Christmas Adjournment

May I congratulate the 24 right hon. and hon. Members who have taken part in this thoughtful Adjournment debate and welcome the hon. Member for North-West Cambridgeshire (Mr. Vara) to his new post? I congratulate him on that and on receiving the best Christmas present possible. I join the hon. Gentleman and others in the tributes to Lord Carter. Denis had many friends in every part of Parliament and will be much missed. I listened to all the contributions today as I was in my place throughout the debate. I do not think that Santa has ever had such a long list of presents. More than 50 items were raised, many with very expensive price tags, which I will want to pass on to my right hon. Friend the Chancellor of the Exchequer to fund. The hon. Member for Somerton and Frome (Mr. Heath) raised the issue of the Serious Fraud Office investigation that has been the subject of a statement in this House and in the other place. There was plenty of time to ask questions and receive what I thought were very adequate answers from my ministerial colleagues in both Houses. The hon. Gentleman mentioned a National Audit Office report that is more than a decade old. Certainly when I was dealing with the NAO more recently, I do not remember Liberal Democrat colleagues calling in my presence for that report to be published. He conceded that my right hon. Friend the Leader of the House will have a debate on events in Iraq, as the House has rightly been requesting, and that will take place next month when we return. My hon. Friend the Member for Blaydon (Mr. Anderson) raised an important issue on planning. It is right that we examine seriously how we can cut the unjustifiable length of time that the planning process takes. That will require support from both sides of the House. Many Members of Parliament like to write to their constituents to highlight the injustice of the planning system and I am not sure how many of those will wish to reflect the will to cut the time taken to reach planning decisions. I certainly support a shortened time for reaching planning decisions to provide certainty both to the objectors and to those who wish to develop property. The hon. Member for Tiverton and Honiton (Angela Browning) raised the issue of the South West Peninsula strategic health authority and the concerns that she has about it. As a former auxiliary nurse she speaks with some authority on such matters. She will know that there has been a considerable increase in the number of staff in her area and the resources that go with them, but I take to heart the concerns that she voiced on behalf of her constituents. My hon. Friend the Member for Keighley (Mrs. Cryer) spoke about the local government pension scheme, and I know that she has been seeking meetings with my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions. Many other hon. Members have made representations and come up with suggestions that they feel will show a way out of the problem, but the issue of pensions is another matter on which we will have to reach a consensus. I think that the recent White Paper was widely welcomed, and that it shows a way forward. The hon. Member for South-West Bedfordshire (Andrew Selous) raised a number of issues, among them a bid for a community hospital to service the growing population of Leighton Buzzard. He and other hon. Members voiced their concerns about the need to improve commuter rail links, and it is important that we build on the work that has already been done on our rail system. Last year’s more than 1 billion passenger rail journeys was the highest on record, while spending on the railways, now at £4.3 billion, is twice what it was four years ago. However, the hon. Gentleman’s remarks and those of other colleagues show that the rail system needs even more money. The hon. Gentleman also spoke about the physical restraint of children, a concern that we all share. He also mentioned training and, as a former construction Minister, I am committed to improving apprenticeships. There were 75,000 apprenticeships in 1997, a figure that has risen to 255,000 now. My right hon. Friend the Chancellor of the Exchequer said in his pre-Budget review that he wanted the total to reach 500,000. For my part, I want to encourage excellent firms such as Musselburgh’s George Sharkey and Sons, which I visited last Friday. That firm’s work for young people in apprenticeships has caused it to be this year’s Edge regional finalist, and I want to encourage other employers to emulate what it has done. The hon. Gentleman also mentioned the terrible murders in Ipswich, and noted that heroin had played a role. I am sure that Home Office Ministers have heard before of the solution that he proposed, and I am not sure that the market value of heroin used for medical purposes is the same as that of the criminal drug. My hon. Friend the Member for Thurrock (Andrew Mackinlay) was one of those who spoke about the need for swift responses to parliamentary questions. My right hon. Friend the Leader of the House shares those concerns, and reminds all Ministers of their duties in that respect. My hon. Friend also told the House that the National Audit Office was investigating concerns raised by Foreign Office staff, and I am sure that the Public Accounts Committee, or some other appropriate Committee, will consider the NAO report in due course. I am delighted that my hon. Friend is promoting the need for more trains with disabled access. Since 1992, 1,800 new railway vehicles have been brought into service that allow easier access to disabled people. He also spoke of his concern about the use of motorbikes on the Thurrock marshes, which is a site of special scientific interest. I shall certainly draw the matter to the attention of the appropriate Minister, as I will the issue of waste dumping. My hon. Friend the Member for Ilford, South (Mike Gapes) stressed his constituents’ concerns—which he clearly shares—in respect of the local NHS and hospital closures. Many people have to face hospital closures: for example, the Royal Edinburgh Hospital for Sick Children in my constituency is to be relocated to another part of the city. That is exactly the right decision, but I recognise that circumstances may be different in other constituencies. I shall make sure that my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Health is aware of the concerns that have been expressed. The right hon. Member for Bracknell (Mr. Mackay) spoke about yesterday’s verdict by the assistant deputy coroner in the inquest into the death of Sergeant Steve Roberts. Obviously, we all need to ensure that the necessary lessons are learned, and it is important that our fighting troops have the equipment that they require. However, I know that some expert witnesses from the Army conducted a board of inquiry into the matter, with the full co-operation of the Ministry of Defence, and that the results were available to the coroner. The hon. Member for Southport (Dr. Pugh) raised Britain’s relationship with Saudi Arabia, which was touched on by other hon. Members. Obviously, what happened to his constituent was unacceptable. I am glad that he took the opportunity to raise that in the House, and I will remind my right hon. Friend the Foreign Secretary of his concerns about it. The hon. Member for Uxbridge (Mr. Randall), in what I thought was a particularly caring speech on a sensitive issue, highlighted the pressures created by the number of people claiming asylum in Britain and stressed that his council, working with Government authorities, was doing its best to cope under a great deal of strain. His concerns will be drawn to the attention of the appropriate Minister. I certainly heard his plea on resources. My hon. Friend the Member for Chorley (Mr. Hoyle) raised a number of issues. I will come to post offices in a moment. He spoke movingly of the plight of farmers. I was brought up in a rural area in the borders, and I feel strongly about the plight that he so eloquently talked about. He also mentioned Gibraltar and welcomed the fact that flights there have resumed. I pay tribute to him and to the all-party group on Gibraltar for the great work that they have done in bringing Spain, us and our Gibraltar citizens together. He also mentioned trains and expressed support for the armed forces, which we all share. The hon. Member for South-West Norfolk (Mr. Fraser), as well as inviting my hon. Friend the Member for Thurrock (Andrew Mackinlay) to stay with him—I hope that he takes him up on it—spoke of rural issues but also about the 50-year copyright rule. He made some powerful points on that. It is not just about the rich and famous. No one should deny Sir Cliff Richard his dues, but I am sure that he is fighting mainly for people he knows who have had one-off successes. I congratulate my hon. Friend the Member for Crosby (Mrs. Curtis-Thomas) on setting up the Waterloo partnership between Sierra Leone and Liverpool. She is also a champion of engineering, and, sadly, one of the few engineers in the House. She spoke of the work of the British Council. I am a parliamentary ambassador for the British Council so I well know, like most hon. Members, the valuable work that it does in schools. Several other hon. Members have raised important points. The hon. Member for Castle Point (Bob Spink) made a plea for two areas. He referred to social housing and the need to invest in it. He at least had the decency to admit that one of the flaws in the policy of selling council houses was not to allow councils to reinvest the money in new social housing. The hon. Gentleman also raised Essex county council’s poor record on statementing, which I shall draw to the attention of my right hon. and hon. Friends. Many hon. Members mentioned post offices. The hon. Member for Peterborough (Mr. Jackson) stressed his concerns about post offices. He also mentioned policing. I have a common solution to those issues. He mentioned the problems of crime and of getting police officers. May I commend to him what my Labour council in Edinburgh did? It part-funded 70 extra policemen and policewomen with the chief constable. I am afraid that that was opposed by the Conservatives and the Liberal Democrats on the council, but those police officers have made a great change in my constituency. On post offices, my advice to hon. Members is that it greatly helps if councils pay the premium to make sure that all citizens can use post office services. The city council in Edinburgh allows people to pay rent, council services bills and trade waste bills in post offices. I am afraid that in Conservative and Liberal Democrat Aberdeen the council does not pay the premium. That is why the number of closures has been far higher in that part of the country. These are the important issues. I have had only a short time available to me, but that has allowed everyone to speak. I have not been able to cover everything. Many good things were said, and I commend the work of all Members of Parliament. Mr. Deputy Speaker, may I give you, all hon. Members and all staff of this great House my best Christmas wishes.