§ 13. Mr. WigleyTo ask the Secretary of State for Wales if he will arrange to meet the chairman of the Welsh Development Agency to discuss the implication of the agency's recently announced strategic plans for local communities in Wales.
§ Mr. Gwilym JonesMy right hon. Friend regularly meets the chairman of the agency to discuss a range of matters.
§ Mr. WigleyIs the Minister aware that the WDA's strategic plans for the regeneration of some of the old industrial towns in the valleys, the old slate-quarrying areas and some of the historic towns of Wales are dependent on enough money being available over a period that goes beyond two years? Given that the WDA is being funded by virtue of the sale of its capital assets, will the Minister give a categorical guarantee that the original funding level promised for the agency for the period through to the end of the century will be sustained and that there will be increased moneys from the Welsh Office budget to achieve that?
§ Mr. JonesI can certainly give the hon. Gentleman an assurance that the resources allocated to the WDA, together with the receipts that they will generate, will be most appropriate to achieve what we want. It is in that manner that progress will be made.