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Public Transport
3. Mr. Norman Baker (Lewes): What steps he is taking to encourage better co-ordination between train and bus services within the Principality. [61561]
The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Wales (Mr. Peter Hain): Our policy statement "Transporting Wales into the Future" will deliver more through ticketing, improved interchange facilities, better connections between services and improved availability of passenger information.
Mr. Baker: Although I accept that the Government have done what they can to solve the problem of poor train connections, will the Minister seriously address the problem of poor train and bus connections? In Machynlleth, in the constituency of my hon. Friend the Member for Montgomeryshire (Mr. Öpik), one can arrive on a train to find that the bus departed moments earlier and the next bus leaves hours later. What will the Minister do to address that consequence of Tory privatisation?
Mr. Hain: I am pleased that the hon. Gentleman is so well briefed on Machynlleth's problems and I share with him and the hon. Member for Montgomeryshire (Mr. Öpik) the desire to improve its bus and train interconnections. We have already made considerable progress, particularly on the Cardiff valley line, which now has bus interconnections with many of the valley towns on its route. Unlike our Tory predecessors, we are injecting extra resources into integrated transport packages which promote public transport to the maximum possible extent.
Unemployment
4. Mr. Dafydd Wigley (Caernarfon): If he will make a statement on unemployment levels in (a) Gwynedd and (b) Wales. [61562]
The Secretary of State for Wales (Mr. Alun Michael): Seasonally adjusted figures show that, in October, there were 67,800 people unemployed in Wales. That represents 5.4 per cent. of the labour force. On an unadjusted basis, the rate was 5.3 per cent. Figures for unitary authorities are available only on an unadjusted basis. In Gwynedd, there were 3,540 people unemployed on that basis, a rate of 6.4 per cent.
Mr. Wigley: Does the Secretary of State accept that the level of unemployment in Gwynedd is unacceptably high and that something must be done about it as a matter of urgency? In that context, what is happening in the review of the regional assistance maps under the Industry Acts, and will the right hon. Gentleman bear in mind the need to ensure a correlation between areas of high unemployment and those designated for the highest level of regional development?
Mr. Michael: The right hon. Gentleman says that something must be done, and I agree with him. However, on the unadjusted figures, Gwynedd had 9 per cent. unemployment in October 1996 and that is down to 5.3 per cent this year, as I said. That represents real progress. The impact of objective 1 status will be considerable, but the right hon. Gentleman is right to point to the need also to promote assisted area status in Wales. In the past few weeks, I have announced the financial package for farmers in Wales; I have been to Newtown to ram home the priority of helping west and mid-Wales with the Welsh Development Agency; we have come to the brink of achieving objective 1 status; and we are making clear our intention to help areas such as Gwynedd in a variety of ways.
Mr. Ted Rowlands (Merthyr Tydfil and Rhymney): Given that the jobs problem may worsen in the coming months, shall we not be more and more dependent on the new deal? In that context, will my right hon. Friend comment on the failure of many of the quangos in Wales--training and enterprise councils, health trusts and health authorities--to employ anyone under the new arrangements? Are not those organisations letting Wales and the Government down?
Mr. Michael: I am pleased to tell my hon. Friend that we have taken up that issue. The Under-Secretary, my hon. Friend the Member for Neath (Mr. Hain), has written to those bodies expressing the wish that they should provide opportunities through the new deal.
We want the new deal to bring people into jobs and employability, so it is important that we should continue to grow jobs in Wales as well as attracting jobs into Wales. As my hon. Friend says, there have been job losses but, in recent weeks, there have also been job gains in many parts of Wales, both in north and south Wales. However, we need to keep the pressure up through the new deal and with long-term sustainable jobs.
Dr. Liam Fox (Woodspring):
Does the Secretary of State expect unemployment in Wales to be higher or lower at the time of the Welsh Assembly elections?
Mr. Michael:
To some extent, that depends on how the economy develops. It would be interesting to know what the hon. Gentleman expects. I rather think that, at the time
Dr. Fox:
It is extraordinary that the Secretary of State is not confident that unemployment will continue to fall, as it did under the Conservatives in a way that has benefited Wales so much. It is a little ironic that the Secretary of State is putting the most energy into his own job search. He wants to represent his own constituency, to represent a totally different constituency in another part of Wales, to remain Secretary of State for Wales and to lead Labour in the Welsh Assembly. As others are beginning to lose their jobs, the right hon. Gentleman wants not one, two or three jobs, but four jobs. Is that what the new deal means to the Secretary of State in Wales?
Mr. Michael:
It is kind of the hon. Gentleman to expose to the House the fact that neither he nor his party has the slightest interest in the people on whom unemployment in Wales bears down. He is interested in scoring cheap points. Labour Members are interested in helping those in jobs to keep them, and in finding jobs for the unemployed. The hon. Gentleman has marked out the difference between us.
Mr. Barry Jones (Alyn and Deeside):
In the past four months, my constituency has lost more than 400 jobs--for example, 200 at the Optical Fibres plant, 150 at Shotton steelworks and 100 with the closure of the Kimberly-Clark factory. In addition, I, my constituents and my county council fear that the Commission in Brussels may well plan to strip my constituency of its assisted area status. I look to my right hon. Friend and the Government to tell the Commission that that should not happen in a constituency which only recently suffered the largest redundancy ever in Europe when we lost 8,000 jobs at Shotton.
Mr. Michael:
I have sympathy with my hon. Friend. I referred earlier to the fact that there have been job losses and gains in various parts of Wales. The immediate situation has led to some problems for my hon. Friend. There are some things that will help, such as the power station announcement for Shotton Paper. However, I take on board my hon. Friend's points, and I look forward to spending some time with him in his constituency in the coming weeks to discuss with employers, trade unionists and others the problems and aspirations that he shares with them in his constituency.
5. Mr. Peter Viggers (Gosport):
If he will make a statement about drug abuse in rural Wales. [61563]
The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Wales (Mr. Jon Owen Jones):
Drug misuse is a threat to all our communities, whether rural or otherwise. We are determined to tackle this very serious problem.
Mr. Viggers:
Does the Minister believe that people who are convicted of drug supply offences should be deprived of public housing and, if so, should that happen in rural Wales or in the whole of the United Kingdom?
Mr. Jones:
How best to deal with drug abuse and the housing problems suffered not just by the drug abusers but by their families is a difficult problem which must be considered in an holistic way.
Mr. Elfyn Llwyd (Meirionnydd Nant Conwy):
The Minister refers to an holistic way. How precisely will the drugs problem in rural Wales be tackled? A few years ago, there was no problem in rural areas, but now there is a huge problem. What approach will be adopted, which agencies will be involved and what will be done?
Mr. Jones:
In Wales, we have embarked on a strategy of having five drug and alcohol action teams, which help to co-ordinate all the important agencies--social services, education, the police, the Prison Service and the probation service. That is what I mean by an holistic approach to the problem, which is complex, not single-issue. We need to bring in all the agencies that will be involved in trying to help with this difficult and growing problem.
6. Mr. John Smith (Vale of Glamorgan):
If he will make a statement on the reconfiguration of NHS trusts in Wales. [61564]
The Secretary of State for Wales (Mr. Alun Michael):
On 3 December, I announced decisions to reconfigure NHS trusts in Wales. Details were circulated to hon. Members representing Welsh constituencies on that day. Waiting list figures have been announced today by the Under-Secretary, my hon. Friend the Member for Cardiff, Central (Mr. Jones). Figures are going down, which is another step towards delivering another of our manifesto promises. I accept that we have a long way to go, but we are on the way.
Mr. Smith:
May I congratulate my right hon. Friend on the leadership skills that he has displayed in handling and dealing with that difficult issue in Wales? He has managed to strike a balance between the genuine concerns of local people--in my constituency in particular--and the need to make bold decisions to meet our future health needs. Can he give me an assurance that the quality of services at Llandough hospital and community health services in the Vale of Glamorgan will not be reduced as a result of these proposals? Will he meet my community health council to discuss its future, in view of the reconfiguration?
Mr. Michael:
I am happy to meet representatives of the Vale of Glamorgan community health council, as my hon. Friend requests. I assure him that the service provided at Llandough hospital and in community services in the Vale of Glamorgan will remain integrated. I hope that services will continue to be of a high standard and, indeed, improve. I also assure him that the statement last week was the beginning, not the conclusion, of the job of improving health services in every locality in Wales. [Interruption.]
Madam Speaker:
Order. The House must settle down. It is rather noisy.
Mr. Cynog Dafis (Ceredigion):
Is it not the case that the reconfiguration exercise has been a half-hearted
Mr. Michael:
The hon. Gentleman's question is rather odd, but I shall try to respond. We are certainly ending the fruitless competition between different parts of the health service in Wales. That is the purpose of creating trusts that are large enough and contain the three elements--acute, community and mental health services--to provide a single health service for the people of Wales. We have tried to recognise the unusual circumstances in his area--and in Powys, for example--which need to be dealt with by respecting local need. The example of health savings that we have is those achieved by the Pembrokeshire and Derwen merger, which exceeded what was anticipated.
Savings from that merger alone are £750,000. I am, therefore, confident that significant savings--perhaps larger than we have predicted--can be made and delivered back into patient care. I repeat my undertaking to meet the hon. Gentleman, and representatives of the health services and people who depend on them, in Ceredigion to discuss the specific circumstances there, which I know are difficult.
Mr. Win Griffiths (Bridgend):
Can my right hon. Friend tell me whether he intends to set individual efficiency targets for each of the trusts, whether they are new or have been left untouched by the changes? Can he foresee even greater savings and improvements in the delivery of health services in Wales coming out of that?
Mr. Michael:
We expect the health service, including trusts, to meet efficiency targets. New trusts should present to us their plans for creating an effective, integrated health service for their areas. They should set targets and explain their intentions. I hope that we can make improvements in the health service together, and that trusts will achieve the targets that they have helped to set and which go beyond those set nationally. I pay tribute to my hon. Friend because, when he was a Minister, he did a great deal of the spadework required to achieve the improvements that we seek.
Madam Speaker:
Order. If the Minister does not speak into the microphone, his words will not be recorded.
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