon. Friend is aware, involves a process of appeals that are considered by planning inspectors.

asked the Secretary of State for Wales what response he has had to his letter of 24 July to the chairman of the Welsh joint education committee on Welsh language education; and if he will make a statement.

The Welsh joint education committee replied to my right hon. Friend on 1 October, and following discussions between officials I met the chairman and members of the joint committee on Friday 29 November. We discussed the implications of my right hon. Friend's invitation, and I anticipate another meeting to discuss its specific proposals when it has considered the matter further.

With respect to the Minister and the WJEC, that is not a statement, but a report of discussions. Should not the hon. Gentleman now recognise that his right hon. Friend's proposals for the WJEC to undertake the work of the proposed language development body show that that body has been unable to take that responsibility on board? Will he now accept the need for an independent body?

The WJEC has taken up my right hon. Friend's invitation, and according to its letter

"The brief answer is that expansion of its work in these directions"—

"would be within its capacity provided the necessary funds were made available to it."

Have not the Government spent more on the Welsh language in every area than was spent by any of their predecessors, and is it not premature to talk of increasing resources? Instead, should we not be talking about organisation?

My hon. Friend is absolutely right. The first priority is to set up an organisation within the WJEC, and that was the substance of my talks in November. A great deal of money is already being spent on Welsh language education, and that is reflected in the fact that we spend about 9·8 per cent. per head more on primary pupils and 4 per cent. per head more on secondary pupils than do English non-metropolitan authorities.

asked the Secretary of State for Wales when he last met the Welsh Association of District Councils to discuss capital funding.

I met representatives of the Welsh districts at a meeting of the Welsh consultative council on local government finance on 25 November. Last Tuesday I announced my decision to increase total capital allocations for local authorities in Wales by £60 million in 1986–87. Housing allocations have increased by £32 million. I hope shortly to announce my decisions on the allocation of these resources to other services and to individual local authorities.

Will the Secretary of State confirm that the increase of £32 million in housing capital allocations will be reflected in a similar increase in gross spending provision in the coming year based on a realistic capital receipts forecast?

I shall announce the gross figures in due course in the normal way, but I have deliberately increased the allocations this year, partly because we expect slightly lower receipts from house sales, and partly because local authorities have tended to underspend their housing allocations. They spend about 85 per cent. To get the maximum possible spent on housing, we have taken account of that factor in making our decision on allocations. The local authorities regard the allocations figure as very important, because that is the figure on which they can confidently plan their capital spending programmes. However, the actual figures will be very much affected by the receipts as well.

Will my right hon. Friend confirm that since 1978–79 capital expenditure in Wales has increased in real terms? Will he remind the Labour party that the last Labour Government reduced capital expenditure as a proportion of total local government expenditure in Wales from 42 to 17·7 per cent.?

It is important to remember that, following the disastrous economic policies of the Labour Government and their calling in the International Monetary Fund, they slashed capital spending not only in local authority areas but on health. As a result of our being able to persuade local authorities in Wales to control their current spending, we have been able to allocate substantial additional resources for capital spending in Wales.

asked the Secretary of State for Wales what has been the expenditure to date by National Coal Board (Enterprise) Ltd. in Wales; and what is the estimate for 1985–86.

National Coal Board (Enterprise) Ltd. informs me that almost £1 million has now been committed to projects in Wales to provide more than 1,400 job opportunities. In addition, it is providing £700,000 over three years for the support of enterprise agencies in mining areas of south Wales. Total expenditure in 1985–86 will depend on the number of acceptable projects submitted.

Although the expenditure is welcome, does the Secretary of State realise that the expenditure which has been incurred to date has been spent, not on developing new enterprises, but on existing enterprises, and that the jobs which have been created by that investment provide neither the scope nor the number required to make up the deficiencies caused by the Government's policy of closing colliery after colliery in south Wales? If the right hon. Gentleman will take time this afternoon to go to the Coalfield's Communities Campaign exhibition and talk to its hosts, he will get at first hand a genuine understanding of the depth of misery and insecurity which is being caused in the coalfields of south Wales.

I disagree with the hon. Gentleman. The sum is part of the total resources coming from many different quarters to deal with the problem. So far the Government have authorised funding of £20 million for the company, of which more than £15 million remains. To date south Wales has received about one third of it. Most of it has gone to support individuals setting themselves up in work and business. Support is also being provided at 11 enterprise agencies, some newly created, in south Wales. That is an extremely good record in the starting period of this initiative.

Will my right hon. Friend say whether he is in touch with the Manpower Services Commission to see whether extra training can be focused on the areas affected by closures of coalmines?

The MSC is continually in close touch with my Department and with the other agencies. I assure my hon. Friend that the need for training priority in such areas is kept continually at the forefront of its mind.

asked the Secretary of State for Wales what success his Department has had in attracting new high technology business ventures to west Glamorgan and Dyfed.

Since April 1983, when WINvest came into being, there have been 19 new projects and expansions attracted to Dyfed and west Glamorgan and known to my Department, including four in high technology. These have the potential to create more than 900 jobs and to safeguard more than 1,200 others.

Certainly on the figures given to me by the West Glamorgan county council there have been no new high technology ventures in west Glamorgan. It would be interesting to hear the size of those claimed by the Secretary of State. Is he aware that in recent weeks there has been a deluge of job losses in south-west Wales, including those in Austin Rover, Addis, Inco and Lucas Electrical? Is it not crystal clear for anyone who wishes to see it that the present package of regional measures is not succeeding in south-west Wales, cannot attract industries further west along the M4, and must be strengthened if we are to save our economy?

Some of the projects are in west Glamorgan. WlNvest is well aware of the needs of west Wales. Twenty-one per cent. of the companies which first visited Wales in 1985 to look at possible locations have been taken to west Glamorgan. Since the changes in the assisted areas boundaries, the attraction of the M4 sites has undoubtedly moved westwards, and the Baglan industrial park is now proving an attractive location for incoming projects. The hon. Gentleman will also be aware that the agency is collaborating with University college, Swansea, in the development of the innovation centre on the Singleton campus—an extremely imaginative and exciting project.

There are 25,000 west Glamorgan people out of work, and my hon. Friend the Member for Swansea, East (Mr. Anderson) has mentioned the 270 Ystradgynlais job losses, which are a major, severe, and very worrying blow to the Swansea valley. The right hon. Gentleman has been complacent this afternoon. Will he tell us whether the people of Ystradgynlais and west Glamorgan can look forward to new jobs in the near future?

I am not being in the least complacent. I am telling the House of the practical steps that have been taken. The hon. Gentleman can point to closures, just as we can point to substantial new investment by 3M, among other very advanced and long-established companies. It was good news for the area that the Government and the company were able to introduce new plans for Borg Warner's site at Kenfig, which we previously thought would be lost to us. Therefore, there is a good deal of new investment going into the area.

asked the Secretary of State for Wales how many people are unemployed (a) in Wales and (b) in Clwyd; by how much these figures have increased since May 1979 as a total and as a percentage; and how many in each case are long-term unemployed as a total and as a percentage.

On 14 November 1985 there were 180,853 unemployed claimants in Wales, an increase of 103,653, or 134·3 per cent., since May 1979. On 7 November there were 24,854 unemployed claimants in Clwyd. A comparable claimant-based figure for May 1979 for Clwyd is not available.

The county of Gwynedd has wretched dole figures, with, for example, about 5,000 jobless in Anglesey. Why does the right hon. Gentleman not ensure that the Conwy river tunnel is built at a faster rate so that a completed expressway can bring more jobs to north-west Wales?

We shall shortly go out to tender on the massive scheme for the Conwy crossing. I am grateful to the hon. Gentleman for drawing attention to the project and the very heavy expenditure by the Government on the A55.

Can my right hon. Friend explain to the House, and perhaps to others, why the Opposition think that a policy of higher borrowing, higher taxation and higher inflation should lead to higher employment?

Because they never learn from their previous disastrous experience.

Does the Secretary of State not feel any concern about the fact that we have lost 11,000 jobs in coalmining in south Wales since 1979, when the Conservative party came to office? Is he aware that, under the NCB's enterprise scheme, we are promised only 700 jobs in south Wales? Is he further aware that my constituency still has the highest male unemployment rate in the whole of Wales? Can he tell me, so that I can tell people, where the rest of the jobs are coming from?

Of course I am concerned, as I am sure the Labour Government were concerned in the period when they closed many more pits than the Government have closed. I am sure the hon. Lady will welcome the fact that the unemployment figure has come down in successive months and that, although the figure is still too high, there are signs that perhaps it is levelling off or even beginning to fall a small amount.

Does my right hon. Friend agree that last month's fall of 1,881 in the Welsh jobless will be welcomed by all responsible people because it was a fall for the third successive month in a row? The figures are confirmed by the seasonal adjustment showing the trend of unemployment. Does my right hon. Friend share my lack of surprise at the absence of welcome for this from the Opposition?

Of course we must continue to be concerned about high unemployment, but, as I have pointed out, we have taken a massive series of measures to improve the infrastructure and employment prospects in Wales. I share my hon. Friend's hope that the small downturn that is shown in the figures is an omen for the future.

Does the Secretary of State have a Christmas message of hope for the youngsters aged between 18 and 25 in Wales who are currently unemployed? Is there a ray of hope that some of them will find employment in 1986?

Undoubtedly the two-year training programme launched by the Government, the greatly improved training provision and the other measures specifically taken to help young people are beginning to have an effect. The measures announced by my right hon. Friend the Chancellor in the Budget are also beginning to have an effect. The Government have launched many significant initiatives to help those people to whom the hon. Gentleman refers.

asked the Secretary of State for Wales if he will make a statement on prospects for the Welsh economy in the light of the recent enterprise and employment measures announced by the Government.

Against the present background of sustained growth and falling inflation in the national economy the prospects for Wales are more encouraging than for some years. The Government's measures to encourage and support enterprise and to help the unemployed will ensure that all sections of the economy and community can contribute to and benefit from the opportunities now being created.

I congratulate my right hon. Friend on the introduction of the the Government's imaginative measures. They are much more imaginative than anything that the Labour party has ever proposed, let alone done. Will my right hon. Friend confirm that the £2·5 million increase in financial support for local enterprise agencies in England will be matched in Wales? Will he tell us how much of the increased funds made available to the British Tourist Authority will be used for the overseas promotion of Wales? When will the two six-month pilot schemes to help the long-term unemployed find work be extended to the rest of Wales, assuming they prove effective?

We shall be monitoring the pilot schemes in Port Talbot and Neath and the other pilot schemes very closely. Obviously, if they prove successful, we shall wish to extend them. Tourism has been the subject of detailed cross-examination by the Select Committee. I believe that my hon. Friend is to give evidence again on that, so I shall leave that point, although the British Tourist Authority has said in a memorandum to the Committee that an estimated 10 per cent. of its total budget relates to the promotion of Wales overseas. As for enterprise agencies, in Wales we have an established system of providing support through the Welsh Development Agency, through the development board and through the urban programme. The level of central funding in Wales compares favourably with that in England, and I am continuing to review the progress of the enterprise trusts in Wales and will announce my spending plans in the normal way.

If the Chancellor of the Exchequer is saying that Britain is booming, will the Secretary of State say where the boom is in Merthyr and Rhymney?

I do not think that I have used the word boom. I have said, and it is undoubtedly true, that for some years we have seen sustained economic growth. That is an absolutely essential precursor if we are to deal with the problems of areas such as Merthyr. The measures taken by the Government to build a road link from the M4 to Merthyr, and schemes started and completed by the Government will probably do more for Merthyr than any other single measure.

Is it not a fact that, whereas the Labour party, during its term of office, turned its back on the plight of the long-term unemployed, this Government have taken unprecedented measures to help the long-term unemployed, in the enterprise allowance scheme, in the community programme, and now in the job start scheme? Is it not a fact that the Christmas message that my right hon. Friend can give to the people is that, because of the schemes introduced by the Government, there is a realistic prospect that many of them will have assistance, when otherwise they might have been faced with the prospect of never working again?

I am sure that my hon. Friend is right to draw attention to the importance of those schemes, particularly the community programme. The pilot scheme that has been referred to is also specifically addressed to the needs of those people.

Despite the distortion of facts by the Secretary of State, can he explain why, in the Ogmore constituency in 1979, unemployment was 3·7 per cent. and is now 18 per cent.? In Maesteg, male unemployment is now 24 per cent., but will escalate to 40 per cent., as 800 people have been made redundant by the closure of a colliery there. In addition, only last night the Garw colliery closed, which employed 600 miners. That will raise the percentage of unemployment in Ogmore. What positive action will the right hon. Gentleman take, despite the comments by the hon. Member for Ynys Môon (Mr. Best).

Perhaps it has something to do with the fact that those people have a Member of Parliament who always encourages strikes, who always promotes anything likely to destroy jobs, and who has never in his life taken a single step ever to create a single job.

Since the Secretary of State took time off in his constituency last week to attack the report of the Archbishop of Canterbury—"Faith in the City"—does he accept that the same condemnations of the immorality of his right hon. Friend the Prime Minister apply to his tenure of office as Secretary of State for Wales?

If the hon. Gentleman had taken the trouble to read that speech, he would have seen that I was careful not to attack it in those terms, but to answer the economic case that was advanced. I understand—and, indeed, proclaim the Church's right to do so—that the Church has advanced an economic and political argument. When the Church does so, we are entitled to meet that case with economic and political rebuttal.

The right hon. Gentleman carelessly talked of sustained economic growth in Wales. May I remind him of the 7,000 jobless people in his constituency and the 20,000 jobless people in his county of Dyfed? When will the people in his constituency have the prospect of real jobs, as over the past six years he has boasted of real economic growth? Is he not the apologist in Cabinet for policies that destroy jobs in his constituency?

No. I did not use the words carelessly. I am happy to repeat the words "sustained economic growth", which is laying the foundation for improved job prospects, just as I am pleased that I have been able to carry out probably the greatest programme of infrastructure improvement and road building for the benefit of my constituents that any Minister has ever carried out, and to set up there an enterprise zone that is already beginning to produce results. I am concerned with taking practical measures to help instead of taking the measures that produced the hyperinflation and the unemployment problem that we inherited.

asked the Secretary of State for Wales if he will make a statement on the current level of resources devoted to the National Health Service in Wales, and in Pembrokeshire in particular.

The latest estimate of expenditure on the National Health Service in Wales in the financial year 1985–86 is £911·8 million. Funds totalling almost £17 million are available to Pembrokeshire health authority for current and capital expenditure in 1985–86. In addition, the authority has received a loan of £418,000 to institute an energy saving scheme at Withybush hospital.

Is the Minister aware that I have received representations from all parts of the Principality complaining about cuts and the unacceptable level of service in the NHS in Wales? When he replies, will he not give misleading, irrelevant and tendentious statistics purporting to show that there has been real growth in the NHS, when the truth is that there have been unacceptable cuts, that wards and hospitals have closed and that some vital health services are not available to the people of Wales? May I ask the Minister this one question—

Order. In fairness to others—

Can I ask one question?

Order. I think that is unfair, because I hope to call others.

Will he write to—

Order. Only one question at a time.

Very briefly, Mr. Speaker.

Order. Not even very briefly.

I remind the hon. Gentleman that I said a few minutes ago that overall expenditure on the NHS in Wales had increased by 21·25 per cent. The Government have presided over the biggest hospital building programme in Welsh history.

Does the Minister agree that the reason why Mid Glamorgan health authority has proposed the closure of hospitals, including Pontypridd district hospital, is that the formula for revenue does not reflect the morbidity rates and social deprivation of Mid Glamorgan? The Attorney-General has given a moving account of the National Health Service at St. George's hospital. Will the Minister ensure that my constituents have as good a chance of decent hospital services as those who attend St. George's hospital?

The hon. Gentleman will be aware of the formula upon which we calculate the allocations for health authorities. A change in the formula would benefit some health authorities but be to the disadvantage of others.