Answers issued to Members on 24 October 2008

[R] signifies that the Member has declared an interest.
[W] signifies that the question was tabled in Welsh.

Contents

Questions to the Minister for Finance and Public Service Delivery

Questions to the Minister for Environment, Sustainability and Housing

Questions to the Minister for Heritage

Questions to the Minister for Finance and Public Service Delivery

Mohammad Asghar (South Wales East): Will the Minister provide a breakdown detailing the funding allocated by all Welsh Assembly Government Departments to ethnic minority organisations for 2007/08 and 2008/09? (WAQ52624)

The Minister for Finance and Public Service Delivery (Andrew Davies): The table below summarises the information supplied by individual departments on specific direct funding to ethnic minority organisations.

To note that: the 2008-09 Social Justice and Local Government allocation includes £450,000 capital funding to support refuge provision; the Rural Affairs and Heritage Departments do not collect this information.

Eleanor Burnham (North Wales): Does the Welsh Assembly Government have a bank account or investments in any particular financial institutions and, if so, where is the money deposited and on what terms? (WAQ52626)

Andrew Davies: The vast majority of Welsh Assembly Government funds are held by the Government Banking Service (GBS), formerly known as the Office of the Paymaster General, in accounts with the Bank of England. The Assembly Government draws down money monthly for most of its needs, so balances in GBS accounts can go up to £1bn. It is important to stress that we do not hold funds for investment.

The Assembly Government also holds funds with Barclays as the GBS does not yet offer a full range of banking services. These working capital balances held with Barclays are generally around £5m to £7m, but can peak at up to £11m in anticipation of particular expenditure.

Finally, the Assembly Government also operates a number of bank accounts overseas (mostly in the USA) to support our offices and work there. Balances in these accounts would never exceed £100k at any given time.

Questions to the Minister for Environment, Sustainability and Housing

Darren Millar (Clwyd West): Further to WAQ52338 can the information contained in the answer be updated to include the recently published data for 2007-2008? (WAQ52635)

The Minister for Environment, Sustainability and Housing (Jane Davidson): The table for the 2007-08 results is included below. The tables for 2005-06 and 2006-07 are also reproduced below as a mistake was found in the 2005-06 figures in WAQ52338, as described in the footnote below Table 1. Incidents recorded by the Environment Agency have also been added into each table.

Table 1, 2005-06

* Includes Fixed Penalty Notices

**Incidents recorded by the Environment Agency

Note: There was a mistake in the corresponding table in WAQ52338. The number of prosecutions taken in Carmarthenshire CC, Ceredigion CC and City and County of Cardiff were placed in the wrong rows and have now been corrected.

Table 2, 2006-07

* Includes Fixed Penalty Notices

**Incidents recorded by the Environment Agency

Table 3, 2007-08

* Includes Fixed Penalty Notices

**Incidents recorded by the Environment Agency

Questions to the Minister for Heritage

Nick Bourne (Mid and West Wales): Will the Minister give urgent consideration to providing funding to preserve Cwrt Farm in Pembrey? (WAQ52638)

Nick Bourne (Mid and West Wales): What discussions has the Minister had with individuals and interested organisations with regard to preserving Cwrt Farm in Pembrey? (WAQ52639)

Nick Bourne (Mid and West Wales): What requests has the Minister received for funding to preserve Cwrt Farm in Pembrey? (WAQ52640)

The Minister for Heritage (Alun Ffred Jones): I have had no approaches from individuals or interested organisations but Cwrt Farm in Pembrey was visited by my predecessor in November 2006. The Assembly Government, via its historic environment division, Cadw, has given grant of almost £2,000 to Cadw Sir Gaerfyrddin Cyf towards a feasibility study into future uses for the building. I understand that the Friends of Cwrt Farm and Cadw Sir Gaerfyrddin Cyf are working together towards restoration and I am wiling to consider the possibility of further grant assistance, alongside other funding sources such as the Heritage Lottery Fund.