| Previous Section | Home Page |
Column 1542
industry in the appropriation debate on 8 March 1995. Since then, we have suggested to the Department many measures that could alleviate the crisis. Not only have Opposition Front Benchers drawn attention to that, but the Northern Ireland construction employers have lobbied Ministers and the Department. I also know that that concern is shared by Northern Ireland Members of Parliament who see the situation unfolding. From here, the response seems to be complacency and inertia. The main priority seems to be dogma-driven administrative reorganisation-- perhaps arranging a trade sale from the Highways Agency. We are seeing political gestures rather than ways of dealing with the economic realities.It is not as though the need does not exist. When we discussed appropriation measures in March the hon. Member for Antrim, East (Mr. Beggs)--I see that he is present tonight--raised the need of Larne harbour and the transport system in his constituency. The hon. Member for South Down (Mr. McGrady) highlighted the problem of more rural roads in his constituency. The auditor general has put the backlog of road maintenance at £60 million, while the Minister referred to an extra £1 million for road maintenance. The question one must ask is how far that will go to rectify the £60 million backlog?
The Minister of State, Northern Ireland Office, the hon. Member for Devizes (Mr. Ancram) has announced a welcome, if slightly over-hyped, expansion of the school-building programme. That lies behind the question by the hon. Member for Londonderry, East (Mr. Ross). We have pressed the Department to accelerate the programme. We should remember that the money has already been committed and budgeted for in the Northern Ireland budget. The replies have been extremely complacent. That complacency was to some extent reflected in what we heard from the Minister of State, Northern Ireland Office, the right hon. Member for Westminster, North (Sir J. Wheeler), tonight. The money has been budgeted for and, by bringing forward the programme, we could start stimulating the construction industry.
There is a similar picture in housing. There were only 567 new starts in the public sector in the first quarter of this year, in the face of increasing housing need. There are 22,000 people on the waiting list in Northern Ireland--7,000 in the Belfast area alone. The result of all that in the industry--not my figure or the construction employers' figure, but the figure in the Government's own press release of 10 July--is a 14.5 per cent. drop in construction activity in Northern Ireland over the past year. That is the reality facing the industry and those who work in it. That reality also faces the thousands of young men who hoped to work in the industry, but who now have idle hands.
Unfortunately, for the Government, the dogmas of competitive tendering, hiving off, market testing and--a new word to have entered the political vocabulary--agentisation, are a higher priority. Not only does that distract from the urgent tasks in hand, but it is extremely worrying for the future of Northern Ireland.
The Opposition know the commitment of local councillors and local councils to working for their communities. Today, my hon. Friend the shadow Secretary of State, the hon. Member for Redcar (Ms Mowlam), has been in Ards attending the sixth in a series of economic conferences with local councils, industry, unions and the community. My hon. Friend the Member
Column 1543
for Clydebank and Milngavie (Mr. Worthington) has also been over there. We know the impressive commitment of those local councils. The Government, for their part, have stated their objective clearly. They say that they wish to restore greater power and responsibility to Northern Ireland's locally elected representatives within a framework of new political agreements which would attract widespread support and take account of Northern Ireland's wider relationship with the United Kingdom and the Republic of Ireland. But the question that underlies that is: what will those locally elected representatives be left to run?At an accelerating speed the Northern Ireland Office is forcing the pace of breaking up and contracting out, even at the expense of its own fair employment guidelines. It seems to be trying to run a scorched earth policy in Northern Ireland. The philosophy seems to be that if the Northern Ireland Office cannot run it, none of the locally elected representatives can. That is a profoundly undemocratic approach and is extremely worrying for the future and development of local authority work in Northern Ireland and attempts to give responsibility and decision-making powers to those representatives.
That approach can be demonstrated even more graphically in the health service, where the fanatical commitment to compulsory competitive tendering has united opposition across the political spectrum and the communities, not least in the Down and Lisburn area. Here the Government have chosen to allow trusts blatantly to ignore their policy appraisal and fair treatment guidelines. Yet, in response to problems raised by some of the American legislative representatives, they use those guidelines to reassure the American Administration of their good intentions in the area of equal opportunities. The Government have ignored the unequal manner in which cuts will affect women employees who face reductions in wages and conditions.
The opposition to the changes goes far beyond the immediate work force and its unions--Unison and the General, Municipal, Boilermakers and Allied Trades Union. It extends throughout the community, including local councils --I have met local representatives from all political parties--and Members of Parliament, most notably those from the Ulster Unionist party and the Social Democratic and Labour party.
The Government seem to have learnt nothing from their disastrous experience of changing the health service in Great Britain, which has caused massive disruption and a huge increase in bureaucracy. The right hon. Member for Wokingham (Mr. Redwood) drew attention to some of the unfortunate results of the changes that have taken place in England and Wales. Instead, the Government are moving at break-neck speed to establish the same system in Northern Ireland, against the overwhelming wishes of the people and of their elected
representatives.
Popular opposition has had some success in slowing down the Government's drive in one area. That opposition, combined with some administrative difficulties, has slowed down the drive towards privatising water. As a consequence, the Government made the welcome announcement that there would be no privatisation of water this side of the next general election.
Column 1544
However, it is also true that the Government's attempts to strip the water authorities of most of their functions will make them a very easy target for privatisation in the unlikely event that the Conservatives win the next general election. It will make the water authorities very vulnerable to a trade sale and, in the meantime, the water industry will be undermined considerably.We have learnt from the privatisation of water in England and Wales that the certain outcomes are that water charges will increase, metering will be installed, and the fat cats in charge of the water industry will get even fatter. But the people of Northern Ireland do not have to look to England to see what privatisation means in practice. Electricity privatisation has not narrowed the gap between electricity prices in Northern Ireland and in Britain, which has widened to an estimated 30 per cent. That is obviously of enormous concern to hard-pressed householders in Northern Ireland as well as in terms of inward investment.
I understand that representatives from some of the Northern Ireland parties have met the Minister to discuss the issue. They have expressed their concern at the dramatically widening gap in electricity prices. They are extremely worried that, despite some expressions of concern, the Government have taken no action in that area. I hope that, in his winding-up speech, the Minister will be able to give those Northern Ireland Members of Parliament and the people of Northern Ireland some idea of what will be done to close that substantial gap, which has widened even further.
We have put forward some specific proposals. But when Northern Ireland Members of Parliament and I pressed for the transfer of sulphur quotas from England to Northern Ireland, the result was yet more inertia. It is quite astonishing that the Government can transfer carbon dioxide quotas within the European Union from the northern European countries to Spain and yet find it impossible to transfer sulphur quotas from England to Northern Ireland. That is a disgrace. The Northern Ireland Office should press the Department of the Environment to ensure that that transfer takes place. As you can imagine, Mr. Deputy Speaker, I could refer to a host of other issues--I see the relieved look on your face now that I have indicated that I do not intend to pursue them. I recognise the state of play in this parliamentary Session--I hope to be called by the Chair to speak next Session--and I also recognise the need for Members of Parliament from Northern Ireland to put their constituents' cases.
In conclusion, I urge the Minister to pay greater heed to the wishes of the people of Northern Ireland and to draw back from the application of rigid dogma, of which I hope that I have given some examples tonight.
9.24 pm
Rev. Martin Smyth (Belfast, South): Perhaps the small number of Northern Ireland Members here tonight pinpoints a certain insensitivity on the part of the Northern Ireland Office--arranging the debate to suit itself--or of the business managers. Someone, it seems, was unaware that this is the high holiday period in Northern Ireland. Others can take their holidays in August with their families, but this is our holiday time. Hitherto, this debate has always been held in the last week of June. I repeat: we are right in the middle of the main holiday period in Northern Ireland.
Column 1545
I should like to mention another sort of insensitivity as well. The hon. Member for Warley, West (Mr. Spellar) mentioned a meeting of representatives of the SDLP and the Ulster Unionist party with the Prime Minister, to deal with economic issues. I confess that we sometimes wonder what the agenda really is.That meeting should have made the headlines, but, as certain people emerged from the meeting with the Prime Minister, they carried with them--furtively --the announcement that the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland was to shake hands in Washington with the erstwhile Member for Belfast, West--who never sat in this place but who, when he did not win a seat, wanted to come and speak here.
As a result, we have witnessed a charade which has meant that the wrong headlines in the newspapers displaced one of the most important developments in Northern Ireland for some time. I mention that merely because I believe that the House should be aware of some of the problems. We are sometimes told that, if all the parties in Northern Ireland will work together for the good of all the people, things will happen. Latterly, it has appeared to us that there is a different agenda. Things do not happen when we work together, as the hon. Member for Warley, West said of council co-operation. In June last year, the Minister of State, Northern Ireland Office, the hon. Member for Devizes (Mr. Ancram), winding up the debate, chided us for not talking up Northern Ireland. He said that anyone listening would have heard only laments and groans. I said then that part of our task is to pinpoint areas of need, but today I want to record some of the promising developments in the Province. There has been reference to cuts in the construction industry. Earlier, the Minister referred to the cross-harbour bridge. The contract for that was completed within time and within budget--one of the few occasions in the United Kingdom when such work has been completed within the contract time and budget. The construction industry could have been rewarded by being allowed to get on with the much needed second-stage development.
In Northern Ireland, we await the arrival of supermarkets which have spotted an opportunity there. Some of us have been telling them about the opportunity for a long time. They did not need the so-called peace process to give them the dividend they want. Entrepreneurial people in Marks and Spencer, British Home Stores and other groups have already discovered better returns on their investments in Northern Ireland. In the worst possible times they were prepared to do the best possible things--and they succeeded. I hope that those who come in future will make equally successful investments; but the infrastructure could already have been under way in North Down and the cross-harbour reaches. I look forward to an early start on completing the project.
There are other important matters. In that debate, my hon. Friend the Member for Upper Bann (Mr. Trimble) asked the then Minister how many pure visitors there were in total. We were later given a figure of one in five. I wonder whether the purity has increased, or whether the ethnic people are still coming back.
We are always accused of having showery weather, but this year we have had outstanding weather and have sent many a person back to the homeland blistered and burnt
Column 1546
because they did not expect that it would be so warm in Northern Ireland. It is a good place for tourists and visitors. I have to be frank and admit that, as in some other places, there is a "not in my back yard" approach, because we want the beaches for ourselves. However, we welcome tourists and visitors.As the Minister has responsibility for the environment, I hope that tonight he will help us on questions that have been regularly raised about Orlit houses. Last time, they were raised by my right hon. Friend the Member for Lagan Valley (Mr. Molyneaux) and my hon. Friend the Member for Antrim, South (Mr. Forsythe). Will Northern Ireland and its people continue to be disadvantaged when others have been helped along with that poor housing which was built in the past? I come now to the vote for the Department of Education, and in particular a thorny problem which is causing deep concern. I admit that we are told that it is only for discussion at this stage, and that the Minister has not yet made his decision. But we have been down this road many times, and it has been rare that Ministers in Northern Ireland have gone back on a discussion document and overruled the thinking that has come forth from the Department. I refer to the wonderful decision that the best way to reform education provision in Northern Ireland is to cut the number of boards from five to four, and to amalgamate the Belfast education and library board with the South Eastern education and library board. That is supposed to save about £2 million. But when one takes into account the redundancy payments to those who will be laid off, I suspect that that figure will be neutralised, so that cannot be a valid reason.
The consensus among those involved is that the amalgamation is a bad idea, and is on the table only so that the Department can save face. It was not even an option in the first consultation period. It became an option only when the Department found out that its other proposals would not work. The South Eastern board represents a massive, largely rural area. The proposal has been brought forward by a Department which has meddled in a sectarian way with the administration of education in the Province.
The five boards supervised the controlled schools, the maintained schools and the integrated schools right up to the Department. As I understand it, they have worked remarkably well, but, at the behest of one branch of the Church, the Council for Catholic Maintained Schools was brought into being. As a result, the mainline Protestant denominations, who in the past were pioneers in the provision of education facilities in Northern Ireland, transferred their schools with the understanding that there would be an education system for people in Northern Ireland. They were given transferrers' rights, and, bit by bit, those rights have been eroded. Why?
I want to put it on the record that I have been invited on 2 September as a former student in Magee university college to mark the 150th anniversary of the Martha McCrea Foundation. That was a liberal arts college in Londonderry with a theological faculty attached, which was open from the outset to all students irrespective of where they came from. In my day, it was attended by members of the Roman Catholic community.
Because the administration of Northern Ireland observed the letter of the law as laid down in the Government of Ireland Act 1921, as I went to that college,
Column 1547
I was not given a scholarship. I was qualified to attend either Queen's university, Belfast or Trinity college, Dublin; had I attended either, I would have been eligible for both scholarship and grant.We are told that Northern Ireland has discriminated against the Roman Catholic community in favour of the Protestant community. It seems to me that discrimination at that level began only under so-called direct rule. I believe that more than £2 million has been set aside this year for the administration of the Council for Catholic Maintained Schools. Is that why one of the boards--where both Roman Catholics and Protestants are employed- -must be got rid of? Is it to finance that departure in the education system?
Will the Minister reconsider the foolish suggestion that has been made? The proposed amalgamation is likely to affect the education of children in both border areas. It will create a super-board much larger than the others; administration will be unwieldy, and it is feared that the less well-off areas will siphon off a
disproportionate amount of the available funds.
My hon. Friends have already raised the issue of the fabric of our schools. I am talking not only about maintained schools, but about controlled schools--schools that were built just after the war. I went to a grammar school whose prefabricated buildings were erected after the first world war; I visited the same classroom 30 years later. We are now asking young people to attend classes in prefabricated structures, 40 or 50 years after those structures were built. One such building is in what is now known as Wellington college, in south Belfast. In an attempt to meet the Government's demand for co-education and rationalisation, Carolan grammar school--a girls' school--was amalgamated with Annadale grammar school, a boys' school, to form Wellington college. Development was promised, but it has not taken place. Now the intention is to move Deramore high school-- which was a secondary modern--to Larkfield, leaving the inner city of Belfast devoid of secondary state education.
We have argued against it, but the intention is to move the growing enrolment of young people at Wellington college to the Deramore buildings. That is intended to happen in September, but no money is available for the improvements that are required to bring the school up to the standard that is needed for modern grammar school education, particularly in science. That is a scandal and a disgrace. Other avenues must be considered. One school has had financial provision for the employment of an additional teacher this coming September. The school, however, is bulked out and no accommodation is available. When the case for the additional teacher was made, surely the school's plea for additional accommodation funding should have been heeded. Here we have an extra teacher with no place. If this summer weather continues, perhaps she will go back to teach in the old hedge schools, out in the hedges of the country.
The irony is that, one year ago, a school not five miles away was allowed to dispose of a mobile classroom for £150.
Mr. Beggs: I know a little about the disposal of mobile classrooms. The fact that that mobile was disposed of for
Column 1548
£150 would suggest that it was in the same state as many of the mobiles in the North Eastern education and library board region, where we could not even get an offer of £150 for one mobile, because of the poor and dangerous state into which it had developed over the years.Rev. Martin Smyth: I accept my hon. Friend's point, but the my point is that, if that mobile was available and had been used at that school, but was surplus to requirements, and if the school could not afford either a new mobile or an extended building, surely better housekeeping arrangements should have been made than disposing of the mobile for £150, and leaving a school with an extra teacher and extra children, but no place in which to teach them.
May I turn to health? A problem is developing in Northern Ireland which I have discovered has also developed in England and Wales and in Scotland. That problem involves the closure especially of geriatric facilities and statutory homes. Ostensibly, the reason for closing and disposing of many of those homes is that they are out of date, and that it would cost too much to modernise them.
Too many residential and nursing homes have been provided in the private sector. Sooner or later, we will come unstuck on that one, as the owners will not be making the profit that they should be making, and we do not have the statutory provision.
What I have discovered is causing a great deal of concern where health needs exists. Who pays for health need in a residential nursing home? Is it, as here, the local authority, under social services, or is it the health service? In Northern Ireland, that should not be a problem, because there is an integrated health and social services system. However, an elderly person was put into a nursing home not because that was the family's choice--remember "patients first", and that "patients' choice" is the cry--but because the doctor could not get the lady into a hospital. No bed was available, so they had to put her into the nursing home, and of course the family must pick up the tab.
I understood that, in the national health service, we have treatment free at the point of delivery. When that matter was raised with the Minister, the answer came back that the general practitioner was acting as the agent of the family; but the GP was acting simply as a doctor who had a patient who needed hospital care, which was not provided or available, and which had to be provided in a nursing home. That argument is false.
Having said that, I put it on record that the South and East Belfast community trust is one of the most progressive community trusts in the United Kingdom. In fact, it has been taking part in a European experiment, and will in all probability be the United Kingdom's centre of excellence for care in the community. I pay tribute to the trust's board, executive and staff, who are pushing ahead to get the best possible care for people in the community. That is the thrust of our community care programme.
People discovered, as some of us on the Select Committee said some years ago, that it may not necessarily be cheap care. Some went in for community care because they thought that it would save money on long-term care, but, if the average person is looked after in his own home, he will find that, no matter where he roams, there is no place like home. That notion is being found helpful in the south Belfast area.
Column 1549
I now raise a subject that affects everyone, and certainly those involved in looking after young people under five who have special needs. The bureaucratic approach is to state that a child under five can be wheeled in a pram. I remember that, when I was a lad, my mother wheeled me to school, then to hospital, and then back to school for five or six weeks, but I am not speaking now of such a situation. I am thinking of a child who might not even be expected to live beyond five years but who, at three years old, needs to be lifted and led, as they say.I received a letter from a Minister saying that it is not the diagnosis but the effect that is the deciding factor. Therefore, a youngster who is unable to walk, who is partially sighted and who has other problems, is supposed to be left at home. I disagree entirely, because someone will have to be at home to look after him. The parents will then have to take the youngster with them, but the youngster cannot go on public transport. He needs a private taxi, because the parents cannot afford a car and do not qualify for a mobility allowance, because of a bureaucratic decision that children under five do not need it.
The Northern Ireland Office has experimented in other spheres; perhaps it should now lead the rest of the nation in acting more humanely. One may be taught the theory of social care, and one may even be involved in hospital work, but unless one is faced with a child such as I have described, one cannot understand the real problems. I ask the Minister to think again about the problem. I shall conclude, because my colleagues want to speak. I am, however, aware that we have a bit longer than usual tonight, because of the absence of some who might have spoken for an hour if they had had the opportunity. We have been talking about building a complete European network and building tunnels, so may I ask whether any consideration has been given to bridging the most expensive expanse of water by building a tunnel from Portpatrick to Donaghadee? 9.48 pm
Mr. Clifford Forsythe (Antrim, South): We tend, in these debates, to go round the houses, the street lamps and the pot holes, but my hon. Friends and I will do our best to keep our comments reasonably to the point and try to stick to the important issues that we can think of.
I want to mention just one constituency matter that is relevant to the Department of the Environment vote 3 on water and sewerage services. I had the unfortunate experience of making representations to have a drainage pipe fitted in Ballycorr road, Ballyclare, so that flooding of houses there, which had gone on for years, would cease. I am glad to say that, eventually, the work was done. I was assured that everything was under control and that I would not need to bring my plumbing expertise to bear any longer. Unfortunately, there was flooding again last month and there has been more flooding this month.
I raise the point for one reason. I was informed by my constituents that, when they asked why the problem had recurred, they were told quite bluntly by those who came to see them that it recurred because there was not enough money to fit the proper pipe. Will the Minister tell the House whether that was indeed the case and whether piecemeal work was done--not to solve the problem, but to keep a few people quiet? Is not that a waste of money? If the money is not supplied at the beginning and the proper size piping is not fitted, public money is wasted.
Column 1550
I again put on record my and--I am sure--my party's objection to water privatisation in Northern Ireland. We are glad that it is not going ahead, but we would still oppose such a proposal if it were to be presented some time in the future.I shall move on to the Department of Health and Social Services vote and raise a matter that is dear to the heart--perhaps that is the wrong expression--of some of my hon. Friends. I refer, of course, to the Child Support Agency. As I am a member of the Select Committee on Social Security and since I have a little experience of the subject, I receive an awful lot of the complaints made to my hon. Friends which need investigation.
I had a case recently of a working wife. A court decided that payments were to be made to her. She has three children and had been receiving a very small amount of family credit, but when those payments came to the notice of the CSA, she was immediately put on its books. Unfortunately, when the assessment was made, the court order was stopped by the CSA and she received no money from the courts. Not only did she not receive court order payments, she did not receive any money from the CSA either. The CSA simply said, "Hard luck, that is the way that it works. We are afraid that we cannot do anything for you." Naturally I am raising that matter in other places, but I must put it on record that, if that is the way the legislation works--I understand that it is--it is a disgrace.
I have said before in the House that every party agreed with the child support operation and that it should work for the benefit of children and those who look after them. When the House passes legislation that creates a problem such as I have described, the sooner it is cleared up the better.
Mr. Beggs: Does my hon. Friend agree that, such is the stress and strain being put on many young men in Northern Ireland who are setting up second homes, but who feel a real duty to children by a former wife, they are almost on the point of nervous breakdown? As an alternative, they are contemplating giving up secure employment because they cannot afford to live on what is left of their earnings after the CSA payments are taken out.
Does my hon. Friend agree that greater allowance must be given to responsible fathers who seek to provide overnight stays for their children, sometimes for as many as 100 days a year, so that they can keep the family relationship going? Those men get no relief from payment and some change must be made soon.
Mr. Forsythe: I thank my hon. Friend for his comments. I know that such things are happening not only in Northern Ireland, but in the rest of the United Kingdom. The legislation does not allow for certain expenses, so problems occur. I am sure that the Minister, the Secretary of State and the Department concerned are examining the problem to see whether things can be made a little easier. The object of the exercise was to look after the children. It would be most unfortunate if those who are in employment were to give up their job to look after their second family.
Leaving the legislation to one side, we find that there are still incorrect assessments. We also find that, when assessments are made, they are not being paid--sometimes for good reasons. It takes too long to make assessments, and arrears may go back some time to when assessments were first made. Those who want to pay and to look after their children, and those who need the money
Column 1551
to look after the children, find themselves heavily in debt, which causes great problems. I hope that the Department is still considering that problem, which applies--unfortunately--to the whole of the United Kingdom. Child support is an example of a very good idea that seems to have gone wrong.In Northern Ireland, the attendance allowance board has to decide whether an allowance should be paid in certain medical cases. It made decisions about young children with diabetes, but, sadly, its decisions were different from those taken in Great Britain. When I asked the Minister about those decisions, he simply said that they were a matter for the attendance allowance board.
I should like the Minister to tell me--he can write to me if he does not have the answer now--who made the policy decision that the attendance allowance board in Northern Ireland would not treat young children with diabetes in the same way as they were being treated in the rest of the United Kingdom. It is a simple question. To say that the Northern Ireland attendance allowance board treated children in Northern Ireland differently from children in Scotland, in Wales and in England is not an answer. I want the Minister to tell me who made the policy decision that children with diabetes in Northern Ireland should be treated differently from children in the rest of the United Kingdom.
I am also rather worried about planning, where changes are proposed. Although we like changes in planning if we think that they will mean an improvement, the situation is not satisfactory if we still find different decisions being made in different parts of Northern Ireland. Planning permission is given for golf courses all over Northern Ireland, yet other applications which seem to have a good case are disregarded. There must be a lot of golfers among the planners; we certainly have a lot of golf courses.
For example, planning permission was given for a golf course in part of my constituency but, for whatever reason, the scheme did not go ahead. Quite nearby, a church required its manse to be extended but, because the existing building could not be extended, there was an application for planning permission for a new manse close to the church. When the people there inquired about the application, they were told that they had no chance of getting permission for the much-needed manse even though it was for a minister who encourages many local activities other than golf-- including some sport and all sorts of other things--which are good for the rural community. I hope that, although the initial inquiry was frowned on, good sense will provide an answer.
Mr. William Ross: My hon. Friend has drawn attention to one of the cases in which the agricultural requirement for planning permission in rural areas should be set aside. The matter has been overlooked in the past. Can we rest assured that planners will be instructed to treat dwellings for clergy on the same basis as agricultural buildings?
Mr. Forsythe: I agree with my hon. Friend, and I hope that the Minister is listening. I am sure that he is. As he is a sympathetic Minister, I am sure that he will give us a good answer.
I hope that the Pensions Bill will be introduced in Northern Ireland as quickly as it is in Great Britain--even simultaneously, perhaps. There are still some aspects of it
Column 1552
with which we disagree, such as the lack of pensioner trustees. None the less, I hope that it will be introduced in Northern Ireland as in Great Britain.My hon. Friend the Member for Belfast, South (Rev. Martin Smyth) mentioned the Eastern health board, which looks after Muckamore Abbey, a hospital for mentally handicapped patients that lies in the Northern health board area. Unfortunately, the Eastern board--or, rather, its successor--is thinking about making changes or, perhaps, even closing it.
It would cause great sadness if all the dedicated and expert staff were pushed to one side and disregarded. Many patients in Muckamore Abbey need to be in such a hospital. Although the hospital is funded by the Eastern board, the patients come from all over Northern Ireland. The hospital has a tremendous reputation and has been doing a wonderful job for years, so I hope that that it and the expertise there will not be lost to the whole community in Northern Ireland. It should not be beyond the scope of the Department to make its views known, and to say that the abbey should be updated to continue to look after those who are unable to go into the community. There are still many people who are not able to do that.
The last thing that I want to mention is the statement made today in the House about the Nolan report. Can the Minister tell us what the situation is with regard to the report's application in Northern Ireland? The Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster said today: "We shall act quickly and positively on the Nolan committee's recommendations concerning appointments and propriety in public bodies".
In other words, quangos. He went on to say:
"In particular we shall appoint a new commissioner for public appointments to offer guidance, monitor and audit departmental appointment procedures. This post will be advertised in a matter of days."
Will the commissioner cover Northern Ireland? Will he be responsible for the quangos that are created in Northern Ireland? Are we to have a separate commissioner in Northern Ireland? Will we have a committee, as is mentioned in recommendations 36 and 37 in the Government's response to the Nolan committee? The recommendations say that all appointments to such bodies
"should be made after advice from a Panel or Committee which includes an independent element."
Recommendations 34 and 35 of the Government's response to the Nolan committee really hit home as far as Northern Ireland Members are concerned. Recommendation 34 talks about merit, and says that "The Government welcomes the recommendation which reflects, as the Committee recognises, a long- standing and continuing practice which is `deeply ingrained in British public life'."
Members of my party would certainly agree with that, although there have been a number of occasions when we have felt that that has not been applied in Northern Ireland.
Recommendation 35 talks about the skills and balance of those who are appointed to such bodies. I am afraid that there has not been a great deal of balance in those appointed to be members of such bodies in Northern Ireland. Even if the Minister does not tell us that all of the measures are to be applied in Northern Ireland, I hope that he will have read the Government's response to the Nolan committee report and that he will see that it is
Column 1553
implemented as soon as possible in Northern Ireland. I can assure the Minister that that would be one case when he would have our full support.10.8 pm
Mr. Roy Beggs (Antrim, East): Vote 2 addresses expenditure for housing services, including certain grants in aid. Throughout my constituency, the right to buy introduced by the Government has encouraged and enabled many former tenants to purchase their homes from the Northern Ireland Housing Executive. These new
owner-occupiers have made impressive improvements to their homes. Many of those who have recently purchased their homes do not qualify for any modernisation grant. Neighbouring properties still owned by the Housing Executive are undergoing extensive renovation and refurbishment, so those who recently purchased their homes and do not qualify for a grant feel, to some extent, let down. Another concern is replacement grant, with which my hon. Friend the Member for Londonderry, East (Mr. Ross) will deal.
I appeal for greater priority to be given by the Housing Executive to providing adequate heating facilities in all the older Housing Executive properties. Many of those properties are more than 30 years old and still have only one heating point. In many, the high cost of electricity prohibits sufficient heating to prevent dampness and mildew on walls and ceilings, which even causes dampness to bedclothes. The provision of adequate heating could contribute significantly to improving the general health of adults and young children in many housing estates throughout Northern Ireland. Therefore, will the Minister endeavour to ensure that the Northern Ireland Housing Executive has sufficient funds available to approve grants to applicants who seek to carry out much-needed improvements to their homes? Families in my constituency are living in mobiles because the old farm accommodation is not up to public health standards and people have been waiting for months for approval from the Northern Ireland Housing Executive, but apparently insufficient money is available. If work is started before approval is given, no grant is payable.
So here is an opportunity, at a time when we need to assist the construction industry, to protect thousands of jobs and create hundreds of new ones, to make money available to the Northern Ireland Housing Executive to enable it to grant approvals so that people can get on with home improvements.
Rev. Martin Smyth: Does my hon. Friend agree that it would be even more helpful if the Housing Executive collected all the details required at once, instead of spinning it out over months and then, rather than simply allocating on the date of application, give priority to those with greatest need for weather proofing or whatever else is required in their homes?
Mr. Beggs: I endorse my hon. Friend's suggestion. When people make an application, it is important that the officer who visits the home takes a little time while he is there to offer guidance so that the applicants know precisely all that is required of them. Sadly, the Housing Executive makes too many repeat requests to applicants for additional information. Regrettably, it does not start consideration within the grant approval queue until all the information that it requests is available. I hope that
Column 1554
managers will exercise good sense and, where it is urgently required, keep a roof over people's heads by granting approval at an early date, but if the Housing Executive's regional office does not have the funds to release, nobody can benefit.I mentioned the priority that should be given to upgrading heating in people's homes and the difficulties experienced because people cannot afford the expense of electricity in Northern Ireland. I was disappointed that the Minister of State who opened this debate, the right hon. Member for Westminster, North (Mr. Wheeler), made no reference to anything being done in the immediate future to reduce the high cost of electricity to both domestic and industrial consumers. I simply ask when we can expect a significant reduction in electricity prices in Northern Ireland.
The water service staff of the Department of the Environment have been responsive to the cries for help from my constituents of Fernagh drive, Fernagh gardens and Fernagh avenue of Newtownabbey, County Antrim, when their properties and homes have been flooded. It is an absolute disgrace that the occupiers of those houses should lose carpets and all their household furniture on the ground floor every time there is a heavy rainfall. That occurred most recently on 11 June, when heavy rainfall draining into the sewage and storm drain disposal system resulted in a foul mix of rainwater and sewage flooding backyards and entering sub-floors through ventilators. Because that water could not get away, it built up and entered homes underneath back doors. Those unfortunate householders have lost everything, and not for the first time. The Department is aware of the problem. Help is what is needed now, not sympathy from officials.
The roadway at Fernagh gardens does not even have a single gulley to take rainwater away. If there ever were any gulleys on that roadway, they have been tarmacked over for a long time. It is obvious that the existing sewerage and rainwater drainage system cannot cope, so I appeal to the Minister to take steps to see that that nuisance does not happen again. My constituents deserve to be protected from future flooding and that will be possible only when a proper drainage and sewerage system is put in place.
Can the Minister tell the House whether any provision is being made to enable area boards to build new nursery schools or to adapt empty classrooms in primary schools to create nursery wings? Are any additional training courses being funded by the Department of Education to provide the trained staff who will be required to cater for those children who will benefit from the increased access to pre-school nursery education that has been announced for Northern Ireland, commencing in the school year, 1996- 97?
Is there sufficient funding in the allocations that have been announced tonight to address the urgent need to replace old school buildings, some of which are in a dangerous condition? Is there sufficient funding to replace mobile classrooms across Northern Ireland with permanent accommodation? Will funding be made available to help voluntary grammar schools, such as Dalriada in North Antrim, where parents have already contributed to raise their share of the necessary funding for new modern facilities to enable the national curriculum to be delivered? When those in the private sector have spent years fund raising and collected the required amount, it is a great pity that progress,
Column 1555
redevelopment and new improvements are delayed because the Department of Education cannot match that private funding. I would like an assurance tonight that, subject to a suitable site being obtained in the Millbrook-Larne area of my constituency, such expenditure as is necessary will be made available to the North Eastern education and library board to enable Millbrook primary school to be relocated to a safer and more secure site.In common with the hon. Member for Warley, West (Mr. Spellar), my colleagues and I welcome the steady decline in unemployment in Northern Ireland. However, we have a long way to go in tackling the problems of long -term unemployment.
At this time of great expectation of increased inward investment, may I again place on record the growing perception that my constituency, as a mainly Unionist constituency, has been and is being discriminated against, and is not obtaining a proportionate share of new investment? We have lost many large employers over the years--Imperial Chemical Industries, Courtaulds, Carrera Rothmans, GEC Alsthom, Klingers Yarns and many more.
I welcome recent investment, but not enough jobs have been created to make up for jobs lost to date, in spite of the excellent record of good industrial relations throughout Northern Ireland and the fact that we have a well-educated, highly skilled and willing work force. I endorse and fully support the remarks made by my hon. Friend the Member for Belfast, South (Rev. Martin Smyth) regarding the Department of Education's proposals for change. I emphasise yet again the cross-party commitment to opposing the removal or abolition of the South Eastern education and library board. That proposal has caused widespread worry. In the proposals, it was suggested that, in future, the education and library boards might be responsible for funding the voluntary grammar schools. It would be helpful if we were told tonight what advantages are likely to accrue to voluntary grammar schools, should funding responsibility be transferred from the Department of Education to the area boards.
There is already evidence of a tourism boom in Northern Ireland, but also evidence of a serious shortage of bed accommodation. It was encouraging to hear the recent welcome announcement by the Minister responsible for economic development of new hotel developments that we can expect in the near future. May we have an assurance that the Minister will request the Northern Ireland tourist board to speed up assessment of proposals for grant aid to provide new bedroom accommodation, and to provide active help to local hoteliers instead of repeatedly moving the goalposts and delaying projects, some of which might have been completed months ago but have not started? The hon. Member for Warley, West mentioned recent difficulties in Northern Ireland. In conclusion, I remind the House that the very limited recent disruption in Northern Ireland has been less damaging to the Northern Ireland economy than the daily cost to the United Kingdom economy of the recent rail stoppages. There is good will throughout Northern Ireland. The best way to secure the peace is to continue to attract and support inward investment and to locate new manufacturing industry in places where it is accessible to all sections of the community.
| Next Section
| Home Page |