Mr Gareth Thomas: What recent discussions he has held with the First Secretary on the level of unemployment in Wales. [108914]
Mr Gareth Thomas: I am grateful to my hon. Friend for that response. Do not those figures reflect the Government's success in implementing the new deal and the working families tax credit, and encouraging sustainable growth and low inflation? Does my hon. Friend accept that the minimum wage has had a major impact on Wales? Far from creating more unemployment, it has had a genuine impact on, and is of real...
Mr Gareth Thomas: I endorse my right hon. Friend's expression of gratitude to Sir Ronald Waterhouse and his team for their valuable work. The priority now has to be to prevent any recurrence of that systematic abuse. In that connection, how do the Government intend to proceed through primary legislation? My right hon. Friend has referred already to two Bills that will be before the House shortly, but do the...
Mr Gareth Thomas: I share the view of many hon. Members that the debate is timely. I am grateful that the Government have found time to raise the issue on the Floor of the House in an Adjournment debate. It is a pity that it is during what might be described as an off-peak period. I hope that we can have a repeat in the near future. I enjoyed greatly the gusto with which my right hon. Friend the Member for...
Mr Gareth Thomas: I am glad that the Minister accepts my case that rural development regulation is seriously underfunded. He has gone some way to giving assurances on that. On the second point that I raised, does he concede that it would be possible directly to shift money from price subsidies to RDR?
Mr Gareth Thomas: I am pleased to contribute to a debate on a subject of crucial importance to my constituents. The hon. Member for Eddisbury (Mr. O'Brien) spoke earlier, and I congratulate him on an interesting and well delivered maiden speech. His constituency on the Cheshire plain is close to mine, but hon. Members will know that the land rises the further west one goes towards the Clwydian range. My...
Mr Gareth Thomas: Does my right hon. Friend agree that, although the UK Treasury has a crucial role in relation to objective 1 funding, it is equally important at the moment to ensure that we have good-quality private-public partnerships in place to take full advantage of this excellent opportunity? Does he further agree that the constant and negative carping by opposition parties about the role of the UK...
Mr Gareth Thomas: Mr. Deputy Speaker, I was unable to catch your eye during last Thursday's debate on the procedural consequences of devolution, so I am grateful to have the opportunity to address the House this evening. The point is that there are procedural consequences arising out of devolution. To a large extent, the motion before the House reflects those consequences, but I question whether it is...
Mr Gareth Thomas: I am seeking clarity and a degree of certainty, to allow us to do our job and adjust our practices appropriately. That is what is important. I speak as someone who for many years has been a strong campaigner for devolution.
Mr Gareth Thomas: Ultimately, devolution raises some thorny procedural issues. The hon. Member for Macclesfield (Mr. Winterton) is to be congratulated on wrestling with some of those issues. I do not pretend that the Government can give definitive answers, and I expect that the Government will wish to follow the strong recommendation of the Procedure Committee that there should be a thorough review of the...
Mr Gareth Thomas: Precisely. We must be true to the spirit and the letter of devolution. I return to the unhappy experience that we had recently with Welsh oral questions. I am anxious to maintain the good name of the House and avoid such confusion. I simply seek a little more guidance and clarity, realising that it may be unrealistic to expect it. We shall have to revisit the subject in the light of...
Mr Gareth Thomas: If he will make a statement on the use of the Welsh language in the courts of England and Wales. [91633]
Mr Gareth Thomas: I am grateful for that answer. Does my hon. Friend appreciate that there is concern in Wales that his Department has been slow in producing Welsh language schemes as required under the Welsh Language Act 1993? Will the Department recognise the equal validity of the Welsh and English languages in the courts of Wales and, for that matter, England, through practice directions by the courts...
Mr Gareth Thomas: Does the Secretary of State agree that, before we even begin to think of devolution as a process, not a change, the Assembly must be seen to exercise its existing powers effectively? Does he further agree that it can do so only if Wales is sufficiently funded under the Barnett formula, and if sufficient attention is given to matched fnding, particularly in relation to objective 1 funding?
Mr Gareth Thomas: I am sure that my right hon. and learned Friend will agree that the legal system has progressed quite a long way from the days when it was the instrument of official suppression of the Welsh language in Wales. None the less, does he accept that there is still a long way to go before the principles enunciated in the Welsh Language Act 1993 are realised?
Mr Gareth Thomas: What steps he plans to take to ensure that broadcasters improve reception of television and radio in Wales. [87203]
Mr Gareth Thomas: I am grateful to my right hon. Friend for that reply. He is correct to say that the Welsh topography presents broadcasters with particular difficulties. What assurances can he give in that regard? Although digital television might provide an answer, current coverage remains patchy. Is it not essential to ensure that broadcasters improve coverage, which currently reaches no more than 70 per...
Mr Gareth Thomas: Denbighshire county council is one of the smaller unitary authorities in Wales. It is a creature of the Local Government (Wales) Act 1994 and local government reorganisation. Its birth and early years have been particularly difficult as a result of local government reorganisation, and the disastrous legacy of debt that Denbighshire inherited from one of its predecessor authorities, Rhuddlan...
Mr Gareth Thomas: I understand the argument that my hon. Friend the Minister is making, but perhaps I could press him on one matter. How does he anticipate that those rather important cases brought under the Environmental Protection Act 1990 will be financed in future?
Mr Gareth Thomas: What research he has commissioned on the impact of increases in funding of police forces on their performance. [85575]
