§ 3. Sir Sydney Chapman (Chipping Barnet)If he will make a statement on his policies for the countryside. [50269]
§ The Secretary of State for Wales (Mr. Ron Davies)I am committed to policies that conserve the countryside within a sustainable development framework that will improve economic, social and environmental conditions for the people of Wales.
§ Sir Sydney ChapmanWhen does the Secretary of State expect to publish the separate White Paper on an integrated transport policy for Wales as foreshadowed in the White Paper on the future of transport, published earlier this week? Will he assure the House that it will 1105 address the distinct and different needs for public transport services in the Welsh countryside and, in particular, the need for better bus services?
§ Mr. DaviesI thank the hon. Gentleman for his genuine and obvious interest in the problems of rural transport. On Friday, the Under-Secretary of State, my hon. Friend the Member for Neath (Mr. Hain), intends to publish the Government's proposals for the development of such an integrated transport system in Wales—I shall arrange for the hon. Gentleman to receive a copy.
I very much understand the case for developing distinctive policies in the countryside; if we are to have integrated transport systems for the whole country, we must reflect the particular needs of the countryside. The hon. Gentleman will know that my right hon. Friend the Chancellor of the Exchequer made £50 million available in the Budget specifically to improve mobility in the countryside. In Wales, the greater part of the money will be spent on the development of new and improved bus services, but there will also be small-scale imaginative projects to develop informal transport links for the remotest communities.
§ Dr. Liam Fox (Woodspring)It is astonishing that no Labour Back Bencher stood up to express interest in countryside issues in Wales. What policies will the Secretary of State introduce to ensure that new entrants can gain access to farming in Wales? Does he understand farmers' anxiety about the next generation's prospects of gaining access to the land? What positive news can he give them other than sympathy, which pays no wages?
§ Mr. DaviesMost of my hon. Friends were at the royal Welsh show in Builth Wells earlier this week, where they had the opportunity to talk at first hand to countryside people about the problems facing the countryside. In direct answer to the hon. Gentleman's question, it has never been my intention to offer sympathy to the people of the working countryside in Wales; I have always made it clear to them that I understand—and shall work with them to try to resolve—the problems.
I give the hon. Gentleman a list of our achievements over the past 15 months. We have ensured that the end of the beef ban is now in sight, and I remind him that the Conservative Government were responsible for the waste of billions of pounds of public money and the collapse of the beef industry through their failure to tackle the problems of bovine spongiform encephalopathy.
We have introduced new initiatives, including a food promotion policy and schemes to implement agri-environmental policies. We are consulting on the restructuring of the agricultural community, and we are considering how hill livestock compensatory allowances can be reorganised. The hon. Gentleman will understand that a new vibrancy is afoot in the Welsh countryside; Welsh farmers and others who work in the countryside know that, in Labour, they have a Government they can trust.