| Previous Section | Index | Home Page |
Mrs. Dunwoody: Will the right hon. Gentleman give way?
Mr. Heseltine: If the hon. Lady will forgive me I will not, as I wish to deploy a logical argument.
The city challenge scheme with which we experimented had the opposite impact on local authorities. Instead of Whitehall saying, "This is what we want. This is what you will do. Then we will give you the money", we said, "This is the money that is on the table. Tell us what you will do." There were few conditions. One was that they had to work in conjunction with the whole community, including the private sector. The second was that they had to get the participation of the whole community. In other words, it was no good the leader of the local council saying, "The head teacher wants this, the chief constable wants that, council tenants want that." We asked, "Where is the head teacher? Where is the chief constable? Where are the tenants?" If they had all come together to work out what could be achieved and had backed it locally, with the private sector adding to public funds, the Government made commensurate judgments about the allocation of funds--the better the plan, the more money one got.
In the first year, there was an outcry from those authorities that lost out. In the second year, those who had lost had found out how the people who had won had done so and had upped their standards. Then one got a degree of local enthusiasm and initiative that was unheard of in local government.
The Government should not only have directly elected chief executives, but should extend that concept, which was specific to perhaps 10,000 to 20,000 people in a major metropolitan area, to the whole authority, encouraging it to produce a corporate plan and ask for Government finance to back it. That would have a dramatic effect, not only in breaking the knot between Whitehall and local authority officials, but in making those officials work as a team and think about the community. Unless everyone was committed to the corporate plan, they would not win. All local authority services would be working towards the advancement and improvement of the authority.
That concept could be made to work. It would have a totally new psychological impact on local authorities and communities. The people involved would become genuine leaders of their communities, fighting for standards in which they believed and which they thought relevant. They would be allowed to initiate, to experiment and, sometimes, to make mistakes.
Mr. Bill Tynan (Hamilton, South):
I am grateful for the opportunity to make my maiden speech in this important debate.
The history, tradition and procedures of this House are recognised throughout the world. To participate in my first debate as the elected member for Hamilton, South fills me with pride, a sense of humility and some apprehension. I am sure that right hon. and hon. Members will understand the mixture of emotions surging within me. I congratulate previous speakers; I hope some day to be able to match their expertise.
I am told that it is traditional to pay tribute to one's predecessors. Even if no such tradition existed, I would wish to pay tribute to mine, Lord Robertson of Port Ellen. I had the privilege of knowing him as a friend. He is an individual of boundless energy and a man of real talent who never forgot why he entered politics. His ambition was to serve and leave a legacy of improved living standards for those whom he represented. This, I believe, he achieved. As a Member of Parliament, he had much to be proud of and I am honoured to follow in his footsteps. I know that the House will join me in wishing the Secretary-General of NATO a successful term in office, in the knowledge that he will work to deliver a safer and more peaceful world.
I have lived in Hamilton since I married my wife Betty in 1964. Hamilton is the industrial, commercial and administrative centre of the constituency. It was a main stopping place in coaching days. The museum in Muir street is housed in the Hamilton Arms, a 17th century coaching inn. In its day, many famous people stayed there, including Thomas Telford, Dr. Johnson and his biographer, Boswell, Wordsworth and Coleridge. South Lanarkshire council is renovating the museum and merging it with the Cameronians museum. It is introducing the latest technology to create a virtual reality history of Lanarkshire's own regiment, the Cameronians, also known as the Scottish Rifles.
Hamilton has historic churches and graveyards, and a world famous mausoleum. To the south-east stands Chatelherault, a 1730s hunting lodge of the fifth Duke of Hamilton designed by William Adam. It was recently refurbished for £7 million and restored to its former glory. We also have the remains of Cadzow castle, allegedly built by David I, where Mary, Queen of Scots stayed in 1568. The town centre is being regenerated and will be a showpiece for Lanarkshire when it is completed.
I want to raise another important issue. I am sure that everyone has heard of my local team, Hamilton Academicals. Some commentators have a little difficulty with the name. During the by-election I, too, had some difficulty with the Accies. Their supporters decided to run a candidate against me to draw attention to the fact that the Accies no longer have a football stadium. He was well supported. Not only did he save his deposit, but he recorded 1,075 votes. The morning after the by-election, people said that it was the best result the Accies had had all season. Seriously, the result was important because it showed the depth of feeling on the issue. I have held two meetings with fans' representatives. I hope that the new
Government initiative on community football, backed by the Co-operative Bank, can be used to deliver a new home for the Accies and a community resource for Hamilton.
In electoral terms, Hamilton, South is small. It covers three main areas: Hamilton, Burnbank and Blantyre, the birthplace of David Livingstone. There are also picturesque villages such as Ferniegair and Quarter. Quarter's most famous miners are well known: Keir Hardie and the most famous Scots singer of all, Harry Lauder. They both worked there.
South Lanarkshire council, based in Hamilton, is the largest employer in the area. It has an excellent relationship with the Hamilton chamber of commerce and the Lanarkshire development agency. This co-operation has been successful in attracting new, high-tech companies which, together with traditional industries such as Philips, Atlas Hydraulics and Oticon, offer real job opportunities to the people of the area.
The populations of Hamilton, Burnbank and Blantyre, as well as commuting to Glasgow, are employed in local Lanarkshire companies, such as Rolls-Royce, Hoover, Terex, Honeywells, E J Steils and Robert Lightbodys--I would recommend their cakes to anyone.
Hamilton, South was predominantly mining communities, with a history of miners' representation, such as the late Alex Wilson MP who died in service in 1978. He was a man of the people--a miner himself who fought hard on behalf of the coal industry and the people of his constituency. To follow in the footsteps of men like Alex and George is, indeed, an honour as well as a challenge--one that I willingly accept.
During the recent by-election, many important issues were raised, including drugs and the effect that this evil trade has on individuals, families and communities. The House, along with the devolved Scottish Parliament and the Assembly in Wales, has a duty to defeat this evil which preys on individuals, recognises no barriers or class and eats like a cancer into the fabric of our society. Within my constituency, during the by-election, we had the 100th drug death in Scotland. A young woman, a classmate of my youngest daughter, was found dead because of a drugs overdose. We have a responsibility to the country, which is why the resources available must be used to maximum effect. We must consider establishing a fast-track approach: specialist drug courts that can deal with the suppliers immediately, pass sentence within days and confiscate the proceeds from their ill-gotten gains. We must also assist the victims, who need support, not incarceration. That is why I congratulate the local newspaper, the Hamilton Advertiser, which has published a hotline number to enable people anonymously to report suspected drug dealers to the police.
The police in my constituency, working with South Lanarkshire council and various community-based groups, have been innovative and forward looking. The child safety initiative is a demonstration of how effective co-operation can be. Initiatives such as that, if they are to be successful, require the support of the communities.
In Hamilton, South we have an incredible range of active voluntary organisations such as the Blantyre volunteer group, Petal, Arthritis Care, HamiltonWomen's Aid, Crossroads care attendance scheme, Cruse Bereavement Care, Hamilton community carers, Lanarkshire elderly forum, Hamilton disability forum, Lanarkshire community care forum, the Samaritans, the
Citizens Advice Bureau and, of course, south Lanarkshire's benefits, advice and advocacy services. They work tirelessly on behalf of the communities.
The Government set out their economic objectives within their manifesto before the general election. The pledges made were relevant to my constituency then and remain so today. It was a contract with the people of this country, and at the next general election the people will pass judgment on how well the Government have done and how much they have delivered. I will be happy to fight that election on the Government's record.
The Government's ambition was to achieve high, stable levels of economic growth and employment, to encourage work and to promote enterprise. The reduction of our massive debt burden was essential. The achievement of a reduction of £30 billion has opened up real opportunities for the Government and the country. The Government have laid the foundation of a fairer society where work is rewarded and the elimination of poverty becomes a crusade.
The measures delivered by the Government are making a real difference to the lives of the people whom I represent. In Hamilton, South some 369 people benefited from the introduction of the minimum wage. Throughout the United Kingdom nearly 2 million workers improved their level of pay, two thirds of whom were women. From next April, child benefit will be increased to £15 for the first child and £10 for subsequent children. It will benefit nearly 9,000 families in my constituency. The new minimum income guarantee of £75 a week for a single pensioner and almost £117 for pensioner couples will apply to almost 2,000 of the least well-off pensioners in Hamilton, South.
The introduction of free eye tests from last April affected 8,870 pensioners in my constituency. With the 10p rate of income tax extended to savings from April 1999, with the £100 winter allowance, and with every pensioner over the age of 75 able to receive their television licence free of charge from next autumn, pensioner households will be, on average, £300 a year better off.
The introduction of the working families tax credit in addition to those measures will do much to encourage the culture of work and remove many families from the dependency culture of the state. At the heart of that initiative lies a guarantee that every family in this land that includes a full-time worker will have minimum take-home pay of £200 a week, and that no family on earnings of less than £235 a week--almost £12,000 a year--will pay income tax. At last--a measure that will start to eliminate poverty.
There is much to be done, but we can and must all support the Government's ambition to reduce child poverty by half within the next decade, with a commitment to end all child poverty within the next 20 years. In Hamilton, South, 1,600 families are beneficiaries of that policy, and 3,000 children will notice a real difference in their lives. One thousand, six hundred working families in my community have evidence that work does pay, and that work is the route out of poverty.
The fuel tax escalator was important to my constituency. The Chancellor's pre-Budget statement contained many excellent points, and the attainment of the reduction in CO 2 emission targets that allowed him to relax the application of the tax will be especially
welcome. Although the Sunday Post in Scotland may claim success for its campaign, that was possible only because we were meeting our international commitments.
For many years, unemployment has been a major issue for everyone in this country. In his maiden speech, my predecessor expressed his concerns for the people of Hamilton. Hamilton, Burnbank and Blantyre, once mining areas, no longer have pits. The industrial structure has also declined, but the service sector has grown.
The introduction of the new deal has been a success story. It has assisted the reduction of youth unemployment not only in my constituency, but throughout the country. Employment in the United Kingdom is up by more than 700,000 since the general election. With the new deal, youth unemployment is down by more than 60 per cent. and long-term unemployment is down by more than 50 per cent. The ambition of full employment has been a dream for so many for so long. Twenty-one years ago, my predecessor spoke with passion about the scourge of unemployment and its demoralising effect on society. The most serious aspect of youth unemployment was the emergence of a lost generation of the young without hope, dignity or jobs. We must never be complacent, or gamble with the future of our nation again.
The measures contained in the Gracious Speech are part of the Government's on-going programme to promote fairness and enterprise, to provide people with real opportunities and to liberate their potential. I believe that it will be welcomed in my constituency.
| Next Section
| Index | Home Page |