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Welsh National Lottery Charities Board
4. Mr. Touhig: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales what representations he has received on the establishment of a Welsh national lottery charities board.[19376]
Mr. Touhig: I am sure that the Minister knows that we have separate arts and sports councils that distribute lottery funds in Wales. Would it be appropriate to examine the possibility of setting up a Welsh national lottery charities board that would take especial account of the needs of Wales and of charitable organisations in Wales? Would that not be worth while, and should the Minister not consult on it?
Mr. Richards: I have already said that no one has made any representations to my Department on the issue. From that, I conclude that the current system is working rather well. I was fascinated to find the hon. Gentleman suddenly taking an interest in national lottery issues, but then I discovered that he has joined a 21-member Labour
party committee examining the national lottery. Such committees are intended to undermine the good works of others and are known in the Labour party as slangos.Tourist Industry
5. Mr. Llwyd: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales what evaluation his Department has undertaken of the effects of the current guidelines on the use of directional signing on the tourist industry in Wales; and if he will make a statement.[19377]
Mr. Gwilym Jones: Following a recent consultation exercise, guidance to local authorities was issued on6 February 1996, which enables a wider range of tourist destinations and facilities to be eligible for the white on brown traffic signs.
Mr. Llwyd: I thank the Minister for that response.I am disappointed that, once again, the Welsh Office is moving 18 months after the Department of the Environment. I have read the document, and a fascinating read it is, too. People in the tourist industry still feel that there is not enough scope for them to put signs up during the short summer period when they have to make a living. There should be further relaxation. The tourist industry is the most important in Wales. Will the Minister take a more relaxed attitude to individual applicants who want to put signs out?
Mr. Jones: Individual applications are for local authorities to consider. They now have more opportunity, under the more flexible guidelines that we have offered them, but that is not the end of matter. We intend to review the process after one year.
Mr. Fabricant: Is my hon. Friend the Minister aware that, a week ago last Friday, I spoke to 200 charming ladies in Colwyn Bay but almost lost my way because, even though my mother is a Welsh speaker, I am not?Is it not the case that the majority of the Welsh people are not Welsh speakers and that the majority of the tourists who go to Wales are not, by definition, Welsh? They will not be Welsh speakers. While one respects important minority languages such as Welsh, cannot Welshlanguage signs cause great confusion for drivers?
Mr. Jones: My hon. Friend's encounter with the ladies of Colwyn Bay will be of great interest and concern to my hon. Friend the Member for Clwyd, North-West(Mr. Richards). I am sure that my hon. Friend's difficulties will disappear with greater opportunities. I was pleased to see today that Cardiff business school has brought out what taking the A55 expressway across north Wales has meant. It says:
- "Upgraded A55 brings region out of isolation."
It is going forward and provides advantages for all visitors, including my hon. Friend.
Mr. Alex Carlile:
Will the Minister reflect on the fact that the ubiquitous brown on white sign enforces a uniformity that is uncharacteristic of Wales? Would it not be better to allow farm guest houses to put up their own tasteful signs by the roadside for part of the year to advertise their facilities? That would enable them to take advantage of the passing tourist trade that they are currently losing.
Mr. Jones:
I am keen on encouraging further deregulation, which allows greater flexibility to Welsh local authorities. The hon. and learned Gentleman must accept that, currently, there is a need for appropriate rules and regulations to govern the guidelines. Not least, one should not forget that the prime purpose of the signs is not advertising, but to give direction. We are committed to reviewing the guidelines after one year of operation to see whether further opportunities exist to provide yet more deregulation and improvements.
6. Mr. Rowlands:
To ask the Secretary of State for Wales what is his latest estimate of the average increase in council tax likely to be raised by each of the county boroughs of (a) Mid Glamorgan and (b) Wales.[19378]
Mr. Gwilym Jones:
The band D increase for Bridgend, Merthyr Tydfil and Rhondda, Cynon, Taff is between£97 and £99. The average Welsh band D increase is £74.
Mr. Rowlands:
Is the hon. Gentleman, and particularly the Secretary of State, aware that, had the increases not been made, either school budgets would have been slashed, or teachers made redundant? Would the Secretary of State now admit modestly, to us at least, that he made a serious miscalculation when he introduced the original local government finance arrangements, given their impact on council taxes? Will he therefore review and revise those arrangements in the coming year?
Mr. Jones:
No. Every council in south Wales has the opportunity to spend more than the agreed basis in the coming financial year as though they had existed during the current financial year. It is now up to local authorities to make the best use of the substantial resources available to them. Their electors would be better encouraged if those authorities were not spending their time considering how they could put up councillors' salaries and improve redundancy packages.
Sir Wyn Roberts:
Will my hon. Friend confirm that councillors across Wales have markedly increased their allowances, some by as much as 400 per cent? Does he also agree that those increases are minimal compared to those that would occur if the capping regime were to be removed? Is it not also true that those increases have been dampened down by the actions of my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State?
Mr. Jones:
My right hon. Friend is absolutely right. Capping has fulfilled the essential purpose of protecting local council tax payers from the worst excesses of Labour councils. At the moment, councillors are contemplating putting up their salaries to £24,000 a year. I am sure that it is as a consequence of that, and of their other actions, that they are now being forced to set up redundancy working parties to pay them after they have been thrown out of office.
Mr. Win Griffiths:
Will the Minister confirm that, in the next financial year, the Welsh Office revenue support grant will represent a smaller proportion of council spending than in previous years? Will he confirm that the Secretary of State recognised that when he increased the
Mr. Jones:
The hon. Gentleman is correct. We have responded to local authorities' call to have more opportunities to raise their finances locally. That is local accountability, and local electors will want to hold their authorities accountable for their actions. The hon. Gentleman should know that his new authority has more than 4 per cent. extra to spend in the coming financial year than it would have had if it had existed in the present financial year. The hon. Gentleman should do what his electors expect of him and scrutinise whether that authority will apply that extra money to important requirements such as education and care in the community.
7. Mr. MacShane:
To ask the Secretary of State for Wales what recent discussions he has had with the European Commission on the application of the principle of subsidiarity in Wales.[19379]
Mr. MacShane:
I would like to say that I thank the Secretary of State for his answer, but I am constantly amazed as to why he, as a Yorkshireman from Rotherham, whose parents are valued constituents of mine, is in his particular job. Looking at the talents of the Tory Members representing Wales, however, one can now understand that. If the right hon. Gentleman has visited Europe, he will be aware that every successful European country, and the United States, has a system of government according to the subsidiarity principle, which is much closer to the people who are governed. If it is good enough for America and for other successful economies, why is the Secretary of State--as, of all people, a Yorkshireman, who is so proud of his county--opposed to it for Wales?
Mr. Hague:
I welcome the hon. Member for Rotherham (Mr. MacShane) to Welsh Questions, and I hope that one day his interest in Welsh matters will be as great as mine. However, he has a long way to go before that can possibly happen. He should know, as an hon. Member with great familiarity with the continent of Europe, that it is for member states to decide at what level power should be exercised internally and to decide on their national political arrangements, as was agreed at the conclusion at the Birmingham Council of Ministers.It comes particularly strange from a Labour Member to lecture us on subsidiarity when the Labour party favours giving more power to the institutions of the European Community and reducing this country's freedom of action in Europe by signing things such as the social chapter.
Mr. Garnier:
Does my right hon. Friend agree that the social chapter, which he has just mentioned, is the very matter that exercises people in south Wales so greatly? Surely the imposition of the social chapter, so much
Mr. Hague:
My hon. and learned Friend is quite right: we have seen a considerable flow of investment into south Wales, and into other parts of Wales, in recent months and recent years. Those jobs would not be coming to Wales or to the United Kingdom if we were to impose additional rules, regulations and burdens on businesses in this country.
Mr. Morgan:
Does the Secretary of State agree that subsidiarity is not just about keeping powers away from Brussels, but means passing power across to the people? With his £7 billion budget, he is doing very nicely under the present system. As the organiser last weekend of the first Tory party conference to be held in a telephone kiosk, the one thing that he can always be sure of in British politics is that the people of Wales will reject the Tories.
Mr. Hague:
The hon. Member knows--because he was listening to me talk about it on Thursday night--that my approach is to strengthen, over time, the powers and the role of local government in Wales. That will be a great deal more useful than setting up an additional tier of government, with all the unnecessary expense that that involves.
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