§ Motion made, and Question proposed, That this House do now adjourn. —[Mr. Robert Ainsworth.]
2.32 pm§ Mr. David Amess (Southend, West)I speak this afternoon on behalf of a community that is not in despair, but is full of hope. It hopes very much that the Government, and the Minister in particular, will listen carefully to what I have to say and will support Southend borough council's bid for assisted area status.
I have had many Adjournment debates in the House. They are judged not by the eloquence of the hon. Member participating, but by their results. I do not mean the results that flow immediately from the press releases and photographs, but those that occur weeks or months later, when the initial impetus of the case of which an hon. Member is trying to persuade the House has faded into the distant past. I know that this is the Minister's first parliamentary term, but I hope that he will be able to persuade his departmental team to support Southend borough council's bid.
It has never been my natural tendency to support moves to highlight areas in economic difficulty, because, unless one chooses one's language carefully, it can be counter-productive. That is certainly not what I intend to do this afternoon, but I find myself with no choice other than to support the council's bid. Indeed, I would be failing in my duty if I did not speak up for Southend.
My wife is very much a Southend girl. Since she has returned to live in the town, she has been somewhat astounded—without wanting to put too much emphasis on it—to find how the general ambience has changed since her childhood. She is proud of Southend and loves the town in which she spent most of her early years. She is not an elderly lady—she is in the prime of life—but all I can say is that things are a little challenging at the moment.
I am armed with the brochures that wax lyrical about how wonderful Southend is, and I believe that. The town is also represented by my hon. Friend the Member for Rochford and Southend, East (Sir T. Taylor), who has notched up double the service in the House that I have given and shares with me the great distinction of having represented two constituencies. He and I are at one in our support for this bid.
The half of the constituency that I represent centres around Leigh-on-Sea. The town council has produced an excellent book, which says:
The earliest known written record of Leigh is an entry in the Domesday Book, 1086.…In 1565 Leigh was a very busy port, with many tall ships anchored in the deep channel …1620, The 'Mayflower', was a very popular name for sailing ships, but it is believed that the most famous 'Mayflower' and the Pilgrim Fathers, came to Leigh to pick up passengers and stores for their voyage to America.Parts of Leigh are undoubtedly very beautiful. As my hon. Friend the Member for Epping Forest (Mrs. Laing) knows only too well, it is in a beautiful setting, and the wildlife that lives in or visits the area is something to behold. It is an estuary town near the junction of the River Thames and the North sea.678 We have a wonderful public relations department in Southend, which has produced a glossy brochure entitled "Southend. Now there's nowhere quite like us!.. Experience the changes".
It says:
As the largest town in Essex, and situated in what is regarded as the driest part of the country, Southend has now developed a more cosmopolitan atmosphere and has grown into a vibrant seaside resort, and London's favourite 'theme park' all year round, with something for all the family.Southend has long boasted of its world famous pier, but it now has a multitude of exciting new visitor attractions, thrilling adventure rides and spectacular events. You can also relax on award winning beaches or esplanades, stroll through some of the most magnificent parks and gardens in the South East, or just wander through the town that combines the charms of a traditional seaside resort with a superb range of restaurants, splendid shopping facilities, exciting theatres and musical performances.Why are we spending half an hour talking about giving assisted area status to Southend if it is as wonderful as that? Any politician who concentrates on politics and is serious about these issues knows that the worst thing one can do is to talk down an area. We owe it to our constituents to talk up an area.Last year, I visited the European Community to persuade two Commissioners of the case for Southend being granted assisted area status. I do not know what the Labour Government's position is on Europe, but I shall tell the Minister what mine is. In the '70s, I voted no in the referendum. When we have a referendum on the single currency, I shall also vote no. I want us to trade our goods and services with Europe, and have educational and cultural links, but I am totally against a United States of Europe with one Government and one currency. As I saw the value of the euro plummet further today, I wondered whether there ever would be a referendum on the single currency. As the Government's economic policy seems to be building up to our entry into the euro, the Chancellor of the Exchequer may be in somewhat of a quandary.
I mention Europe because I am a democrat. We were slaughtered in the referendum in the '70s, and I want to take advantage of our involvement in Europe. Surely to goodness that can be achieved by the Government advancing the position of Southend to be given assisted area status. [Interruption.] I am sure that the Minister is discussing important matters with the Whip, but I hope that he is listening to my comments about Southend, because many of my constituents will expect him not just to read the civil service brief, but to pick up on one or two points of which I may not have given him advance warning.
The two European Commissioners said that the buck stops with the Government—I am not flying or sailing across the channel to sort this matter out. They said that it was up to the Government to support Southend's bid for assisted area status. They gave me a deadline.
The House of Commons Library, which as far as I am concerned is the fount of all truth—there is no spinning there—has armed me with all the ammunition. I shall not waste half an hour by dwelling on the Minister's response to our last debate on this subject, which took place only a few days ago. I have read it; so be it. In any event, Southend meets all the relevant criteria. Although I have not time to go into the details, I have studied this matter closely.
My constituents and I are not bothered about either the difficulty in which the Commissioners find themselves or the overall turmoil in Europe. My constituents expect me, 679 as their Member of Parliament, to honour my commitment to the two Commissioners, and to ensure that the Government support the bid. My local authority has produced an excellent brochure entitled "The State of the Town", which puts a clear case for the required criteria. No doubt the Department of Trade and Industry has a copy, but if it has not I shall ensure, through the Minister, that it receives one.
I am prepared to encounter the usual ploy—"I will write to the hon. Gentleman later"—but let me ask the Minister a question. What precisely has Southend received in financial terms from Europe over the past five to 10 years? I am sick to death of all the spin: I am horrified by it. I am sick of all the press releases and photographs. I am sick of reading that people are "fighting for more money for Southend pier" and "fighting to help the Thames estuary". We have a Labour Member of the European Parliament at present, although, following the European elections, if we adopt this stupid list system, there will be a few Conservative MEPs whatever happens. The council is controlled by the Labour and Liberal parties—and here I stand, supporting its bid for assisted area status.
The bid was submitted to the Government office for the east, according to instructions, in October last year. Part of the executive summary of the bid, entitled "Determining areas for Assisted Area Status and Objective 2 eligibility of the EU Structural Funds", states:
A decision on when Assisted Area Status will be announced is still not clear.I have read the Minister's response before. I do not buy it, and I do not accept what the Minister has said about the lack of clarity. Ministers are going backwards and forwards, but the House needs an announcement. I will not rest this afternoon on what the Minister says: I intend to pursue the matter, because I think that we are being sold a pup. Others may have bought this, but I do not.The decision is closely linked with the areas proposed for objective 2 status. The Government will not submit the list of proposed objective 2 areas to the European Commission until the likely deadline of mid-June. That is a pressing deadline, given that we are almost in May now. The Minister will say, "I shall have to wait until mid-June". Obviously, I shall reply, "Fantastic! That is wonderful"—or I may say something else. The European timetable has also slipped, because of the resignation of the European Commission.
I have studied the review of the assisted areas map very closely. I accept that the Commission has issued new guidelines on regional aid, but, although the two maps should be complementary, there is no requirement for national Governments to ensure that the structural funds and assisted area maps are identical. I hope that the Minister will clarify the situation; if he cannot, perhaps he will write to me!
We have a pressing need for assistance. For many years, the perception of Southend as a leafy, affluent seaside town has masked the reality of high unemployment and multiple pockets of deprivation. The review relates to areas of 100,000 people; Southend has a population of 175,500. Southend, with the adjoining districts of Castle Point and Rochford, is one of the largest conurbations in the east of England. It has no rural hinterland.
680 The Government's transport policy has been disastrous for Southend; we have gridlock. We hear double-talk from Labour and the Liberals Democrats, who are against cars, and have no road-building projects. That is fine, but Ministers should come done to Southend and face my constituents. Because of those transport problems, our efforts to gain local investment are being frustrated. We have to contend with not only a Labour Government, but a local Lib-Lab council.
Southend's population density is 42 people per hectare, compared with an average of four people per hectare in Essex and two per hectare in the United Kingdom. Government statistics show that, in the next 10 years, Southend's population will grow by 4 per cent.
After its separation from Essex county council, our new unitary authority has fought hard to highlight some of the difficulties I have described. However, now that we have a unitary authority, our unemployment situation is much worse. The Minister may say that the unemployment rate is decreasing, but one person who genuinely wants to work but cannot find it is one too many. Southend has very high unemployment. The town has experienced a decline in both industrial and service industries—financial services, retailing, tourism, and the defence and fishing industries have suffered in the recent economic slowdown. The Minister with responsibility for fishing has done a sterling job in trying to meet some of my constituents' concerns, but, only yesterday, local fishermen telephoned me to say that they were faced with further difficulties relating to catch sizes and fishing time limits.
Between 1991 and 1996, 2,750 jobs were lost in Southend's financial sector. In just the past six months, another 867 jobs were lost from the defence industry, manufacturing, the retail sector and social services. Forecasts indicate that, in the next 10 years, a further 6.8 per cent. of Southend's total employment will be lost, whereas employment is expected to increase in the rest of eastern England. Konver and PESCA European Union funding have been available to Southend, which clearly demonstrates the state of local conditions.
Southend's local per capita gross domestic product is an alarming 71 per cent. of the national average. Moreover, it has suffered one of the steepest per capita GDP declines, from 77 to 71 per cent., of all NUTS3-— nomenclature of units of territorial statistics—areas. Our unemployment rate is 7.2 per cent., which is one and a half times the national average, and our long-term unemployment rate is among the worst 5 per cent. of all districts. There is high employee turnover in many of our service and tourism sectors, as many employees are casual, seasonal workers employed on relatively low wages. A high proportion of workers are women working part-time and for short periods. All those factors demonstrate that we have many employment problems.
Southend was once a dormitory town for London, but that role has diminished greatly over the years. Moreover, we have been greatly affected by the changing attitudes of holiday makers, who take advantage of flights and foreign holidays that are cheaper than local holidays.
The Government have the ability to provide the necessary assistance to create the incentives and opportunities for renewed investment in jobs and prosperity for Southend's local residents. Assisted area status, through regional selective assistance, would 681 provide numerous opportunities for high-technology businesses—we already have at least 14 such businesses—to flourish in Southend. Objective 2 status, from January 2000, would also enable us to tackle our concentration of problems in targeted areas of specific need.
As I said at the start of my speech, Southend is a great place in which to live and anyone who lives by the sea can enjoy the moving picture provided by the Thames estuary. As someone who was born in London, I enjoy the many facets of that estuary. The sea is not enough, however. Southend needs support from the Government. I do not care if Labour and the Liberal Democrat supporters do not like me as their local Member of Parliament; they should support the Lib-Lab council, the Labour MEP and all the officers who have worked so hard on the bid.
Southend's case is overwhelming. I represent a community not in despair, but in hope. If the Minister can persuade his colleagues to include us in the bid, I shall be the first to make sure that his support, and that of those responsible for getting that bid accepted in Europe, is recognised.
§ The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Trade and Industry (Mr. Michael Wills)In the relatively short time that remains, I shall do my best to address all the points that have been raised. First, I congratulate the hon. Member for Southend, West (Mr. Amess) on securing today's debate on assisted area status for Southend. He raised this matter in a recent question to the House, and he has eloquently put the case for his area again today. The hon. Member for Rochford and Southend, East (Sir T. Taylor) has also brought the problems of Southend to the attention of the House and of Ministers on some recent occasions. We are certainly aware of their concerns.
Many hon. Members share the hon. Gentleman's interest in the assisted area review. Since I became a Minister, I have met some 50 hon. Members from all parties who wished to discuss the importance of assisted area status and I have corresponded with many others. So far, the hon. Gentleman has not taken advantage of the open door policy that I operate in this matter, but I would be more than happy to see him.
Let me set out where matters stand on the review. As I mentioned on Monday night in a similar debate sponsored by the hon. Member for North-East Cambridgeshire (Mr. Moss), the coverage of the new assisted areas map will be reduced from present levels and inevitably there will be some hard choices to be made in designating areas. We have yet to take final decisions. The Government are considering their proposals for the new assisted areas and we will put them to the Commission as soon as possible.
Our review follows the publication last year of new European Commission guidelines on regional aid, which require all member states to propose new assisted areas to operate from 1 January 2000. The guidelines are part of efforts by the Commission to control the overall level of state aids in Europe. As a result, the UK faces a reduction in the population coverage of its map, as does the EU. The figure for the UK is about three quarters of our current coverage. Inevitably, that will mean hard choices and some areas will be disappointed.
682 However, we should also bear in mind the wider picture: the UK has traditionally been one of the lowest providers of state aids in the EU. Removing distortions to competition by reducing levels of state aids will help UK firms both inside and outside the assisted areas. The lower aid limits that the guidelines will introduce are expected to bear down particularly on other EU states, and that will be good for British firms, not just those in the assisted areas.
The hon. Gentleman mentioned timing. Let me try to set his mind at rest. I am not sure that I will be able to do so, as he seems determined to be discontented, but I shall do my best. The Commission had asked for proposals by 31 March. That was always an ambitious deadline, and about half the member states have not yet submitted their proposals to the Commission. We are working to complete the map as soon as possible, and the Commission is aware of that, but our overriding objective must be achieving the best outcome for Great Britain. We cannot rush the task. We could quickly draw a map that followed the Commission's rules, but we want to draw a map that uses our reduced population coverage most effectively—the right map for Britain.
We want to do some more work on our proposals. We must also respect the purdah periods before the local elections and the elections in Scotland and Wales on 6 May, and again before the European elections. That makes it unlikely that we will be able to make an announcement before mid-June.
As the hon. Gentleman is aware, a public consultation exercise is under way on European structural funds objective 2 areas for the period from 1 January 2000. The consultation period ends on 25 May, and in the early summer we shall draw up our proposals for the new objective 2 areas. The two maps have different purposes and do not have to be identical. Taken together, however, as I hope the hon. Gentleman will agree, they should provide a coherent approach to regional development. Our announcements of our proposals for the two maps should therefore together set out a coherent strategy for tackling regional needs.
Let me say a few words about the Government's approach to the review. In reviewing the map, we are attempting to identify areas of need where there are opportunities for creating jobs and for investment by industry—in other words, areas where regional selective assistance will be effective in tackling need.
In the review we are considering all areas, and we have been keen to listen to local views on all matters. I assure the hon. Gentleman that the points made by Southend borough council in its submission for the public consultation are being carefully considered.
The task that we have been set is not easy. As I have said, United Kingdom population coverage under the new map will be about three quarters of current levels. We must make our proposals on the basis of the rules set out in the guidelines. I am conscious of the lack of time, so I shall not rehearse them now, but I am sure that the hon. Gentleman is aware of them, and of some of the difficulties that we face in drawing up the right basis for the geographical units in the map.
The review has demonstrated the wide variety of needs faced by areas throughout the country. As I am sure the hon. Gentleman will realise, assisted area status cannot 683 address all those needs; nor will it always be the most appropriate answer. There are other measures to help development.
In England, we expect the regional development agencies—for Southend, that means the East of England development agency—to help in drawing up strategies for developing their areas. The agency that covers Southend is already preparing its economic development strategy for the east of England, which I am sure will take account of the needs of Southend.
As part of its regeneration function, the agency administers the single regeneration budget. Current activities funded from that include an eight-year scheme, which began in 1997, to regenerate the area of Shoeburyness in Southend. It includes projects aimed at providing training for employment and initiatives to help prepare school leavers for life and work.
In addition, as we said in the White Paper on competitiveness, which was published in December, the Government are looking at new measures to support the growth of smaller businesses in selected areas with particular needs. We are especially keen to support and promote high-technology small firms and other small firms with high growth potential, such as those that the hon. Gentleman mentioned earlier.
The hon. Gentleman spoke about unemployment in Southend. Unemployment is a matter for concern wherever it occurs, and I sympathise with his concerns. However, I understand that firms are investing in Southend. Olympus has moved its research and development centre there, creating more than 100 jobs, and the Rowellan Group has built a £5 million hotel complex in the town, creating almost 150 new jobs. That is encouraging and I hope that Southend will see more such investment.
684 The hon. Gentleman mentioned European funds. As he rightly guessed, I shall write to him about the broader question, but let me try to set his mind at rest by drawing his attention to a couple of things of which he may not be fully aware. He mentioned the funds that the Southend travel-to-work area received for three projects under the Konver II Community initiative and three under the PESCA Community initiative. European money has also supported projects in the area under structural funds objective 3 to assist the unemployed, and under objective 4 which helps with reskilling the work force.
Under the current programme for European structural funds, the Southend travel-to-work area will receive £1.5 million. I will write to the hon. Member for Southend, West in answer to his broader questions, but I hope that he is sufficiently reassured that Southend has not been ignored by the European Union. Indeed, Southend is doing well from the EU. We are consulting on the objective 2 map and we hope to receive a submission from the hon. Gentleman and from Southend borough council.
I hope that the hon. Gentleman is reassured by my comments today. I urge him to take advantage of the open door policy, which I have operated for all colleagues, to come to see me to discuss the needs of Southend. He is welcome to write to me if he would prefer not to confront me in person, but he would be welcome to a cup of tea in the Department of Trade and Industry at any time. He need only give my office a call. I hope that he will not be as shy in the future as he has been in the past three or four months, and that he has received some reassurance to pass on to his constituents in Southend.
§ Question put and agreed to.
§ Adjourned accordingly at one minute past Three o'clock.