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Ms Abbott : I am grateful to you, Madam Deputy Speaker. In closing, I shall refer to the recent case of the two female drug couriers who were pardoned in Thailand. I, and many of my constituents, would not go so far as to say that the Government were wrong to seek a pardon for those girls, but millions of people would be concerned if the girls were seen to benefit from their crime by selling their story because those young women are admitted dealers in heroin. The girls were young and gullible, but many thousands of drug couriers in British prisons are also young and gullible. It is a shame that some of the sympathy of the tabloid press for the two young women in Thailand is not spared for some of the thousands of drug couriers in British prisons who are also young and gullible. The drugs trade is a terrible menace to the quality of life in London. It generates an enormous amount of crime--whether to obtain drugs or to further the drugs trade through the increased use of guns. I do not believe that the Government are co-ordinating sufficiently the work of the different agencies in fighting drugs. The people of Hackney and London want the Government to wage war on drugs. They want not mere rhetoric about law and order but recognition of the scale of the problem in London and a genuine multi-agency effort--a true war on drugs.

1.52 pm

The Minister of State, Home Office (Mr. David Maclean) : I congratulate the hon. Member for Hackney, North and Stoke Newington (Ms Abbott) on raising this important issue. The Government recognise and share her concerns about the devastating effects that drug misuse can have on people's lives. We are determined to do everything possible to thwart the dealers and traffickers whose one aim is to make a profit--gained at vast human cost.

Drug misuse is difficult to measure. We collect information about the notification of addicts to the Home Office, the seizure of drugs by customs and the police, and the number of people dealt with for drug offences. However, none of the elements is perfect as an indicator of the overall picture. Even when taken together, they give only a general impression of the problem. This year, to improve our assessment of drug misuse, we shall carry out an extensive household survey and analyse the findings of the latest British crime survey. However, even without that further information, we all know that drug misuse is a serious and growing criminal, social and health problem. It is complex and constantly changing.

The Government's strategy is to reduce the demand for drugs and the supply of drugs. Therefore, we support the most vigorous enforcement action against trafficking, the provision of treatment for misusers and preventive education, especially for young people. Our strategy consists of five elements : first, improving international co-operation in order to reduce supplies from abroad ; secondly, increasing the effectiveness of police and customs enforcement ; thirdly, maintaining effective deterrents and tight domestic controls ; fourthly, developing prevention publicity and education ; and, fifthly, improving treatment and rehabilitation. That strategy is so important that it is co-ordinated by a ministerial sub-committee chaired by the Lord President.

The Home Office is responsible for co-ordinating the measures which give effect to the Government's strategy. I

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have particular responsibility for drug misuse policy and work closely with colleagues responsible for health and education, and those from the Foreign Office and the Scottish and Welsh Offices.

Ms Abbott : Is the sub-committee studying the effect of community care on drug and alcohol projects?

Mr. Maclean : The sub-committee will want to look at all subjects that impact on drug misuse in the community. It will want to hear representations that people make through their Members of Parliament, and therefore to Ministers, on what are the real problem areas. If the sub- committee determines that that is a problem area, we can look forward to action on it.

Although it is difficult to quantify the resources allocated to the Government's strategy, they have been calculated to be about £500 million a year. The success of our strategy depends on the commitment not just of Government ; it also demands much of local authorities. That was why we set up the drugs prevention initiative in 1989, to respond quickly and effectively to local concerns and to stimulate, encourage and support ideas or work to prevent the spread of drugs misuse.

Twenty teams have been set up in high-risk areas. Six of those teams are in London--in Brent, Hackney, Lambeth, Lewisham, Newham and Southwark. Each team has £75,000 per annum available to provide grants to prevention projects in its area. There are currently more than 200 such projects in London. Since 1989, more than £11 million has been spent on the initiative. Almost £650,000 has been spent on prevention work in schools. The success of the initiative has been confirmed by evaluation and research and we intend to identify good practice and ensure that it is replicated.

I shall talk for a moment about the work and achievements of one of the teams which I have mentioned, and of which the hon. Lady will be particularly aware. Since being set up in 1991, the Hackney team has supported more than 60 projects in the borough and provided more than £150,000 in grants. The team works closely with the local council, health authority, police and community organisations. It has helped to collate one of the United Kingdom's largest collection of drug information and training materials in local libraries. A drugs education adviser was appointed with team support to help schools to develop programmes and policies for tackling drug misuse. The team supported Project Charlie, a rare example of a drugs prevention programme for younger children in three local junior schools. It supported tenant-led plans to reduce drugs misuse on the Baggerston estate and several other areas of the borough. It is currently working with the Dalston city partnership to develop a drugs and crime prevention strategy for the city challenge area.

That multi-agency approach is one which has been wholeheartedly embraced by the police officers involved in fighting the menace of drug misuse. They recognise the importance of working with the local community to tackle the problem at its roots--by reducing the demand for drugs. The importance of the role which the police play in educating people--especially the young-- about the dangers of drugs cannot be overestimated. But they also know how important it is to bring to justice those who supply the drugs. That is why the work of the Hackney drugs prevention team is backed up by the hard- hitting

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measures taken by the police to combat drug dealing in Stoke Newington. Operation Tean, which has been running for nine months, is only one of many police initiatives in the area. More than 60 dealers have been identified by surveillance operations and a large number of them are now in custody.

In Operation Welwyn, the very successful operation to clean up the King's Cross area, surveillance and the work of undercover officers has resulted in almost 100 dealers and users being arrested. But that is only half the story. The local authorities in Camden and Islington have made a commitment to build on the successes of that police operation by making environmental improvements--better street lighting, better traffic flow and cleaner streets.

It is the responsibility of the Government to support and enhance the efforts on drug dealing by making international efforts, by providing clear and effective laws and by making the necessary resources available. We have a good story to tell. The Criminal Justice Bill, which is currently awaiting Royal Assent any hour now, toughens up even further the law on confiscating drug traffickers' assets. All over the world, law enforcement officers--those at the sharp end of the fight against drugs--will tell people that the ability to get at the profits of those who take part in this evil trade is one of the most effective weapons in their armoury. We shall ensure that the provisions in the new Act are brought into force speedily.

We have also taken action to ensure that our laws controlling the trade in precursor and essential chemicals--the substances necessary to turn the raw material into the finished product--are tough enough. We are the first country to implement the relevant European legislation, thanks largely to a splendid degree of co-operation on the part of the British chemicals industry.

The Government are determined to tackle the problems of drug misuse with all the powers at our disposal. We shall not cease to seek out those who control the evil trade of drug trafficking. We shall not be deflected from finding ways of inflicting the maximum punishment on them and their associates and we shall never accept the inevitability of drug misuse.

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M1 (Widening)

2 pm

Mr. John Carlisle (Luton, North) : I am extremely grateful to you, Madam Deputy Speaker, for allowing me a few minutes of the House's time on this extremely important subject--probably the most important subject that my constituents will have to tackle over the next few years as the widening of the motorway proceeds.

Let me say at the start how grateful I am to my hon. Friend the Minister, in a relatively new post, for replying to the debate, and indeed to his predecessors, my hon. Friend the Member for Lincoln (Mr. Carlisle) who is fortunate enough to carry the same surname as myself, hence our close co- operation, and before him Mr. Christopher Chope, whom my hon. Friend and I remember with much affection, and who laid the ground work for the widening of this important road. The M1 is at the spine of England. It was built in 1959 and now carries about 140,000 vehicles per day through my constituency. I fully support the proposed widening of the road as I believe do the majority of right hon. and hon. Members on both sides of the House, many of whom, enjoying the pleasure of my constituency but cursing the amount of traffic, realise that the road needs widening and some improvement has to be made to one of Britain's major highways. Coming into the debate this afternoon, some of my colleagues were wondering why we were proposing to widen the road only from three lanes to four. Given the current debate on the M25, which could be as many as seven lanes either side, perhaps we should build more lanes now to ensure that the M1 remains the spine of England.

Some 25 per cent. of the traffic that passes through my constituency between junctions 10 and 13 is heavy lorries. I am grateful to the British Road Federation, which has provided me with statistics and expressed anxiety that the improvements are completed as quickly as possible. There has been a considerable increase in traffic, and the motorway is important to the industry and to the economic well-being not only of my constituency but of the entire country. For that reason, we certainly welcome the proposed improvements.

There is some concern, voiced mainly by Bedfordshire county council and those who live near the motorway, about whether this will be the end of the roadworks. Perhaps my hon. Friend will confirm that the new four-lane motorway will take traffic until the year 2006, when we may have to consider a further increase in size. Whether my hon. Friend and I are still here is another matter, although I am sure that you will be, Madam Deputy Speaker.

However, one has to ask whether, after going through the hassle of the next two or three years--we appreciate that it will be a difficult time--future generations may curse us for putting in only four lanes. Perhaps we should have made it even bigger, but that is another subject on which I shall not detain the House.

I shall concentrate my remarks on the stretch of motorway between junctions 10 and 11, which goes through a heavily populated area and affects many houses. According to the Department's figures, some 1, 600 houses and households could be affected by the widening of the motorway--those in the immediate vicinity by the loss of their homes and by blight on their homes, and those

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further away by increased noise and nuisance. My hon. Friend the Member for Luton, South (Mr. Bright) has also been involved in the deliberations, and we are anxious to represent the best interests of our constituents during the next few years, which we both know will be a difficult time.

Three factors bother my constituents--noise, nuisance and the pollution caused by the increased traffic. This magnificent new motorway, the first of its kind in Britain, was built in 1959, and some of the early pictures of it show the occasional lorry on the horizon. Those who live near the motorway have been described locally as the forgotten people because at that time, although those who lost homes were compensated, it was never envisaged that it would carry the amount of traffic that it does today.

My constituents have been extremely tolerant of the noise and nuisance that they have had to suffer. Some of them have their back gardens, nay their bedroom windows, close to the road, and the traffic it carries has increased dramatically during the past few years. Noise levels, about which my hon. Friend may know more than I do, have at times risen above the recommended level of 70 decibels. The great fear is that, despite the Government's admirable efforts to reduce noise and pollution, traffic increases will lead to increased noise levels.

We shall soon be facing not only the long-term nuisance of the traffic but the short-term nuisance of contractors' vehicles and machinery. My constituents are concerned that their sleep may be shattered by the noise that goes on. They share my anxiety that the work should be undertkaen as quickly as possible, but many of them, some of them night shift workers in local factories, are worried that they may find it difficult to sleep during the contracting work. For that reason, I make no apology for emphasising that we are particularly concerned about the noise level. The noise barriers that will be erected must be the most up to date, a subject on which much research has been undertaken. If nothing else comes out of the debate, those barriers, and other noise relieving measures, must be in place before the contracting work begins. Residents will suffer from contractors' noise and the inevitable hammering and excessive noise which, at a conservative estimate, will continue for between 18 months and two years.

The Department of Transport has hinted that it may be possible for noise barriers to be erected before the contractors' work takes place, particularly in residential areas, and if that is done, my constituents will be grateful. They view with some horror the prospect of vehicles in and around the area and the noise and nuisance that they will create. If barriers could be installed at the start of the work, it will be of enormous benefit to my constituents, and will, I hope, bring them some peace and quiet.

I hope that the final decision about the barriers is made as late as possible. I hope also that the barriers will be the most up to date and aesthetically acceptable. Most people have been impressed by the barriers that have been proposed so far and the layout that the Department has put before the public. Having said that, we are anxious to ensure that the barriers are the most modern and sound absorbent available.

The road surface is very important when considering noise. My hon. Friend will know that, with 140,000 vehicles--who knows what the figure will be when there are four lanes--going by people's houses every day, the

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noise level is considerable. I am pleased to see my hon. Friend the Minister nodding in agreement. I hope that he will have some comfort for my constituents.

I know that compensation is not strictly within my hon. Friend's responsibility, but I know that he cares about it. The district valuer has already made decisions about the value of properties under the Land Compensation Acts of 1961 and 1973. I appreciate that it would not be fitting for my hon. Friend or myself to become too involved in individual cases. Obviously, we hope that the district valuer will be fair--I am sure that he will be--in compensating my constituents. It is a strange enigma that we are still looking at values on the basis of a market that has fallen considerably. It is difficult to explain to constituents whose homes were worth a considerable sum some time ago that not only has the value of their home fallen out of bed--to use the popular phrase--but that they will not receive the compensation that they expected to receive when the rumours were going around two years ago about the widening of the road. A public relations exercise must take place.

The Department at Coventry has been extremely helpful and sympathetic. It has tried, where possible, to ensure that those who have to be compensated nded about a certain cul de sac.

As my hon. Friend knows, the compensation for those who lose their homes is the current value of the property plus 10 per cent. In France, 40 per cent. is given in compensation rather than 10 per cent. My hon. Friend knows of my strong and tough line on public expenditure, but, if the road is to be delayed because people are not offered adequate compensation, some additional help might have to be considered, although probably not as much as the French propose. I would hate to see the road delayed because of a penny-pinching exercise by the Department, through the district valuer, in not giving people the compensation they need to find alternative homes. It does not happen to many of us, and let us hope that not too many people are involved in this, but the heartache of having to lose one's home, particularly for the older generation, is considerable. Some people who have come to me have lived in that area for some time, and suddenly find that their homes are to be bulldozed away. They are the most distressed, and we must look after them.

To lighten the load on my hon. Friend, I can tell him the story of an older lady who came to me during the inquiry on the proposals at Dunstable. She remonstrated with me about the proposal, which meant that her house would have to be knocked down. I assured her that we would do everything possible to compensate her. She was not satisfied with that and kept remonstrating with me and with officials from the Department.

I eventually persuaded her to look around the exhibition and then come back and have another chat with me. She was still very upset about losing her home, but her rather elderly husband came to me quietly and said, "Mr. Carlisle, I shouldn't take too much notice of what my old lady was saying to you ; we've been trying to sell this house for 30 years, so we're actually delighted to get out of it." So there is another side, and there may be those--although they are very few--who will not be sorry to leave the area.

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Blight, which is the second aspect of the basis for compensation, is one of the most difficult factors to evaluate and compensate for. My hon. Friend the Minister knows that there will be many blighted properties in the area, not only because of the noise but because of the future value of the properties after the road has been extended. Compensation will be given for loss of gardens and for the fact that the road is closer to homes, but, as my hon. Friend will realise, property values are bound to drop, yet there seems no mechanism by which compensation can be given for that.

People whose homes are relatively distant and who will be affected mainly by noise will be able to get compensation only when the road has been built and noise levels have been assessed. Then help may be given towards double glazing or some other form of sound insulation. I must tell my hon. Friend that that is a difficult story to sell to constituents who know that, assuming that the public inquiry goes through fairly swiftly--I urge my hon. Friend to ensure that it does--the road is scheduled for 1995, or whenever my hon. Friend has in mind, so they will have to wait until that time for compensation for any increase in noise. That seems a long time to wait. In the few moments left to me, I shall touch briefly on how the rural area in my constituency between junctions 11 and 13 will be affected. We are worried about my hon. Friend's hints that the Thame-Stevenage bypass-- an important road--will be delayed for some time. My villagers in Toddington and Chalton are somewhat disappointed by hints from the Department that that road is still some way off. However, it has been scheduled, and public consultation is taking place, so I hope that on that basis my hon. Friend will consider planning some form of junction, albeit south of junction. 12.

It would seem prudent for the Department to consider at this stage where a junction, either on to the motorway or over it, might be sited. The Thame- Stevenage bypass is badly needed by my constituents, especially those who live in the north of the town and in some of the surrounding villages, and I urge my hon. Friend to ensure that provision is made for bridges, and that we know as soon as possible where they will be.

Apparently junction 12 will be enormous--I hope that you, Madam Deputy Speaker, will forgive me for going into so much technical detail, but I know that my hon. Friend will understand what I mean. The junction could be of advantage to some of my constituents in business terms, but there is much local opposition to its size. Hints have been dropped that it could be made a little smaller, and my hon. Friend should consider that idea sympathetically.

The villagers of Toddington and Chalton are anxious not to be too greatly affected by the works. They hope that the problem of traffic passing through will be alleviated as much as possible, and that consideration will be given to a Toddington bypass--my hon. Friend will already have taken that idea on board. The people of Flitwick and Westoning, too, see the development as an opportunity to obtain a bypass in their area. Those attendant matters are most important to my constituents, but I do not wish to enlarge on them at this stage. The noise, the compensation and the basis for it, and the blight on the landscape, are the main concerns. I fully support the road, in the interests of the national economy,

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as do most responsible citizens in my constituency, but if my hon. Friend can find a way of alleviating the problems that I have outlined, it would be of enormous benefit to my constituents and to people in the surrounding area.

2.19 pm

The Minister for Roads and Traffic (Mr. Robert Key) : I congratulate my hon. Friend the Member for Luton, North (Mr. Carlisle) on gaining this important debate. It is important for his constituents and it gives me the opportunity to lay out some of the thinking in the Department of Transport about the sensitive issues which can impinge on the lives of many of our constituents for many years. I am delighted at my hon. Friend's enlightened attitude in accepting that doing nothing is not an option in the circumstances. I am grateful to him for welcoming the road improvements.

As my hon. Friend pointed out, Bedfordshire county council has an interest in this. Indeed, I have discussed the matter with my hon. Friends the Members for Luton, South (Mr. Bright) and for Bedfordshire, South-West (Mr. Madel). My hon. Friend the Member for Bedfordshire, South-West brought a delegation to see me about other matters in his constituency. Inevitably, we cannot ignore the knock-on effect of such schemes on traffic and communities. Incidentally, Madam Deputy Speaker, I am sure that you will be here in the year 2006, as will my hon. Friend. I fully intend to be here then. Whether I shall still be talking about the M1 through Luton is entirely open to speculation.

I accept that, between junctions 10 and 11, we have a heavily populated area and that many households will be affected. I shall come to noise in a moment. First, I should like to reassure my hon. Friend that one of the most important roles of the Department of Transport is to communicate with those who may be affected to make sure that they know what we are seeking to achieve and how we plan to achieve it. We shall pay great attention to communications and public relations during this programme.

I am grateful to my hon. Friend for the compliment he paid to my officials in Coventry. He gives me the opportunity to echo it. All Department of Transport staff, whether in Marsham street or in our regional offices, do their level best to ensure that the schemes that we put in place are not only acceptable, but beneficial. After all, each one of them is on the end of some other road building programme or has transport needs of its own.

My hon. Friend is right that a large number of houses will be affected by noise. However, we have estimated that more than 800 properties in my hon. Friend's constituency can expect to experience a reduction in noise levels after the opening of the widened M1 because we are using the most modern techniques in noise abatement. That, too, must be borne in mind. That estimation includes road surface as well as engine noise. I have given careful consideration to that. There is also the question of noise barriers and earth mounds through Luton. There will be some seven miles of them on the M1. We cannot always put them up in advance, but we shall endeavour to do so wherever we can.

Double glazing for protection against traffic and construction noise is available in accordance with our

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standard rules on where it is required. It can be installed in advance, which may be of some comfort to my hon. Friend's constituents.

Mr. John Carlisle : I know that my hon. Friend is rushed but may I urge him seriously to consider installing double glazing in advance? It would be of enormous benefit and comfort to my constituents.

Mr. Key : It certainly can take place ; I am grateful to my hon. Friend for intervening. Clearly, it is a matter of great importance. If he will give me time to look into that, I shall see what further I can do to communicate with those who may be affected the method by which they can apply for that help. I know that some people find that a problem.

Under the proposals that we published last autumn, some 65 properties could lose at least some land. The owners were contacted individually and an experienced official was available at the exhibition in Luton to advise people on their rights to compensation. Many local residents expressed the wish to move in advance of the works, and are being assisted by the Department where our criteria are met.

Some 70 applications for the purchase of properties between junctions 10 and 15 have been received, and 38 have been approved. Incidentally, three quarters of the applications were from the Luton area.

My hon. Friend mentioned the area's long-term needs. Dual four-lane standards may not be able to cope with continuing traffic growth in the long term, so we are considering further studies to identify long-term needs and how they can be met. My Department is often accused of short- termism. That is most unfair, because we spend an enormous amount of time, make great efforts and apply professional skill to trying to think, as far as we reasonably and legitimately can, into the future.

The 1989 White Paper, "Roads for Prosperity", announced our expanded road programmes, the main element of which was the widening of some 600 miles of motorway and improving more than a third of the motorway network. The widening of the M1, with 10 proposed schemes over 145 miles between the M25 and Sheffield, is a significant part of the total.

The objectives of the national roads programme are to assist economic growth, improve the environment, enhance road safety and obtain maximum value from the existing network. Motorway widening is intended to help meet all those objectives. It emphasises the existing capacity needs of routes and tries to minimise the impact on the environment. Wherever practicable, we seek to improve the conditions of those who live near existing motorways.

For example, the Department of Transport is the biggest planter of trees in this country. We plant some 500,000 trees and shrubs a year, which is more than the Forestry Commission plants. All our new schemes will bring substantial economic, safety and environmental benefits to road users.

Much of the M1 was opened to traffic in the late 1950s and early 1960s. It is now heavily congested, and carries as many as 150,000 vehicles per day in places. Up to a quarter

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of this traffic is heavy goods vehicles--a higher proportion than the national average. At peak times, extensive queues develop in the Luton area, particularly on uphill sections and at junctions. Congestion regularly occurs.

As my hon. Friend acknowledges, we need to widen the M1.

Mr. John Carlisle : I did not mention the basis of the public inquiry. I know that my hon. Friend will be subjected to a public inquiry. Will he ensure that it is carried out as speedily as possible, because those of my constituents who are waiting to see what compensation will be available and what the future will hold will be held back if the inquiry is unnecessarily delayed?

Mr. Key : Yes, I can give that assurance. Furthermore, my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State and I are seeking to speed up the delivery of such schemes without infringing on people's democratic rights to put their case and make objections. We recognise the need to speed up the process because the average time to build or improve a road is far too long.

Coincidentally, I am today announcing the publication of volume 11 of the design manual for roads and bridges on environmental assessment. Environmental considerations must play a full part in the design of new roads. We are committed to ensuring that environmental impact is given full weight alongside other costs and benefits of road schemes.

That updated version of the manual sets out the general principles that should guide environmental assessement and will mean formal assessment requirements at key stages in the development of trunk road schemes--before programme entry, at public consultation and at the point of publication of the environment statement. It applies to all future studies and all schemes that subsequently enter the roads programme. For schemes currently being prepared, the revised guidance will be prepared on a scheme by scheme basis.

My hon. Friend will be pleased to hear that part III of the manual, which deals with disruption due to construction, covers many of the points that he has raised. The effects on people and the natural environment that can occur between the start of pre-construction work and the end of a contract maintenance period, for example, are covered. That section of the manual describes the appropriate level of assessment at key stages that covered, for example, the localised increase in noise, vibration, dust and dirt and the loss of amenity due to the presence of construction traffic.

My hon. Friend has made representations before about roads in the area. He visited my predecessor only in May of this year. I know that the concerns of the residents of Toddington and Chalton, for example, have been listened to with great care by my Department, but we must progress in that partnership, as a partnership it is, if we are to improve our roads, the quality of life and the prosperity of the country. We must proceed with care but some determination, and a great sense of realism about the needs. As I said earlier, doing nothing is not an option.

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District Auditor

2.32 pm

Mr. Ken Livingstone (Brent, East) : Everybody would agree that there is no place for corruption in public life and no one in the House would be expected to support it. However, there are increasing problems with the role that we have reserved for the district auditor--and with the fraud squad--which is clearly exemplified by recent events in the two boroughs of Westminster and Brent. Four years have passed since the district auditor began to investigate allegations that Lady Porter, while she was leader of Westminster council, abused her position to try to achieve political change in several key marginal wards in the run-up to the 1990 election. As I recall, when the district auditor investigated events at Lambeth and Liverpool councils, the issues concerned were resolved in the best part of a year. The councillors who had acted contrary to Government policy and had incurred extra charges because of it were found guilty, were debarred and were out of office in a year of the events for which the investigations took place. That has not been the case with Lady Porter and those around her. We have seen a systematic attempt to delay the district auditor's investigation as leading members of the Conservative-controlled Westminster council have refused to meet the district auditor when requested to do so and meetings have been put off to such an extent that the district auditor had to invoke his powers to command their presence. I do not know how far that inquiry has gone. The last furnished bit of evidence about Lady Porter that came to my attention was an article in The Guardian on 3 March 1992 :

"A Whitehall source told the Guardian the district auditor's inquiry is finely balanced between surcharging her up to £4 million with a disqualification from public office for five years, and severely reprimanding her for misconduct."

Another year or more has gone by since then and yet it is still not possible for the district auditor to publish his findings. The reason for that has now become clear. Many of the documents that the district auditor wished to examine to see whether Lady Porter and her close cohorts had been breaking the law were shredded by the chief executive of Westminster council, who was appointed by Lady Porter and is her close confidante.

It is completely unacceptable that a senior public official of a major local authority should shred documents that the district auditor needs to investigate the possible corruption of local government and public funds in excess of £4 million. I wonder what would have been said if Ted Knight and Derek Hatton had refused to meet the district auditor and the chief executives of Lambeth and Liverpool had been shedding documents.

As well as speeding the district auditor on his way in Westminster, we should now look for a full public accounting of activities of the former chief executive Bill Phillips, although I have already raised the matter in an early-day motion. Fortunately, in other departments of Westminster council, it has been possible to find duplicates of many of the documents that were shredded. I hope that we shall soon see a clear resolution of the problem. Clearly the district auditor's powers have not been sufficient to enable him to proceed with the investigation in a reasonable time and to allay public concern and fears.

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The second--much more murky--question concerns what has been going on in Brent. Everyone will be aware of the hilarity of some of the antics of the council since the Conservatives took control--for example, the calls for female circumcision in Britain, which completely wrecked a meeting designed primarily to discuss education cuts.

We must also look in some detail at what has been happening to the council's finances. Following the 1990 election, Brent council was a huge council. It developed a Conservative administration when a succession of Labour councillors were persuaded to cross the floor. One of those interesting characters was Councillor Harshad Barot, who had previously been convicted of fraud following a successful attempt to get from the council a housing improvement grant to which he was not entitled. He managed to keep that quiet and was elected to the council. When the truth emerged following his election to the council, he was suspended by the Labour group, and the council set up an investigation.

While the investigation was under way, further problems arose with Councillor Harshad Barot. The Brent Asian Professionals Association, of which Mr. Barot was the director, suddently discoverd that thousands of pounds and computer equipment had disappeared. Once again, an investigation was launched. Lo and behold, Councillor Barot decided to resign from the Labour group and to sit as an independent.

By then, some Labour people had been persuaded to defect, and what was then the Conservative majority on the council voted to discontinue the investigation. Surprise, surprise--Councillor Barot has voted with the Conservatives on every occasion since. Moreover, he actually voted with the Conservatives, at a council meeting, to stop the investigation into his case. That runs contrary to all local government law. When it was suggested that the matter should be referred to the district auditor as a case in which a councillor had voted on a matter in which he had a direct financial interest, the council, under the Conservative leadership, voted to accept Councillor Barot's explanation, which was that he had turned his hearing aid off by mistake and did not know what he was voting for. That beggars belief, although one admires the man's imagination. Councillor Barot still serves on the council. The thousands of pounds lost by the Asian Professionals Association have never been found and its computer equipment has never turned up. No satisfactory explanation for any of this has ever seen the light of day. Another little gem is the case of Councillor Judith Harper, who resigned from the Labour group in protest at what happened when she became homeless. She was offered a flat on the local Stonebridge estate --which she represented as a councillor--but decided that it was not adequate for her purposes. She went to the Labour group and said that it should take up her case and ensure that she received a better offer. When the Labour group refused, saying that there was no reason why she should be offered anything better than anyone else, Councillor Harper promptly resigned. The leader of the council, Councillor Bob Blackman, suddenly decided that there might have been a grave injustice in the case and said that he would investigate it personally. Lo and behold, Judith Harper voted with the Conservative administration thereafter. Then--wonder of wonders-- it was decided that another

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offer should, indeed, be made, and a nice home in a leafy road in Barnet was found for her through a housing association.

There the matter would have lain--and that was bad enough--had it not subsequently been discovered that Judith Harper already owned a house in Brent. She had gained further accommodation completely illegally. When the matter was raised by the Labour opposition, Councillor Harper suddenly announced her resignation from the council--the day before she was due to be interviewed by auditors from the housing department. Far from saying that here was an outrage and that he would send the papers to the fraud office or the district auditor, the council leader, Councillor Blackman, said that Councillor Harper had been hounded out of public life by a wicked Labour campaign. One wonders what he would have said about Asil Nadir or the other sundry crooks who now seem to litter the political scene.

Those two were, in a sense, the small fry. The two big fish were Pauline Nyaga and Councillor Nkechi Amalu-Johnson. They managed to defect from the Labour group after one year, while it was suspending both of them and investigating various unsavoury aspects of their political views, such as their support for Idi Amin and their weird proposals to sack all Asian staff and replace them with Africans. By sheer miraculous chance, Councillor Bob Blackman, the leader of the council, suddenly decided that those two people were fit to be the chair of housing and the chair of environment. With those appointments came a personal assistant, an additional attendance allowance and the provision of a council flat for Councillor Nyaga to conduct her advice surgeries from. It is an amazing thought that if that should become a national practice, about 60,000 council flats would stand empty while councillors conducted a surgery in them once a week.

Councillor Amalu-Johnson's chairmanship of the housing committee did not last very long following the arrest of her son. It was discovered that he had been rehoused by a community group dealing with the needs of African women after he had been evicted from his Brent council flat. It seems rather embarrassing that the son of the chair of Brent's housing committee owed £6,000 in arrears, but that did not cause Councillor Blackman to bat an eyelid.

Equally depressing for Councillor Blackman was the discovery that Councillor Amalu-Johnson owed the council more than £6,000 in the form of a car loan that she had been given when an employee of the social services department. The council took its normal proceedings and started action to recover the car loan after several years. Lo and behold, on the day that the case came to court, who should turn up to defend her but the deputy leader of the council, Conservative councillor John Warren, who said that he was just there as a friend. It is interesting that friendship should stretch to helping a colleague, but we must remember that Councillors Amalu-Johnson and Nyaga were still voting to keep the Conservative group in power. It is a difficult question. One must depend on what people say. I know that deals have been in the news this week, but where immediate financial rewards flow they become rather dubious. The biggest problem resulted from Councillor Blackman's promise to those two defectors that, if they changed sides and started to support the Tories, they would be given a £1 million community centre

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in Chapter road. That was an interesting project ; so interesting that Councillor Blackman authorised Brent council's public relations department to issue a press release about the wonders of the organisation that was going to take it over.

The local community association--a group that was also bidding for the property--conducted an investigation and, amazingly enough, virtually all the people on the list of directors of the proposed African community centre turned out either not to exist or to be uncontactable. Let me run through the names to give hon. Members the flavour.

A Mr. Yeshie Abele listed his address as 1A Westview close, NW10, which turned out to be a false address. No telephone numbers were listed on the public relations handout from Brent council and none of the names could be found in the telephone book--quite remarkable. Mr. David Mkwawa, the chair of the group, was another characer who was not living at Westview close. He was eventually traced to Tottenham, where he refused to give his telephone number. Jonathan Cook, who was listed as the secretary, had given his address as Technic house, which is completely untraceable. Clive Townsend, who was listed as the treasurer, was said to live at 53 Wyndham avenue, W13, which also turned out to be a false address, and he was not on the electoral roll. His claim to be chairman or marketing director of Power Silver United Kingdom Ltd. and two other companies proved hard to confirm when none of those could be found in any list of companies or telephone book. The public relations officer, Thomas Heard, who was listed as living at 28A Burgess avenue, had a problem ; that property turned out to be empty.

The other names on the list are equally entertaining. A man who listed himself as "Ambassador" Isaac Jacob Sagay at an address in Maida Vale could not be traced and the Foreign Office protocol department has no record of that name on any diplomatic list. Mrs. Barbara Beyder of 23A Canterbury road, Morden, Surrey is not in the telephone book and cannot be traced. Dida Halake of 41 Ansleigh place, W11 is not in the telephone book. The public relations department of Brent council claimed that he was a founder of the Ladbroke grove Methodist supplementary school, yet the Methodist school and colleges department and the Methodist central office have no record of that school or that person.

It is a remarkable list of non-existent people who are taking charge of a £1 million community centre as a reward for swapping their party allegiance. This is a fit and proper matter for the district auditor to investigate--or at least the fraud squad. However, it gets difficult : who said what to whom at meetings ?

Fortunately, there were some people with integrity in the Conservative group in Brent and there was a major effort, in the run-up to the annual general meeting of the council this year, to replace the Conservative leader and deputy leader of the council, Councillors Blackman and Warren. That would have been successful--they would have been defeated by one vote. We all know the importance of one vote in the Chamber. However, as Conservative councillors arrived at the annual general meeting, Councillor Blackman announced that he had admitted two new members--the aforementioned Harshad Barot, who is the benefactor of doubt on a grand

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scale, and another Labour councillor who had defected, Mr. M. Patel. I have nothing to suggest anything unsavoury about why he should have defected.

The Conservative members of the group turned up and found that there were two new members whom they had not voted to admit and who had not yet become members of the Conservative party because their applications had not been processed. Lo and behold--Councillor Blackman and Councillor Warren survived by one vote the challenge to their leadership.

I am not saying for one moment that all Conservative councillors are corrupt. But this is corruption on a grand scale--the dangling of a £1 million community centre before a couple of people, one of whom is now facing 16 charges of fraud. Nkechi Amalu-Johnson is facing 16 charges of fraud after her brief conduct as chair of the housing committee. Councillor Blackman defended her throughout that period and Councillor Warren, the deputy leader, turned up to defend her in court against his council's action to try to reclaim the money. The examples of Westminster and Brent are not typical of the Conservative party, any more than they are typical of the Labour party or the Liberal Democrats. However, it seems that the powers of the district auditor are wholly inadequate to deal with the people who have managed to resist and drag out an investigation for four years in Westminster. The chief executive of Westminster is prepared to shred documents that the district auditor needs.

Certainly, when we get into the nightmarish jungle of the politics of Brent, with such bribery and vote-buying taking place continually at meetings, and with completely fictitious lists of people circulated on the orders of the council leader, Councillor Blackman, as the beneficiaries of the £1 million community centre, which was to be a reward for the defection of Nkechi Amalu-Johnson and P. Nyaga, there is nothing to say except that it is corruption. It is the use of public votes to buy office and hold office. It involves a complete double standard that is totally unacceptable. The district auditor should be investigati When I was the leader of the Greater London council, I received information that one of my members had tried to use his influence to get preferential treatment in gaining a commercial letting. The day that I discovered that, the papers went to the fraud squad and I urged the fraud squad to deal as harshly as possible with that individual. When I heard rumours that four members of the last Labour-controlled council for Brent had intervened in planning applications to benefit themselves, I went to the fraud squad and asked for an investigation. My position is absolutely clear. I have opposed corruption by Labour members on councils with which I have been involved and I expect the Conservative party to do the same with its crooks.

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2.49 pm

The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for the Environment (Mr. Tony Baldry) : The speech of the hon. Member for Brent, East (Mr. Livingstone) was a good, end-of-term political knockabout which I am sure will read well in the next issue of Tribune.

We are determined that local government will perform to the highest possible standards of public life and public accountability, irrespective of party complexion or political control. We expect local authorities and local councillors to act within the law and to seek to uphold the best traditions of public life in this country. One of the means to enable us to achieve that objective is the district auditor.

The district auditor has a number of duties in addition to those associated with a normal audit. The auditor of a local authority has a statutory duty to consider whether spending is legal and proper, and whether economy, efficiency and effectiveness--value for money--have been achieved through the use of public funds. While the auditor does not question policy, he considers the effects of policy and examines how policy decisions are reached. He considers whether decisions were reached with appropriate authority, and on sufficient and reliable financial data. If he concludes that the policy has resulted in financial loss, the auditor can apply to the court to have those responsible surcharged.

The auditor's powers are substantial. He can identify recommendations in a management letter which is presented at the conclusion of the audit. The local authority must consider that letter at a full council meeting and must respond publicly. The auditor must have the right of access at all reasonable times to all such documents relating to the organisation whose accounts are required to be audited. Any person who, without reasonable excuse, fails to comply with any of the auditor's requirements shall be liable to a fine and an additional fine for each day on which the offence continues.

The auditor has powers to make any report on any matter that comes to his notice in the course of the audit. Such reports must be considered by the local authority involved. If the auditor believes that an item on the account is unlawful, he can appeal to the courts for such a declaration, and if an item of account is declared unlawful the person authorising that expenditure may be required to repay it. If it appears to the auditor that a loss is due to wilful misconduct, he can set about recovering the amount from the person or people responsible. A member of any local authority who authorises an unlawful sum in excess of £2,000 shall be disqualified from being a member of a local authority for five years.

It is evidence of the auditor's impartiality and the effectiveness of the system that, in recent years, the district auditor has published reports on local authorities of different political complexions. Public interest reports are made for a number of different reasons, so the issue of a report cannot necessarily be interpreted as a criticism of the authority involved.

Let us consider the past three years and the London boroughs involved. In 1990-91, reports by the district auditor were published in relation to the following boroughs : Hackney, which was then Labour controlled ; Lambeth, which was then Labour controlled ; Camden, which was then Labour controlled ; the Royal Borough of Kingston upon Thames, where there was no overall

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