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Mr. Hain: The Post Office is being turned around under this Government. Indeed, record investment is going in. I concede that the problems to which the hon. Gentleman refers are occurring on too great a scale, but I point out that Post Office staff are dedicated to improving the situation and that the Government are working with Royal Mail and supporting it in order to drive up quality. I know that the staff, including our local postmen and women, who support us all in our constituencies, want to see the problems resolved, as they are proud of the service that they offer to all of us.

John Cryer (Hornchurch) (Lab): Has my right hon. Friend seen early-day motion 1148, which stands in the name of my hon. Friend the Member for Dartford (Dr. Stoate) and is about the welcome progress that is being made in implementing the national service framework on the treatment of diabetes?

[That this House welcomes progress being made in implementing the National Service Framework on diabetes and achieving the goal of improved patient outcomes and its recognition that optimal control of blood sugar, as measured by a blood test called HbAlc, can reduce the incidence of serious and costly long-term complications, and its aim that HbAlc should be maintained at or below a target level of 7 per cent.; and calls on the Government to take steps to ensure that people with diabetes are made aware of the importance of treating to target for optimal and cost-effective diabetes management.]

Although the illness is very widespread, it is often hidden, so we need debate not only to give a voice to people who are suffering from diabetes, but to press the health service to ensure that such progress is continued and prosecuted.

Mr. Hain: Indeed. My hon. Friend can obviously apply to secure a debate, and I am glad that he has
 
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drawn the House's attention to the matter. Progress towards the implementation of the national service framework for diabetes is gratifying.

Mr. Bill Wiggin (Leominster): Will the Leader of the House tell us why the sitting of the Welsh Grand Committee has been moved and now coincides with Welsh questions? Why is it acceptable and good management that the Pensions Bill will be debated for three days, after which time ASW workers will still not know what the future holds?

Mr. Hain: The Welsh Grand Committee does not coincide with Welsh questions and will be on a different day—it was moved from the original day at the request of the leader of Plaid Cymru. [Interruption.] We will debate the Pensions Bill, which is very important, for three days. We are rescuing pensioners from the shambles into which the Conservative Government plunged them during the 1980s and 1990s. I hope that the hon. Member for Leominster (Mr. Wiggin) supports the Government's new protection policies for pensioners, because pensioners deserve protection given that pensions are uncertain, right across the globe.

David Cairns (Greenock and Inverclyde) (Lab): May I draw my right hon. Friend's attention to early-day motion 1070, which outlines the dismal failings of Inverclyde council in the first 12 months of Liberal Democrat control?

[That this House notes that 1st May marks the first anniversary of the election of a Liberal Democrat Council in Inverclyde; further notes that in the past 12 months the council has systematically broken most of its election pledges, including those to keep open Wellington Academy, to find alternative funding for new schools, to deny tenants a vote on the future of council housing and to oppose salary increases for council officers; condemns their decision to cut school clothing grants to poor families, reduce funding to vital community groups and close public toilets; expresses astonishment that Liberal councillors now publicly admit that they did not think through the implications of their decisions to cut services while stashing millions of pounds away in a war chest; and regrets the combination of incompetence and arrogance that have become the hallmark of the council leadership, while letting down the people of Inverclyde.]

Since I tabled early-day motion 1070, the leader of the council has said that it is "ludicrous" to bring the issue to the House of Commons. Will the Leader of the House confirm that it is not only the right of Members of Parliament to raise such issues, but their duty? I would fail in my duty to my constituents if I did not point out the broken promises, incompetence and haemorrhaging of senior officers that has taken place in Inverclyde since the Liberal Democrats took over.

Mr. Hain: As Leader of the House, I can confirm that my hon. Friend is quite within his rights to raise those matters. Indeed, most hon. Members would agree that it is probably his duty to raise them, because we are all entitled to raise local constituency matters, if, like him, we are on the Back Benches. From what he has said, the
 
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leader of the council is out of order in seeking to muzzle him. I would have thought that his constituents want him to speak up for them, which he is doing.

Mr. Adrian Flook (Taunton) (Con): The Royal Marines of 40 Commando based in Taunton are currently preparing to return to Iraq—the last time they were there, they bravely liberated Basra. The Leader of the House may not know—although the Secretary of State for Defence will—that the return is earlier than planned. Will he ask the Secretary of State for Defence to come to this House sooner rather than later to confirm whether the Marines are replacing or supplementing existing troops?

Mr. Hain: The Royal Marines of 40 Commando have, as the hon. Gentleman says, given distinguished service, and we are grateful to them given the difficult circumstances in Iraq. My right hon. Friend the Minister of State, Ministry of Defence, will address the House after me, when the hon. Gentleman will have an opportunity to raise the matter.

Julie Morgan (Cardiff, North) (Lab): Will my right hon. Friend urge the Government to make a statement as soon as possible about ASW pensions? Many ASW workers are from Cardiff, and I was pleased when he spoke to them earlier in the week. Does he agree that next week's announcement of a pension protection fund is a result of the campaign by ASW workers and others, including my hon. Friend the Member for Cardiff, West (Kevin Brennan), who has led the campaign in this House? All those who have paid into a pension fund should benefit from the Government proposals. Will my right hon. Friend do his utmost to see that that happens?

Mr. Hain: First, I should make it clear that we have an hour of other business before the Minister of State, Ministry of Defence gets to his feet.

I applaud the campaign by the ASW workers in Cardiff, and the role that my hon. Friends the Members for Cardiff, North (Julie Morgan) and for Cardiff, West (Kevin Brennan) have played in championing their cause. Their persistence has ensured that we have left no stone unturned in seeking to resolve the problem satisfactorily, which we are determined to do if we can.

Rev. Martin Smyth (Belfast, South) (UUP): Will the Leader of the House have a chat with the Minister for Pensions on behalf of workers at Richardsons Fertilisers? When the Richardsons Fertilisers pension scheme was transferred, it was fully funded. The Dublin Government will fund the pensions of workers for firms in the Republic of Ireland that were linked to Richardsons Fertilisers, which leaves the Richardsons Fertilisers workers completely isolated. Will the Leader of the House examine the situation to see whether equity can prevail?

Mr. Hain: We all want equity to prevail, and the hon. Gentleman is right to call for it. The Minister concerned will want to study what the hon. Gentleman said very carefully.

Dr. Brian Iddon (Bolton, South-East) (Lab): I declare an interest as the unremunerated patron of the Society
 
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of Registration Officers. Following last year's publication of "Civil Registration: Delivering Vital Change", which received a massive 3,400 responses, the Government are about to lay two regulatory reform orders before Parliament, which will result in the most radical changes to civil registration services since the 1830s. About a year ago, I asked my right hon. Friend to arrange a debate on civil registration services. That request was unsuccessful, so I repeat it today.

Mr. Hain: I am aware of my hon. Friend's role and that he secured a debate on the subject last June—he has been successful in securing debates on the subject since 1997, which it is proper for him to do. I note his request, but the Financial Secretary announced at the end of March that the Government will introduce the regulatory reform orders this side of the recess. When the orders have been laid, the Regulatory Reform Committee will consider them, and my hon. Friend might like to make representations to the Chairman of the Committee.

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