§ 2.51 p.m.
§ Lord Roberts of Conwyasked Her Majesty's Government:
Whether progress is satisfactory towards implementing the programme for the European Union Objective One area of Wales.
§ Baroness Farrington of RibbletonMy Lords, progress to date is in accordance with the timetable set out in the European Structural Funds Regulations which apply to all member states.
§ Lord Roberts of ConwyMy Lords, I am grateful to the noble Baroness for that reply. However, is she fully aware of the crisis that is looming in Wales as a result of the scathing response that the Welsh cabinet has received from the European Commission to its plans for spending Objective One money and the continuing uncertainty with regard to the availability of match funding from the Treasury in order to access the European funds? Can the noble Baroness do anything to dispel the gloom?
§ Baroness Farrington of RibbletonMy Lords, it gives me great pleasure to dispel the gloom of the noble Lord, Lord Roberts of Conwy. With regard to the application to the Commission, I can assure the noble Lord that the reports and rumours that he has heard 73 are merely part of the normal negotiations. All member states submit a plan and a proposal, followed by a period of months during which discussion takes place at official level to flesh out those plans to meet the Commission's requirement. We are fully confident, because the European Commission agreed last November, that the Welsh plans fully meet the admissibility criteria.
I am also able to set the noble Lord's mind at rest with regard to funding. Given that the Government secured for West Wales and the Valleys a total amount last year of 1.79 billion euros, and that the Prime Minister and the Chancellor negotiated through the night in Berlin to obtain that amount, I can assure the noble Lord that there will be no problem at all in the area of necessary funds to meet the part that it is appropriate to meet with government funding and public sector funding.
§ Lord BrookmanMy Lords, does my noble friend agree that the negotiations concluded by the Prime Minister and the Chancellor should not be underestimated? They achieved what the previous government either did not attempt or failed to achieve. Secondly, will she agree that the Prime Minister's statement that he would not let Wales down is very reassuring?
§ Baroness Farrington of RibbletonYes, my Lords. Some of the press reports about alleged problems in funding may be related to an issue that will be resolved in Ceredigion on Thursday.
§ Lord Thomas of GresfordMy Lords, is the Minister aware that the principle of additionality requires that structural funds are not to be used merely to replace national funds, and that the £35 million of match funding announced by Mr Alun Michael, the First Secretary, had already been announced as part of the 1998–99 Supplementary Estimates of the Treasury to meet pressures in roads programmes, the family health service and the schools inspectorate, and had nothing to do with European money? Will the Government undertake to grant matching funds which are additional to the existing Welsh Assembly budget?
§ Baroness Farrington of RibbletonMy Lords, the Government and the Welsh Assembly are fully confident that, for the first year, funds are available in the budget stream in the normal way. For example, as the noble Lord, Lord Roberts of Conwy, will remember, within the funds available to the Welsh Office there was always the necessary money to meet particular needs identified with regard to European funds, etc. However, noble Lords should also be aware that representations are being made by the Assembly and the Secretary of State to the Treasury as part of the Comprehensive Spending Review in 74 order that the case can be fully considered in the light of the overwhelming success of the Government and the large amount of money involved.
§ Lord Pearson of RannochMy Lords, bearing in mind that for every £2 that the United Kingdom sends to—
§ Viscount CranborneMy Lords, given that the United Kingdom is a net contributor to the European budget rather than a net recipient, will the noble Baroness explain the benefit to Wales in value-for-money terms of routeing our own money through Brussels rather than giving it direct?
§ Baroness Farrington of RibbletonMy Lords, it depends on whether the value to the country as a whole, including Wales, of membership of the European Union is considered to be a benefit. Within the CBI, for example, and other groups there are large numbers of people who believe that the benefits far outweigh any of the disadvantages identified by the noble Viscount and possibly the noble Lord who sought to speak before him. Given that money is available, I cannot believe that anyone in the Principality would choose not to take advantage of it. I believe that the majority of people in this country support membership of the European Union.
§ Lord HoosonMy Lords, with regard to the question put by the noble Viscount, Lord Cranborne, will the noble Baroness agree that Germany—a larger net contributor to European Union funds than the UK— also has to provide match funding for every grant that it receives under this heading? In the larger context, will the noble Baroness draw the attention of her colleagues in government to the importance of this matter? Increasingly in Wales, eyes are cast across the Irish Sea to the prosperity of the Republic of Ireland. This matter is crucial as regards the relationship between the National Assembly and the Government at Westminster. If real match funding, as opposed to artificially dressed-up match funding, is not available, that will merely play into the hands of separatists—of whom I am not one.
§ Baroness Farrington of RibbletonMy Lords, I can assure the noble Lord that at every stage the money that is available as a result of the success of my right honourable friends the Prime Minister and the Chancellor will meet the criteria set down by the Commission in terms of the appropriate matching of funds, whether public or private.