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WALES
Sea Fishing Industry
9. Mr. Andrew George: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales what discussions he has had with the Agriculture Secretary of the National Assembly on the future of the Welsh sea fishing industry. [142009]
Mr. Hanson: I meet the Agriculture Secretary on a regular basis and discuss a range of issues.
Severn Bridge (Tolls)
11. Mr. Robathan: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales what discussions he has had with the First Secretary with regard to making representations to the European Commission on the charging of VAT on Severn bridge tolls. [142012]
Mr. Paul Murphy: Representations to the European Commission have not been raised during my discussion of this subject with my right hon. Friend the First Secretary.
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However, the hon. Gentleman will wish to be aware that Her Majesty's Customs and Excise is exploring options for a Government-supported scheme to offset the cost of VAT to motorist and business motorists.
New Deal
12. Mr. Bercow: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales if he will make a statement on the cost-effectiveness of the New Deal for young people in Wales. [142013]
15. Mr. Baldry: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales if he will make a statement on the cost-effectiveness of the New Deal for young people in Wales. [142016]
Mr. Hanson: The New Deal is working, performing better than most independent economists would have expected of an active labour market policy. We now have the lowest youth unemployment since July 1975 and the lowest unemployment for twenty years.
The percentage fall in youth unemployment since May 1997 was 31 per cent. with a fall of 81 per cent. in long-term youth unemployment till September 2000. Figures show that there has been a 22 per cent. fall in youth unemployment with a fall of 73 per cent. since April 1998, attributable largely to the New Deal .
Meat Labelling
13. Mr. Steen: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales what discussions he has had with the Welsh Agriculture Secretary about the labelling of meat which is imported from Europe but processed in Wales. [142014]
Mr. Paul Murphy: My hon. Friend the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Wales meets regularly with the Welsh Agriculture Secretary to discuss a range of issues. The Assembly subscribes to the new compulsory system for the labelling of beef and beef products, recently agreed by the EC. This came into force on 1 September 2000 and states that labels must indicate the location where slaughter and cutting took place. As from 1 January 2002, it will also be compulsory to include the location where birth and rearing took place.
Knowledge Economy
14. Mr. Simon Thomas: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales what steps he is taking to support the knowledge economy in Wales. [142015]
Mr. Hanson: The Government have three overarching goals for the knowledge economy:
- To make the UK the best place in the world for e-commerce by 2002;
- To achieve universal access to the internet by 2005;
- To put all Government services online by 2005.
Steel Industry
16. Mr. Llew Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales if he will make a statement on the future of the steel industry in Wales. [142017]
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Mr. Paul Murphy: The Government continue to work very closely with the Assembly, senior representatives of the steel industry and the Unions about the future of steel in the UK.
Violent Crime
17. Mr. Simon Hughes: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales what initiatives he is taking to reduce violence in Wales. [142018]
Mr. Paul Murphy: None. It is for my right hon. Friend the Home Secretary to take initiatives to reduce violence. The Government's legislative programme for the coming session contains proposals, which will assist in the fight against violent crime.
24. Mr. Flynn: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales what the current level is of violent crimes in (a) Welsh urban areas and (b) Welsh rural areas. [141912]
Mr. Paul Murphy: Notifiable offences of violence against the person recorded in the 12 months ending March 2000, given by police force area, are in the table.
| Area | Number |
|---|---|
| Dyfed Powys | 5,519 |
| Gwent | 13,774 |
| South Wales | 12,890 |
| North Wales | 5,739 |
Recorded crime in Wales fell by 2.5 per cent. overall in the same period, against a 3.8 per cent. increase in England and Wales as a whole.
Pensioners (Security)
18. Mr. Donald Anderson: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales what discussions he has held with relevant Cabinet colleagues about the implications of the Gracious Speech for the personal security of pensioners in Wales. [142019]
Mr. Paul Murphy: I meet with Cabinet colleagues regularly to discuss a wide range of issues.
The Finance Bill will give effect to Budget measures. The pre-Budget Report announced an increase of £5 a week for single pensioners and £8 for married couple pensioners allowance from April 2001, and a further £3 for single pensioners and £4.80 for married couple pensioners from April 2002. It also announced that the Minimum Income Guarantee would increase to £92 a week in 2001-02 and £100 a week in 2002-03. The Winter Fuel Allowance has also been increased to £200. This is good news for all of Wales's 630,000 pensioners.
The Criminal Justice and Police Bill will help to achieve one of the Government's main objectives--to reduce crime and to reduce the fear of crime. Fear of crime is particularly high among pensioners and they will benefit greatly from measures in the Bill which are designed to combat disorder, nuisance and intimidating or antisocial behaviour on our streets. Such measures include extra police powers to tackle disorder in public places and raising the upper age limit of child curfew schemes to 15 years.
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Gross Domestic Product
19. Mr. Llwyd: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales if he will make a statement on recent trends in the level of the gross domestic product of Wales. [142020]
Mr. Paul Murphy: Recent figures show that there is a rising trend in the figures for gross domestic product (GDP) in Wales. GDP at basic prices is estimated to have risen from £25,860 million in 1995 to £29,027 million in 1998, an increase of 12 per cent. over the period.
Police
21. Mr. Michael: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales what discussions he has had with the Home Secretary about extending police powers and increasing recruitment of police officers in Wales. [142022]
Mr. Paul Murphy: I meet the Home Secretary regularly to discuss a range of issues.
The Criminal Justice and Police Bill, announced recently in the Queen's speech, will improve and modernise police powers and procedures. For example, the Bill will help police to combat disorder through the introduction of fixed penalty notices, it will give legal support to police removing material from premises for searching and it will give powers of arrest to police in cases of kerb-crawling and hit-and-run driving.
The Home Secretary has announced that Welsh police forces will receive funding for an additional 286 police officers to be recruited in 2000-01 and 2001-02. Funding for additional recruitment will also be provided in 2002-03. In addition to payments direct to forces, National Police Training will receive funding to train new recruits to provincial forces.
DARA (RAF St. Athan)
22. Mr. John Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales what representations he has made to the Secretary of State for Defence concerning the future of DARA at RAF St. Athan; and if he will make a statement. [142023]
Mr. Paul Murphy: I recently met my hon. Friend the Minister of State for the Armed Forces to discuss this issue. We will be issuing a joint statement shortly.
Family Farms
23. Mr. Nicholas Winterton: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales what discussions he has had with the First Secretary on the impact of Government policies on small family farms in Wales. [142024]
Mr. Paul Murphy: I regularly discuss many aspects of agriculture in Wales with my right hon Friend the First Secretary. In recognition of the problems faced by Welsh farmers, the Action Plan for Farming package announced in March promised Wales £14.7 million to less favoured areas; £10.6 million agrimonetary compensation to dairy, beef and sheep farmers and £2 million to be spent on business advice throughout Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland. This was in addition to HLCA budget increases in 1998-99 and 1999-2000 and several tranches of agrimonetary compensation for high value of pound, paid to beef and sheep sectors since the start of 1998, worth £227 million across the UK. These initiatives are in addition to those being pursued by the Assembly. The
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First Secretary has stressed that family farming needs to adapt in order to survive, grasping new opportunities underpinned by, for example, the Rural Development Plan, agrifood strategies and expansion of the Tir Gofal scheme.
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