To ask the Secretary of State for Wales if he has any plans to visit Caldicot, Gwent, to discuss development of the infrastructure.

No, Sir.

Does the Secretary of State nevertheless recognise the increasing importance of Caldicot, which is supposed to be the site of the second Severn crossing? Residents who live alongside the site fear the congestion that there will be in the area, particularly on the B4245. Can the Secretary of State give an up-to-date assessment? As for the transport difficulties in the area, residents are calling for a park-and-ride facility at the Severn tunnel junction and a halt at Magor. Will the right hon. Gentleman do what he can to push those projects?

We are pleased to announce the advancement of work on the access road, subject to the satisfactory completion of parliamentary procedures. The access road east of junction 23 at Magor will be used by construction traffic for the second Severn crossing toll plaza; otherwise, it would have used the B4245 through Magor and Undy. I hope that that will reassure local residents. I will consider carefully the hon. Gentleman's other point.

When the Secretary of State visits Gwent to discuss infrastructure, would he care also to discuss with the right hon. Member for Islwyn (Mr. Kinnock) the superstructure of the Labour party?

I am not sure that that will be possible, but the news that the right hon. Member for Islwyn (Mr. Kinnock) is to continue as leader of the Labour party is the best news that I have heard for a very long time.

As I hope that the Secretary of State knows, Caldicot is alongside the Severn tunnel junction and the main through rail route to Ireland. Will the right hon. Gentleman undertake to look at the European rail network as projected by British Rail, which shows a thick black line along the north Wales route to Ireland and seems to put much less priority on the south Wales route to Ireland? Will the Secretary of State consider that matter in the light of the development needs of south Wales and try to ensure that the south Wales route to Ireland is not neglected?

I certainly agree with the hon. Gentleman that, subject to British Rail's commercial judgment., it is vital that Wales should get the best possible advantage out of the construction of the channel tunnel.

To ask the Secretary of State for Wales what representations he has received about the implementation of tertiary education in (a) Clwyd and (b) Wales as a whole.

The establishment of tertiary education is inevitably linked with proposals by local education authorities to reorganise their secondary provision. I have received numerous representations from members of the public in Clwyd and other parts of Wales on a range of issues connected with secondary reorganisation, including the principle of tertiary education.

I hope that the Minister supports the principle of tertiary education and that when he receives representations from Clwyd county council for the funding of its proposals he will listen sympathetically and make sure that the authority gets enough finance to put tertiary education properly in place in a way that will work and will help Welsh-medium tertiary provision in Clwyd and Wales as a whole.

Of course I acknowledge that there is a great deal to be said for tertiary education, which has the advantage of combining sixth-form education with further education. However, my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Wales and I do not come into the discussions of the proposals in Clwyd or elsewhere. My right hon. Friend comes into them only when proposals are made to change the character of secondary schools, possibly as a result of tertiary education proposals.

As and when my hon. Friend receives approaches from Labour-controlled Clwyd county council for extra funding for tertiary education, will he reject them until the authority has made an effective reduction in surplus places in the primary and secondary sectors?

My hon. Friend is right to draw attention to the problem of surplus places. There are 2,779 surplus places in the secondary sector in Clwyd and 44,597 in secondary schools in Wales. I assure my hon. Friend that it is not the practice of the Welsh Office to allocate funds where they are not justified to the hilt.

Will the Minister confirm that he has received the organisation plans for tertiary education in Gwynedd and that Ministers will be able to reach an early decision on the scheme, which for the first time provides for development in further education at Dwyfor in the constituency of my hon. Friend the Member for Caernarfon (Mr. Wigley) and at Dolgellau in my constituency? Will he ensure that any plans for north Wales will be integrated between Gwynedd and Clwyd to ensure maximum border participation and so that pre-16 education at Ysgol y Berwyn Bala can be maintained?

I confirm that statutory objections have been lodged to the proposals of Gwynedd local education authority to reduce the age range of Ysgol y Berwyn Bala as part of a proposal to introduce a tertiary system. The case is currently with the Welsh Office and I therefore cannot comment on its merits.

It is disappointing that the Minister sounded a little half-hearted about tertiary education. Is he aware of its attractiveness to many young people in Wales? Given our desperate need as a nation to improve the standards of education and training and to breathe new life into them, will he note that the proportion of young people staying on past the age of 16 rose from about a third to almost a half in the catchment area of Coleg Glan Hafren, the new tertiary college in my constituency? Will the Minister give more positive encouragement and take responsibility for providing help and finance for authorities to speed up the introduction of tertiary education in Wales?

It is not for me to distinguish or discriminate between tertiary colleges, sixth-form colleges or traditional sixth forms, which are all options for consideration by local education authorities. The hon. Gentleman will know that there are tertiary colleges in Gwent, West Glamorgan and South Glamorgan. Gwynedd, as he heard, is considering them and Mid Glamorgan is, I understand, reviewing provision for 11 to 19-year-olds. It is for local education authorities to decide which system is preferable in each case.

To ask the Secretary of State for Wales if he will make a statement on the future of the national library of Wales at Aberystwyth.

The national library of Wales will continue to operate under the terms of its royal charter, which lays down the objects for its functions. It will receive grant in aid, including capital, of about £5·75 million next year. This represents an increase of nearly 18 per cent. compared with this year.

I am sure that the Minister will agree that hon. Members are proud of our national institutions such as the national library of Wales. Will he give a categorical assurance that the library's status will continue for many years to come?

There are no plans to review the copyright status of the national library of Wales. Under that status, it is entitled to claim all publications, but there is no requirement that it should do so. In the interests of efficiency, it is incumbent on the national library and on other copyright libraries to keep their collections policy under constant review.

I am glad to hear my hon. Friend's excellent announcement of grant in aid. Does not that give the clearest indication of the Government's support for the national library of Wales?

My hon. Friend is absolutely right. We are not only allocating £5·7 million to the national library next year. We are currently funding the outstore building which is under construction at the library at a cost of £1·8 million. We also footed the bill for some necessary repairs, at a cost of £1·1 million last year. Moreover, back in the early 1980s we financed the provision of a second book stack at the library.

Does the Minister of State realise that rumours about departmental closures and downgrading are a source of grave concern to those who support the library and to those who work there? Does he accept that the library is not a luxury but a valuable national resource? Bearing in mind that the next century will be information driven, why does not the hon. Gentleman take a positive view and ensure that the national library is able to make the best use of satellites and fibre optics? Will he show that he intends to support this great national resource 100 per cent?

I think that we have already shown it in the figures that I gave in response to my hon. Friend the Member for Cardiff, North (Mr. Jones). I wholly agree with the hon. Gentleman that the library is a most valuable resource and we are extremely proud of it. I am sorry that the staff inspection report, which was an internal document for comment by the Welsh Office and the national library, has been misinterpreted somewhat mischievously. We have already been in touch with the library to discuss modernisation and the use of all modern accessories to knowledge.

To ask the Secretary of State for Wales if the Government have plans to expand the staffing and funding of Her Majesty's inspectorate of pollution in Wales in 1991.

At present, Her Majesty's inspectorate of pollution has nine inspectors responsible for pollution control in Wales. My right hon. Friend will keep the position under review with my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for the Environment.

Is the Minister aware that many people living in communities in south Wales are very worried about the inadequacy of the inspectorate? What promises of future funding can the hon. Gentleman give to allay the fears in communities such as Llantrisant, Baglan hay and Cwmbran? Can he promise a better life in future to those who have to suffer the filthy smog that so often descends on their homes at present?

The hon. Gentleman questions the adequacy of provision for HMIP. We are determined to ensure that that provision is kept up to the mark and constantly reviewed, and under the integrated pollution regulations there will probably be a requirement to increase the complement of staff.

To ask the Secretary of State for Wales what discussions he has had with local government representatives from Wales on the working of the community charge.

I have had several such discussions.

In view of the enthusiasm that the Secretary of State and his colleagues showed for the candidacy of the right hon. Member for Henley (Mr. Heseltine) in the recent leadership election, will he tell the House that he wholeheartedly supports the attempts of that right hon. Gentleman to do away with the poll tax, lock, stock and barrel? is he aware of the devastating effect that the tax is having on people on low incomes in Wales? Is he aware that, in respect of a third of those due to pay, the cost of collection will be greater than the sums that the authorities will receive? Can he assure us that the poll tax will be brought to an end at the end of this financial year?

No, I cannot, but I wholeheartedly endorse the expressed need for a thorough, constructive and fundamental review.

Does my right hon. Friend agree that when people in Wales or elsewhere choose not to pay their community charge they are saying that they want someone to pay it on their behalf, and that that is really getting up people's noses? Does my right hon. Friend agree that people should pay their way and that those who are not paying the community charge are the same people who have been in rent arrears and rate arrears in the past? They want everything for nothing. They want someone else to pay for them.

I completely agree with my hon. Friend that anyone not paying the community charge is seeking to have a free ride at the expense of the rest of the community. I am confident that the vast majority of the people in Wales will pay their community charge.

As a Minister of State at the Department of the Environment the right hon. Gentleman tried to reform the poll tax, but in a recent parliamentary answer he confirmed his belief that the poll tax is fair, as he also said on 15 January. Does the right hon. Gentleman not realise that the only decent thing to do with the poll tax is to abolish it? As the proud architect of it, does he still support the hated poll tax and does he still support it in Wales?

Not only I but the vast majority of people support the principle behind the community charge—that everyone should pay something towards the cost of the local services that they use. As to the future, the hon. Gentleman will know that Labour's proposal is to return to the unjust, inequitable domestic rating system. If he wants to bandy quotations with me, I am quite willing to enter into a contest. The Leader of the Opposition, describing local rates, said:

"The most unjust of all taxes"—

[Interruption] The Opposition do not like that and I do not blame them. The Leader of the Opposition said:

"The most unjust of all taxes, local rates, take most from those who can afford least."

That is what the hon. Member for Alyn and Deeside (Mr. Jones) is proposing.

To use fading terminology, will the Secretary of State abolish the poll tax at a stroke and replace it with a local income tax based on people's ability to pay, as recommended by the Layfield Committee?

The hon. Gentleman will know that when we considered various proposals for local taxation in the Green Paper in the early 1980s, we looked at a number of proposals including local income tax and we concluded that of all the systems then on offer the community charge represented the best, and we then introduced it. However, it is right that, having introduced a new system, we should constantly and continually keep it under review and that is exactly what we propose to do.

To ask the Secretary of State for Wales when he last met leaders of district councils in Wales to discuss housing matters in the Principality.

My right hon. Friend addressed members of the Council of Welsh Districts on 18 September, when housing and other matters were discussed. I chaired a meeting of the Welsh housing consultative committee on 9 August.

Does the Minister agree that even on his own figures, 20,000 people in Wales are homeless as we approach Christmas? Bearing in mind that the Government have been in office for nearly 12 years, does he accept that that is a disgraceful and crushing indictment of their housing policy?

I notice that the hon. Gentleman's council of Torfaen has been able to cut homelessness by 15 per cent. in the 12 months to March, which rather gives the impression that if other councils put their minds to the provision of housing instead of actually building houses, they could make better use of the money available to them—which, after all, increased by 15 per cent. this year over the previous year's figure—and the £2 million which was made available especially to local authorities for homelessness provision. That is the way the hon. Gentleman should look forward.

We are all grateful to my hon. Friend the Under-Secretary of State for the hard work that he puts in at the Welsh Office. He has become a very good Minister, not least on the subject of housing. What is the latest allocation to Housing for Wales and what will it mean in terms of new houses?

I thank my hon. Friend for the very kind start to his remarks. The increase in the current year was 42 per cent. on the previous year, which itself was 30 per cent. up on the previous year. Through Tai Cymru we have been providing adequate provision for housing association build, which many local authorities have been putting to good use by adding more than £17 million of their own money to get joint financing. That is the way forward which we believe would best answer the needs of specific groups whom local authorities are seeking to house.

To ask the Secretary of State for Wales if he will make a statement on the effect of the current GATT negotiations on the future of Welsh farming.

Whatever compensatory measures come out of the Commission, we shall work hard to ensure that they are in the best interests of Welsh farmers.

Why do not the Government take the opportunity presented by the GATT negotiations to renegotiate the common agricultural policy so that, instead of benefiting bureaucrats and middlemen, it benefits producers and consumers? Is the 30 per cent. currently agreed by the Council the maximum cut that the Government will support? If so, precisely what measures does the Secretary of State intend to introduce so that upland farmers, particularly those in Wales, will be protected from the adverse effects of those cuts?

The figure that the hon. Gentleman has mentioned has, of course, been in place since 1986—a lengthy period. It does not necessarily mean a 30 per cent. cut in prices. I am aware of the difficulties that Welsh farmers face at present and I have discussed them with many farmers on visits to a range of farms in Wales. It is my intention and that of my right hon. Friend the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food that, when the GATT negotiations are, as I hope, successfully concluded—let us not forget that agriculture is one of 15 separate issues being discussed in the Uruguay round—we must press for the right measures to be introduced to enable Welsh hill farmers in particular to get a good deal out of the Community.

To ask the Secretary of State for Wales if he will make a statement about the recent escape of toxic fumes in Rhymney.

On Sunday 28 October 1990 there was an incident at the waste disposal site at Rhymney, operated by Euromet Ltd. under a licence issued by Rhymney Valley district council. A chemical drum on the site ruptured, releasing a quantity of noxious vapour.

Officers of the Rhymney Valley district council attended the site that evening and the council which, as licensing authority is responsible for the supervision of the activities at the site, subsequently instructed its officers to take action to secure the removal of waste and drums from the site through exercise of its powers under the Control of Pollution Act 1974.

The hon. Gentleman will know from my letter of 19 November that the Rhymney Valley district council is under a specific duty, as licensing authority, to ensure that the licensed activities at the site do not cause pollution of water or danger to public health or become seriously detrimental to the amenities of the locality. Our Department is continuing to keep in close touch with the council's response to this incident.

Is the Secretary of State aware of the enormous resentment and bitterness in the Rhymney community at the fact that people can dump 6,500 drums of noxious waste in the community without any form of planning permission? Is he aware further that there is considerable resentment at the complacency shown by the Health and Safety Executive and other organisations in that respect? Will he therefore meet the fears and wishes of the Rhymney community by revoking the licence and financially assisting the local authority to clear the site?

The hon. Gentleman persists, as do others, in avoiding the fact that the matter is in the hands of the local authority. It is most disappointing that, when the Welsh Office has taken the side of local authorities in allowing them to continue to be responsible in such matters, as opposed to what is happening in England, difficulties of this kind occur which tend to undermine that position. It was up to the local authority, which in turn revoked the licence in part—it could have revoked it entirely and closed down the operation, but it chose not to do so—and there is now an appeal to the Welsh Office. The local authority again failed until 6 November to provide information on which the Welsh Office could decide the appeal.

To ask the Secretary of State for Wales when he next intends to meet the chairman and directors of British Coal to discuss the future of the coal industry in Wales.

Shortly.

Does the Secretary of State realise that British Coal's latest announcement about the Betws coalfield and mine means that it has now abandoned the west Wales anthracite coalfield? As west Wales anthracite coal has the lowest sulphur content of all coal west of the Ukraine, and as there is now the technology to develop it, does he agree that the board of British Coal has shown criminal incompetence and, frankly, an awful lack of imagination? If they had been workers, not directors, those concerned would have been sacked a long time ago.

Against the background of my own personal concern for the coal industry in south Wales and as somebody who has been underground at Betws—[Interruption.]

Order.

The right hon. Gentleman should choose his words more wisely. I utterly reject the accusation that he made against British Coal. This is very much a matter for its commercial judgment.

To ask the Secretary of State for Wales if he will give the number of jobs involved in (a) deep mining and (b) opencast mining in the south Wales coalfield.

A total of 3,200 in deep mining and 1,500 on opencast coal mining operations conducted by the British Coal opencast executive.

I noted the Secretary of State's comments to my right hon. Friend the Member for Llanelli (Mr. Davies) about his personal concern about jobs in coal mining. We in south Wales know only too well what that means. In the anthracite coalfield, from which we come, 3,000 jobs have been lost in the past five years, leaving just 100 jobs at Betws. Is the right hon. Gentleman aware that British Coal's policy in our area of Dyfed seems to be very much for opencast coal mining, which is causing ever more environmental damage, and the sites of which are getting ever closer to large villages and communities? Will he ask British Coal to review its policy for the development of our high-quality, low-sulphur antracite resources?

On the first point about deep coal mining, having been underground several times in south Wales, I know the geological problems—[HoN. MEMBERS: "Oh."] Do not let us underestimate the geological problems that face south Wales miners, which have, in many ways, made their task supremely difficult. The question of opencast mining is very much a matter of reaching the right balance between environmental considerations on the one hand and the economic justification for that opencast coal on the other.

I join my right hon. and hon. Friends in their condemnation of the National Coal Board in respect of the deep mining of anthracite. Can the Secretary of State put a figure on the profitability of opencast mining in south Wales over the past three years? Can he also put a figure on the amount of money, in terms of social benefits, that has been put into the communities that are afflicted with opencast mining?

I shall readily supply the figures about the profitability of individual opencast or collective opencast operations, if the hon. Gentleman lets me have his detailed questions. British Coal and I should be glad to supply the figures. However, the important point is that while, on the one hand, there is an economic justification for opencast coal—often it is needed to be blended with deep-mined coal to make the coal acceptable to power stations—on the other hand, serious environmental implications must be taken into account. It is important to get the balance right.

To ask the Secretary of State for Wales what discussions he has had with health authorities on their current financial situations; and if he will make a statement.

My officials and I have had many such discussions.

Would the Secretary of State like to explain why on 31 August the Minister of State wrote a letter to Dr. D. B. Powell of the Princess of Wales hospital in Bridgend stating that the Mid Glamorgan district health authority had underspent according to the figures provided up to 31 July, yet on 10 November the health authority reported in the press that it was £1·2 million overspent? Does he agree that that reflects the position throughout Wales? What does the Welsh Office intend to do about the underfunding of the health service in Wales?

The hon. Gentleman should look at the facts and statistics when he refers to the underfunding of the health service in Wales. When this Government came to office in 1979, the amount spent on the health service in Wales was £481·5 million, and this year it was £1,540 million—more than treble. The financial allocation in Mid Glamorgan for 1978–89 was £49 million and this year the provisional recurring allocation is £160 million. There has been a substantial increase in cash terms and the hon. Gentleman should look at the facts and statistics before attempting to reach conclusions such as the one that he just made.

To ask the Secretary of State for Wales what initiatives he intends to announce on measures to reduce hospital waiting lists.

A number of initiatives to reduce waiting times and lists have already been successfully introduced at a cost of £6 million since 1986. As I told the hon. Gentleman on 29 October, I am currently considering what further means may be appropriate under the new arrangements for contracted health care from 1 April 1991.

Does the Minister recall telling me in answer to a written parliamentary question that he did not know how many patients from Wales were currently being treated in hospitals outside Wales? As at least 3,000 beds are to be closed in the London district and elsewhere in England because of the Government's balance sheet first, patients last policy, how can he assess what will happen to patients on waiting lists in Wales next winter? Will it be a winter of waiting and suffering? Will he confirm or deny the speculation that his job is about to be ditched and that he is to be replaced by a representative of the loony right?

The hon. Gentleman started sensibly and finished foolishly. He will know that his health authority has been successful in reducing waiting times for urgent in and out-patients during the past 12 months. He should also be aware that calculations have been made about the flow of patients across borders, so that financing can be made available to cover that eventuality. He raised an interesting subject about the movement of patients, which is part of the contractual process to which I referred in my original answer.

Does the Under-Secretary of State agree that one initiative that would cut hospital waiting lists would be to reject entirely the proposal submitted to him by South Glamorgan health authority to close six hospitals, three of them in my constituency? Does he further agree that he was expected to announce his decision on the matter on Friday 30 November, but has delayed his decision by several weeks? Is that a sign that we are to have the worst of all Christmas presents from the Secretary of State?

I think that the hon. Gentleman would wish to have a settlement as early as possible—although his last remark perhaps shows that he does not. He must appreciate that I cannot comment on what he said because the matter is under consideration.

To ask the Secretary of State for Wales if he will make a statement on the percentage of Welsh sheep farmers who support Welsh Lamb Enterprise.

Forty-five per cent., which is not enough.

I am grateful to my right hon. Friend and glad that he said that the percentage is not enough, because it is not. Will he do his utmost to impress upon the farming unions in Wales that far more sheep farmers must support Welsh Lamb Enterprise? If they want to market the product, they must support the scheme, believe far more in marketing, and do far more for marketing.

Yes I shall, and I agree.

I wholeheartedly endorse the fact that Welsh sheep farmers should look positively at marketing, but does not the Minister realise that the 30 per cent. cut in support prices could mean that up to a quarter of Welsh sheep farmers will go out of business? Does not he realise that he must stand up for Welsh farmers? Why does not he go to the EC negotiations and the general agreement on tariffs and trade talks, stand up for Welsh farmers and be like the Prime Minister—his own man in Wales?

The hon. Gentleman should not be overtaken by his own verbosity. I shall stand up for Welsh sheep farmers just as my right hon. Friend the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food, with the support of us all, stands up for the interests of Welsh farmers in Brussels.

The hon. Gentleman should not exaggerate the situation as he has done. The 30 per cent. figure does not mean a 30 per cent. cut in prices; it is a figure since 1986, not as from now, and it is important to stop any misleading comments that can only undermine confidence in the industry.

I am happy to have been able to authorise two advance payments of the sheep annual premium, which have meant an extra cash injection for sheep farmers in Wales of £25 million.

To ask the Secretary of State for Wales what has been the total spending by central Government on roads in Wales since 1979; and how many miles of motorway and trunk roads have been laid since that year.

Since 1979, total net spending by central Government on motorway and trunk roads in Wales has exceeded £1·2 billion. In addition, over £260 million of transport supplementary grant has been provided to Welsh local authorities for improvement of their roads. Twenty-two miles of motorway and 134 miles of trunk road have been completed. Seven schemes totalling 16 miles are under construction.

May I congratulate my hon. Friend on the size of expenditure on roads in Wales since he became a Minister 11 and a half years ago? Can he say anything about work in progress on the north-south road?

I am glad to tell my hon. Friend that we have spent about £100 million since 1979 on improving the A470 north-south route; and we shall spend another £100 million on that same route. We have spent £50 million on the other north-south route, the A483, since 1979, and we shall spend a further £30 million in the not-too-distant future.

What does the Minister intend to do to get away from the ludicrous problem of Wales's national airport being serviced by a single-carriageway road?

We are always considering the situation of the airport and we look forward to its further development. I have heard the hon. Gentleman talk about the problems of prosperity in his area and around the airport, but he will be aware that the road to the airport is a county road.

To ask the Attorney-General when he next expects to meet the Director of Public Prosecutions to discuss City fraud; and if he will make a statement.

Primary responsibility for the prosecution of commercial fraud rests with the Serious Fraud Office. I expect to meet the director again shortly to discuss matters of departmental interest.

What action is the Attorney-General taking on the sale of the National Bus Company—as reported by the National Audit Office—which was sold off by Government spivs at less than half price? Has not he learnt the lesson? We hear now that the regional electricity companies are being sold off for £5 billion when their asset value is more than £16 billion. What is all this talk about a classless society? This is a casino society run by spivs like the right hon. and learned Gentleman and his friends in the Government.

Order. To refer to an hon. Member as a spiv is not a parliamentary expression. Will the hon. Gentleman withdraw it?

It is not in "Erskine May".

It may not be, but I ask the hon. Gentleman to withdraw it.

Government spivvery.

I am grateful that in this classless society the hon. Gentleman did not describe me as a first-class spiv or a spiv of any category. I think that the hon. Gentleman is confused. Privatisation is a case of the state wanting to divest itself of that which it no longer wants to hold. Fraudsters want to divest other people of what fraudsters want to hold. I am enjoying embarking on an area of responsibility that is not mine, but the hon. Gentleman overlooks the extreme popularity of the privatisation programme—he cannot forgive that.

To ask the Attorney-General what plans he has to transfer the enforcement of cases against individuals involving debts of less than £25,000 from magistrates courts to county courts.

The rules for the enforcement of debts in the magistrates courts and the county courts are currently under study by the Law Commission, which expects to report in the early spring of next year.

Does the Solicitor-General agree that there is no need to wait for that report? Under the present system and under the community charge or poll tax regulations, ordinary people can be dispossessed of their vital goods and essentials by private bailiffs as a result of liability orders dealt with by magistrates courts. Those private bailiffs are unqualified people, any Tom, Dick or Harry, and they could be thugs or have criminal records. Is not it about time that the regulations were changed so that county court qualified bailiffs could bring at least some professionalism into this dastardly business?

The hon. Gentleman will have read the National Consumer Council report, which I suspect lies behind his question. That report contains constructive suggestions. The council recognises that any question of transfer of all such debt collecting to the county courts is a long way down the road. The report makes constructive suggestions about monitoring and control of the present bailiffs who, after all, have been collecting the rates for a long time.

To ask the Attorney-General when he last met the Director of Public Prosecutions to discuss prosecution policy.

I last met the Director on 9 November when we discussed a variety of matters of departmental interest. My right hon. and learned Friend the Solicitor-General met him for the same purpose on 28 November.

Did the Attorney-General and the Director discuss the flood of racist and anti-Semitic material that has been coming through the post, the latest of which is entitled "Another 'Blood Libel' or Ritual Murder"? Why have there been no prosecutions for such matters since 1986? Is it because the law is too weak, in which case it should be changed, or is it because the Attorney-General and the Government do not wish to enforce it? It must be one or the other.

It is certainly not the latter, as the hon. and learned Gentleman knows perfectly well. The Law Officers and the Director of Public Prosecutions, for whom they are responsible, take extremely seriously the writing, publication and distribution of such odious material. In the past three years some 20 cases have been referred by the Board of Deputies of British Jews to the prosecuting authorities. In only seven of those cases has it been decided to bring no prosecutions, in each instance because there was insufficient evidence to justify proceedings. In the remaining cases police inquiries are outstanding, or have been unsuccessful, or the police have decided not to refer the case to the Crown prosecution service. There has been a considerable increase in that literature—to dignify it with that word—in the past year, and police inquiries are now outstanding in 16 cases.

Does my right hon. and learned Friend agree that while the Government, with the support of the whole House, have put on the statute book legislation that was thought to be adequate for the prosecution of racial offences, it is a matter for the Director of Public Prosecutions, who is not a member of the Government, to decide whether there is sufficient evidence in a particular case to initiate a prosecution?

I agree. It would be damaging to bring a prosecution that was outside the criteria that are applied by the DPP to every other case and which failed. As the bona fides of the Director of Public Prosecutions and the Law Officers have been called into question, I am entitled to remind the House of a letter from the acting Commissioner of Police of the Metropolis, Sir John Dellow, in The Times last week. He said:

"I know that due and proper consideration is given and cases prosecuted where there is a sufficiency of evidence."

Will the Attorney-General discuss with the Director progress on the hearing of the appeal by the Birmingham Six? While the Crown and the defence must have adequate time to prepare their cases—

Order. This would be more appropriate on Question 31, the next question.

I am putting a general question about the Director of Public Prosecutions.

The right hon. and learned Member is encroaching on the next question, but go on.

Will the Attorney-General convey to the Lord Chancellor the need for an expedited hearing when the cases are ready?

I can say that as soon as the grounds of appeal of the six appellants are lodged and the Crown has had an opportunity to consider them, the case can be expected to be listed, but listing is a matter for the court authorities.

Does my right hon. and learned Friend agree that the inability to prosecute those responsible for some of the offensive literature to which the hon. and learned Member for Leicester, West (Mr. Janner) referred underlines the need for a change in the law?

That is arguable, but it would be difficult, as those of us who laboured over what is now the Public Order Act 1986 and previous legislation will remember, to incorporate such provisions in the 1986 Act. It is difficult to put into statutory language the sort of criteria that perhaps my hon. Friend and others wish to see in legislation. The relevant legislation is pretty comprehensive and my hon. Friend will recall its terms. In a substantial proportion of the outstanding cases that have been referred by the Board of Deputies of British Jews, the police have been unable to identify any individual who was responsible for writing the material, distributing it or publishing it.

To ask the Attorney-General when he expects to bring forward legislation on the proposals of the working group on commonhold.

The Government published "Commonhold—a Consultation Paper" on Wednesday 28 November. The Command Paper includes a draft Bill and in part IV a series of questions on which the Government are seeking views.

Does my right hon. and learned Friend agree that the question relates to a group of leaseholders that has been especially disadvantaged in recent years? Will he hurry forward his consultation and, I hope, his implementation of the recommendations of the working party?

I know of the close interest that my hon. Friend has taken in that matter over many years, along with other of my hon. Friends. If he can make constructive suggestions to deal with one or two rather knotty issues that are raised in the consultation paper, I am sure that that will help hurry the matter forward.

To ask the Attorney-General if he has any plans to meet the Hillsborough disaster victims support group; and if he will make a statement.

No. I have written to the organiser of the petition presented by the Hillsborough families support group.

My right hon. and learned Friend will be aware of the major concerns of the group about the need for justice. Is he further aware that I appreciate that he recently wrote to me to express his views on the matter, which I shall convey to the group? I should be grateful if he ensured that in all respects the families of those who died at Hillsborough got justice. That is what concerns them above all.

No one has more faithfully represented those whom my hon. Friend mentioned than he has. Every one of the interests and concerns that he mentioned is extremely important and deserves to be taken with every seriousness.

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs whether Her Majesty's Government propose to make any additional aid available to Mozambique.

We have a substantial programme of assistance for Mozambique, which we aim to continue. Gross bilateral aid flows in 1989 totalled over £22 million. For the international relief effort we have this year pledged 10,000 tonnes of food aid and £3·5 million of other relief assistance, plus a further £3 million in support of Mozambique refugees in neighbouring countries. We shall continue to do what we can to assist.

Despite what the Minister said, I am sure that she is aware of the case that was made recently by Oxfam, which underlined the urgent and appalling situation in Mozambique, on which I reported following my brief visit to Mozambique earlier this year. I am sure that we all look forward to the end of the civil war in that country. Will the Minister now take steps to increase aid before further people die unnecessarily in Mozambique?

The Government have not been ungenerous to Mozambique. We have always said that what we needed above all was a ceasefire. We warmly welcome the agreement arrived at in Rome on Saturday, under which the Government of Mozambique and Renamo have agreed to concentrate Zimbabwean troops in the Beira and Limpopo corridors. We believe that that could lead to a general ceasefire and a political settlement. We shall do all that we can from outside to help in that. When peace is restored, we can review the general rehabilitation that we know is needed in Mozambique. I hope before long to be able to go there again to make an assessment of some of the things that are needed.

Should not my right hon. Friend be congratulated on being very generous with British aid money to Mozambique, including the restoration of Beira port and the railway line to Zimbabwe? Is it true that she has received the grateful thanks of the Mozambique Government for all that she has been doing?

My hon. Friend is right. The Mozambique Government are most grateful for the work that we have done—which my hon. Friend described—and for the work being done by the Portia port services in Maputo port. The Mozambique Government have also done well in keeping to the targets for economic and social rehabilitation, which is why we are continuing our support. At the meeting of the consultative group on Mozambique to be held in Paris next week, we shall decide what more should be done. I remind the House that more than £50 million of programme aid commitment has been spent in Mozambique since 1985, and that is additional to the emergency aid that has totalled more than £55 million since 1987.

Is not the Minister's failure to obtain additional aid for Mozambique an example of the invidious position in which the Overseas Development Administration finds itself as just a junior arm of the Foreign Office? If the ODA were to carry a Cabinet post, the right hon. Lady could sit at the Government table arguing with the Treasury for additional money for the ODA. Given her obvious merits, why did she not fight tooth and nail for a seat in the Cabinet? Has not she let down the women—

Order. That is rather wide of Mozambique.

Is not it true that, had the right hon. Lady obtained additional money for Mozambique because she was a member of the Cabinet, she would not have let down women throughout the country, including those who want additional resources for overseas development?

I have been pleased to obtain additional resources for the overseas aid programme and. I shall concentrate on doing that. That is why I wish to be single-minded about my task. I have had no row, of any sort, either with my right hon. Friend the Prime Minister or with my right hon. Friend the Member for Bath (Mr. Patten). That suggestion is a fiction created by the media and assisted by the hon. Lady.

Britain has done reasonably well by Mozambique. However, in our project aid and our technical co-operation, we have sought to give it practical help at a time when civil war has been raging. I am delighted to continue with that vital work for Mozambique, for the remainder of the developing world and for eastern Europe.

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what progress the Minister for Overseas Development was able lo detect during her recent visit to the three know-how fund countries of central and eastern Europe on the transition in these countries to a free market economy.

Poland, Hungary and Czechoslovakia have already made considerable progress in coping with the enormous challenges that they face. We shall continue to help them, targeting our assistance on privatisation, financial services, management and other aspects of the creation of a market economy.

Will my right hon. Friend consider modest funding for the Polish Resettlement Act 1947, which has never been repealed? That would assist Polish citizens who so wished to return to their country, taking with them the considerable wisdom and experience that they have gained from living in one of the most dynamic economies and democracies in Europe.

I thank my hon. Friend for that suggestion. I know that the Act was designed to meet a highly specific and now historic need. The present position is very different and I shall consider what my hon. Friend said. I believe that British residents of Polish origin are not only very happy living here, but very happy with their involvement in the rehabilitation of Poland, including some who are assisted through the know-how fund.

I do not begrudge the assistance given to eastern Europe, but will the Minister give an assurance that it is not simply a transfer of resources that would otherwise assist developing countries in the third world?

Yes, Sir.

I congratulate my right hon. Friend on the wide-ranging ministerial expertise that she brings to her current portfolio and on the shining example of intellectual rigour and first-class work that she gives us all—

Reading.

Order.

Will my right hon. Friend confirm that it is the United Kingdom's expertise that is changing the economies of Poland, Hungary and Czechoslovakia and that it is British input—with the London School of Economics arguing about competition, as opposed to Harvard arguing about ownership—that will ensure that those countries' economies will really bowl forward?

I thank my hon. Friend for her remarks. I was privileged to see implemented at the unique Tonsil factory in western Poland—one of the first to be privatized—the know-how that my hon. Friend described. I was impressed also by the attitude shown by the works council towards its involvement. We should congratulate the Polish Government on publishing last Friday details of their first five privatisations; that development also is receiving considerable help from British know-how.

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he has made an assessment of the impact of the Gulf crisis on developing countries.

The effect will vary widely from country to country and any complete assessment is complicated because of uncertainty of future oil prices. But our tentative assessments, and those of the World bank, suggest that over a full year, many developing countries could suffer direct losses of about 2 per cent. of gross domestic product. A few will be much worse hit. Against that, oil-exporting developing countries will gain—some of them very substantially.

None of us would begrudge aid to any area in the middle east during the crisis. Britain's contribution has taken another £60 million out of its overseas development aid budget, with no hope of compensation. As to the crippling effect on developing economies of rising oil prices, does the Minister accept that article 50 of the United Nations charter provides for such countries to receive international compensation, but that no money is currently available? If the right hon. Lady had a seat in the Cabinet, could not she put her full force behind the argument for establishing a fund to compensate developing economies that will otherwise be crippled?

The resources for eastern Europe are quite separate from those for the developing world, formerly known as the third world. It is clear from our discussions with the International Monetary Fund and the World bank that we shall be able to help many of the countries that have been hit. However, even more important is the agreement that we seek on debt relief, from which some of the worst affected countries could benefit significantly. I refer to the Trinidad terms put forward by my right hon. Friend the Prime Minister—which I hope all countries will support, as they will help nations in need.