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Rev. Martin Smyth (Belfast, South): The hon. Gentleman has been speaking strictly about local council rates. Is he aware that the Department has increased regional rates, without capping them, over the years?
Mr. Dowd: Indeed so. I am not certain whether the Government have yet announced the projected increases in regional rates--I suspect that they are due imminently--but they too will be well above the rate of inflation, partly owing to the disproportionate impact of the Government's landfill tax on local authorities in Northern Ireland, which are peculiarly dependent on this
method of refuse disposal. That localised impact has not been adequately considered by the Government.
The Government will be aware of their report showing that the major part of the road-building programme was undertaken in the 1960s, and that those roads are now reaching the end of their useful life. Nothing in the figures suggests adequate expenditure to cover that fact. Infrastructure is important--not just in Northern Ireland, but across the country--given what the Minister was able to say about attracting inward investment. The infrastructure and the roads are a key element of that, because it is difficult to see how one can achieve as much from inward investment without the infrastructure.
We welcome what progress has been made in housing recently, although that progress has taken place against the backdrop of increases in waiting lists, which now have more than 22,000 people on them. I urge the Department to put less effort into breaking the Housing Executive into housing associations and more into allowing it to build and rehabilitate homes in Northern Ireland. That would be to everyone's benefit, although I know that the Government are determined to decrease central Government control.
We recognise that the position in Northern Ireland is acutely difficult, because local authorities do not have the same rights and responsibilities as those in other parts of the United Kingdom. However, we do not necessarily believe that the best way to deal with that is to move power away to semi-selective quangos, whether housing associations or other organisations.
The Minister will be aware that a recent report showed that some £114 million needs to be spent to bring school buildings up to standard. Clearly, it would be wholly unreasonable to expect that amount to be committed in one year, but the report shows that a large programme of work needs to be done to the fabric of schools in Northern Ireland. I would appreciate any information about how the Government intend to deal with that.
I would also appreciate any information that the Minister might have about if, when, whether and how the Government's proposals for nursery vouchers might be extended to Northern Ireland.
The Minister of State, Northern Ireland Office (Mr. Michael Ancram):
The hon. Gentleman has given us quite a shopping list of what he would like to spend money on. Can he explain where, if he was in our position, the money would come from?
Mr. Dowd:
We would run the Government more efficiently, and we could do a thousand and one things that the Government are not doing.
If the Minister wants me to give figures now, his question was a reasonable try, but he must try harder. He knows the position. My understanding of the matter, weak and flimsy as it may be, is that the Government are responsible for the order before the House tonight, and my questions are about the order. A simple trawl of replies, especially to oral questions, from Ministers, and of questions from Conservative Back Benchers, would show that they are more concerned about what the Labour party will do than about the responsibilities of the Government.
The Chamber was and remains established to call the Government to account for their proposals and what they will do about the information supplied by Departments.
Mr. Ancram:
I am grateful to the hon. Gentleman for giving way again. Perhaps he did not understand my question, but I am sure that he realises that resources in Northern Ireland are allocated from a block, which is based on a formula. If more money were spent on one area of the block, it would have to come from another area. Can the hon. Gentleman explain, given his shopping list, from which areas of the block he would take money?
Mr. Dowd:
The short answer is that I am not prepared to run around giving alternatives. Moreover, we are taking far too much time from Northern Ireland Members in engaging in a petty party political squabble, and I do not intend to devote much more time to it.
Mr. Thomas McAvoy (Glasgow, Rutherglen):
That's okay, then.
Mr. Dowd:
I am grateful to my hon. Friend.
I shall not go into the issues arising from the trusts and shadow trusts, many of which will come into existence in the next couple of weeks, but a specific problem has been brought to my attention, and, I am sure, to that of hon. Members representing rural parts of Northern Ireland.It concerns changes to GP dispensing arrangements, which--owing to various modifications to qualifications--now threaten the prospects of many small GPs in such areas.
For instance, the nearest overland station to a practice in Roselea, in Fermanagh, is some 30 miles away, and the GP there informs me that, unless GPs in such areas can use the funds they received under the previous formula, their future is threatened.
Rev. William McCrea (Mid-Ulster):
We have the same problem with the Coagh dispensary. It is vital for doctors in that surgery to be able to dispense medicines. May we join forces in asking the Minister to take the problem on board? What GPs, the people and elected representatives are saying must be heard.
Mr. Dowd:
The hon. Gentleman is right to raise that. I have heard from people in Fermanagh, Antrim, Down and elsewhere. It is a widespread problem, which also threatens the quality of care available to those furthest away from urban areas. GPs have approached me with detailed representations, demonstrating that the people involved are not given to complaining and have a genuine problem. It is not so great a problem in the short term, but, when GPs retire, it is highly likely that replacements will go by the board and local services will suffer.
The Minister mentioned costs to the water authority. Will he assure me that no money is being spent on preparations for privatisation--that the Government have seen the light after the debacle of electricity privatisation, and have noted the overwhelming opposition to water privatisation in Northern Ireland?
Mr. Peter Robinson (Belfast, East):
Wide-ranging debates such as this always give Northern Ireland Members an excellent opportunity to raise issues that our constituents regularly ask us to raise in the House.
I hope that the House will forgive me if I zigzag across the elements in the order. The first matter that I wish to raise relates to local government, and, in particular, to section 72 of the 1973 Northern Ireland local government measure: it concerns the provision of a loans pool. Local authorities in other parts of the United Kingdom are empowered to borrow money in advance at the most attractive rate, provided that they can identify a need for those funds, in future years, within their budgetary requirements.
I had hoped that the right hon. Member for Strangford (Mr. Taylor) would be here to support me, because he is aware of the attempts that I and my council made to raise the matter with the Department and to seek permission to establish and operate a loans pool. Despite numerous approaches to the Northern Ireland Department of Finance and Personnel and the Department of the Environment, the matter still remains unresolved. Last year, Castlereagh borough council appointed consultants in the City of London to advise on the management of its capital borrowings. To operate its finances efficiently, it was advised that the establishment of a loans pool and the ability to borrow in advance of requirement was essential. Yet we do not appear to be able to get that matter sorted out from within the Northern Ireland Departments. The delays in obtaining the necessary approvals are hindering the council from obtaining finance at favourable interest rates, and as a result it is not achieving the savings that were expected.
The Under-Secretary of State who has responsibility for the Department of the Environment told the council that his Department was preparing a model loans fund scheme for adoption by district councils in Northern Ireland.I urge my right hon. Friend the Minister of State to ask his colleague why it is taking such a long time. It appears to us that there is considerable foot-dragging. I believe that councils in Northern Ireland should enjoy the same privileges as councils on the mainland.
I raise two issues that relate to the Department of Economic Development. The first, naturally, relates to the problems faced by Shorts, which is in my constituency and which had a major contract with Fokker, the Dutch aircraft manufacturer, to supply wings for the Fokker 100/70 jetliner programme. As hon. Members will be aware, the Daimler-Benz board has ceased to give financial support to Fokker, and that has thrown the company into crisis. If Shorts loses that customer, between 1,000 and 1,500 jobs could be lost. Economists have indicated that the knock-on effect could result in the loss of some 3,000 jobs in the Province as a whole. Shorts is not simply looking at Fokker as a customer; it has a special relationship with Shorts in that it has a partnership arrangement. Not only does it have what might be described as a profit-sharing arrangement, but it has a risk
partnership. Therefore, from Shorts' point of view, the potential exists for considerable loss if the contract with Fokker falls.
I believe that the Dutch Government have been proactive in the matter and have given time and space for Fokker to try to put together an arrangement whereby it can stay in business, at least in part. Happily, one proposition that I raised recently with my right hon. Friend the Minister and with the Prime Minister was the possibility of Bombardier buying out Fokker. That seems a sensible option not only for Fokker but especially for Shorts.
What investigation has been made by my right hon. Friend's colleague, who has been very active in the Department of Economic Development? The Minister has been in regular contact on this issue. It appears to me that there are many areas where it was recognised that Fokker was carrying out work at an unproductive level, and where the costs were much higher than they would have been if the work had been carried out in Northern Ireland by Shorts. What assistance can the Government give to Bombardier, provided, of course, that part of the contract work that is currently being carried out by Fokker is put into Shorts, where it can be done at lower cost, which benefits not only Shorts in terms of jobs but Fokker and Bombardier?
It would be a nice end to the story if the removal of the threat of 1,500 job losses at Shorts, and as many outside it, led to a gain in jobs as a result of more work coming to Shorts. I am eager to have a response from the Minister on that issue.
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