§ 3. Mr. Win Griffiths (Bridgend)When he last met the First Minister of the National Assembly to discuss the funding of its functions. [4193]
§ The Secretary of State for Wales (Mr. Paul Murphy)I meet the First Minister regularly on a range of matters, including funding issues. I also recently met the Assembly's Finance Minister, Edwina Hart. Tomorrow, the Assembly will debate its annual Budget.
§ Mr. GriffithsI thank my right hon. Friend, his Under-Secretary and his staff at the Wales Office for the excellent relationships that have been developed with the Assembly and the way in which the Department acts as a bridge with the Assembly, as exemplified by the flexibility on the Barnett formula that enabled the extra funding for objective 1. Will my right hon. Friend consider more flexibility for other functions of the Assembly, because needs in Wales have been shown to be much higher than those in other parts of the United Kingdom?
§ Mr. MurphyI thank my hon. Friend for those remarks. On Monday, Edwina Hart, the Welsh Assembly Finance Minister, announced a further £17 million to support Welsh local authorities. Today, the Government are providing about £1.2 million for Wales, which results from extra money from the Department of Health in England. In recent months, extra money for Wales has included up to £2 million for rate relief grant, more than £2.5 million related to foot and mouth disease, and more than £2 million from the invest-to-save budget. We have also offered to clear outstanding housing debt when local authority stock transfers take place. Potentially, that is worth up to £300 million, and is in addition to the extra £100 million given last year for education and health, and for tackling crime, especially drug crime. All that comes on top of the spending review in 2000, and of the comprehensive spending review before that.
§ Mr. Nigel Evans (Ribble Valley)Does the Secretary of State agree that the Assembly does not need a new building to carry out its functions and that it would be better if the money earmarked for that project went into public services, and especially the health service?
Is the Secretary of State aware that the Richard Rogers Partnership, the architects of the Assembly building, has issued a statement today, which refutes a statement made by the Finance Minister on 16 January? She said:
I am pleased to report that since last June we have made excellent progress. We remain on course to deliver a high quality building, on time and within total budget provision.The Richard Rogers Partnership refutes that statement, and accuses the Finance Minister of refusing to meet to discuss the matter. We are talking about a lot of taxpayers' money. Will the Secretary of State therefore offer to meet the First Minister, to sort out the problem?
§ Mr. MurphyMay I first congratulate the hon. Gentleman on his appointment to the shadow Cabinet? He knows that this is a matter for the Assembly itself to decide. It is time that all hon. Members understood that 1156 devolution is here to stay, and that it is for the Assembly to decide whether to have a home of its own—just as we have our own home in the House of Commons.
With regard to the Richard Rogers Partnership, I understand that the Finance Minister is to write to all members of the Assembly—including those in the Conservative party. However, the House must bear in mind what I told my hon. Friend the Member for Bridgend (Mr. Griffiths): extra money—hundreds of millions of pounds of it—has gone to the Assembly for precisely those public services about which the hon. Gentleman spoke earlier.