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they would be well equipped to face the future, I hope under a new Government, in an economy that is recovering.10.50 am
The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Energy (Mr. David Heathcoat-Amory) : I am glad that we managed to retrieve this Ajournment debate. I congratulate the hon. Member for Warrington, North (Mr. Hoyle) on the way in which he introduced the debate and his sense of timing in securing it, not too early and not too late in the Session--and, indeed, in this Parliament.
The hon. Gentleman spoke about the regrettable job losses at Risley in his constituency. As he recognised, they came about primarily because British Nuclear Fuels plc has just finished building the thermal oxide reprocessing plant--the so-called THORP. The commissioning stage is still to come, and will take a few months, but already the company has secured about £9 billion-worth of orders for the plant, of which more than half are from overseas. This is a remarkable achievement. It will ensure that THORP generates wealth for the region and the company for many years to come.
BNFL is also past the peak of a major programme of updating and upgrading its waste management and treatment plants at Sellafield. Each element of its nuclear process is being resolved, and solutions are being achieved to the highest environmental standards. So both programmes are somewhat in decline in terms of investment expenditure. The projects were a large task. The large team at Risley has worked on project management, design and procurement for some years.
I join the hon. Member for Warrington, North in paying tribute to the remarkable work that it has done and to the fact that it has finished construction of the plants on time. However, BNFL has concluded that, with the builk of its programme concluded, there is simply not enough work to maintain the present level of employment at its Risley office. Accordingly, the company has offered voluntary severance terms. I hope that there will be no need to move to compulsory redundancy.
The hon. Member for Warrington, North spoke about apprentices and the position of some ex-apprentices who are now on fixed-term contracts. I understand the hon. Gentleman's anxieties, but the bulk of the people involved were offered permanent jobs at the Sellafield site on completion of their apprenticeships. Most of them chose to remain at Risley on fixed- term contracts, knowing that those contracts might not be renewed. BNFL has made it clear that it will assist those people in the pursuit of alternative employment, both within the company and outside. The apprentices have gained substantial training and work experience with the firm, which should stand them in good stead in whatever career or alternative employment they may pursue. However, I undertake to pass on the hon. Gentleman's particular points to the company.
The company has told me that it will give sympathetic consideration to providing additional work experience within the company for the apprentices who may finish this summer. I shall be in touch again with BNFL to ensure that it is aware of the contents of today's debate. I emphasise that such matters are for the management of the company. It is for it to decide, not Ministers. It would be
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wrong for us to prevent management from managing and put rigid barriers in the way of releasing staff who are no longer required.Mr. Robert N. Wareing (Liverpool, West Derby) : I speak as a constituent of my hon. Friend the Member for Warrington, North (Mr. Hoyle), and I am pleased that he has raised this issue. I know what will be the impact in the community of job losses at BNFL. The Minister takes the usual line that we have heard for the past 13 years : he says that a commercial decision must be taken by management. But has the Minister attempted to estimate the social cost to his Department and the Department of Social Security of the redundancies that will occur in the Warrington area? If he has not, he is abdicating some responsibility.
Mr. Heathcoat-Amory : Of course, there is always a cost associated with redundancy, but there would also be a cost associated with any decision by the Government to interfere with the commercial management of a company such as BNFL. Future wealth, prosperity and employment in the region depend very much on the success of the company in future, and in particular of its major asset, THORP. That success would be put at risk if we interfered in commercial management decisions of the company.
Sir Robin Maxwell-Hyslop (Tiverton) : May I at this point say how glad I am that it is my hon. Friend who is replying to this debate, because 31ears ago, I took over from the well-loved Derick Heathcoat-Amory? It is a particular pleasure that, at the end of my last Parliament, a member of the same family should end that Parliament at the Dispatch Box.
Mr. Heathcoat-Amory : I thank my hon. Friend for his kind remarks. The next House of Commons will be the poorer without the presence of my hon. Friend the Member for Tiverton (Sir R. Maxwell-Hyslop).
Mr. Andy Stewart (Sherwood) : I listened carefully to what the hon. Member for Warrington, North (Mr. Hoyle) and the hon. Member for Liverpool, West Derby (Mr. Wareing) said about protecting jobs. I have been trying to protect jobs in my constituency in the coal industry, yet the hon. Gentleman's colleagues come into my constituency and say that they will phase out nuclear power and nuclear energy. That is a direct contradiction of what the hon. Gentlemen said today. Will my hon. Friend the Minister highlight the hypocrisy of the Labour party? Whenever it suits them, Labour Members say one thing, but when they go to another area they say another thing.
Mr. Heathcoat-Amory : My hon. Friend makes a telling point. I cannot end the debate without drawing attention to the inescapable connection between long-term employment prospects at BNFL, and therefore at Risley, and the future of the nuclear industry in general. Indeed, the future of the nuclear industry would look extremely bleak under a Labour Government.
In its policy document "Opportunity Britain", published last year, the Labour party said that it was committed to phasing out nuclear power. The document said that no new power stations would be built and that most existing ones would be shut by the year 2000. The Liberal party has made an even more emphatic promise to shut down the nuclear industry. All that would be extremely serious for BNFL and all its employees. The job losses that we have seen recently at that company would be
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as nothing compared with what would flow from the full-scale running down of the nuclear industry as promised by the Labour party.Mr. Cryer : The Minister has been helpful in giving way this morning.
My hon. Friend the Member for Warrington, North mentioned the 750 job losses and expressed his grave anxiety about them. The Minister said that the project was a fixed construction project which was coming to an end, resulting in redundancies. Does the Minister accept that BNFL should have developed alternatives, rather than simply putting people on the dole? Does he agree that it is a good idea for industries such as the nuclear industry to do that, because, at any time, environmental pressure is present and processes can be changed and improved or, like people, made redundant? Should not the Government encourage BNFL and other similar companies to plan change to ensure that redundancies do not take place?
Mr. Heathcoat-Amory : I am informed that there is an excellent training and enterprise council in the north and mid-Cheshire areas. It has already been in touch to offer its services. There are also the more routine services available from the local department of employment offices.
My point is a slightly separate one. The nuclear industry employs some 40,000 people, and all those jobs would be put at risk by a Labour Government operating the policies that Labour announced last year.
Several hon. Members rose --
Mr. Heathcoat-Amory : I give way to my hon. Friend the Member for Bury St. Edmunds (Sir E. Griffiths).
Sir Eldon Griffiths (Bury St. Edmunds) : My hon. Friend mentioned the long-term interest of the industry. Will he take into account, and perhaps report to the chairman, the fact that, throughout much of eastern Europe and in some of the new republics of the former Soviet Union, there is an enormous amount of work potentially in assisting in the demolition and safe disposal of nuclear fuels of redundant nuclear power stations? If we were to follow the recommendations of both Opposition parties and virtually dismantle our nuclear fuels industry, we should lose a potential export market of great importance.
Mr. Heathcoat-Amory : My hon. Friend makes a telling point. There is a huge potential need to help eastern Europe dispose safely of fissile materials. We can help. Indeed, BNFL and the Atomic Energy Authority are following up a number of opportunities. That, too, would be put at risk if we were to shut down or wipe out our home-based facilities.
Mr. Hoyle rose --
Mr. Lofthouse rose --
Mr. Heathcoat-Amory : I give way to the hon. Gentleman whose debate this is.
Mr. Hoyle : Will the Minister acknowledge, first, how much of this has resulted from the privatisation of electricity and the surcharge that is already causing many problems? Secondly, will he acknowledge our point about the difficulty that the recession has caused BNFL in
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seeking alternative contracts? Thirdly, nothing is ruled out in eastern Europe, because the expertise that we have developed here can gain contracts for BNFL in the nuclear industry in eastern Europe, so that is irrelevant.Mr. Heathcoat-Amory : The hon. Gentleman mentioned the privatisation of electricity. I must remind him that the nuclear industry, particularly Nuclear Electric, benefits from the fossil fuel levy, which is also helping to retain expertise and employment in the industry, including in BNFL. That, too, I understand, would be at risk from a Labour Government. The hon. Gentleman makes that point for me.
I must emphasise that the Government will carry out an impartial review in 1994 of the future of nuclear power. We will not prejudge the issue by issuing hasty documents in advance that threaten to shut down the industry, regardless of its improving performance. We will permit Magnox stations to run if it is safe and economic for them to do so. They bring substantial work to BNFL.
We also support Nuclear Electric in its efforts, which are increasingly successful, to get more electricity and a higher performance than at present from the advanced gas-cooled reactors. We will commission Sizewell B in 1994, or thereabouts. Silence from the Labour party on that point.
All those projects would be put at risk by an incoming Labour Government and would feed through directly to the employment prospects of people at BNFL and Risley.
Mr. Lofthouse : Will the Minister give way?
Mr. Heathcoat-Amory : If the hon. Gentleman will forgive me, I must proceed to a conclusion. This is, after all, only an Adjournment debate.
Even at this late stage, the hon. Member for Warrington, North should approach the Labour leadership and put the utmost pressure on his party to remove this threat to the nuclear industry. Perhaps there will be another U -turn and some change in the manifesto. In that case, employees in the nuclear industry will have to ask themselves whether a deathbed repentance on the part of the Labour party on nuclear power can offset years of hostility to their industry.
Mr. Lofthouse : Will the Minister give way ?
Mr. Heathcoat-Amory : As the hon. Gentleman is a friend of the hon. Member for Warrington, North, I will give way one more time.
Mr. Lofthouse : The Minister will appreciate that THORP is fully committed, with 10-year contracts. He will understand, too, that there is no return clause in the early contracts, so the rubbish and waste after reprocessing is left in this country. Does BNFL plan to increase the work force to make sure that waste from abroad dumped here will be made safe ?
Mr. Heathcoat-Amory : All that is done at Sellafield will be to the highest safety and environmental standards. I can confirm to the hon. Gentleman that all reprocessing contracts since 1976 have included a provision for the return of the subsequent wastes arising. The voters will have to ponder these matters during the forthcoming campaign. A dissolution is imminent. I believe that I am the last Member to speak from the Dispatch Box and, indeed, in this Parliament. A new House of Commons will meet in six
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weeks' time, and I fully intend to be here, but exactly who returns and on what side we sit will be decided, as it should be, by the electorate. I have no epitaph for this Parliament beyond saying after Suetonius,"Ave, Populus, morituri te salutant".
Madam Deputy Speaker (Miss Betty Boothroyd) : The sitting is suspended until 2.30 pm when either Black Rod will be expected imminently or a further announcement will be made about when he will arrive.
11.6 am
Sitting suspended until half past Two o'clock.
On resuming :--
2.32 pm
Sitting further suspended.
On resuming :--
3.15 pm
Sitting further suspended.
3.51 pm
On resuming :--
Royal Assent
Message to attend the Lords Commissioners :
The House went :--and, having returned :
Mr. Speaker (in the Clerk's place at the Table) : I have to acquaint the House that the House has been to the House of Peers, where a Commission under the Great Seal was read, authorising the Royal Assent to the following Acts :
Consolidated Fund (No. 2) Act 1992
Appropriation Act 1992
Finance Act 1992
Access to Neighbouring Land Act 1992
Offshore Safety (Protection against Victimisation) Act 1992 Prison Security Act 1992
Tourism (Overseas Promotion) (Wales) Act 1992
Parliamentary Corporate Bodies Act 1992
Medicinal Products : Prescriptions by Nurses etc. Act 1992 Still-Birth (Definition) Act 1992
Traffic Calming Act 1992
Firearms (Amendment) Act 1992
Cheques Act 1992
Social Security (Mortgage Interest Payments) Act 1992
Sexual Offences (Amendment) Act 1992
Timeshare Act 1992
Sea Fisheries (Wildlife Conservation) Act 1992
Further and Higher Education (Scotland) Act 1992
Education (Schools) Act 1992
Army Act 1992
Friendly Societies Act 1992
Transport and Works Act 1992
Competition and Service (Utilities) Act 1992
Charities Act 1992
Museums and Galleries Act 1992
London Underground Act 1992
Aire and Calder Navigation Act 1992
Avon Weir Act 1992
Folkestone Habour Act 1992
Midland Metro Act 1992
Midland Metro (No. 2) Act 1992
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Prorogation
HER MAJESTY'S MOST GRACIOUS SPEECH
Mr. Speaker : I have further to acquaint the House that the Lord High Chancellor, being one of the High Commissioners, delivered Her Majesty's Most Gracious Speech to both Houses of Parliament, in pursuance of Her Majesty's Command, as follows :
My Lords and Members of the House of Commons
The Duke of Edinburgh and I were pleased to visit Australia in February.
My Government have continued to make provision for the defence of the United Kingdom, including a substantial contribution to the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation. They ratified the Conventional Forces in Europe Treaty.
At the Summit meeting in Rome last November, NATO agreed a new Strategic Concept and set up the North Atlantic Co-operation Council, which at its Ministerial meeting on 10th March formally admitted republics of the Commonwealth of Independent States as members following the dissolution of the Soviet Union.
My Government welcomed President Yeltsin to London on his first official visit as President of the Russian Federation. They are contributing directly to international efforts to dismantle weapons of mass destruction in the former Soviet Union and to economic reform programmes there. The European Community have agreed emergency food aid grants and credits worth over £1.5 billion.
My Government contributed significantly to the successful outcome to the European Council at Maastricht. Negotiations were concluded in the Inter- Governmental Conferences on Economic and Monetary Union, and on Political Union. The Treaty was signed on 7th February. My Government have continued to work within the Community to complete the Single European Market ; to promote budgetary discipline ; and to reform the Common Agricultural Policy ; and for the conclusion of the Uruguay Round of multilateral trade negotiations. Agreement in principle has been reached to extend the Single Market to the European Free Trade Area from 1993.
The Community have also moved to consolidate relations with the new democracies to the East. Three Association Agreements, which were originally proposed by the United Kingdom have been signed with Czechoslovakia, Hungary and Poland, and the trade liberalisation provisions of these Agreements have now come into effect. In Yugoslavia, My Government have strongly supported the European Community's peace conference under Lord Carrington's chairmanship. They recognised the independence of Croatia and Slovenia. They participated fully in discussions leading to the adoption of a United Nations' Security Council Resolution to authorise the deployment of a peace-keeping force.
As President of the Security Council, My Government convened the first Summit meeting of Council Heads of State or Government which set in hand work to strengthen the United Nations' preventive diplomacy and peace- keeping efforts.
My Government have worked for the full implementation of Security Council Resolutions against Iraq. The
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United Kingdom contributes to the coalition's deterrent force in southern Turkey and has continued to provide protection and help for the Kurds.My Government have supported the efforts of the United States and others to bring a just and durable peace to the Middle East. They warmly welcomed the release of the remaining British hostages from Lebanon.
Acting with the United States and France, My Government have demanded that Libya hand over the two prinicipal suspects for the bombing of Pan Am flight 103. This has received the unanimous support of the UN Security Council.
My Government welcomed the opening in December of the Convention for a Democratic South Africa. They have been encouraged by its positive results so far.
A substantial and effective programme of overseas aid has been maintained to contribute to good government and economic and social progress in developing countries.
Members of the House of Commons
I thank you for the provision you have made for the honour and dignity of the Crown and for the public service.
My Lords and Members of the House of Commons
My Government have continued to pursue, within the framework of the Exchange Rate Mechanism, firm financial policies which have successfully reduced inflation. They are committed to maintaining the conditions necessary for sustained growth, the promotion of enterprise and training and the improvement of the working of the economy.
Legislation has been enacted to achieve a substantial step towards My Government's goal of a 20 per cent. basic rate for all taxpayers and to cut car tax by half.
As part of My Government's privatisation programme, a second tranche of shares in British Telecom has been sold to the public. Legislation has been passed to provide for a new council tax to replace the community charge as the means of raising local revenue to finance local government spending.
An Act has been passed to establish a review of local government structure in England, and detailed proposals for structural reform in Wales have been published.
Action has been taken to improve quality, choice and opportunity in education. Legislation has been enacted to reform funding of further education and sixth form colleges and to reform higher education in England and Wales. An Act has been passed to provide parents with more information about the performance of schools and to improve school inspection.
My Government have taken forward their policies for enhancing the nation's health and for improving the effectiveness of the health and social services and the social security system.
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