HC Deb 04 March 1985 vol 74 cc640-1
3. Mrs. Clwyd

asked the Secretary of State for Wales if he will make additional resources available to Cynon Valley district council to enable it to take steps to reduce unemployment and further improve housing conditions within its area.

The Secretary of State for Wales (Mr. Nicholas Edwards)

I note that, as in the Welsh day debate on Thursday, there are more Welsh Conservative Members than Welsh Labour Members in the House for questions today. The answer to the hon. Lady is no. The Cynon Valley district council already has substantial resources available to it. In determining its capital allocations, full account was taken of housing conditions in the Cynon Valley. The Aberdare travel-to-work area is in the upper tier for regional industrial assistance, and the area can draw upon the resources of economic development bodies such as the Welsh Development Agency and NCB (Enterprise) Ltd.

Mr. Rogers

rose—

Mr. Speaker

Order. I shall pre-empt the point of order which I believe is coming.

Mr. Rogers

I was not seeking to raise one, Mr. Speaker.

Mrs. Clwyd

That was a completely inadequate response to the position in the Cynon Valley. The Minister is clearly still unaware that 48 per cent. of private housing is unfit for human habitation and that we have the highest unemployment rate among males in Wales. His answer will be regarded as completely unacceptable and politically vindictive and motivated. Does he realise that at the present level of funding to areas such as Cynon Valley it will take over 50 years to restore housing to the adequate conditions in which people can live?

Mr. Edwards

If what the hon. Lady says about conditions is correct—the Government vastly increased resources available for improvement of the housing stock in Wales—it is surprising that during the past three or four years the Cynon Valley authority has not used the resources available to it, has not declared any housing action areas, has not taken advantage of low-cost home ownership schemes, and has not taken full advantage of the variety of new initiatives that can be taken, such as enveloping, to improve the housing conditions for those for whom it is responsible.

Mr. Grist

Does my right hon. Friend agree that the greatest damage to the Cynon Valley, which has drained more money from its inhabitants and resulted in a greater threat to employment there, has been done by the miners' strike? Does he accept that those who, disgracefully, have tried to lead it in the locality have done more damage to the constituents than almost anything else could have done?

Mr. Edwards

I agree with my hon. Friend. Indeed, the greatest contribution that could now be made to that area would be for everyone involved to get together to restore the health of that industry, to take advantage of the record resources which the Government are making available to the industry, and to seek to restore the markets upon which that industry depends.

Mr. Allan Rogers

This is not a point of order, Mr. Speaker. I am sorry to have caused confusion. In respect of the Secretary of State's preamble to his answer, does he not realise and accept that the reason why, on occasions, people do not come along to Welsh days is his utterly awful and crushingly boring speeches?

Mr. Speaker

That was almost a point of order. I was going to say that even Ministers should stick to the question.

Mr. Barry Jones

The Secretary of State is giving very inadequate and evasive answers. Will he begin a fresh, meticulous survey of housing conditions in Wales, because the Cynon Valley problems exist throughout the length and breadth of the Principality? Does the right hon. Gentleman accept that the people of Cynon Valley and other deprived communities could have decent housing if we could take the 18,000 unemployed building workers off the dole queues and set them to work building decent houses for people in Cynon Valley and other parts of Wales?

Mr. Edwards

A Welsh housing survey is coming up in 1986. If the hon. Gentleman's wishes for the Cynon Valley are to be realised, it will require the local authority to make full use of the resources and schemes that are available.