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Mr. Hayes: I know how deeply compassionate the Minister is in her approach to these matters. Does she not understand that to talk in that ethereal way about world pollution is of no great comfort to the elderly lady or disabled person in a remote part of my constituency when she cannot get to a hospital, to any social activity or to the shops? I had a meeting only last week with a local bus company in my constituency, because bus services are diminishing, not growing. I hope that the Minister will look particularly at how bus services in my constituency can be improved and extended.
Ms Jackson: I am happy to look at the hon. Gentleman's constituency in the light of the information that he has given me. I have told him of the large amount
of money that is going into Lincolnshire. There is no reason why the services to which he has referred, and which are vital, cannot be delivered.
Of course, many of the difficulties that are being experienced by people in rural communities have to do with the decisions of the previous Administration. I admire the fact that the hon. Gentleman has taken his leader's advice and chosen to acknowledge that mistakes were made.
Reducing the need to travel is important. The hon. Gentleman touched on the difficulty because of the fact that so many supermarkets have been built. Again, that followed a decision by the previous Administration. They denuded small market towns by giving permission for large supermarkets and shopping centres to be built far out on the edge of urban areas.
There was also a drastic decline in the number of village shops. It was one of the most noticeable and regrettable trends in rural areas, but the work of the Village Retail Service Association and the village shop scheme that is administered by the Rural Development Commission have been invaluable in halting and reversing that decline. Again, the Government are playing theirpart in ensuring that those successes continue. The introduction of rate relief at 50 per cent. for single village shops or post offices in villages of under 3,000 people, should help towards that objective.
Mr. Peter Luff (Mid-Worcestershire):
Tory policy.
Mr. Deputy Speaker (Mr. Michael Lord):
Order. The hon. Gentleman must listen to the Minister's reply to the debate and not shout from a sedentary position.
Ms Jackson:
Thank you, Mr. Deputy Speaker.
Mrs. Angela Browning (Tiverton and Honiton):
Will the hon. Lady concede that the policy to reduce the rates on village shops came out of the rural White Paper that was introduced by the last Conservative Government? It is something that her Government have inherited.
Ms Jackson:
It may be something that the Government have inherited, but they have given a clear commitment
The village school continues to play an important part in many rural communities. They were often the centre of villages. Great concern was expressed at what seemed to be the inevitable demise of village schools underthe previous Administration. However, the present Government have made it clear that, under both present and future arrangements for decision-making on rural schools, the presumption will be against closure.
The Government are taking action on health care. We are continuing to support the essential small pharmacies scheme, giving support to the dispensing services of pharmacies that are more than 1 km from another such outlet. We have introduced health action zones to tackle a range of health problems in some of the most deprived areas. Eleven zones were selected initially and a further 15 have been added in a second wave.
Three of those health action zones are in predominantly rural areas: north Cumbria, Northumberland and Cornwall. A total of £5 million is available in 1998-99 to promote better working on health issues. A further £30 million will follow for the first 11 zones in1999-2000, with £15 million for the second wave.
Mr. Hayes:
That is the third time that the hon. Lady has given way. She is satisfying my desire to prove that she is compassionate and generous, as I described earlier.
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