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Ms Lawrence: I very much welcome the news that there will be an announcement for our farmers before the recess begins next Monday. I also welcome, like other members of the Committee, the responsible attitude of both farming unions in dealing with what is, without doubt, a crisis--certainly for the farmers in Pembrokeshire whom I represent.
May I reiterate what was said about supermarkets? The farmers feel that more could be done to put their point of view. Although I welcome my right hon. Friend's announcement that his officials are meeting supermarket representatives, I stress that the farmers whom I represent feel that pressure needs to be applied to ensure that supermarkets act as responsibly as the farmers have.
Mr. Davies: My hon. Friend is correct--there are concerns among the farming community that some of the beef entering this country for retail sale does not meet the high standards expected from British producers.
I assure my hon. Friend that the Government will take every possible action to ensure that proper standards are enforced. We are part of a single market and British consumers should be able to choose. If they wish to purchase beef produced abroad, they should be free to do so. However, I want to ensure that such choices are informed choices and I believe that we--the Government, the farming unions and British supermarkets--can do more to promote our products, which are of the highest quality. That is what I am trying to ensure.
I thank my hon. Friend for her earlier comments. I know that feelings are running high in her constituency, but she can assure the farmers with whom she is in touch that the responsible way in which they have conducted themselves over the past few days has created the conditions that enable the Government to look at the problems and, in due course, make a measured response.
Mr. Livsey: Can the Secretary of State give me guidance on how I can help a farming constituent? He took five heifer calves to market on 1 December and received £15 for them--£3 each; he was charged a commission of £12.50 and VAT of £2.19--so he went home with 31p in his pocket, for five calves. That is the measure of the agricultural crisis in Wales; the market has collapsed. British taxpayers have funded compensation for continental producers who have undercut British farmers, particularly Welsh farmers. Will the Secretary of State please give some succour to the farming community this week, especially in the marketplace, because they no longer have a market for their livestock?
Mr. Davies: The hon. Gentleman talks about the British taxpayer funding continental farmers. The British taxpayer has put about £3 billion of public money into supporting our beef industry. I do not criticise that; it is the perfectly responsible way in which successive British Governments have tried to respond to the collapsing confidence in the beef industry--which stems largely from the failure of the previous Government, almost 10 years ago, to deal with the problem of BSE. It is not unreasonable for us to point out that billions of pounds of public money are going into the farming industry.
My hon. Friend the Member for West Carmarthen and South Pembrokeshire (Mr. Ainger) has drawn my attention to the problem of calf prices, but public money has been made available to support the calf processing scheme. However, there is no getting away from the fact that there is a crisis in farming. The Government understand that and are looking at ways to respond comprehensively to the points that the hon. Gentleman raised.
Trunk Roads
4. Mr. Huw Edwards: If he will undertake a review of the regulations relating to the provision of noise mitigation measures for existing trunk roads. [19378]
Mr. Hain: We have no plans to review the legislation.
Mr. Edwards: May I express my disappointment at that reply? There has been no review of noise mitigation measures for existing roads since 1975. Since then, several developments have made the problem considerably worse, especially on the A449--the road about which I have written to my hon. Friend --which is the trunk road south of Monmouth. It causes particular problems near the village of Llandenny. Although that concrete section of road was recently reconstructed, the noise problem has worsened--environmental health officers have described it as ``oppressive''. There has been an increase in traffic volume and an increase in the level of tolls on the Severn bridges. I therefore urge my hon. Friend and other Ministers to examine the issue of noise mitigation because as I said earlier, there has been no review since 1975.
Mr. Hain: I acknowledge my hon. Friend's persistence and expert representation on behalf of his constituents on that matter. I am well aware of the problem--one of my officials visited one of the sites with my hon. Friend. However, it is a straight question of resources. If the noise regulations were significantly reformed--although they were amended in 1988--in the direction that my hon. Friend is, understandably, requesting, the cost would be astronomic. That, bluntly, is the answer to his point.
Household Growth
5. Mr Gareth Thomas: If he will make a statement on projected household growth in Wales to 2016. [19379]
Mr. Win Griffiths: The Welsh Office published ``1994 Based Household Projections for Wales'' in July this year. It estimates a 14 per cent. increase in the number of households in Wales between 1994 and 2016.
Mr. Thomas: Does my hon. Friend accept that given the dominant role those statistics play in the formulation of not only national policy, but local government planning policy, there is considerable disquiet about their accuracy and their failure to reflect sensitive local conditions and environmental factors? Does he agree that that matter should be dealt with by the national Assembly for Wales?
Mr. Griffiths: I certainly agree with my hon. Friend's last remark because we must have the best possible information for working out our future land policy plans. Whether or not we contest the accuracy of the figures--at this stage, I have no reason to contest their accuracy--I can assure my hon. Friend that we want a combination of existing provision that has perhaps fallen out of use, and we will ensure that brownfield sites are used. My right hon. Friend might like to know that more than half of the housing association developments are on brownfield sites. In addition, he will be aware that I have asked local authorities in Wales to look at creating greenbelts to avoid urban sprawl.
Lone Parents
7. Ann Clwyd: What recent representations he has received from lone parents on opportunities for employment in Wales. [19382]
Mr. Hain: The Welsh Office has received two letters about the new deal for lone parents. The new deal means that lone parents with school-age children will be invited to Employment Service jobcentres for help and advice on jobs, training and child care. The programme started on 21 July in Cardiff and the Vale, and will be extended across the whole from October 1998.
Ann Clwyd: I am sure that I can add to my hon. Friend's postbag, which is the result of just a few days. I shall be sending him and the Prime Minister copies of letters that show how dismayed people are about the Government's policy. We asked for a postponement of the cut to benefits until the other measures, which are welcome, were shown to have worked. The welfare-to-work, the new deal and the child care policies are all welcome, but cutting the benefits of those most in need is not.
Will my hon. Friend answer my questions in a straight way--in a way that the Secretary of State for Social Security failed to do the other day? In Cynon Valley, there are 1,500 lone parents and 234 jobs at the jobcentre. Where will the jobs come from? If a lone parent takes a job, but loses it because her child becomes ill or the job itself finishes, will she get the same benefit that she received before taking the job?
Mr. Hain: I acknowledge my hon. Friend's powerful article in The Observer on Sunday on this matter. I well know her concerns and those of her constituents. In the programme to which I referred, by the end of November the advisers in the new deal for lone parents had helped into jobs 111 out of the 318 who had been interviewed in Cardiff and the Vale, so a positive programme is being undertaken. However, the matters to which she refers are for the Secretary of State for Social Security.
Ms Julie Morgan: Does my hon. Friend agree that the position for lone parents in Wales is particularly difficult? It is worse than in any other part of Britain because of low rates of pay, a poor transport system and the fact that we have fewer child care places--those that we have tend to be taken up by parents with professional qualifications. Lone parents in Wales will be particularly hard hit by the decision to end the lone parent rate of child benefit.
Mr. Hain: My hon. Friend speaks with conviction. The new deal for lone parents in Wales will provide job opportunities across the country once it is up and running. Child care costs will be built into that. In addition, the extra finance announced by my right hon. Friend the Chancellor for after-school clubs will assist with the problem, which was well articulated by my hon. Friend.
GP Recruitment
8. Mr. Martin Caton: If he will make a statement on the recruitment and retention of general practitioners in Wales. [19381]
Mr. Win Griffiths: While there is no overall shortage of GPs in Wales, there are some pockets of difficulty. That is why I announced on 17th July the setting up of an equity fund of £500,000 to tackle local recruitment and retention problems. It is now for health authorities to identify areas of difficulty and to suggest proposals for resolving them. The Government have also identified in the National Health Service (Primary Care) Act 1997 a range of flexibilities for addressing service needs and recruitment facilities. Those should be in place by 1st April 1998.
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