§ 11. Mr. ColvinWhat discussions he had with the Deputy Prime Minister about the impact on farming of the abolition of the Rural Development Commission. [22312]
Dr. John CunninghamThe Rural Development Commission has not been abolished. The Regional Development Agencies Bill recently laid before the House, which provides for setting up regional development agencies, would transfer the RDC's rural regeneration functions to those bodies. I am confident that the needs of rural areas will be properly addressed under the arrangements proposed.
§ Mr. ColvinI thank the right hon. Gentleman for that reply. However, will he take the opportunity to applaud the valuable work done by the Rural Development Commission, under the excellent leadership of the noble Lord Shuttleworth, in helping the diversification of farming enterprises and the rural economy generally? In the current crisis in farming, such help is required as never before, so can the right hon. Gentleman give the House a guarantee that the proposed urban-based regional development agencies will be able to fulfil those functions as well as the RDC has done?
Dr. CunninghamI join the hon. Gentleman in paying tribute to the work of the Rural Development Commission and to Charles Shuttleworth, with whom I and my constituents have had a long and productive relationship. The Rural Development Commission did excellent work in west Cumbria in general and in my constituency in particular, and I am happy to pay tribute to it for that work and commitment.
The regional development agencies will have a true regional remit—for rural communities as well as urban areas—and at least one member of the board will be appointed specifically to address the problems of rural areas, especially rural communities.
1138 I disagree with the hon. Gentleman's final point. Most of the work of the Rural Development Commission was not to do with agriculture per se; it was to do with economic development in rural communities.
§ Mr. BeithDoes the right hon. Gentleman acknowledge that farmers' families and farm workers' families cannot continue to live in remote rural areas such as those that he and I represent unless there are rural services? Does he acknowledge that, in the most remote rural areas, the Rural Development Commission concentrated much of its effort on rural services, village shops, village workshops, transport and postal services, and that that work must continue? There is genuine concern that, given the major urban problems in regions such as his and mine, it will take a very considerable effort to ensure that that work continues.
Dr. CunninghamI agree with what the right hon. Gentleman says. He and especially his constituents have experienced, as I have, the real benefits of the successful programmes of the Rural Development Commission. The commission remains the Government's rural development agency, with a statutory duty to continue to advise the Government, and I am determined that we should continue to have not only expert advice, but expertise in the micro-economies of rural communities and rural areas, for the reasons that the right hon. Gentleman has given.