16/3/2004

The Secretary of State (SoS) flagged up tomorrow's Budget. There would be a briefing afterwards for Welsh journalists. On Thursday, Don Touhig (DT) would be holding a series of European Union Enlargement seminars with Andrew Davies in Treforest and Cardiff. As Enlargement was around six weeks away these were timely seminars. There would be a Welsh Grand Committee next week discussing the Budget and the SoS would be producing a detailed analysis of the Conservative/Oliver Letwin shadow budget and its implications for the Welsh economy.

LYONS REPORT

The Lyons Report proposed a major shift in public service jobs out of the South-east. There were great opportunities for Wales and the SoS would be discussing matters with the Chancellor and other Whitehall Ministers to ensure that Wales got a good deal from any relocation. He was optimistic and at the very least Cardiff and Newport were excellent sites for relocation. It was important to look wider - to Swansea and Wrexham for example - to bring the benefits right across Wales.

Asked about the possibility of the BBC relocating, and the possibility of relocation being a condition of Charter renewal, the SoS said that there was great scope for all public bodies - including the BBC - to look at the transfer of jobs to Wales. In the case of broadcasting, Wales had a critical mass of expertise - in digital especially as the combination of BBC Wales, S4C and HTV had given Wales a unique capability of broadcasting compared to most other regions outside of the South-east. Indeed, he would venture to say that Wales was better positioned than all other economic regions outside of the South east. Wales also had a very good track record in such relocation - for example the DVLA in Swansea and the Royal Mint in Llantrisant. Put to him that of the Whitehall departments only the Office of National Statistics had identified Welsh sites for the Lyons Report, the SoS said that it was early days.

In addition it had to be said that Whitehall departments had not been showing fantastic enthusiasm for this exercise. Perhaps it was unsurprising that they had not volunteered many possible sites at this stage. But the Government's strategy was very clear that there would be relocation of public service jobs. Asked what he thought of Adam Price's suggestion that the DTI could be moved lock, stock and barrel to Wales, the SoS replied that at least this was different from the Liberal Democrats.

They believed that the DTI should just go - lock, stock and barrel full stop. Asked how people could be attracted to move to Wales from their homes in the South-east, the SoS said that people who had never thought of moving to Wales were very happy there. In the private sector he himself knew dozens of people who had come from England rather grudgingly only to now believe they had done the best thing of their lives. There was a high quality of life in Wales compared to an over-congested and polluted South-east.

AIRBUS

Asked whether there was anything more that he could do to persuade the Environment Agency on the dredging of Mostyn Docks, the SoS said that he would be making formal representations shortly in his role as Secretary of State. He himself believed that there was an overriding public interest case to allow Airbus to proceed. Asked about exactly where the various responsibilities lay, the SoS replied that the decision on the dredging itself was the Environment Agency's. Where the material was dumped was the responsibility of the National Assembly. The issue of navigation was the responsibility of the Department of Transport.

SEVERN BRIDGE TOLLS

Asked to comment on Neath councillor John Warman's plans for a toll-free day on the Severn Bridge, the SoS said that John Warman was a very innovative councillor. Some of his ideas were good and some were not runners. The truth was that however much we resented paying tolls, without tolls the second Severn Bridge would not have been built. Of course everyone would like toll-free days, just as people would like duty-free days on their pints, but we had to live in the real world. Asked by Don Touhig (DT) if he had let slip a Budget secret regarding duty-free pints, the SoS said that sadly he had not.

GUARDIAN ARTICLE

Asked what the Prime Minister had said to him regarding his article in the Guardian, the SoS said that he would not get into silly process stories. As his office had said at the weekend, Downing Street and the Party Chairman's office had cleared every line of the Catalyst pamphlet.

ASW PENSIONS

Asked whether he thought there was any hope of getting the ASW workers compensation, given the workers' meeting with the PM, the SoS said that the PM had confirmed the Government's view. The issue of ASW pensions was a tremendous scandal and injustice. The PM felt very strongly that the ASW workers had been dealt a grievous injustice. The issue was how this could be resolved without leaving the taxpayer liable to massive sums of money. His own view was that the will to help was certainly there - it was the way that was causing problems.

POSTAL VOTING

Asked what his reaction would be if the Lords once again rejected plans for all-postal voting pilots in the North-west and Yorkshire and the Humber, the SoS said that his reaction would be one of real anger. The Lords would be denying millions of voters the chance to vote from within the comfort of their own homes. The Lords would also be saying that they do not believe in encouraging high turn-outs for this year's June elections - as all the evidence showed that all-postal voting significantly boosted electoral turn-out.

As far as he was concerned rejecting these all-postal voting pilots was anti-democratic. Put to him that these pilots were about ensuring the Regional Assembly elections had strong turn-outs, the SoS said that surely good turn-outs were a good thing full stop. Asked why the Government had chosen areas with strong Labour votes for these pilots rather than areas with Conservative bias, the SoS said that pilots went to those areas that applied for them. For example he had wanted Wales to be involved in the scheme but Welsh Returning Officers had not wanted to participate - much to his own disappointment.

Source:	Wales Office
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