§ 1.29 p.m.
§ Mr. STEPHEN DAVIESI hope the House will forgive me referring to the unprecedented step that the Government have taken with respect to Merthyr Tydvil. As the House knows, the Government have decided to appoint and have in fact appointed a Royal Commission with a view, judging from the answer which we had in the House yesterday, to considering what might be done with respect to the status of Merthyr Tydvil as a county borough. I would not have 2051 troubled the House to raise this matter this afternoon or on any other day were it not for the fact that this is a step on the part of the Government which, as far as I have been able to ascertain, is absolutely unique in the political history of the country as far as both Parliamentary government and local government are concerned.
The House must be mystified at the step taken by the Government. Quite recently they appointed a Commissioner, in the person of Lord Portal, as he now is, to inquire with considerable, even meticulous, detail into the conditions obtaining in both Merthyr Tydvil and other parts of Glamorgan and Monmouthshire. Lord Portal produced a very substantial report, and I must confess, as one who lives and has lived all his life in that part of the country, that he reported to the Government in such considerable detail that I was amazed that the Government should have found it necessary to appoint a Royal Commission with respect to the status of that county borough, the Government knowing very well what has been responsible for the difficulties that that county borough is experiencing. I and many other hon. Members of this House who have discussed this matter with me are extremely alarmed at the step taken by the Government. Are we to assume that, whenever a county borough or a local governing body finds itself in difficulties economically as a result of circumstances and conditions absolutely beyond its control, the Government have no alternative but to discuss the status of that body and to question whether it can be merged possibly into a larger area?
We are alarmed at the fact that the Government have now apparently abandoned their pretence with regard to the distressed areas in this country. The difficulties, as I have said, are extremely well known to the Government, known in detail. Commissioners were appointed for the distressed areas quite recently, and notwithstanding the criticism that some of us indulged in at the expense of that short and circumscribed Act of Parliament, we were told that the appointment of the Commissioners was intended to assist these distressed areas. Now, instead of any assistance being given, the Government, with all the facts in their possession, knowing exactly what has 2052 caused the economic depression in these areas, take this step. Many a time on the Floor of this House Measures have been proposed with a view to rehabilitating, industrially and economically, these distressed areas, but the Government at any rate have nothing to offer Merthyr Tydvil at this stage but the appointment of a Royal Commission merely to decide what is to happen to its status as a county borough.
I am most disappointed, and other Members of this House, I am sure, are also disappointed, that the Government have willingly, without any kind of temptation, unmasked their pretences with regard to these depressed areas. They merely appoint a commission with the powers of a Royal Commission just to consider the status of that county borough, presumably ignoring or having no contribution to make with respect to the depression in that area, forgetting for the time being its 13,000 unemployed, and having no message of help for the continuance of local government in that area. The tendency is an alarming one. A local government unit may, perhaps, have had a creditable history and have made a splendid contribution towards the wealth resources of the country, but once economic distress gets hold of it the Government can presumably do nothing but consider its position as a local government unit. We are compelled to infer from this step on the part of the Government that what is likely to happen to Merthyr Tydvil to-day will happen to other county boroughs tomorrow if they are unfortunate enough to find themselves faced with serious economic conditions.
There are other local government units in this country which are watching very anxiously what the Government propose to do with Merthyr Tydvil. The depression in the coal and iron and steel trades of South Wales has affected those important great county boroughs on the seaboard, and they cannot help being anxious, knowing that the depression in the coal and iron and steel trades up in the hills of Glamorgan and Monmouthshire is affecting them to their disadvantage. Their struggles are becoming more intense as local government units. The fact that they are so much bigger than Merthyr Tydvil, so far as population is concerned, is not a factor that 2053 might save them at all, because there was a time in the middle of the last century when Merthyr Tydvil could boast a population greater than the three greatest seaports on the Welsh coast of the Bristol Channel.
I appeal to the Government to consider the implications of the appointment of this Royal Commission. They have given gratuitous evidence to those who are interested in these distressed areas that they have absolutely no policy and that they have apparently abandoned the distressed areas to their problems and difficulties. Now there is nothing left for them but to attempt to reverse the hands of the clock and to deprive these local government units of the powers they have, ignoring the contribution they have made towards the progress and the standard of civilisation in this country. I am absolutely of the opinion that no force or influence in the country has contributed more largely to the raising of the standard of civilisation in this country than our local government units, and we regard this step of the Government with considerable anxiety. I believe that if they had worked out the implications of the step they have taken they would not have proposed it. The difficulties in Merthyr Tydvil are very well known. It is no use talking about the possibility of merging the borough into the administrative area of Glamorgan. Glamorgan has its troubles; its economic and industrial difficulties are increasing, and it will certainly be compelled, not because of any lack of feeling for Merthyr Tydvil, for there has always been the happiest relationship between the county borough and the county, but because Glamorgan economically is not in a position to absorb Merthyr Tydvil, to protest against any such proposal. Naturally, therefore, an enlightened administration like Glamorgan County Council must regard with considerable anxiety, if not hostility, the policy which is now initiated for the first time in our political history.
I am saying this as one who, although not born in the borough, has been there long enough to appreciate the splendid and devoted work that so many people have given in that town. Some regard should be had for the traditions, the unique traditions in some senses, of the borough and the great industrial contribution it has made. It is the part of 2054 the country where the industrial revolution was first expressed in iron and afterwards in coal on anything like a considerable scale. It is an area which has, thanks again to the devoted service of men and women for several generations, a splendid standard of culture. I am compelled, on behalf of the people who are living there to-day, who have put up such a splendid struggle under such appalling disadvantages, a struggle without any whining or complaining, without any grovellings, to appeal for far greater consideration than to have this insult added to the many humiliations they have experienced during the last dozen years.
On behalf of those people, I must ask the Government to appreciate the alarming step which they are taking and to realise that there is only one solution; that is to help Merthyr Tydvil to rehabilitate its industrial life. It has all the resources, apart from financial resources. It has great works and a highly industrial population, with thousands of highly skilled men in the coal and iron and steel trades who are easily adaptable to any other industries that might be established. If the Government really wish to take any step to help Merthyr Tydvil, let me emphasise the appeal made by the hon. Member for Gower (Mr. D Grenfell) last night. Let them get hold of Merthyr Tydvil and make an attempt to reconstruct the industrial life in one of the oldest industrial areas. It is the place for such an experiment, and I can assure the Government that Merthyr Tydvil will provide all else in the form of labour and skill and a willingness to help any scheme that the Government may bring along.
Mr. BEVANBefore the Parliamentary Secretary replies may I put one or two questions, because the constituency which my hon. Friend represents so brilliantly in this House borders upon my own? I should like to know whether, in the regrettable eventuaity of Merthyr Tydvil losing its status as a county borough, the Royal Commission have power to make recommendations concerning financial readjustments.
§ Mr. DEPUTY-SPEAKERI must remind the hon. Member that, although I am allowing him to put a question, he has exhausted his right to speak.
§ Mr. DEPUTY-SPEAKERBut it is on the same Motion.
Mr. BEVANI ask that question relating to the financial readjustment of the burdens on Merthyr Tydvil in the light of the deplorable poverty of the county to which Merthyr Tydvil might be transferred. My second question is whether the Government will take into consideration, on any representations on the subject, the excessive burden which the Monmouthshire County Council still has to carry in respect of the loan charges of the Bedwellty Board of Guardians. The county now pays a 9d. rate in respect of the old loans, which is gravely resented, and I hope that in considering the position at Merthyr Tydvil the Government will take steps to prevent the same thing happening in the case of Glamorganshire.
§ 1.47 p.m.
§ Mr. SHAKESPEAREI do not criticise the hon. Member for Merthyr Tydvil (Mr. S. O. Davies) for raising this question of the Commission, because I know his feelings and his personal interest in the matter. I understand his interests, but I cannot share his alarm, and perhaps I may be able to assure him that the step we are taking is a wise one. It a out of the report of the Commissioner and out of the recommendation that we should hold a limited inquiry in view of the great difficulties experienced by Merthyr Tydvil, in the light of its unique position, and in view of its changed prospects and changed circumstances, which are quite different from those which prevailed when it obtained its county borough status. The inquiry is a limited one. It is not a roving inquiry into the general economic causes of the position in which Merthyr Tydvil finds itself, but into the simple question whether, in the best interests of local government, it should remain a county borough and what alternatives can be suggested. I am sure that the hon. Member will have noticed the personnel of the Commission with pleasure. Sir Arthur Lowry has had 40 years' experience of local government and no man with a wider knowledge of local government could be found. We have associated with him Mr. Richards, of Cardiff, who has a considerable knowledge of Welsh conditions, and it 2056 is our intention, as I am sure it will be the intention of the Commission, to take all the evidence available on the spot, to hear all sides, to consider the questions raised by my hon. Friend the Member for Ebbw Vale (Mr. A. Bevan) and to bring their experience and judgment to bear on this difficult problem in the light of the facts revealed. I know that Merthyr Tydvil will co-operate. I have had an assurance not only from my hon. Friend but from those whom I had the honour of seeing the other day as a deputation; and we have had the same assurance from the county.
§ Mr. DEPUTY-SPEAKERIn view of what I said just now I must remind the House that the Parliamentary Secretary can only address the. House again by leave of the House, but I assume that in the circumstances the House will give him permission to speak a second time.
§ Mr. DAVIESMay I say that I am much obliged to you, Mr. Deputy-Speaker.
§ Mr. SHAKESPEAREI should not have spoken again had the Minister of Health been here, but at the moment I am doing double shifts. The question asked by my hon. Friend was whether, if they suggested a change in status, they would report what financial adjustments would be necessary? I imagine that such consideration would be incidental to their report, but, of course, before they made any recommendation they would give the fullest opportunity to all who might be concerned by such a change to make representations.
Mr. BEVANFinancial readjustments are often a matter of negotiation. Would the terms of reference include power to make recommendations on financial readjustments?
§ Mr. SHAKESPEAREThe terms of reference are simply that they are to inquire whether Merthyr Tydvil should continue to be a county borough and if not what other arrangements should be made. But I imagine that if they recommend another arrangement it will only be after they have considered any representations made to them by other authorities likely to be affected, particularly the Glamorgan County Council. I cannot ask the hon. Member to agree 2057 with me, but I hope that what I have said may reassure him.
§ Mr. S. DAVIESWill the Commission have power, if it so desires, to recommend to the Government the lines along which new industries could be established within that borough?
§ Mr. SHAKESPEARENo, I think that would be a matter for the special Commissioner.