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Mr. Wakeham : I agree this far with the hon. Lady--that there is a continuing need for greater energy efficiency. We estimate that about 20 per cent. of all the energy used in this country is wasted. However, we have made some progress. During the last 10 years gross domestic product has increased by 25 per cent. while our energy consumption has remained virtually unchanged. Both commercial and domestic energy efficiency are important. That is why the Government have introduced a home energy efficiency scheme. Grants are provided for basic insulation measures and advice is available for low-income households. We have built on the success of the community insulation project that led to the insulation of about 850,000 low-income homes.
THE ARTS
Welsh National Opera
28. Mr. Maclennan : To ask the Minister for the Arts what representations he has received on its financial position from Welsh National Opera.
33. Mr. Michael : To ask the Minister for the Arts what representations he has received about the future funding of the Welsh National Opera.
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The Minister for the Arts (Mr. Tim Renton) : I have received a large number of representations on behalf of Welsh National Opera. Helpful discussions have taken place between the Arts Council of Great Britain, the Welsh Arts Council and the Welsh National Opera, together with a further detailed review of the company's financial position and planned touring commitments in England. I am informed that at its meeting on 30 January the Arts Council of Great Britain will consider a recommended increase in its grant to the Welsh National Opera of between £200,000 and £300,000 in 1991-92 and the two subsequent years.
Mr. Maclennan : Although I recognise that enhancement fund expenditure is primarily a matter for the Arts Council, does the Minister accept that when it was set up it was recognised that Ministers would be interested in how the money was spent? The Welsh National Opera's quality is appreciated far beyond the bounds of the Principality and particularly in the midlands, where its excellence is widely acknowledged. Would the Minister regard it as an infringement of the arm's-length principle if he were to add his personal approval of the Welsh National Opera's work? Is he happy about the progress of the discussions to which he alluded? I was pleased to hear that a substantial increase in the WNO's grant is being considered.
Mr. Renton : Yes, of course I am delighted to endorse the artistic quality, repertoire and singing of the Welsh National Opera. I approve and endorse the general criteria under which allocations are made from the enhancement fund. However, the individual allocations are traditionally an Arts Council responsibility. The hon. Gentleman may have forgotten that the Welsh National Opera received £175,000 from the Welsh Arts Council's part of the enhancement fund. At the Art Council's meeting next Wednesday a decision will be taken on whether to increase further the Welsh National Opera's touring grant.
Mr. Michael : I welcome the Minister's positive response and also the endorsement of the Welsh National Opera by Scotland as well as by England. Does the Minister agree that it is important that the limited budget available to the Welsh Arts Council for other aspects of the arts in Wales should not be eroded to meet the Welsh National Opera's shortfall? Does he also agree that we hope his answer means that there will be a positive outcome for the Welsh National Opera without any such erosion, which would threaten the other arts in Wales?
Mr. Renton : I do not want the other arts in Wales to be threatened. The Welsh Arts Council received about £750,000 from the enhancement fund. If it has decided that part of that money should be given to WNO, essentially for its work in Wales, that is a perfectly proper decision for it to take. I remind the hon. Gentleman that WNO is receiving a general increase of more than 8 per cent. in its grant for the year ahead and a 11.5 per cent. increase in its touring grant--in addition to the sum that the Arts Council will consider this Wednesday. On that basis, the hon. Gentleman, who has campaigned actively on this matter, should not cry foul too often.
Mr. Cormack : I thank my right hon. Friend for his remarks. Will he convey the views that have been expressed this afternoon to the chairman of the Arts Council and tell him that there would be widespread
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disappointment not only in the Principality but throughout this country if this excellent company had to close? We all expect-- [Interruption] --or at least, most outside Hayes and Harlington expect, the Arts Council to do the right thing on Wednesday.Mr. Renton : I thank my hon. Friend for his support, which does not surprise me. I understand what he means about the widespread support for the WNO. Even the hon. Member for Bolsover (Mr. Skinner), who is not in his seat today, put his name to an early-day motion confirming, I think, "the brilliance of the singing and repertoire of the WNO". That shows that, although that Bench below the Gangway is empty this afternoon, the WNO's message has reached far in the land.
Mr. Dicks : Many people in this country will still wonder why this subsidy from public funds is going to these organisations, wonderful though they may be. Will he tell the people of this country that he is thinking twice about the amount of money that is given to the arts from public funds --an amount that is increased per annum?
Mr. Renton : I thank my hon. Friend for his comments. Perhaps he might like to get in touch with the hon. Member for Cardiff, South and Penarth (Mr. Michael) and have a good discussion on the subject. Generally, I am told that not enough money is being given to the arts. In successive public expenditure rounds, both my predecessors managed to obtain settlements in excess of the rate of inflation.
Mr. Renton : As in opera, it is always helpful to have someone crying "Shame" from the gallery. It reminds one that there is another voice.
Mr. Fisher : I welcome the Minister's statement, which appears to resolve the Welsh National Opera crisis--that should never have been allowed to happen in the first place--and his assurance that that money will not be given at the expense of other Welsh Arts Council clients. But will he explain, first, whether his office will contribute money directly to the settlement and, secondly, whether the other companies that received a cash standstill budget or a cut of 9 per cent. in real terms--the Bristol Old Vic, the Lyric, Hammersmith, the Black Theatre Forum, the Three Choirs festival, the Eastern Orchestral Board, the Liverpool Playhouse and the Everyman theatre--will receive the same just settlement as Welsh National Opera?
Mr. Renton : I suggest that the hon. Gentleman reads an article written by Ian Brown, the drama director of the Arts Council, in last week's edition of The Stage. It is headed, "Keep Calm in a Crisis"--a message that the hon. Member might learn to advantage. He says that it is not the Arts Council's job to come to the rescue willy-nilly of every provincial theatre that gets into trouble, no matter whether it has put on the right programme for its customers or whether it is receiving local authority support. That message must be taken on board throughout the country. The settlement to WNO does not mean any direct money from my office.
I disagree with the hon. Gentleman's comment that this should never have happened in the first place. The Arts Council, rightly, has again crawled over the touring plans
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of WNO and has reached the conclusion that it should try to make a little more money available--a lot more money available--if that is what its council agrees on Wednesday.Arts Funding, Scotland
29. Dr. Godman : To ask the Minister for the Arts when he last met members of the Scottish Arts Council to discuss funding for the arts.
Mr. Renton : I had a meeting with the chairman of the Scottish Arts Council, Sir Alan Peacock, on 11 December.
Dr. Godman : My question concerns a subject which was close to the heart of my late dear friend Norman Buchan. Will the Minister discuss with the Secretary of State for Scotland how public-sector support might be provided in respect of those crafts that will be denied support from the "Design by Scotland" agency which is to be set up in April? It should be pointed out that, south of the border, support is provided in respect of identical crafts. All that I seek is parity of support for Scots craftsmen and craftswomen.
Mr. Renton : I am very interested in which the hon. Gentleman has just said. Indeed, if he feels that crafts in Scotland are not being supported where comparable crafts in England are, and if he writes to me giving the details--and provides my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Scotland with a copy of his letter--I shall be very happy to look into the problem with a view to finding out the reason for it.
Dr. Blackburn : Will my right hon. Friend, particularly in the context of these questions, reflect on a most important issue? I refer to the rolling programme of funding that was introduced by his predecessor, which received the full acclamation of the arts world. I hope that my right hon. Friend shares my view that ministerial intervention in the funding of the arts would be quite wrong, particularly in Scotland.
Mr. Renton : I am not quite sure whether my hon. Friend means that as a rebuke. He is such a kindly man that I think it hardly likely. Like him, I was, of course, delighted when my predecessor set up the rolling programme. One of the difficulties is that some of our clients do not think that the inflation expectation is realistic. Certainly the rolling programme is set in concrete for the time being, and it would be quite wrong for me to try to disturb it.
CIVIL SERVICE
Ethnic Monitoring
38. Mr. Janner : To ask the Minister for the Civil Service whether he will make a statement regarding the progress of his Department's ethnic monitoring policy.
The Minister of State, Privy Council Office (Mr. Tim Renton) : All Departments and agencies, including my own Department, are implementing the programme for action on race, which incorporates ethnic monitoring.
Mr. Janner : Does the Minister agree, as his predecessor so clearly did, that it is unacceptable that so few people from ethnic minorities reach the higher echelons of the civil service? Will he please undertake, as his predecessor
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so rightly did, to make the most energetic efforts to ensure that the policy is not just something on paper--but that it is implemented?Mr. Renton : This matter is very close to the heart of the hon. and learned Gentleman. It is true that black and Asian people are under- represented at senior level across the civil service, including my own Department. We wish to increase equality of opportunity, but, as the hon. and learned Gentleman will agree, it is most important that those who reach the higher grade should do so on the basis of merit and not because of their sex or their ethnic background. We hope that, by virtue of the programme of action that we published recently, every Department will have been reminded of the need to give ethnic minorities every possible opportunity to reach the higher grades if that is what they merit.
Mr. Soames : Is my right hon. Friend aware that in the United States of America positive discrimination of the kind advocated by the hon. and learned Member for Leicester, West (Mr. Janner) has proved to be a total disaster? Does he agree that it would be quite improper, and totally against the interests of the very high-quality civil service that we have in this country, to allow promotion on any basis other than merit?
Mr. Renton : I hesitate to come between my hon. Friend, who is also a Sussex neighbour, and the hon. and learned Member for Leicester, West (Mr. Janner). Of course, my hon. Friend is right in suggesting that positive discrimination in favour of people of a particular colour or sex would be wrong. What we seek to achieve is equality of opportunity--in simple terms, that the best available person, regardless of skin colour or sex, should get to the top.
Terrorism
40. Mr. Dalyell : To ask the Minister for the Civil Service what representations he has had from the civil service trade unions about the problems posed by potential terrorism originating in the middle east for civil service installations in Britain.
Mr. Dalyell : What extra money has been allocated for the defence of such installations? What help will be given to airlines? Some are reeling from the change in the number of passengers they carry, to the extent that they have had to cut back on the orange juice and second cups of tea and coffee that they give passengers for breakfast. That is the position of the airlines and it has been graphically illustrated.
Mr. Renton : I do not think that questions about the number of orange juices or cups of coffee comes under the province of my Department in any sense. Mine is a strange Department--a duet between the civil service and the arts--but it is not as strange as that. If the hon. Gentleman wishes to ask about the costs of the installations, he must refer such questions to either my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Defence or my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for the Environment, who will make a statement in a few minutes.
Mr. Peter Bottomley : Does my right hon. Friend agree that it would be more convenient for the civil service,
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unions and Ministers if people did not drop chemicals on the Kurds, did not go to war with Iran, at a cost of 1 million Muslim lives, and did not start taking over other independent states such as Kuwait?Mr. Renton : Although that is not within the province of my Department, I can without hesitation say yes to all my hon. Friend's propositions.
Dr. Godman : Installations in Scotland require the same protection as that given in England and Wales. I do not make this point out of parochialism. I remind the right hon. Gentleman that the appallingly dreadful terrorist organisation, the Irish Republican Army, does not carry out terrorist activities in Scotland ; hence some installations there may be regarded as soft targets.
Mr. Renton : I listen with great care to the hon. Gentleman. Precautions are in place to protect civil servants, no matter where they are based in the United Kingdom, against the current threat of terrorist attack. That applies whether they are in Scotland or in England or whether the terrorist attacks are by the IRA or by other organisations.
Executive Agencies
41. Mr. Hind : To ask the Minister for the Civil Service if he has any plans to create more "next steps" agencies ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Renton : The "next steps" initiative continues to make excellent progress ; 34 agencies have now been established, and we expect that number to rise to 50 by this summer. By the end of the year we expect "next steps" will apply to about half the civil service.
Mr. Hind : My right hon. Friend has made great efforts to achieve this progress, whereby half the civil service will be involved in "next steps" agencies. That is welcome. Most Conservative Members would welcome management of Government services according to private sector discipline. Does my right hon. Friend recognise that it is important that many of these agencies are placed in parts of the country other than the south-east, particularly in areas where unemployment is high? Will he do all that he can to achieve that target?
Mr. Renton : I thank my hon. Friend for his opening remarks and I fully agree with the second half of his comments. We have a vigorous programme for relocating civil service departments, whether they are moving into agencies or not, in other parts of the country. I was involved in that when I was a Home Office Minister and I shall aim for its continuation while I have my present responsibilities.
Dr. Marek : When I asked the Minister a question three weeks ago, he answered me courteously, but he answered a completely different question. I ask the right hon. Gentleman to concentrate his mind and to let the House know whether he will meet representatives of the civil service unions to discuss the morale and finance problems in the present lacklustre housing market of civil servants who have been compulsorarily relocated because these "next steps" agencies have been set up.
Mr. Renton : If the hon. Member for Nottingham, North (Mr. Allen) had turned up this afternoon, I would
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have specifically answered that question. Of course, I should be delighted to meet leaders of the civil service trade unions at the appropriate time if they wish to see me. I have already met certain representatives of the Institution of Professionals, Managers and Specialists. I shall continue to meet such representatives at the appropriate moments when we have something to discuss.42. Mr. Butler : To ask the Minister for the Civil Service if he will make a statement on progress under the Government's "next steps" agencies initiative.
Mr. Renton : I refer my hon. Friend to the answer that I gave to my hon. Friend the Member for Lancashire, West (Mr. Hind).
Mr. Butler : Will any of the "next steps" agencies be relocated to Warrington or Runcorn?
Mr. Renton : At this stage, I can tell my hon. Friend only that the Liverpool passport office is trying out team-working arrangements which may lead to an increase in the number of staff at that office, that the resettlement agency, working with Knowsley council, is developing alternative hostel facilities and that Companies House has opened a satellite office in Manchester. All those developments are very close to the area in which my hon. Friend is interested and I hope that there will be further developments.
Mr. Campbell-Savours : Would not "next steps" status be better for the transport section of the Crown Suppliers? Will the Minister assure me that that section will not be sold to a civil servant who has been the subject of a full
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investigation by the Crown Suppliers and who has been found to have committed three disciplinary offences? Can the right hon. Gentleman assure me that that person will not be allowed to buy the transport section of the Crown Suppliers?Mr. Renton : If the hon. Gentleman cares to write to me about the matter, I shall see that it is looked into in great detail.
Mr. Ian Bruce : Will my right hon. Friend examine carefully all the agencies that we now have in south Dorset ? The Admiralty research establishment is to go into the defence research agency. He should also consider the Atomic Energy Authority, the dockyards and various other developments. Will my right hon. Friend try to ensure that if the organisations are passed over to individual managements, care is taken to ensure that they do not all decide at the same time to relocate 8,000 jobs in two years from the very small Weymouth and Portsmouth area? I should be most grateful if my right hon. Friend would examine that matter carefully.
Mr. Renton : I fully understand my hon. Friend's point, and it is a good point. Naturally, he does not want a lot of employment to move out of his area quickly and all in one go. In my experience, relocation in the civil service does not exactly happen overnight. It happens over a great many years, allowing plenty of time for the local Member of Parliament to make full representations about the effect of relocation on his constituency. I hope that, with his customary assiduity, my hon. Friend would do that if there were any likelihood of all the civil service departments or agencies moving in one go.
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