Mr. Alan W. WilliamsTo ask the Secretary of State for Wales if he will give details of all discussions that have taken place between either Mr. Waterstone and Mr. Gwyn Jones of the Welsh Development Agency's office in Cardiff and representatives of merchant banks and large accounting firms concerning management buyouts and other possible ways of privatising the Welsh Development Agency; and if he will make a statement.
§ Mr. Peter WalkerThe chairman and chief executive of the Welsh Development Agency have had no discussions at any stage with merchant banks or large accounting firms about a management buyout of the agency either in whole or in part. The Welsh Development Agency Act 1975 obliges the agency to seek to increase private sector involvement in its operations. To this end, possible means of stimulating such involvement are kept continuously under review and professional advisers of all sorts have been involved in discussions with the agency over a period of several years.
Mr. Alan W. WilliamsTo ask the Secretary of State for Wales if he will give details of the amount of advance factory building that has taken place by the west Wales region of the Welsh Development Agency for each year from 1983–84 to the present time; what are the future plans; and what percentage each year the figures represent of the total factory building programme throughout Wales by the Welsh Development Agency.
183W
§ Mr. Peter WalkerThe information is as follows:
Year Area completed in West Wales1 000' sq ft Percentage of total Agency build 1983–84 155 19.9 1984–85 70 22.0 1985–86 — — 1986–87 5 0.1 1987–88 — — 1988–89 28 2.8 1 The year on year figures are not comparable due to change in the agency's regional office structure in July 1988 which removed responsibility for urban areas, including Llanelli, from the west Wales region. As regards future plans the agency intends to start work on 62,000 sq ft of factory space in the current financial year.
Mr. Alan W. WilliamsTo ask the Secretary of State for Wales if there are any proposals in any of the other regional offices of the Welsh Development Agency similar to the management buy-out proposals revealed in west Wales on 29 June; and whether he will provide details.
§ Mr. Peter WalkerNeither I nor the board of the Welsh Development Agency are aware of any such proposals.
§ Mr. Barry JonesTo ask the Secretary of State for Wales if he will instruct(a) the chairman and (b) the chief executive of the Welsh Development Agency to issue public statements concerning the proposed management buy out proposals of senior executives of the west Wales Welsh Development Agency sector; and if he will make a statement.
§ Mr. Peter WalkerThe Welsh Development Agency has already issued a statement, which I fully endorse.
§ Mr. Barry JonesTo ask the Secretary of State for Wales (1) if he will list the number of meetings and the dates(a) the senior executives of the Welsh Development Agency, west Wales sector, (b) the chairman of the Welsh Development Agency and (c) the chief executive of the Welsh Development Agency had with interested parties concerning management buyout proposals; and if he will make a statement;
(2) if he will publish the documents concerning the proposed west Wales Welsh Development Agency management buyout proposals; and if he will make a statement;
(3) if he will make a statement on the suspension of two of the Welsh Development Agency's west Wales senior officials.
§ Mr. Peter WalkerNo. This is a matter for the Welsh Development Agency.
§ Mr. Barry JonesTo ask the Secretary of State for Wales (1) what is his estimate of the assets of the west Wales sector of the Welsh Development Agency involved in the proposed management buyout; and if he will make a statement;
(2) what is the value of the Welsh Development Agency property portfolio (a) in west Wales, (b) in each of the subregional sectors of the Welsh Development Agency and (c) in Wales as a whole; and if he will make a statement.
§ Mr. Peter WalkerThe informaton is as follows:
184W
Welsh Development Agency property portfolio valuation as at 31 March 1989 £ million West Wales 5.681 South Wales Valleys 75.782 South Wales East 63.305 North East Wales 50.417 North West Wales 6.584 South Wales West 47.946 Wales Total 249.715
§ Mr. Barry JonesTo ask the Secretary of State for Wales what plans he has to sell assets of the Welsh Development Agency in the current financial year; and if he will make a statement.
§ Mr. Peter WalkerThe Welsh Development Agency has set itself a property sales target of £15 million for the current financial year.
§ Mr. Barry JonesTo ask the Secretary of State for Wales what plans there are to increase factory building by the Welsh Development Agency in the west Wales sector; and if he will make a statement.
§ Mr. Peter WalkerThe Welsh Development Agency intends to start work on 62,000 sq ft of advance factory and workshop space in west Wales in the current financial year. This is more than double the area completed in 1988–89 and compares with an average area of 24,000 sq ft completed in the three years before 1979–80.
§ Mr. Barry JonesTo ask the Secretary of State for Wales which of(a) T. R. Jones Ltd., Ammanford, (b) Dinefwr Enterprise Company, (c) Mainport Group, Pembroke Dock, (d) Pembrokeshire Business Initiative, (e) Morgan Marine, Llandybie, (f) Avon Inflatables, Onfen, (g) Milford Haven Port Authority and (h) Delanair Ltd. have received Welsh Development Agency financial or consultancy assistance; and if he will make a statement.
§ Mr. Peter WalkerFour of the organisations listed—Dinefwr Enterprise Company, Mainport Group, Pembrokeshire Business Initiative and Morgan Marine—have received financial or consultancy assistance from the Welsh Development Agency.
§ Mr. Barry JonesTo ask the Secretary of State for Wales how many meetings he has had with the(a) chairman of the Welsh Development Agency,
(b) chief executive and (c) west Wales Welsh Development Agency executives in (i) 1988 and (ii) 1989; and if he will make a statement.
§ Mr. Peter WalkerI frequently meet the chairman and the chief executive of the Welsh Development Agency. I am not aware of having met the agency's west Wales executives.
§ Mr. Barry JonesTo ask the Secretary of State for Wales if he has received any report of the meeting of west Wales executives and the chairman and chief executive of the Welsh Development Agency in 1988; and if he will make a statement.
§ Mr. Peter WalkerI received no such report until earlier this week when the chairman of the WDA informed me that the meeting had taken place.
185W
§ Mr. Barry JonesTo ask the Secretary of State for Wales what disciplinary measures he has instituted within his Department on the matter of proposed management buy-outs in the west Wales Welsh Development Agency following the suspension of two senior officers in west Wales; and if he will make a statement.
§ Mr. Peter WalkerNone, as none is needed.
§ Mr. Barry JonesTo ask the Secretary of State for Wales when he last visited the(a) headquarters and (b) west Wales offices of the Welsh Development Agency; and if he will make a statement.
§ Mr. Peter WalkerI last visited the Welsh Development Agency's headquarters on 2 May. I have never visited the agency's west Wales offices.