| Previous Section | Index | Home Page |
Mr. Ted Rowlands (Merthyr Tydfil and Rhymney): If I had had the chance to participate in the debate, I would have drawn attention to the fact that struck me on reading school inspection reports from the Mid Glamorgan area setting out the number of children in receipt of free school meals. In some schools, 50 to 60 per cent. of the children are receiving free school meals. That reflects the problems of low wages and inadequate benefit levels. There are serious issues to be faced in primary schools especially.
Mr. Griffiths: Yes, my hon. Friend is right. The percentage of all children receiving free school meals, according to Welsh Office information, has increased from 17.8 in 1989-90 to 25.1 in 1993-94. In other words, about a quarter of children throughout Wales are now in receipt of free school meals. Problems are mounting in education.
Many problems are related to local government support from the Welsh Office. In addition, however, there are the problems associated with moving from a county structure to a smaller unitary authority structure. Those problems relate to some services such as drama, orchestras and outdoor pursuit centres such as Dol-y-Gaer in Merthyr or Ogmore-by-Sea in my constituency. These services have been threatened. The Gwent theatre in education is being threatened.
We have seen that the Secretary of State has done well in giving Theatr Clwyd a reprieve to enable authorities to come together with a package. I hope that it will be possible to find some solution to the Dyffryn gardens problem. In so many instances, the problem is a combination of the cap on Welsh Office support for local government and transition from eight counties to 22 county boroughs. That is having an impact on services which were maintained in the larger county structure.
The county boroughs will have to make much more of an effort to work together to keep these services alive. Under the pressures that the county boroughs will face, it is what might be described as the icing on the cake--extra experience outside the classroom--that will suffer.
There are signs that learning support staff for children who do not have statements are being cut. That could cause statementing problems later. My hon. Friends the
Members for Ogmore (Mr. Powell), for Carmarthen(Mr. Williams) and for Clwyd, South-West (Mr. Jones) all referred to problems associated with the local government settlement.
Even though it is late in the day, it should be recognised that the Secretary of State has through the year provided supplementary sums for various services in Wales. I remember that, a few years ago, Welsh housing benefited from a substantial extra sum. There is a strong case for the right hon. Gentleman examining what is happening in education and providing extra moneys to local authorities through the year.
Before I move from the subject of local authorities, I appeal to him to ensure that the orders that will bring in the new boundaries are laid before the end of March, so that my constituents will not have to suffer being in three different authorities in the space of 18 months. Many of my constituents have telephoned my office enraged about what is happening.
Let us look at the housing scene, which is another important local government service. The value of renovation grants between 1994 and now has decreased by 7.6 per cent. in real terms. In the same period, local government housing capital provision is down by 8 per cent. in real terms.
Is it any wonder that homelessness is on the increase? In 1994, 22,000 people were officially declared homeless--double the number of a decade earlier. Almost half of those are children, and we know from studies in England--no study has been made in Wales--that their education and health suffer as a result. We have the poorest housing in Britain, at 13 per cent.--twice the number in England. Some 300,000 people in Wales live in unacceptable conditions. In the private sector, 10,000 mortgage repossession proceedings were instigated in 1995.
It is a bleak picture, yet the Welsh Office contribution to public housing has gone down in real terms. In 1991-92 and 1992-93, housing starts were down by 34.6 per cent., and completions were down by 33.6 per cent. At the same time, funding for the approved development programme, Tai Cymru, is down 46.1 per cent. in real terms on what it received in 1992-93, which was a slightly exceptional year, because of lots of additional money. When compared with the beginning of the 1990s, it is still a cash cut of 10.6 per cent., let alone what it might have been if we worked it out in real terms.
The fire service is an essential public service. We heard from my hon. Friend the Member for Clwyd, South-West about the problems of the new North Wales fire service. The same problems exist in other areas. The South Wales fire authority, which serves the largest population by far, has learnt that the credit approvals for the three joining authorities to order new fire engines to the value of almost £1.5 million have had to go by the board, because, under the new system, the money is no longer available.
In Cardiff, at Pentwyn, there is a danger that the fire station may not be built, yet Cardiff east has severe problems in meeting the targets for arriving at fires. The fire prevention service is not funded at all under the formula. These are serious problems, which the Welsh Office needs to consider.
I received a letter yesterday from the Under-Secretary of State, asking me to give more details about how Labour would fund local government, and the education service
in particular. That was interesting, I thought, so I looked at the Tory party manifesto for 1979 to see what commitments the Tories made, and what details they gave about what they would do. It said that they would "simplify VAT" and be prepared to switch from taxes on earnings to taxes on spending. They could not simply tell us that they intended virtually to double VAT. At the previous election, the Prime Minister, with all the advantages of being in government, told the population that VAT did not need to be extended anywhere, and that taxes would come down. We know that the reverse is true.
The 1979 Conservative party manifesto stated:
In fact, 98,000 fewer men are employed in Wales than in 1979, and wages are much worse. In 1979, Wales was fifth in the regional league for men's wages; now we are 10th--we are at the bottom. In 1979, we were second in the league for women's wages; now we are sixth. We have not got all those well-paid jobs, except in one or two places. Sony, Ford and Bosch are oases in the desert.
Mr. Sweeney:
Is the hon. Gentleman aware that 68 per cent. of the population of working age are in employment in this country--more than in any other major European country? Moreover, 8.6 per cent. of the population of working age are unemployed in the United Kingdom, fewer than in any other major European country.
Mr. Griffiths:
I am aware that 98,000 fewer men are in employment in Wales today than when Labour was in office. I am also aware that the hon. Gentleman's figures include part-time jobs. If full-time jobs were included in his calculation, we should see a different picture.
The 1979 manifesto also stated:
Between 1978-79 and 1983-84, on the Government's own published indices, the income of farmers in upland areas in the United Kingdom fell from £128 a week to £92. That is not such a good record.
I have also examined the Welsh Office block grant. In 1994-95, planned expenditure was £6.41 billion, but the outturn is expected to be £6.346 billion. That is a£64 million drift. In the previous year, there was a £66 million drift, but in the opposite direction. If Welsh Office Ministers cannot get the calculations right with all the books in front of them, surely I am under no obligation to give them precise details, other than to say that we are sure that we can do a better job than the Welsh Office currently does in running Wales.
The Tory legacy is higher unemployment and lower wages. The education improvements have been made not because of the Government's policies, but in spite of them. The chief inspector of schools himself said that part of the problem for teachers was all the chopping and changing in the national curriculum.
As was graphically shown by my hon. Friend the Member for Pembroke (Mr. Ainger), the Sea Empress disaster could have been avoided. It was a case of lowering standards to maximise profits. Working practices were affected. When things went wrong, it appeared that the priority was maximising the profit on
the load, rather than saving the area from pollution and saving the jobs of all who depend on that beautiful coastline.
The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Wales (Mr. Rod Richards):
With your permission, Madam Deputy Speaker, I propose a toast to absent friends. I refer, of course, to the three leaders of the Opposition parties. The three gentlemen who would have us believe that they are desperately concerned about Wales and all things Welsh could not turn up for the most important debate in the Welsh calendar.
"We need to concentrate more on the creation of conditions in which new, more modern, more secure, better jobs come into existence."
"The uplands are an important part of our agriculture. Those who live and work there should enjoy a reasonable standard of life."
| Next Section
| Index | Home Page |