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Mr. Roy Hughes (Newport, East): Is it not deceitful of the Secretary of State to paint such a rosy picture of the Welsh economy, when independent, impartial observers are saying clearly that Wales has been reduced to one of the most impoverished areas in western Europe? Why will he not be straightforward with the House this afternoon, and confirm that council tax in Wales is likely to increase by more than 11 per cent.--double the expected increase for England?
Mr. Hague: We have dealt with the council tax argument. Council tax levels, as I have explained, are to be set by local authorities, but I have said very clearly in the past several weeks that I would expect a larger proportion of revenue to be funded locally by local authorities in the coming year.
On the overall economic picture, I believe that the hon. Gentleman does an injustice to Wales. There are problem areas. There are pockets of high unemployment--I referred to that in my statement, and I acknowledge it-- but the overall rate of unemployment in Wales, as in the rest of the United Kingdom, is now lower than that in the other major European economies. That is a very different picture from the picture that we saw in previous decades. That picture has improved further with today's statistics, and it will improve still further in the coming year.
Mr. Nick Ainger (Pembroke):
Is the Secretary of State aware that the statement will confirm the worst fears of many of my constituents, and of constituents throughout Wales, especially if they are parents or school governors or if they are one of the more than 100 people in my constituency who newly joined the dole queue this month--as the figures published today confirm?
The Secretary of State is not, in real terms, increasing the expenditure of the Welsh Development Agency to make up the £23 million cut, which meant that many very important projects had to be ended--or not begun--in my constituency and elsewhere in Wales. His announcement of an additional £12 million will not make up any of that £23 million, because the statement says that the WDA's spending for next year will remain approximately the same as for this year. That means that the £23 million cut will be made this year and next year.
A significant number of projects will not be able to go ahead, and many of those people who joined the dole queue last month in my constituency will remain on it directly as a result of the Secretary of State's failure to overcome that £23 million shortfall.
Mr. Hague:
The hon. Gentleman must consider the provision for the Welsh Development Agency, which is a £12 million increase on what was planned in the Government's grant alongside the other measures that I announced--the increase in the budget for regional selective assistance and the attention that I have given to the training budget, especially for young people, which is good news for people in the hon. Gentleman's constituency, where the unemployment record has not been as good in the past 12 months as it has been in Wales as a whole.
If the hon. Gentleman wants me to increase further the WDA's budget, he must be able to say where, in the other programmes, that money should be found. I have not heard Opposition Members make any suggestions about that today.
Mr. Alan W. Williams (Carmarthen):
May I welcome just one part of the statement--the announcement about the Carmarthen eastern bypass? We have waited for about 20 years, and we suffer appalling problems of congestion throughout the year, especially in summer. The bypass is badly needed. I also welcome the improvement of the links to Ceredigion, because those links are frustrating the economic development of that region.
There are some small problems with the Carmarthen eastern bypass. We have had major public inquiries, but we do not want another full-blown public inquiry. We want those little problems to be ironed out and the project to go ahead as soon as possible.
Mr. Hague:
I am grateful to the right hon. Gentleman for his welcome. I am trying to ensure that the road projects that have the highest priority, and the road projects that I have described in the statement, are those that are of strategic priority to the whole of Wales. I believe that there is a strong case for the projects that the hon. Gentleman mentioned, and I have, as he says, included them in my statement. I will consider the issue he mentioned of the specific problems with those roads projects, and I should be happy to discuss them with him further.
Mr. Martyn Jones (Clwyd, South-West):
Will the Secretary of State explain the position in Clwyd? He has received representations from local authorities in Clwyd, and they have explained to him in great detail that there is nursery provision in Clwyd for 100 per cent. of four-year-olds, provided outside the SSA. That is funded by a Labour local authority. If he introduces nursery vouchers, the people of Clwyd know that that will disrupt nursery education in Clwyd; it will take it away from the parents in Clwyd. I want to know what he will do about it.
Mr. Hague:
There is no reason for local authorities to have anything to fear about nursery provision if they are providing a service that people want to use. The money that will be recouped from local authorities to help to finance the nursery vouchers will not exceed the cost of the voucher. There will be more money in total; it will be a net injection of cash into the system, and it will give parents choice. I do not understand why we should not
Mr. Peter Hain (Neath):
Is this not a shamelessly cynical exercise by the Secretary of State in bouncing local authorities into imposing swingeing council tax increases? As those local authorities in Wales are almost all Labour-controlled, that will be very convenient for the Conservative party in the run-up to the next general election.
I specifically appeal to the Secretary of State to intervene to require his officials to reconsider the disaggregation of West Glamorgan county's budget. The way in which it is being done is penalising Neath and Port Talbot compared with Swansea, to such an extent that, in Heol-y-Ffin in Trebanos in my constituency, whereas all the people in that street at present pay the same council tax, from April 1996, people living on the Neath and Port Talbot side of that street will pay £100 more than people living on the other side.
It has nothing to do with the way in which the two new authorities distribute their spending and budgetary plans. The reason that that discrimination is occurring is to do with the Secretary of State's own Welsh Office incompetence and obstinacy.
Mr. Hague:
I do not think that it is to do with anyone's obstinacy. My officials have worked on the disaggregation very hard, together with people in the local authorities. A great deal of work has gone on through the Welsh Consultative Council on Local Government Finance, so that the disaggregated figures and the notional amounts are agreed figures, and everyone's best understanding of what the figures should look like.
Of course I will be happy to consider the matter that the hon. Gentleman draws to my attention, but I hope that he appreciates that the disaggregated figures and the notional amounts are already the product of a great deal of detailed work, taking account of the many anomalies that might arise. I will certainly consider that matter.
Mr. David Hanson (Delyn):
Was the Secretary of State able to take account of representations made to the hon. Member for Cardiff, North (Mr. Jones) by Flintshire specifically about the staff from Clwyd county council who have now adopted Flintshire as their new authority, and about the position of Theatre Clwyd, both of which are aspects of the settlement that cause concern?
Can the Secretary of State confirm to the House that, wherever in the statement he has used the phrase
Mr. Hague:
I have already mentioned Flintshire in my answer to the hon. Member for Alyn and Deeside (Mr. Jones).
Yes, maintaining budgets flat means that the cash amount remains the same, but all those organisations have opportunities to reduce running costs so that more is
available to be spent on services. In the case of the National Library for Wales, as the hon. Gentleman will recall, I announced a cash increase, so there is an increase in the resources available to introduce a much larger service, to bring the third library building into use.
Mr. Don Touhig (Islwyn):
Will the Secretary of State comment on the reorganisation of local government in Wales? The cost of that reorganisation has been put at £150 million, and the Society of County Treasurers has said that only districts with populations of 350,000 will achieve a payback. Bearing in mind the heavy on-going cost of local government reorganisation, will the Secretary of State assure us that the £42 million for local government reorganisation next year to which he referred in his statement will be sufficient, and will not lead to cuts in services? Is the £42 million new money?
"maintained at current levels of expenditure",
as he has with the tourism budget and with the libraries and museums budget, he means a cut, because inflation has increased?
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