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Mr. Vaz : We do not need any lectures from this Government and this Minister about the provision of jobs when so many jobs have been destroyed by what the Government have done. We have always said that we wanted sustainable jobs which will last for a long time, not the short fixes that the Minister and his policies have ensured have occurred in the inner cities.

On 3 November 1992, the Secretary of State said :

"Let me assure the House that I intend the agency to work hand in hand with local authorities."--[ Official Report, 3 November 1992 ; Vol. 213, c. 163.]

Where is the duty to consult? He will recall the farce of consultation on the urban programme : a private secretary in the Under-Secretary of State's office wrote to local authority leaders informing them that the programme was to be ended. The voluntary sector, which received some £50 million from the urban programme, did not even get a letter. The Minister will also recall that local authorities and others were encouraged over several months to prepare their bids for the urban programme--bids which cost millions of pounds which the Government still have not managed to refund.

Where is the money for the inner cities? The answer is clear : it has been squandered on the poll tax. Let us never forget that the poll tax was the Secretary of State's invention. The squandering of that money has left nothing for our inner cities. That shows either contempt for the people of our inner cities or breathtaking incompetence : I invite my hon. Friends to decide which more aptly describes the attitude of Ministers. That is why the new clause includes a statutory duty to consult local authorities. The Secretary of State has demonstrated that he is unfit to be left with that responsibility.

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The Minister, for all his talk of partnership with local authorities, is like a battle-hardened veteran who cannot forget that he used to be at war. He wants the agency to override local authorities' planning powers. A sign of how much he is stuck in the past is that even those organisations which used to support him now see no virtue in going ahead without partnership with the local authorities, or in a central Government quango overriding local democracy. The Conservative party claims to be the party of democracy, but the Bill contains no commitment that the Urban Regeneration Agency's board will include representatives of democratically elected local authorities.

I am grateful to my hon. Friend the Member for Newcastle upon Tyne, North (Mr. Henderson) for drawing my attention to the book written by the Minister. It is interesting to read the first words on page 1 in chapter 1, headed :

"Democracy breaks out : the long road to freedom".

Perhaps the Minister can remember them and quote them with me. He wrote :

"Around the world there are important stirrings for freedom"-- freedom for everyone except local authorities, which are democratically elected by local people.

Last week I went to Manchester to see the excellent urban programme work carried out by the Labour council there. Councils such as Sheffield, Hull, Leeds, Leicester, Nottingham and Newcastle have used their limited powers to assist urban regeneration. What support have they received from the Secretary of State? He has become the Hughie Green of inner-city policy-- turning it into a game of "Opportunity Knocks", handing out peanuts with one hand, while with the other the Government have robbed local authorities of £60 billion since 1979. According to the Government's figures, they plan to cut urban block expenditure by almost 30 per cent. in the next three years ; the only numbers rising as fast as the crime and unemployment figures in our inner cities are the number of inner-city programmes with silly names and less resources.

We need a policy for people, not for buildings. We tabled the new clause because we passionately believe that as we move towards the millenium our inner cities deserve much better than the contempt that they have received from this uncaring Government.

Question put, That the clause be read a Second time :

The House divided : Ayes 259, Noes 307.

Division No. 148] [6.2 pm

AYES

Abbott, Ms Diane

Adams, Mrs Irene

Ainger, Nick

Ainsworth, Robert (Cov'try NE)

Allen, Graham

Alton, David

Anderson, Ms Janet (Ros'dale)

Ashdown, Rt Hon Paddy

Austin-Walker, John

Banks, Tony (Newham NW)

Barnes, Harry

Barron, Kevin

Battle, John

Bayley, Hugh

Beckett, Margaret

Beith, Rt Hon A. J.

Bell, Stuart

Benn, Rt Hon Tony

Bennett, Andrew F.

Benton, Joe

Bermingham, Gerald

Berry, Dr. Roger

Betts, Clive

Blair, Tony

Blunkett, David

Boyce, Jimmy

Boyes, Roland

Bradley, Keith

Bray, Dr Jeremy

Brown, Gordon (Dunfermline E)

Brown, N. (N'c'tle upon Tyne E)

Bruce, Malcolm (Gordon)

Burden, Richard

Byers, Stephen

Caborn, Richard

Campbell, Mrs Anne (C'bridge)

Campbell, Menzies (Fife NE)

Campbell, Ronnie (Blyth V)

Campbell-Savours, D. N.

Cann, Jamie

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Column 1017

Carlile, Alexander (Montgomry)

Chisholm, Malcolm

Clapham, Michael

Clark, Dr David (South Shields)

Clarke, Eric (Midlothian)

Clarke, Tom (Monklands W)

Clelland, David

Clwyd, Mrs Ann

Coffey, Ann

Cohen, Harry

Connarty, Michael

Cook, Robin (Livingston)

Corbett, Robin

Corbyn, Jeremy

Corston, Ms Jean

Cousins, Jim

Cox, Tom

Cryer, Bob

Cummings, John

Cunliffe, Lawrence

Cunningham, Jim (Covy SE)

Cunningham, Dr John (C'p'l'nd)

Dafis, Cynog

Dalyell, Tam

Darling, Alistair

Davidson, Ian

Davies, Rt Hon Denzil (Llanelli)

Davies, Ron (Caerphilly)

Davis, Terry (B'ham, H'dge H'l)

Denham, John

Dixon, Don

Dobson, Frank

Donohoe, Brian H.

Dowd, Jim

Dunnachie, Jimmy

Dunwoody, Mrs Gwyneth

Eagle, Ms Angela

Eastham, Ken

Enright, Derek

Etherington, Bill

Evans, John (St Helens N)

Ewing, Mrs Margaret

Fatchett, Derek

Faulds, Andrew

Field, Frank (Birkenhead)

Fisher, Mark

Flynn, Paul

Foster, Derek (B'p Auckland)

Foster, Don (Bath)

Foulkes, George

Fraser, John

Gapes, Mike

Garrett, John

George, Bruce

Gerrard, Neil

Gilbert, Rt Hon Dr John

Godman, Dr Norman A.

Godsiff, Roger

Golding, Mrs Llin

Gordon, Mildred

Gould, Bryan

Graham, Thomas

Grant, Bernie (Tottenham)

Griffiths, Win (Bridgend)

Grocott, Bruce

Gunnell, John

Hain, Peter

Hall, Mike

Hanson, David

Hardy, Peter

Harman, Ms Harriet

Harvey, Nick

Hattersley, Rt Hon Roy

Henderson, Doug

Heppell, John

Hill, Keith (Streatham)

Hinchliffe, David

Hoey, Kate

Home Robertson, John

Hood, Jimmy

Hoon, Geoffrey

Howarth, George (Knowsley N)

Howells, Dr. Kim (Pontypridd)

Hoyle, Doug

Hughes, Kevin (Doncaster N)

Hughes, Robert (Aberdeen N)

Hughes, Roy (Newport E)

Hughes, Simon (Southwark)

Hutton, John

Illsley, Eric

Ingram, Adam

Jackson, Glenda (H'stead)

Jackson, Helen (Shef'ld, H)

Jamieson, David

Johnston, Sir Russell

Jones, Barry (Alyn and D'side)

Jones, Ieuan Wyn (Ynys Mo n)

Jones, Jon Owen (Cardiff C)

Jones, Lynne (B'ham S O)

Jones, Martyn (Clwyd, SW)

Jowell, Tessa

Keen, Alan

Kennedy, Charles (Ross,C&S)

Khabra, Piara S.

Kilfoyle, Peter

Kirkwood, Archy

Leighton, Ron

Lestor, Joan (Eccles)

Lewis, Terry

Litherland, Robert

Livingstone, Ken

Lloyd, Tony (Stretford)

Llwyd, Elfyn

Loyden, Eddie

Lynne, Ms Liz

McAllion, John

McAvoy, Thomas

McCartney, Ian

Macdonald, Calum

McFall, John

McKelvey, William

Mackinlay, Andrew

McLeish, Henry

Maclennan, Robert

McNamara, Kevin

Madden, Max

Mahon, Alice

Mandelson, Peter

Marek, Dr John

Marshall, David (Shettleston)

Marshall, Jim (Leicester, S)

Martin, Michael J. (Springburn)

Martlew, Eric

Meacher, Michael

Meale, Alan

Michael, Alun

Michie, Bill (Sheffield Heeley)

Michie, Mrs Ray (Argyll Bute)

Milburn, Alan

Miller, Andrew

Mitchell, Austin (Gt Grimsby)

Moonie, Dr Lewis

Morgan, Rhodri

Morley, Elliot

Morris, Rt Hon A. (Wy'nshawe)

Mowlam, Marjorie

Mudie, George

Mullin, Chris

Murphy, Paul

Oakes, Rt Hon Gordon

O'Brien, Michael (N W'kshire)

O'Brien, William (Normanton)

O'Hara, Edward

Olner, William

Orme, Rt Hon Stanley

Parry, Robert

Patchett, Terry

Pendry, Tom

Pickthall, Colin

Pike, Peter L.

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