Mr.
Roger Williams: Will the Minister tell us about the
reception he received from the Minister for Policing, Security and
Community Safety and about the outcome of the
meeting?
Nick
Ainger: The case, which was well presented by the
chief constable and members of the Dyfed-Powys police authority, is
being considered. There will be a response shortly.
My right hon. Friend the Member
for Torfaen, my hon. Friend the Member for Llanelli and the hon.
Members for Brecon and Radnorshire, for Chesham and Amersham and for
Clwyd, West raised the issue of Her Majesty’s Revenue and
Customs. As has been revealed, I shall meet the Paymaster General in
January to discuss the matter, which I think every hon. Member raised.
Although we want to see efficiency in the administration, the problem
is that jobs are leaving the areas that are most in need of them and
they are being concentrated in areas where, perhaps, there is not quite
such a need. That is my position and that of my right hon. Friend the
Secretary of State for Wales. We have made that clear to the Treasury,
and we will have further negotiations.
Mrs.
Gillan: Will the Minister give
way?
Nick
Ainger: I have only two minutes left.
Finally, some comments have
been made about the Government of Wales Act and the role played by my
right hon. Friend Secretary of State. I find that quite bizarre. We
have created an open and transparent system in the Act whereby people,
whoever they might be, can see the process taking place: ideas are
initiated in the Assembly and requests are made openly and publicly
before coming to this place for proper pre-legislative scrutiny in the
Welsh Affairs Committee, chaired by my hon. Friend the Member for
Aberavon. Some say that that does not happen, that the current system
is smoke and mirrors and that no one knows what is
happening—that it is not clear and transparent.
For my right hon.
Friend to be accused of being a viceroy is ludicrous. He and his
predecessors in the Government have given away far more power from the
centre than any other Administration in the UK’s history. The
fact is that any Secretary of State must have discretion, rather than
being forced to lay what he or she considers to be a defective or
unworkable proposal before Parliament. That would be the only
circumstance in which my right hon. Friend would use the powers that he
has. It has been an
interesting debate, Mr.
Caton— It
being Four o’clock, The Chairman
adjourned the debate, pursuant to Standing Order No. 108(4) and the
Order of the House [22
November].
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