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Trunk Roads
5. Mr. Owen Paterson (North Shropshire): What plans he has to improve trunk roads linking north and south Wales. [41417]
The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Wales (Mr. Peter Hain): Improvements are needed, and these will be addressed in our review of the Welsh trunk roads programme.
Mr. Paterson: The A483-A5 road, south through Ruabon on to Shrewsbury, is the main link between north-east Wales and south Wales. It is currently single carriageway; it is subject to frequent accidents and delays. In the past five years, 25 people have been killed on that road. What plans does the Minister have to upgrade the Welsh stretch to dual carriageway? What discussions has he had with his English counterparts? Given the Secretary
of State's stated enthusiasm for the PFI initiative yesterday in the Select Committee on Welsh Affairs, has he discussed that means of finance to speed up the project?
Mr. Hain: The previous Conservative Government, whom the hon. Gentleman supported, had 18 years to solve these problems, but I recognise the point that he raises. Indeed, I believe that, word for word, it is the point that he made a couple of weeks ago, when he served his apprenticeship to the boy Nigel in the Welsh Grand Committee in Carmarthen. I answered it then as I answer it now: we recognise that the problem exists, and we shall do our best to solve it.
Mr. David Hanson (Delyn): Does my hon. Friend agree that one of the best ways to improve road transport between north and south Wales is to take steps to remove cars and lorries from those roads? What steps can my hon. Friend take to ensure that transport links between north and south do not depend on roads alone, and, with other Departments, help to improve rail and air transport links, which are far more environmentally friendly?
Mr. Hain: My hon. Friend expresses the position exactly as I see it. The A470 and A483 clearly need to be upgraded to improve north-south links, but the priority for the moment must be to establish--I am working on this actively--better air and rail links, because those are the areas of public transport policy which will enable us to address what is otherwise a difficult problem.
Mr. Richard Livsey (Brecon and Radnorshire): Will the Minister take note of representations that I know he has received about the A483 on the boundary of my constituency with that of Montgomery? That important road is not even of trunk-road width and the planned improvements to it will not be completed for 12 months. Will the Minister do something to enable that work to be started much sooner so that we have a more effective north-south link?
Mr. Hain: I shall certainly consider the hon. Gentleman's point again. My right hon. Friend the Secretary of State tells me that, if the hon. Gentleman drives slowly at that point in mid-Wales, he may see red kites, which are of great interest to people in Wales generally.
Mr. Elfyn Llwyd (Meirionnydd Nant Conwy): As the Minister has just said that it is important to upgrade the A470, why has he apparently shelved phase 2 of the Blaenau Ffestiniog to Betws-y-Coed road improvement scheme? I am grateful for the first phase, but without the second phase it is nonsense. If the hon. Gentleman is serious about upgrading the A470, this is a priority, and I ask him for a positive response.
Mr. Hain: The hon. Gentleman has identified a clear problem which is well recognised in the Welsh Office. Will he await the outcome of the roads review to see what progress we can make on the matter?
Social Exclusion
6. Mr. Martin Caton (Gower): If he will make a statement on his plans for tackling social exclusion in Wales. [41418]
The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Wales (Mr. Win Griffiths): I announced on 1 May, the anniversary of our great election victory, a new social exclusion programme for Wales. The programme will tackle social exclusion in Wales through co-ordinated action to promote community development in six or more communities.
Mr. Caton: Does my hon. Friend agree that one of the priorities in tackling social exclusion in Wales must be to deal with the problem of street homelessness? Can he assure me that, in tackling that problem, he is prepared to learn from best practice in other parts of the United Kingdom and, in particular, from the way in which the rough sleepers initiative has been implemented in England and Scotland?
Mr. Griffiths: I can assure my hon. Friend that we want to ensure that we have the best practice in community development to regenerate our deprived communities and, where homelessness is a serious problem, I shall certainly want to see it included in the projects that we approve.
Mr. Michael Ancram (Devizes): Does the Minister think that his social exclusion policy is working for farmers and others in rural Wales? Does he not realise that, month by month, the agriculture crisis is becoming worse; that the need for direct assistance for farmers and farm workers is becoming greater; and that, while he and the Secretary of State mouth platitudes and blame everyone but themselves, Welsh farming is quietly starving to death? Does he appreciate that, despite our holding the European presidency, Welsh agriculture has gained nothing from Europe, and the incomes of some Welsh farmers are now 83 per cent. lower than they were last year? Has the time not come to stop giving us complacent soundbites and do something for the hard-pressed people of rural Wales?
Mr. Griffiths: It is about time that the right hon. Gentleman took the matter seriously rather than seeking soundbites from it. In homing in on the figure of 83 per cent, he knows that he is exaggerating. Total farm income--we accept the seriousness of the position--has gone down by 43 per cent., which is rather less than the figure that he has given.
Mr. Bernard Jenkin (North Essex): So that's all right, is it?
Mr. Griffiths: It is not all right, but let us deal with the problem in a serious fashion, not by soundbites. We have already provided some £155 million extra in England and Wales, which would not have been provided under Tory spending plans. We are already researching into beef and lamb to improve the quality of Welsh products. We predict that during the next decade Welsh farming will be in a far stronger position than that in which it was left by the previous Conservative Government, who caused BSE, the root of our present problems.
Mr. Michael Clapham (Barnsley, West and Penistone): In the context of tackling social exclusion in Wales, will my hon. Friend initiate an Industrial Injuries
Advisory Council study to find out whether there is recent research showing that those suffering from respiratory diseases include slate quarrymen, so that slate quarrymen may be covered by the PD12 provisions for chronic bronchitis and emphysema?
Mr. Griffiths: My hon. Friend raises a serious matter, which would probably not come within the social exclusion programme, but my right hon. Friend is discussing it with my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Social Security.
Parliamentary Representation
7. Mr. Andrew Robathan (Blaby): What representations he has received regarding the number of hon. Members representing Welsh constituencies. [41419]
The Secretary of State for Wales (Mr. Ron Davies): Fewer than a dozen.
Mr. Robathan: Given that the Government are determined to foist on Wales an assembly which only one in four of the people wanted, will the Secretary of State take action to ensure that the over-representation of Wales in this House is reduced? He knows that there are 40 Welsh Members whereas according to English criteria there should be 32. Will he take action to reduce that over-representation?
Mr. Davies: No, I will not. The basis of the representation of Welsh constituencies in the House was determined in 1944 by a Speaker's Commission. There are no proposals to change that. When we debated the Government of Wales Bill, there were no such proposals from the hon. Gentleman or from the right hon. Member for Devizes (Mr. Ancram). The assembly that we propose, and for which the people of Wales voted on 18 September, does not have any legislative function: accordingly, there is no case to be made for the number of Welsh Members of Parliament to be reduced.
Mr. Huw Edwards (Monmouth): Does my right hon. Friend share my concern that, in 70 years, there have been only seven women Members of Parliament from Wales? Will he join me in congratulating the Wales Labour party, which last Saturday decided to introduce a system of twinning by constituencies to ensure that there is fair representation of women and men in the Welsh assembly?
Mr. Davies: I am anxious to ensure that the Welsh assembly is representative of the whole of our society in Wales. It is therefore important that we ensure that women are properly represented. Positive discrimination, as my hon. Friend knows, is a difficult matter. My party resolved on Saturday to adopt the policy of twinning, which now has my whole-hearted support. I look forward to my colleagues in the Labour party in Wales working vigorously to implement that policy so that we have fair representation in the assembly.
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