Multimedia Mania/abacus-multimedia-mania.iso/dp/0050/00500.txt

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$Unique_ID{bob00500}
$Pretitle{}
$Title{United Kingdom
Education and Social Welfare}
$Subtitle{}
$Author{Embassy of the United Kingdom, Washington DC}
$Affiliation{Embassy of the United Kingdom, Washington DC}
$Subject{wales
welsh
national
health
education
care
cardiff
per
local
authorities}
$Date{1990}
$Log{}
Title:       United Kingdom
Book:        Wales
Author:      Embassy of the United Kingdom, Washington DC
Affiliation: Embassy of the United Kingdom, Washington DC
Date:        1990

Education and Social Welfare

     Public provision is made in Wales, as in the rest of Britain, for
education at all levels and for a wide range of health and personal social
services and social security benefits.

Education

     Overall responsibility for education in Wales (apart from matters
relating to the university, the pay and conditions of service of teachers and
student grants) rests with the Welsh Office and is administered by eight local
education authorities. In 1987 there were 250,000 pupils in the primary
schools of Wales and 210,000 in the secondary schools. The average numbers
of pupils per teacher were 22.1 and 15.9 respectively.

     While the education system in Wales and England are very similar, a
significant difference is that the Welsh and English languages are both used
as media of instruction in a number of Welsh schools. Most of these are in
the traditionally Welsh-speaking, largely rural areas. However, designated
bilingual schools continue to be established in the anglicised, mainly
industrial areas of Wales to cater for children whose parents wish them to be
educated through the medium of both languages.

     Expenditure on schools in 1989-90 is projected to be over 650 million
Pounds, 8 per cent more than in 1988-89, and includes provision to meet the
staged introduction between 1989 and 1996 of a national curriculum in
maintained schools under the Education Reform Act 1988. Welsh will be one of
four core subjects in Welsh-speaking schools, together with English,
mathematics and science, and will be one of the foundation subjects elsewhere
in Wales, along with history, geography, technology, music, art, physical
education, and - for secondary school pupils - a modern foreign language.

     A Curriculum Council for Wales has been established, to act as an
advisory and development body. The wide-ranging measures introduced by the
Act also include provision for the regular assessment of pupils' performance.
Specific grants will be paid to local authorities in support of the
development of core subjects in the curriculum, the establishment of local
management for schools, governor training and the in-service training of
teachers. Under the Act secondary as well as larger primary schools are given
responsibility for managing the major part of their budgets, including
staffing costs, in addition to the option to withdraw from local authority
control.

     The Act also encourages teachers and pupils to have a closer association
with industry and commerce. This will build on developments already pioneered
under the Government's Technical and Vocational Education Initiative, which
aims to make the curriculum more practical and relevant to the world of work,
developing, for example, business skills and the use of information
technology.

     All school-leavers aged 16 or 17 not wishing to go on to further or
higher education or directly into employment are now offered one-year or
two-year training placements in industry under the Government's Youth Training
Scheme. In 1987-88 some 19,080 young people entered the scheme in Wales.

     There were some 90,400 enrolments at 41 further education colleges and
non-university higher education institutions in 1986-87, as well as 22,700
students at the University of Wales, which has six constituent colleges
(University College of Wales, Aberystwyth; University College of North Wales,
Bangor; University of Wales College of Cardiff, which amalgamated with the
University of Wales Institute of Science and Technology, Cardiff in 1988;
University College of Swansea; University of Wales College of Medicine,
Cardiff; and St David's University College, Lampeter).

     The Education Reform Act introduced changes to the funding arrangements
of universities and to the management of local authority further and higher
education colleges, which should assist institutions to become more flexible
and more responsive to the economic and social needs of the country. Although
local authorities will remain responsible for the funding of their further
and higher education colleges, the management of the colleges will be
delegated to governing bodies on which governors representing employment
interests will predominate. The University Grants Committee has been replaced
by a Universities Funding Council with executive powers to allocate funds to
individual universities and to the university colleges in Wales. A statutory
Welsh Committee of the Council has been established to ensure that Welsh
issues are taken into account and to provide a channel for liaison with the
local authority higher education sector.

     The Government's LINK programme is encouraging industry to undertake
joint research with higher education institutions (see p 11), and science
parks were established at Aberystwyth and the North East Wales Institute
of Higher Education (Deeside) in 1985 and at Bangor and Swansea in 1986. They
provide single managed sites linked to the university or institution for
groupings of high technology companies, facilitating the commercial
exploitation of the results of academic research and also helping to revive
the local economy by providing jobs in modern industries. The Government is
encouraging universities and other institutions of higher education to include
an enterprise element in their courses under the Enterprise in Higher
Education Scheme. The Polytechnic of Wales was one of 11 institutions in
Britain chosen to take part in the first phase of this scheme.

Health

     The National Health Service in Wales is provided through the Welsh
Office, which has a general strategic planning responsibility, and by nine
district health authorities. The services are designed to promote improvement
in the health of people through the prevention, diagnosis and treatment of
illness. Provision is being made to meet the increasing requirement for health
care of the growing number of elderly people, to introduce new treatments and
to provide community care for those not needing continuing hospital care.
Increasing emphasis is being given to the promotion of good health and the
extension of preventive measures, for example to combat such problems as
coronary heart disease, cancer, AIDS and the misuse of drugs and alcohol. A
special health authority has been established to develop this work.

     Expenditure on the National Health Service in Wales has risen by almost
45 per cent in real terms over the last decade, This has been complemented by
improved efficiency and management: in the period 1985-86 to 1987-88
cumulative efficiency savings by the district health authorities amounted to
34.6 million Pounds. In 1988-89 a total of 1,479 million Pounds was spent on
health services, of which over 916 million Pounds was on hospital and
community health services. Six major hospital developments will have been
completed during the 1980s.

     Some 3,000 staff are contracted to work for the family practitioner
services, of whom nearly 1,770 are general medical practitioners. The average
number of patients on each doctor's list is around 1,850 (the average for
Britain is about 2,020). An increasing proportion of family doctors work in
modern, well-equipped health centres, where they form part of a medical and
nursing team; dental, social work and other services may also be provided in
the centres.

     There have been substantial increases in the number of primary health
care staff in recent years, and the rate of increase has generally been higher
than that in England. For example, the number of dentists rose by 27 per cent
between 1979 and 1987 (compared with 22 per cent in England). The number of
family doctors in Wales increased by 19 per cent (17 per cent in England), and
the number of opticians by 17 per cent (11 per cent in England). All Welsh
district health authorities are now running a computerised call and recall
service for cervical screening and a breast screening service is being
introduced.

     The health of the population in Wales is continuing to improve. Perinatal
mortality fell from 15.6 per 1,000 births in 1979 to 8.3 per 1,000 in 1988,
and infant mortality fell from 12.4 per 1,000 live births to 7.6 per 1,000
over the same period. By 1986 life expectancy for both men and women had
increased by two years compared with 1979 (to 71 and 77 years respectively).
The prevalence of cigarette smoking has fallen more rapidly in Wales than in
most other parts of Great Britain, with a reduction from 46 per cent of people
aged 16 or over in 1974 to 31 per cent in 1986, compared with a national
average of 33 per cent.

     As part of the Valleys programme announced in 1988 (see p 12), further
government investment has been made in hospitals, health centres and in
schemes to assist the elderly and to improve primary health care, ante-natal
care, and the treatment of patients with heart problems in the south Wales
valleys.

     Following a wide-ranging internal review of the National Health Service
in 1988, the Government has announced proposals for a major programme of
reform, designed to offer patients more choice, high standards and better
quality. Under the proposals, the National Health Service would continue to be
open to all regardless of income, but there would be greater delegation of
decision-making and financial responsibility to hospitals and general
practices at local level.

Personal Social Services

     The personal social services are administered and funded mainly by local
authorities, and provide advice, care and support for the most vulnerable
members of the community. The demand for personal social services is expected
to rise over the next few years, owing to the increasing number of elderly
people and the changing pattern of care for people with a mental handicap,
those suffering from mental illness, and those who are chronically sick.

     The Government's policy, under its general programme 'Care in the
Community', is that care for vulnerable groups should be provided as far as
possible in the community rather than in large institutions. The Welsh Office
has published a framework for the development of a comprehensive range of
services for people with a mental handicap to enable them to lead independent
lives, in normal surroundings, in their own communities. In order to help
develop these facilities, the Welsh Office is providing direct financial
support to health and social services authorities (in addition to their own
resources) and to voluntary organisations. For 1989-90 a sum of 18.7 million
Pounds has been allocated, an increase of nearly 5 million Pounds on the
previous financial year. Similarly, new patterns of community-based care are
being promoted for mentally ill people, who would otherwise be dependent
on institutional care. Levels of Welsh Office funding will be decided in the
light of plans being jointly developed by local health, social service and
voluntary agencies.

     Expenditure on personal social services by local authorities in Wales
was about 152.7 million Pounds in 1988-89, with the greatest proportion being
allocated to residential and domiciliary care for elderly people. Expenditure
in 1989-90 will be nearly 15 per cent higher in order to help to meet the
increased need to care for elderly people in the community. Under the Welsh
Office's Elderly Initiative Grant scheme, demonstration projects aimed at
stimulating developments in the provision of care for elderly people are
being funded for up to five years. One such project is the Rhuddlan Elderly
Mentally Ill Team, Clwyd, which aims to provide a flexible home-based pattern
of care for elderly people who are mentally ill or infirm.

     Local authorities also make provision for services for children and young
people, people with physical disabilities, for those suffering from mental
illness, and for people with a mental handicap. The voluntary sector makes
an important contribution in, for example, the day care of pre-school
children, and the private sector is providing a growing number of places in
residential care homes, mainly for the elderly.

     Local authorities also have important responsibilities for the care and
protection of children and young people. With the benefit of direct government
grant, local authorities are increasing training programmes for social workers
and others caring for children at risk. Generally, local authorities'
child-care policies give priority to maintaining children within their own
families or, where necessary, providing family care within the community. Some
children are cared for in residential homes, but these numbers are decreasing.

Culture and Recreation

The Arts

     There is much cultural activity in Wales, especially in literature, drama
and music. Two of the major annual professional arts festivals are held at
Swansea and Llandaff (Cardiff), and numerous amateur festivals, known as
eisteddfodau, are held regularly. As an institution, the eisteddfod can be
traced back many centuries, but in its modern form it dates back to the late
nineteenth century when a conscious effort to revive it was made. The
largest of these festivals is the Royal National Eisteddfod of Wales, which
was instituted in 1880 as part of a systematic attempt to preserve Welsh
traditional culture. Competitions in music, singing, prose and poetry take
place, and proceedings are conducted entirely in Welsh. The town of Llangollen
(Clwyd) has extended its eisteddfod to include artists from all over the world
in an annual international folk festival. The Urdd Gobaith Cymru (Welsh League
of Youth) Eisteddfod is the largest youth festival in Europe.

     The founding of the National Library of Wales and the National Museum of
Wales at the beginning of the present century was closely connected with the
revival of the National Eisteddfod. More recently, the promotion of cultural
activities has become the responsibility of the Welsh Arts Council, which
spent 8.8 million Pounds on the arts in 1988-89. Wales is famed for its choral
singing (especially male-voice choirs), and the Welsh National Opera, formed
in 1945 and based in Cardiff, has gained an international reputation.

     The literature of Wales ranges from the folk tales of the Mabinogion and
legends about King Arthur to the work of modern writers in which traditional
influences are often very strong. Noted twentieth-century Anglo-Welsh writers
include W. H. Davies, Richard Llewellyn, Dylan Thomas and R. S. Thomas, while
leading writers in Welsh include T. Gwyn Jones, Sir Thomas Parry-Williams,
Saunders Lewis, Kate Roberts, R. Williams Parry and Sir Thomas Parry.

     Prominent practitioners of other art forms have been the painters Richard
Wilson, Augustus John, Ceri Richards and Kyffin Williams, and numerous famous
performers in the fields of theatre, cinema, light entertainment, music and
opera have included Richard Burton, Emlyn Williams, Margaret Price, Sir
Geraint Evans, Dame Gwyneth Jones, Sir Harry Secombe and Anthony Hopkins.

     Wales is a flourishing centre for crafts, with an increasing number of
people taking an interest in the traditional crafts in wool, such as spinning,
dyeing, knitting and weaving, or in others, such as pottery, woodturning and
toymaking. Many small businesses based on crafts with appeal to tourists have
become established in rural areas. In 1988 the Government launched the Welsh
Craft Initiative, designed to highlight the distinctive identity of Welsh
craft products and to co-ordinate their marketing and promotion.

     The establishment of a fourth television channel, Sianel 4 Cymru (S4C),
which broadcasts most of its programmes in Welsh during peak viewing hours,
and the continued encouragement of the Welsh language (see p 6) have done much
for the development of the arts in the language, with increased opportunities
for writers in Welsh and for Welsh-speaking actors. Cinema-going is also
popular; Cardiff is one of the most active film and television production
centres in Britain, after London, particularly in the field of animation,
where companies like Siroil have a worldwide reputation.

     Government funding of the arts and libraries in Wales amounted to
42 million Pounds in 1988-89, with planned expenditure of 47 million Pounds in
1989-90, which includes an allocation of some 8 million Pounds in grant to the
National Museum for a major art gallery extension. The Museum, in Cardiff, has
a branch at St Fagan's (Cardiff), where the Welsh Folk Museum is housed; it
also has the Industrial and Maritime Museum in Cardiff's dockland, the Museum
of the Woollen Industry at Drefach Felindre (Dyfed) and the Museum of the
North at Llanberis (Gwynedd). The National Library of Wales at Aberystwyth
contains some 2.5 million printed books and is one of six copyright libraries
entitled to claim a copy of most books printed in Britain. It is also an
archive depository, holding a major manuscript collection of both official and
private records relating to Wales.

     Under the Government's Valleys initiative (see p 12), a number of
improved centres for the arts are being provided in the south Wales valleys,
with the refurbishment of existing buildings such as the Parc and Dare Hall at
Treorchy, the Coliseum Theatre, Trecynon, and a number of workmen's halls.
A large project at Ystradgynlais to provide the upper Swansea valley and
south-west Powys with a suitable venue for the performing arts has also been
approved.

Sport

     A wide range of sports and recreational activities, both indoor and
outdoor, are popular in Wales. Levels of participation have been rising,
because of more leisure time, increased provision of leisure facilities and
rising living standards. Much of this increased participation has been in
individual activities, such as jogging, swimming, aerobics and weight
training. In 1987-88 one-third of the population of Wales aged 15 and over
participated in indoor games, 18 per cent took part in outdoor games and 36
per cent in outdoor pursuits. The most popular sporting activities in the
Principality include swimming, walking, jogging, cycling, snooker, football
and badminton.

     Association football is the most widely played team sport, with three
professional clubs playing in the Football League (which covers England and
Wales) and nearly 2,000 amateur clubs. Welsh teams have been particularly
successful at rugby union football, an amateur sport that has come to be
regarded as the Welsh national game. Some of the leading clubs, such as
Cardiff, Swansea, Pontypool and Llanelli, are known throughout the
rugby-playing world; in 1983 the Welsh Rugby Union completed the modernisation
of the National Stadium at Cardiff Arms Park, now the most modern rugby
stadium in Britain.

     More than 50 other sports and games are played in Wales, including
athletics, gymnastics, hockey and cricket. In recent years Wales has produced
two world snooker champions in Terry Griffiths and Ray Reardon, and Janet
Ackland is the current World Bowls Singles Champion. In the 1988 Olympic Games
the Welsh athlete Colin Jackson won a silver medal for Britain in the 110 m
hurdles. Wales competes as a national team in the Commonwealth Games, and in
the 1986 Games in Edinburgh, Welsh competitors won six gold medals, with
Kirsty Wade winning both the women's 800 m and 1,500 m races. Sport for
disabled people has developed rapidly in recent years and Welsh athletes
competed at the Seoul Paralympics in 1988.

     The mountainous area of the Snowdonia National Park in north Wales and
other upland areas, such as the Brecon Beacons, are naturally suited to
outdoor activities, such as hill walking, mountaineering and pony trekking,
and the long coastline gives many opportunities for sea-bathing and sailing.

     Angling (game, coarse and sea) is the most popular outdoor sporting
activity in Wales. The Principality has extensive salmon and sea trout
fisheries, including some famous salmon rivers, such as the Wye, Usk, Teifi,
Conwy and Dee, while the rivers Tywi, Dovey, Mawddach and Dwyfor are equally
well known for the abundance and size of their 'sewin' (sea trout). The main
centres for fishing for non-migratory trout and other freshwater fish are the
lakes and reservoirs.

     The Sports Council for Wales, a government-financed agency, is
responsible for assisting the development of sport in Wales. It aims to
increase participation in sport, to encourage high standards of performance,
to advise on the planning and provision of facilities and to disseminate
information and advice. The Council provides grants to voluntary sports clubs
for capital development, training and competition. In 1986, in a ten-year
strategy for sport in Wales, it identified as a priority three objectives; to
increase participation in sport by concentrating on target groups, such as
young people, women and the unemployed; to provide more local community sports
facilities by adapting existing school facilities; and to improve the supply
of facilities in areas of greatest need.

     The Sports Council for Wales is also responsible for administering the
two national sports centres, the National Sports Centre for Wales (a mainly
indoor centre) in Cardiff, and Plas Menai, near Caernarfon in north Wales,
which is the only national watersports centre in Britain. A third national
centre, the National Centre for Mountain Activities, is operated by the Sports
Council at Plasy Brenin in north Wales. In addition, the British Canoe Union,
through agreement with Welsh Water, manages Canolfan Tryweryn, a National
White Water Canoe Centre at Bala.

     The local authorities are important providers of recreational facilities
for public use. They provide parks, playing fields, swimming pools, indoor
sports halls and tennis courts. Provision has been increasing: in 1972 there
were 11 indoor sports centres in Wales; by 1984 this number had grown to 81;
and in 1989 there are about 123. While many of these facilities are in urban
areas, the Sports Council for Wales has assisted provision in rural areas by
encouraging the use of education facilities and upgrading village halls to
enable them to be used for sport.

     The Welsh Sports Association, which the Sports Council for Wales has a
duty to consult, represents the governing bodies of sport in Wales. The
Association works closely with other bodies with responsibility for sport
and recreation. The Countryside Commission, in addition to its conservation
responsibilities, is concerned with the planning and provision of recreational
facilities in the countryside. The water authorities and the national parks
in Wales also play important roles in the provision of countryside and water
recreation.

Addresses

     Welsh Office, Cathays Park, Cardiff CF1 3NQ; and Gwydyr House, Whitehall,
London SW1A 2ER.

     Cadw: Welsh Historic Monuments, Brunel House, 2 Fitzalan Road, Cardiff
CF2 1UY.

     Cardiff Bay Development Corporation, Baltic House, Mount Stuart Square,
Cardiff CF1 6DH.

     The Development Board for Rural Wales, Ladywell House, Newtown, Powys
SY16 1JB.

     National Library of Wales, Aberystwyth, Dyfed SY23 3BU.

     National Museum of Wales, Cathays Park, Cardiff CF1 3NP.

     Wales Tourist Board, Brunel House, 2 Fitzalan Road, Cardiff CF2 1UY.

     Welsh Arts Council, 9 Museum Place, Cardiff CF1 3NS.

     Welsh Development Agency, Pearl House, Greyfriars Road, Cardiff CF1 3XX.

     Welsh Water, Cambrian Way, Brecon, Powys LD3 7HP.