Mr Irvine Patnick: Does my hon. Friend agree that all development corporations have brought investment and work into their areas? Is not the Cardiff Bay development corporation an example of the good things that the Conservatives have done, despite opposition from the Labour party?
Mr Irvine Patnick: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what representations he has received from the Chartered Institute of Housing regarding his policy on the level of public borrowing. [18531]
Mr Irvine Patnick: As my right hon. Friend will be aware, some organisations, including the Labour party, advocate the spending of capital receipts. What effect would such spending have not only on the public finances but on cities such as Birmingham and Sheffield?
Mr Irvine Patnick: Did my right hon. Friend have an opportunity to see the reported comments of the right hon. Member for Livingston (Mr. Cook) in The Times of 7 March, where he undertook to make surrenders and six changes to the Government's policy? Is that not an abdication of Labour's responsibility? Will it not undermine the British negotiating position?
Mr Irvine Patnick: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment what is the average proportion of local education authority budgets which is spent on central administration and services. [16055]
Mr Irvine Patnick: Is my hon. Friend aware that Sheffield keeps a largish chunk of its funding for central services? I see in the Chamber two former leaders of Sheffield city council. Is not the situation in Sheffield one of the worst in the country? Head teachers are sick and tired of Sheffield keeping back funding for their schools. Two years ago—I am aware that, in Labour politics, two years is a long...
Mr Irvine Patnick: Many people present for this programme will recollect that it used to be called Question Time—1 do not know whether Labour Front Benchers have had a new idea. I come from the old school of sparklers and catherine wheels; the worst thing we had was bangers.
Mr Irvine Patnick: It is rare that one is heckled from one's own side of the House. I hope that, after the consultations, the enjoyment that some people have had in this theatre, programme or Chamber will not be stopped and that, through legislation, powers will be given to local authorities to control the sale of certain types of firework that should never have been imported into this country.
Mr Irvine Patnick: Will my hon. Friend confirm that, since 1979, the Government have increased national health spending in Wales by 85 per cent.? Has he heard from the Labour Front Bench any pledge similar to the one given by my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Health and the Prime Minister that year on year the national health service will have more funding in real terms? There has been silence...
Mr Irvine Patnick: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what representations he has received on the effect on maintenance of existing military equipment of reducing United Kingdom defence spending to the European average. [13719]
Mr Irvine Patnick: Would not such an action—which has been endorsed by Labour conference after Labour conference—reduce employment in places such as Sheffield and the defence capability of this country? The bleatings from Opposition Members show that that is Labour's intended defence policy, which must be deplored.
Mr Irvine Patnick: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what steps he is taking with regard to the enforcement of parking restrictions. [13346]
Mr Irvine Patnick: What steps is my hon. Friend taking to ensure that proper consultation takes place between authorities and local residents? In two areas in my constituency—Crookes and Abbeydale—little consultation appears to have taken place before the introduction of parking restrictions and road alterations, although consultation is now taking place. That cannot be the right way to function—or can it?
Mr Irvine Patnick: I congratulate my right hon. and learned Friend on setting up the food safety committee. Will he now direct his attention to other food committees, and especially to the Spongiform Encephalopathy Advisory Committee? What will he do about that?
Mr Irvine Patnick: ...every year. I frequently wondered whether the money would have been forthcoming if the council had sold those debts. History will never let me know. The council summons also shows that it let 12 contracts for housing maintenance. One of the organisations that weighed in with a tender was, of course, the Sheffield works department. The value of the works—painting, repairs and heating...
Mr Irvine Patnick: Pardon?
Mr Irvine Patnick: ...he added: The Council probably has the capacity to make enormous improvements in the services it currently operates, with the resources it currently has. That was reported in The Sheffield Star of 17 December 1996. Economies can be made in council spending. However, I finish where I started—if the funding for supertram can be sorted out by the Minister, the extra cash that would go to...
Mr Irvine Patnick: My right hon. Friend has mentioned a Welsh Assembly twice. Will he explain the difference between a Scottish Parliament and a Welsh Assembly? Will he also—
Mr Irvine Patnick: Can we have an urgent debate on education policy, so that we can discuss proposals such as that of Sheffield city council to abolish sixth form colleges in the event of a Labour Government? Can we also discuss the fact that the majority of local education authorities are already controlled by the Labour party and have the power to set homework in schools?
Mr Irvine Patnick: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland if he will make a statement regarding the level of uncollected local authority taxes in Scotland. [8134]