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9.12 pm
Mrs. Ann Clwyd (Cynon Valley): I congratulate my hon. Friend the Member for Pembroke (Mr. Ainger) on his informative and frightening account of the Sea Empress disaster. I know how intimately involved he was throughout, and I am surprised that he managed to hold back his anger so successfully when he must have felt absolutely frustrated by not being able to influence events. As I once represented that part of Wales in the European Parliament, I know the extent of the tragedy. We all sympathise and hope that the clean-up will be extremely fast so that the tourist industry is not unduly affected. I support my hon. Friend's call for an independent inquiry,
which is absolutely essential. If the Government do not grant such an inquiry, we can only assume that they have something to hide.
I want to talk about the former phurnacite plant in my constituency, which closed in 1990. The site became derelict in 1992. There are some 88 acres of derelict land on which there are around 100,000 tonnes of highly toxic material.
After the plant closed, I thought--as did everyone else who lived in the vicinity--that British Coal, which still had ownership of the land, would properly look after its safety until it was reclaimed. However, during the summer some of my constituents told me about their concerns and I walked over the site with them and saw the skulls of animals and the carcases of birds, hedgehogs and sheep that were stuck in the soft, sticky tar. Children and dogs had played on another part of the site, and the children had fallen ill with sores, ulcers and blisters.
The site was not properly cordoned off, there were no signs saying "danger" and there was no proper fence to keep children and animals away. Some parents are now seeking compensation for the skin difficulties suffered by their children who played on the site. The dumps contain mercury, asbestos, phenols, ammonia, hydrocarbons and gas, which are all mixed up with tar. In summer, it bubbles out of the ground. The site was open for people to walk over. It is incredible that British Coal did not make sure that the site was secure until it was properly reclaimed.
I have had quite a lot of correspondence with the Welsh Office on this issue. One of the first questions I asked was whether there was a register of contaminated land in my constituency. I was told that the only register went up to 1988 and that there was no record of any sites that were in use in 1988 that may be contaminated now. That is a defect on their part. The Welsh Office, which has responsibility for making money available to the Welsh Development Agency for the reclamation of land, should have an up-to-date register of all contaminated land in Wales. It is not good enough for the Welsh Office to say that it is the responsibility of the local authorities--it is its responsibility to have an overall view of the need for the correct amount of money to deal with that contaminated land.
I pay tribute to the Abercwmboi carers, who set up an action committee. In May, the Welsh Development Agency presented a plan to them, which was to encapsulate the waste, not to move it away. The encapsulation would have lasted 30 years at the most. A part solution was being offered, not a long-term solution. The carers, the people who lived in the area, were not content with that.
The phurnacite plant was closed because of pollution--the inspectorate said that it could not continue. It was one of the worst, if not the worst, industrial polluters in Britain. It is ironic that the people who were put out of work because of the closure of the plant--everyone was glad to see the plant close, except for those who were employed by it--were left with toxic waste on their doorsteps. There was no improvement to the environment.
The carers were not happy with the solution from the Welsh Development Agency, so they pushed for an environmental impact assessment. Such an assessment should have taken place as a matter of course. Were it not
for public opposition to the proposals of the WDA, that environmental impact assessment would not have taken place.
The Cynon Valley local authority held a press conference today at which it presented the independent report that was compiled by consultants. We now have two conflicting views. The council commissioned a firm of environmental experts, Richards, Moorhead and Laing, to prepare an independent report. It was asked to assess the current environmental implications of the site and the likely impact of the proposed encapsulation scheme on the surrounding communities, both during the implementation and in the longer term. The consultants' findings show that further on-site investigations are essential before any reclamation can take place. The consultants' report states:
That leads them to believe that the capacity of the proposed depository will be insufficient to contain all the waste present. In addition, the consultants cast doubt on the long-term viability of the cell within which the WDA is hoping to encapsulate the waste.
The WDA and its environmental impact report suggest one course of action and the council's independent consultants propose another. I am sure that I do not need to remind hon. Members that the industrial areas of south Wales have been left with the legacy of an unknown toxic waste cocktail. The council's consultants believe also that a proper assessment has not been made of that toxic waste content.
The Secretary of State said at the outset that the polluter should pay. I wonder how that affects British Coal, as it is the owner of the site, although the WDA wishes to acquire it. If the polluter should pay, British Coal should pay in that instance. At the very least, the proper safety precautions should have been taken when the site was abandoned, and the fact that they were not represents a clear dereliction of duty on the part of a number of authorities. Local people should now receive full information about the site so that the best possible options for them and for the environment can be discussed and decided.
Mr. Win Griffiths (Bridgend):
This has been one of the best St. David's day debates in my nine years in this place. [Laughter.] Ministers may laugh, but we should record that fact. Today we have heard some extremely informative and passionate speeches about very important issues.
My hon. Friend the Member for Cardiff, West(Mr. Morgan) and I had a conversation--during one of the quieter periods in the debate, when a Conservative Member was speaking--about the traditions of theSt. David's day debate. I am indebted to Geraint Howells, the former Member of Parliament for Ceredigion and Pembroke, North, for providing the information that today is the 50th anniversary of Welsh day debates.
The first occurred in 1946, when I was a babe in nappies in South Africa. The Prime Minister at that time, Clement Attlee, and the then Leader of the House, Herbert Morrison, instituted the Welsh day debate. I imagine that today's debate is one of the best in 50 years. Quite understandably, because of the scale and immediate impact of the disaster, the Sea Empress has dominated much of the proceedings, and I will return to that subject a little later.
I wish to start with the way in which local government has been funded this year, which I believe will have a serious, long-term and possibly damaging impact on Wales. For a number of years now, the pressure on local government spending has caused a reduction in the services that local government is able to provide. At Welsh Questions recently, I was upbraided by the Under-Secretary, who said that I had made assertions that were not accurate. I hope that he will interrupt me this evening if I make an inaccurate assertion.
The rate support grant from the Welsh Office to local government has been falling as a proportion of local government spending. The Secretary of State's figures show that, from 1993 to 1995, the proportion has fallen from 64 per cent. to 58 per cent. of local government budgets. On top of that, the non-domestic rate contribution has fallen. In the early 1990s, it was 19.9 per cent. of the budget, and it is now 17.6 per cent.
Given that this year's rate support grant contribution to local government budgets has taken no account--like last year's--of the teachers' pay award, it is obvious that local government will struggle with the award from the Welsh Office. The Secretary of State recognised that fact in his infamous letter to my right hon. and learned Friend the Member for Aberavon (Mr. Morris), which suggested, as far back as November, that local councils should be considering an increase in council tax of 11 per cent.
We now know that the Secretary of State has relaxed the capping limit from 0.5 per cent. of the notional budget to 3 per cent. That relaxation would allow many authorities in Wales to increase their council tax hugely. Rhondda Cynon Taff could increase its council tax by 40 per cent. and still keep within the limit set by the Secretary of State.
I am indebted to the local authorities that made a trawl for my information, which shows that the council tax this year, in 13 of the 22 authorities, is likely to increase by 20 per cent. or more. In six others, the increase will be between 11 and 19 per cent. Only three will have an increase in council tax that is anything like the rate of inflation. Two of those authorities will have increases of 4.5 per cent. and 3 per cent. I do not have the figure for the other authority, but the increase is not likely to be more than 2 per cent.
What is the consequence for the services provided by local government? We have seen cuts, as I said earlier, for a few years now. The result is that the pupil-teacher ratio in primary and secondary schools is now increasing. The number of classes in which more than 30 children are taught has increased. The latest figures from the Welsh Office show that there are at least 63,710 children in primary schools being taught in classes of more than 30. That is an increase--according to the latest figures available--of more than 7,000 children. That is what the figures for the years 1992-93 and 1993-94--the most recent ones published by the Welsh Office--show.
"The amount of investigation carried out to date has not been sufficient to accurately define the volume of contaminated materials on site".
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