It has often been said that the Assembly must make a difference to the lives of the people of Wales. The area with the greatest potential for this difference to be made, is the Valleys. Gross domestic product per capita is 62 per cent of the norm for the European Union. Life expectancy is five years less and in some valleys, long-term illness is 75 per cent higher than the UK average. The Valleys has the highest proportion of unfit housing and one in three people have no qualifications. The transport system is often inadequate for the twentieth century, let alone the twenty-first century and it is totally inadequate for the needs of Valleys residents. A comprehensive, integrated development plan for the Valleys is long overdue, and today, I propose a framework for such a project.

I will talk about the first two points, an economic development strategy tailored to the needs of Valleys communities and community development, together. The Valleys need real, sustainable jobs. The overriding aim of the Valleys strategy that we are calling for is to give those jobs to the people who need them in the places where they are needed. Objective 1 funds should be a major help in achieving that aim. The priorities set out in Objective 1 could help the economy of the Valleys shift into top gear.

Europe’s five priorities for Objective 1 funds are employment, equal opportunities, the environment, small and medium sized businesses, and competitiveness and innovation. If we make these aims the cornerstone of a development strategy for the Valleys and apply the European approach of concentrating action and funds in the areas of greatest need, we could see a real change in the economic and social health of our Valley communities.

I will give some examples. Work is an equal opportunities issue, and nowhere more so than in the Valleys. By taking steps to ensure greater equality of access to jobs, we would also create jobs. For example, improving transport links would create jobs and would make it easier for people to take available jobs. Providing childcare and related services so that parents are free to go to work would also create new jobs in the community.

The environment of the Valleys has been extensively damaged. Surveying contaminated land and rectifying environmental damage would teach new skills and provide new jobs near to people’s homes. It would make more land available for new houses, community facilities and workplaces. Offering special, lower business rates and access to suitable finance via a development bank would bring shops and other services into the communities where people live and where those facilities are needed. I include in that list community owned businesses, which must be encouraged and supported appropriately.

Directing the development agencies to offer full support to small businesses, community enterprise and the service sector is another key piece of the integrated development jigsaw. This should be done with flair, flexibility and, most importantly, with measurable targets, properly monitored, for job creation, environmental improvements and equal opportunities. That brings us to the kind of training needed for such a programme. Undoubtedly, regeneration will also depend on education and training. Making the most of these human resources will ensure that the appropriate skills are being developed in our communities. The community consortia, to be established under ETAG proposals, will be able to draw up strategies for the local provision of education and training. Hopefully, this will tailor provision effectively to meet local needs. We stressed one clear requirement of the community consortia last week. That will be to ensure that skills in information technology are developed. The south Wales Valleys are in danger of becoming technologically poverty stricken, with the ensuing effect of a deconcentration of opportunity and a further concentration of poverty. We need training centres in the heart of our communities and free access to computers in public places. At the moment many people are not aware of the relevance of IT to their lives. IT skills will encourage entrepreneurship and make the Valleys communities more attractive to businesses. If they are still not fully persuaded, much more needs to be done.

Sustainable economic growth must go hand in hand with sustainable development. The physical effects of industrial decline in the south Wales landscape are evident. Unfortunately, there are good examples of this in the Cynon Valley. The huge amount of contaminated land is a health hazard. If identified, cleaned up and reclaimed, this land offers possibilities for housing developments, training centres, sports facilities, industry or other uses. The research into methods of dealing with various types of contamination would provide opportunities, education and training. Cleaning up this contamination could create jobs within our community in places such as Nant-y-Gwyddon. Long-term strategies for reclamation and regeneration could teach new skills, create new jobs and attract European funding under Objectives 1 and 3.

There have been some mistakes. The artificial ski slope in Merthyr did not last long, but there are better ideas. The promotion of academic excellence through higher education is vital to the area. There is a desperate need to retain our talented young people and to attract talented young people from outside the area. The University of Glamorgan in Treforest is a continuing success with over 18,000 students. The University is committed to a programme of community education offering accredited undergraduate modules and non-assessed courses at further education colleges and community centres throughout the former Mid Glamorgan area.

The Valleys need special attention in terms of education and training. The high levels of economic inactivity indicate that there are problems of lack of motivation and disillusionment in many areas. However, experiences on the Penrhys housing estate, where courses have been offered in conjunction with the University of Wales, Swansea, and Trinity College Carmarthen, and where a community theatre has been established, demonstrate that it is possible to revitalise some of the most deprived parts of the south Wales Valleys through appropriate education and training, which people can learn to value.

The importance of targeting the Valleys cannot be stressed more than in the issue of health. It has been said that death is the ultimate form of social exclusion. The mortality rates of Rhondda Cynon Taff, Merthyr and Caerphilly county boroughs are the highest in the country. Other factors also need to be targeted. The lowest rate of perceived mental and emotional health in Wales is in Merthyr and Rhondda Cynon Taff. Blaenau Gwent and Merthyr county boroughs have the highest number of circulatory diseases, caused by a diet rich in saturated fats, smoking and high blood pressure. It is estimated that 63 years of potential life are lost per 100,000 people in these two local authorities. Blaenau Gwent has the highest rate of heart attacks and Merthyr, the highest rate of respiratory disease.

Why is this? It is because of economic and social deprivation. Long-term unemployment has had devastating consequences. We can no longer afford to ignore these underlying determinants of health. Inequalities in health between two individuals may sometimes be inevitable, but these widespread health inequalities between groups on a community level are unacceptable.

I will try to be brief. The Assembly needs to intervene to secure social justice. Large-scale initiatives have been tried before and have failed: for example, Team-care Valleys. Health improvement programmes are a start, but the name itself conjures up little enthusiasm. They lack the clarity and appeal of health action zones, which are successful in England. It is crucial that the community be fundamentally involved if part of the solution is to ask people to change their lifestyles.

Sandwell, England, which is a particularly disadvantaged community, has a £6.5 million package for its health action zone. Initiatives as diverse as tackling domestic violence, housing improvement, services for the elderly and preventing heart disease all come together in one focus group. That is the type of structure that we need to target health improvement in the Valleys. I could go on for another ten minutes.

The Assembly is fortunate in that its beginning coincides with the awarding of Objective 1 funding. Given European enlargement, we will never get another chance of financial assistance on this scale for the Valleys. We must ensure that the schemes are in place, the foundations set, the information available, and, more importantly, that match funding is guaranteed.

We have been treated unfairly for too long, and that must end. Therefore, we must all work together—Assembly Members, local government, the private sector and the whole community—so that this injection of finance will ensure that the Valleys benefit to the utmost. We must ensure that the Valleys will be a place fit for our children in the twenty-first century.

Amendment 5 in the name of Andrew Davies, that ‘health action zones’ be deleted from the motion, is withdrawn.

‘Valley communities requires’ insert ‘the exploitation of EU structural funds provided by full match funding for the whole of the Objective 1 programme and’.

It is a pleasure to contribute to this debate. In the interests of party co-operation and to provide the opportunity for more members to contribute to this Plaid Cymru debate, I also propose amendment 3 on behalf of Jonathan Morgan. After

‘appropriate and accessible training’ add ‘and education, provided in partnership with the private and voluntary sectors’.

I also propose amendment 4 on behalf of David Melding. Delete

I hope that gives me the opportunity to speak for three times five minutes. I will let you, Llywydd, be the judge of that.

Further economic regeneration for the Valleys is a priority for us all. Over the last 20 years, much restructuring has taken place. At a time when former heavy industries such as coal and steel were in decline, the Valleys had to progress quickly in employment development in order to stand still in economic terms. About 50,000 jobs were lost in an unsustainable coal industry and a further 30,000 jobs were lost as a result of technological advancements in the steel industry. In spite of this, in 1997 the Conservative Government left the Valleys with a level of employment and unemployment similar to that it inherited in 1980. Gross domestic product per head in west Wales and the Valleys grew by 20 per cent between 1993 and 1996 alone. Full credit must be given to the last Conservative Government for its achievement in this. Inward investment, land reclamation and government policy played a pivotal role in supporting the communities in south Wales and in the Valleys in particular. No doubt, a lot has been achieved in difficult times, and amendment 2 is crucial to further redevelopment and revitalisation of the Valleys.

The densely populated areas of the Valleys have, rightly, a claim to large parts of European structural funds. However, we are all too familiar with a major stumbling block in accessing these funds. Pathway to Prosperity, the Welsh capital challenge, local authority rule and the strategic development scheme have all been raided to ‘lever structural funds’. These funds are earmarked and were already planned to contribute to the economic regeneration of the Valleys. However, they have been raided to make up for the Government’s lack of commitment on providing full match funds for the Objective 1 programme. Budgets have been fiddled and funds are being moved around to mask this Government’s inadequacy.

The timing of this debate could not have been better. Yesterday, we heard the Chair of the Economic Development Committee confess to serious funding problems. I do not mind admitting that I thought Val Feld had become a full-time member of the Cabinet and the Secretariat. Yesterday’s confession was certainly refreshing. Who knows, this could be the first sign of dynamic devolution. Or is it yet another split in the Labour Party ranks? I will let you decide. Furthermore, the Secretary for Economic Development yesterday admitted that this is the biggest fight that the Assembly will have and that we have nine months to get it sorted.

If the Valleys are to exploit the opportunity of Objective 1, the whole of Wales must be ready to seize the opportunity from day one. We have been left with the Prime Minister’s weak promise that he will not let Wales down. No business can plan, make proposals or invest the significant capital that can really make a difference to the Valleys and to the whole of Wales on the weight of an unsigned cheque. I said earlier that I welcome the opportunity to participate in this debate, but would it not be a more productive debate if full match funds had been agreed and sanctioned over and above the Barnett block grant? We could now be debating what to do with the money rather than the ifs and buts of whether or not we will receive it. No area will be let down more than the south Wales Valleys if we do not gain full match funding for the whole of the Objective 1 programme, over and above the Barnett block grant.

I move on to amendment 3 in Jonathan Morgan’s name. The motion fails to address the importance of education to the future development of the Valleys. The principal challenge is to plug the learning gap between the Valleys and the rest of Wales. The facts are clear. In spite of the same pupil-teacher ratios, 44 per cent of pupils in Wales gain five GCSE grades A to C, but only 34 per cent do so in the Valleys. Similarly, the average point score for A-Level candidates in that area is 13.4 compared with 18.2 across England and Wales.

I refuse to believe that pupils in the Valleys are less capable or intelligent than those in the rest of Wales. As a corporate body, we must accept collective responsibility for closing this learning gap. The amendment refers to partnership with the private and voluntary sectors. Employers must be involved at every stage of the process. We need their advice, experience and, in some cases, their money. In light of my previous comments in this speech, I hope that we do not need too much of it.

Amendment 4, in the name of David Melding, urges tackling ill-health and promoting wellbeing. Nobody doubts that we should target the high levels of ill-health in the Valleys, but health action zones are not the best way forward. A system of public health and primary care targets for the whole of Wales is already being devised, and the needs base in the Valleys will contribute significantly. The bureaucracy and duplication of health action zones would only detract from the cause and the need that they are intended to meet.

The final amendment aims to recognise the importance of improved healthcare to the Valleys, but differs in the contribution that a health action zone will make. The need to co-ordinate all policies for the benefit of the Valleys is to be applauded, but so much depends on the exploitation of European structural funds, which can be delivered only through full match funding for the whole of the Objective 1 programme.

There is no doubt that, as a body, we are committed to tackling poverty and investing in our poorest communities, many of which are in the south Wales Valleys. The money that we hope to draw down from Objective 1 is the basis for this. However, we cannot spend that money in isolation. The programmes stemming from European structural funds must be an integral part of a comprehensive strategy to rebuild shattered communities, improve scarred landscapes, reconnect people with society and tackle poor housing and health. There must be joined-up government, or we will fail.

That will not be easy, and that is why we need more than words. We must start focusing on those strategies in a co-ordinated and meaningful way. The Liberal Democrats’ amendment is not intended to change the motion’s tone, but to try to focus it towards a specific action plan. I know that all Assembly Subject Committees have picked up on elements of this motion in the last six months and that valuable work is being done. However, I have no sense of any co-ordinated purpose in dealing with these issues. There is too much tinkering at the edges and not enough driving forward for real change.

We are all aware that things take time, but even in the short time that we have had we should have been able to start laying down a pattern of change and progress. I believe that that pattern is still indiscernible. That can be seen in the budget on which we are working in the Committees. There is more money for health and education, but housing has taken a hammering again. Local government, which, above all, should be implementing the Assembly’s agenda for social inclusion and sustainable development at the grass roots, has once again been short-changed. An increase of 1 per cent in non-education budgets, with potential council tax increases of £70 plus for band D properties just to stand still, leaves gaping holes in our programmes on the ground where they really matter. Once again, people are being asked to pay more for worse services.

We must not fall into the trap of Peter Walker’s Valleys Initiative, which was more spin than substance. The Assembly’s strategy must involve real and co-ordinated investment. Similarly, we must recognise the value of giving people more control over their own lives politically and economically. We must, when drawing up our budgets, make the link between poor housing, poor health, poor educational attainment and anti-social behaviour. We must get the detail right, but we must also be able to stand back and look at the big picture. Our inability to do that so far has been our big failing.

The Liberal Democrats are prepared to support Jonathan Morgan’s amendment 3 as it underlines the need for partnership in providing education and training. We cannot support David Melding’s amendment 4 in seeking to delete ‘health action zones’ and replace that commitment with warm and woolly words. Although we have yet to see how health action zones will make a difference in Wales, it makes sense to target resources in areas with particular problems. The one note of caution I would sound on this, however, is that we must not concentrate on one aspect of the problem alone. If these action zones are to succeed, we need to look at them in the round and deal with cause as well as effect. We cannot support Labour’s amendment 5 for the same reasons. We support Alun Cairns’ amendment 2.

Wales is dependent on Objective 1 money to proceed with any sort of strategy such as that envisaged by this motion. We also need to have new and additional match funding, and we need it now. The fact that we are seeking to match-fund £25 million out of the block grant this year has deprived vital programmes of much needed resources. It has also sent the wrong message to the Treasury; that we do not need all the money that we say we do. That is not the case. We must make it clear to Gordon Brown, at every opportunity, that Wales cannot be the poor relation to middle England any more. If we are to deal in any meaningful way with the levels of poverty found in the south Wales Valleys and elsewhere, we need his support, and we need it in hard cash from 1 April next year. Nothing less will do.

Yr wyf yn ddiolchgar am y cyfle i gyfrannu i’r ddadl hon ar Gymoedd y De. Cyflwynwyd y ddadl gan fy ffrind Geraint Davies, Aelod sydd yn ymwybodol iawn o’r anawsterau a’r amgylchiadau difrifol sydd yn bodoli yn y rhan hon o Gymru.

Nid yw tlodi ac amddifadedd yn ddim byd newydd yn ein hardaloedd diwydiannol ni. Mae hi’n drist cofnodi hynny. Fel datganoli, proses yw tlodi—proses sydd wedi erydu cymunedau ar ôl cymunedau ar hyd y blynyddoedd. Yr wyf i’n ddigon hen i gofio’r amgylchiadau anodd yn ardaloedd y chwareli llechi yn 1940au a 1950au y ganrif hon. Yn ystod y cyfnod hwnnw, byddai afiechydon megis y diciâu a silicosis, a safon wael y tai a’r amodau gwaith, yn achosi marwolaethau cynnar. Dyna ddechrau’r broses tlodi o’m profiad innau. Yr oedd anghyfiawnder cymdeithasol ar droed bryd hynny. Mae diweithdra a’r tlodi a ddaw yn ei sgîl wedi andwyo cymunedau ein gwlad ac yn parhau i’w handwyo. Nid oes un ardal bron wedi cael dihangfa o’r broses ddieflig hon. Gwelwn heddiw ganlyniad hyn oll yn yr ardaloedd diwydiannol, ardaloedd y diwydiannau trymion sydd yn destun i’r ddadl hon. Dangosydd tlodi ac amddifadedd yw dynodiad Amcan 1 ar orllewin Cymru a’r Cymoedd.

Mae gweld Cymoedd y De, a fu gynt yn arwain y byd mewn cynnyrch a thechnoleg, yn glasu ac yn colli statws, yn taro adref fel y mae’r mudanod a’r distawrwydd llethol ar hen domeni llechi Ffestiniog. Cofier felly nad y Cymoedd yn unig sydd yn dioddef yng Nghymru, er mor ddwys eu hangen.

Ychydig amser yn ôl, buom yn trafod mapiau a ddangosai ddosbarthiadau o anghenion yn deillio o eithrio cymdeithasol. Gwelsom mor ddifrifol yw’r sefyllfa yn y Cymoedd, ond yr hyn oedd yn drawiadol i mi ac i’m cyd-aelodau o’r Gogledd oedd mor anodd ac annerbyniol yw’r sefyllfa hyd yn oed mewn ardaloedd megis Môn a Chonwy. Yn aml, byddai’r dangosyddion yn rhoi ardaloedd y Gogledd yn uchel ar y rhestr anghenion. Mae ardaloedd y Gogledd yn dioddef. Mae gan Fôn, er enghraifft, ddiweithdra uchel o bron i 9 y cant, y pumed gwaethaf yng Nghymru. Clywsom yr wythnos diwethaf na fwriedir, ar hyn o bryd beth bynnag, adeiladu gorsaf drydan nwy ym Môn oherwydd rhyw bwynt technegol. Y pwynt technegol yw hyn: pe agorid gorsaf llosgi nwy arall yng Nghymru, byddai swyddi yn diflannu yn Lloegr. Dyna’r pwynt technegol y mae’n rhaid i ni ei gofio a’i ystyried bob amser. Y rhwystr, felly, oedd y berthynas rhwng Cymru a Lloegr, a dyna yw dagrau pethau yn aml.

Er bod angen cefnogi’r fenter hon i adfywio’r Cymoedd, peidied yr un ohonom ag anghofio’r amddifadedd a’r tlodi mewn rhannau eraill o Gymru. Mae rhannau helaeth o Gymru yn dioddef o ddiffyg buddsoddiad yn y dechnoleg newydd. Mawr obeithiaf y bydd y prosiectau a fydd yn ennill cefnogaeth a chyllid Amcan 1 yn pwysleisio’r cysyniad rhanbarthol yn hytrach nag ardaloedd unigol. Credaf fod meini prawf rhyddhau cyllid Amcan 1 yn mynnu hynny beth bynnag. Mae’n dda gennyf gefnogi 100 y cant y cynnig hwn gan Geraint Davies ar adfywio’r Cymoedd. Fodd bynnag, apeliaf hefyd am sylw teg a theilwng i adfywio’r economi mewn rhannau eraill o Gymru lle mae gwirioneddol angen gwneud hynny.

Beth yw’r ateb i’r tlodi, yr amddifadedd a’r eithrio cymdeithasol yn y Cymoedd a mannau eraill? Prosesau yw tlodi a datganoli. Yng Nghymru heddiw, mae angen cyflymu un broses yn sylweddol er sicrhau bod y broses arall yn cael ei diddymu. Tybed faint ohonom fyddai, mewn gwirionedd, yn cytuno â’r gosodiad hwnnw?

Efallai mai cynnig yw hwn i lanhau ar ôl sylwadau Dafydd Wigley yr wythnos diwethaf a’r helbul a achoswyd yn eu sgîl. Gellid tyngu nad oes gwaith o gwbl yn cael ei wneud eisoes i ddatblygu’r economi yn ôl gofynion y Cymoedd ac i hybu iechyd. Dengys y cynnig pa mor brin yw gwybodaeth y cenedlaetholwyr am yr hyn sydd yn digwydd yn y Cymoedd ac ym mywyd bob dydd pobl y Cymoedd.

There are integrated initiatives and I will mention a few. I support the adding of ‘tackling ill-health and promoting wellbeing’ as proposed in amendment 4, but we must not become prophets of doom. Amman Valley Enterprise operates in Gwauncaegurwen, the Amman Valley and the Swansea valleys. Amman Valley Enterprise has a close working relationship with local general practitioners in the Upper Swansea and Amman valleys. The Welsh Office funded a survey of the health needs of those over 70 years of age in the Iechyd Morgannwg Health area of the Upper Swansea and Upper Amman valleys. That was undertaken by Iechyd Morgannwg Health and practice nurses in two GP practices. A local group of volunteers was formed by Amman Valley Enterprise to encourage fitness among those over 50. Booklets on nine local walks that are arranged regularly by local groups have been produced and are available from Amman Valley Enterprise.

Local groups for retired people have been given classes in fitness and exercise, which they now follow themselves. Applications have been made for healthy living centres that will be developed to provide surgeries, chiropody services, baby clinics, libraries, adult education classes, playgroups, youth clubs, after school provision, cafes and one-stop shops. Amman Valley Enterprise, GPs and the Citizens Advice Bureau are working closely to establish a debt counselling and welfare advice service, which is important for regeneration. Courses are provided at Amman Valley Enterprise on women’s health along with working groups with children to include information on HIV, AIDS and other health-related issues.

There is also co-ordinated action on economic development, tailored to the needs of Valley communities. Some of the key achievements of Neath Port Talbot County Borough Council’s economic development department are the completion of the phase 1 development of a business park at Nant-y-Cafn, Seven Sisters; the provision of assistance for over 75 people to set up in business through the authority’s business start-up grant, administered in conjunction with Business Connect and funded with assistance from BP D’arcy Development Limited; participation in the establishment of the Amman and Swansea Valley Partnership in response to job losses in the Upper Swansea Valley; commitment to commence construction of three industrial nursery units on the Gurnos Industrial Estate in Ystalyfera; successful promotion of a county borough-wide youth enterprise development initiative, centred in the Sandfields and Crynant areas; continued co-ordination of the New Deal consortia; continued support for Business Connect Neath Port Talbot to the value of over £150,000 per annum, and the provision of financial and other support to local community enterprise and development organisations, such as Amman Valley Enterprise, DOVE Workshop, Tonmawr 2000, Dulais Valley Partnership, Ystalyfera Development Trust and Glynneath Training Centre, where I last night attended the opening of an extension to the centre. These are important and deserve to be acknowledged. The list of achievements goes on but I only have five minutes.

It is important to acknowledge these efforts. I am sure that there are other examples of good practice in other south Wales valleys. It is important that we have Labour policies that will support the continuation of these successful initiatives.

Cefnogaf yr hyn a ddywedodd Gwenda ynglŷn ag ymdrechion Menter Dyffryn Aman a chyrff tebyg wrth geisio sicrhau gweithgaredd yn ein dyffrynnoedd. Rhaid inni fod yn gwbl glir ynglŷn â hyn. Ochr yn ochr â’r gweithgaredd hynny ceir tlodi go iawn. Byddai anwybyddu’r tlodi hwnnw a’r angen i wneud rhywbeth sylweddol a sylfaenol amdano yn gwbl anghyfrifol ar ran y Cynulliad. Mae mwy nag un math o ddyffryn neu gwm yng Nghymru. Fodd bynnag, wynebir yr un math o broblemau gan yr holl ddyffrynnoedd hynny.

Cafodd fy nhad ei eni yng Nghwm Rhondda a symudodd i Ddyffryn Tywi pan oedd yn saith oed. Ei waddol i minnau oedd cyfuniad o athroniaeth wleidyddol y Blaid Lafur Annibynnol ac egwyddorion Cristnogol anghydffurfiaeth Gymreig. Mawr hyderaf y byddaf yn cadw’r gwerthoedd hynny drwy gydol fy mywyd gwleidyddol. Yr hyn a wna’r gwerthoedd hynny yw ein hatgoffa o’r angen i sicrhau cyfiawnder cymdeithasol i bawb ac i sicrhau bod gan bob unigolyn yn ein cymunedau yr hawl i gael ei barchu. Yr oedd fy nhad yn fachan dau gwm. Yn etholaeth Dwyrain Caerfyrddin a Dinefwr y mae pedwar cwm: Dyffryn Aman, Cwm Gwendraeth, Dyffryn Teifi a Dyffryn Tywi. Yr un problemau sydd yn wynebu’r dyffrynnoedd hynny i gyd.

Cafwyd adroddiad gan Coopers & Lybrand Deloitte yn 1991 a oedd yn sôn am y math o dlodi a effeithiai ar Ddyffryn Aman a Chwm Gwendraeth. Mae Geraint Davies ac eraill wedi sôn am y tlodi hwnnw.

Ceir diffyg swyddi, diweithdra uchel, diffyg gobaith i bobl ifainc—sydd yn eu harwain i adael—a diffyg sgiliau. Mae’r cymoedd hyn yn cael eu hanghofio. Dyna gasgliad yr adroddiad hwnnw: dyffrynnoedd anghofiedig gorllewin Cymru, Dyffryn Aman a Chwm Gwendraeth.

Gellir dweud yn union yr un peth bellach am ddyffrynnoedd Tywi a Theifi. Dyna’r pwynt a wnaethpwyd gan Dafydd Wigley yn ystod yr wythnosau diwethaf. Yr un problemau sydd gan ein dyffrynnoedd diwydiannol a’n dyffrynnoedd gwledig. Yr un problemau sydd yn wynebu’r bobl. Yr un tlodi a’r un diffyg gobaith a’r un elfen anghofiedig sydd yn bodoli yno. Mae’n bwysig ein bod yn wynebu anghenion y dyffrynnoedd hynny i gyd. Mae casgliad—

We have listened to some eloquent speeches from Plaid Cymru Members on the subject of the Valleys, some of them more geographically interesting than others. I wondered how you square this concern for the economy of the south Wales Valleys with the published sentiments of your economic spokesman, Phil Williams. He is on record in his book, A Voice from the Valleys, as saying that a dormitory future serving the south Wales coast and the major towns was perfectly acceptable as an alternative; that is, we should not bother with investment in the south Wales economy per se. Is this the Plaid Cymru position or has it now changed? Or were the golden handshakes enough?

That point is irrelevant. I am talking about the four valleys within my constituency. I tell Huw kindly that if he is going to be continually used as the lapdog of the Labour Party and rewarded by a pat on the head and a biscuit, he will end up as a small, round-figured garden gnome with a flat head. These are important issues for my constituency. I am talking about the dire poverty—

I end my speech by referring to the issue that a number of people have raised, namely Objective 1 money. I ask two specific questions, because this money is essential for the four valleys within my constituency. First, in terms of the financial tables submitted in the Objective 1 single programme document, there are some interesting breakdowns that I would like to explore. The funding of the programme is split as follows: 50.4 per cent from Europe, 36.8 per cent from the public sector and 12.8 per cent from the private sector. Where will the 12.8 per cent from the private sector come from in my constituency, in these valleys in west Wales? Has this 12.8 per cent been guaranteed? What has been the response of the private sector? Unless that money from the private sector is guaranteed, will we lose £300 million of this important programme which is essential for the four valleys in my constituency?

When I saw this motion, particularly the reference to ‘the continual neglect of successive governments’, I was reminded of the Monty Python film, The Life of Brian—I am no relation—in which the characters, I think the popular front for Palestine, asked ‘what have the Romans ever done for us?’ Somebody piped up and said ‘They gave us aqueducts, roads and public health.’ Similarly, this motion asks what the Labour Government has ever done for the Valleys. The answer is that it has given them Objective 1, assisted area status, New Deal, and Sure Start. I repeat, what has the Labour Government ever done for the Valleys? It has given them schemes like care in the community, the minimum wage and the working families tax credit. Therefore, there is no substance to the resolution that the present Government continues to add to the decades of neglect that preceded it. This motion is fundamentally flawed because of that.

If this motion asked whether there was more work to be done, the answer would be ‘yes’. The Labour Government has stated on record that it needs two or even three terms in office to clean up the mess left for it. This resolution fails to acknowledge the progress that this Government has made.

There is also the issue of health action zones. It is amazing that the Welsh nationalist party makes continuous reference to that. It interested me, having not understood the previous argument—

I know, but I am using Welsh nationalist party not as a name but as a description; that is, spelled with a capital ‘W’, small ‘n’ and small ‘p’. If Plaid Cymru does not want to be classified as the nationalist party, it would be interesting for its Members to deny it here, on the record. However, as the Welsh nationalist party, spelled with small letters, Plaid Cymru continues to look to England for this model. I try to find out—

On the same point of order, that is pure flannelling. The one thing you could say is that Mr Gibbons’s party is not socialist whether you spell that with a capital ‘s’ or a small one. [ASSEMBLY MEMBERS: ‘Hear, hear.’]

On that point of order, I ask that all the other parties cease to refer to us as the Tories and call us by our proper name, which is the Conservative Party.

This is possibly a little harsh. I would dearly like to continue calling my colleague David Davies a Tory, although I must correct him. He is a Conservative and Unionist, which is a bit of a mouthful. I have no objection to being called a socialist. I do not see any reason why the Welsh nationalists should object to being called Welsh nationalists. It is a historically acceptable term that has been used in Welsh life and media for decades. This is all a bit too prescriptive.

After reading Plaid Cymru’s election manifesto, it is clear that its health policy has devised a health authority structure similar to the structure that existed before 1990. That is very much a ‘forward to the past’ policy. A key feature of that structure was that there was no link between health authorities and local government. After recognising the omission in its health policy and trying to streamline the health authority structure, Plaid Cymru has introduced a new tier in health and a new tier in local government through the health action zones. Is that progress?

Finally, when one looks through Plaid Cymru’s manifesto, one suffers mental aberrations. I looked for how many references I could find to the Valleys in it. There is one reference to the Valleys in the 13,000 or 14,000 words in this document. That one reference is to the Valley railway. I rest my case.

I hope that we can return to the purpose of this debate, which is to discuss the south Wales Valleys, their problems and their future.

I have been involved in the Valleys in several ways over the past 25 years. It is important that we address the issues raised in the motion. They are issues of joined-up government, as Peter Black said, and of tackling health and social inequalities. Geraint has highlighted the challenges that face the people of the south Wales Valleys. They include promoting economic and social regeneration. They also include social inclusion, which no one has mentioned this afternoon. All of this is about the need to promote social inclusion, which we subscribe to. It is about the need to cross over all these policy areas. The people of the Valleys do not forget the destruction of the coalfield, Alun. They do not forget Thatcher’s record of destruction in the Valleys. People, communities and the Labour movement fought back in the Valleys. That history must not be forgotten in this Chamber.

Do you acknowledge that the Labour Party has closed down more mines than the Conservative Party ever did?

Thatcher destroyed our coalfields and Redwood sent millions of public money back from Wales that could have been spent on our health service. I will not give way again because Alun Cairns invited this response by having such a glib attitude towards what happened in the Valleys.

As Brian has said, the Conservatives opposed the minimum wage. Low pay is a community blight in the Valleys. The Conservatives oppose the working families tax credit. We are bringing in the highest levels of child benefit ever and raising the levels of income support. We are introducing the national childcare strategy. Since the Labour Government came into power in 1997, we have focused on the Valleys communities, the communities most disadvantaged by the previous Conservative Government. It is important to recognise that during those years the gap between the wealthy and the poor widened dramatically. That was an impact of the economic and social policies of the previous Conservative Government. I wanted to put the record straight as far as that is concerned.

That is why amendment 1, regarding the record of the Labour Government since 1997, is important. That is about a new era of regeneration of which the people in the Valleys are a part. We must be more positive about the role being played in those communities by those people who have tried to rebuild their lives and communities following the pit closures, and also—and we heard examples of this from Gwenda Thomas and Rhodri Glyn—about how the Valleys communities have been rebuilt through economic and social regeneration strategies and through community development. Nobody has mentioned community development this afternoon. I know that Mick supports that. It is vital that the people in the Valleys have the solutions, with our support, to ensure economic and social regeneration. We need integrated policy.

We reject Peter Black’s amendment 6 because I would expect Subject Committees to address the needs of the Valleys in all their deliberations. The relevant Regional Committees are also the proper place to discuss how our policies and programmes impact on particular areas of Wales. As far as economic development is concerned, we come back to the structural programme. The Labour Government secured Objective 1 status for the Valleys, providing an unprecedented springboard for future prosperity in the area.

In the Valleys Partnership, of which I was a member, we started having discussions about the programmes for Objective 1. They were constructive discussions which brought together the public, private and voluntary sectors. We looked at the opportunities for development and discussed the hopes and anticipations of people in the Valleys since the Labour Government won Objective 1 funding. Those discussions must be valued and taken forward.

It is unfortunate that we still have talk that undermines Objective 1. Amendment 2, in the name of Alun Cairns, is vague, mischief-making and open to differing interpretations. I cannot recommend that it should be adopted. We have said many times that the match funding, from the Government and elsewhere, will be in place to support the projects that are anticipated next year. After that, the Government comprehensive spending review in the year 2000—to which Alun Michael referred earlier—will take account of the expenditure implications arising from the Objective 1 status in west Wales and the Valleys.

Both Alun Cairns and Rhodri Glyn made points about raiding other initiatives. It is vital that we use our domestic regeneration budget to good effect in our European strategies. When we had the Training and Enterprise Council’s out of school childcare initiative we did not just sit there thinking it was good money—

If we are to have a strategic approach at local, regional and national levels, we must work in partnership with the strategic regeneration fund that is available to us within our local partnerships. We are missing a huge trick if we think that we will be going down a different route from the one that we have always used for regeneration and existing European programmes. There will be a constant dialogue about Objective 1. However, we must concentrate on what the programmes can achieve and on what the partnerships can build, and not undermine hopes and anticipation in the Valleys.

As Gwenda Thomas and Rhodri Glyn Thomas said, it is not all doom and gloom.

The Valleys are now home to companies in many sectors of industry, such as aerospace, packaging, automotive components and electrics printing. Between May 1997 and 31 October 1999, 52 inward investment projects were recorded, promising over 3,000 new jobs, safeguarding a further 1,600 jobs and providing capital investment of £169 million. That has happened since the Labour Government came into power, which proves that we have a focus on the Valleys.

However, we must diversify the Valleys’ industrial base. We must build on the 3,300 new jobs promised for the area over the past two and a half years by inward investment. We must also look at community economic regeneration. Earlier, Alun Cairns dismissed the community economic sector. That is vital to the Valleys, and you are all aware that there are excellent economic projects in our communities. We should support the work that is being done by economic and social entrepreneurs in our communities. Community development involves strengthening economic regeneration from a community base.

Jonathan Morgan will be glad to hear that we support amendment 3. It is a sensible amendment that I think everyone here supports. Education and training are at the heart of our policies, and they must be accessible to everyone. Amendment 4, in the name of David Melding, is also sensible. There is, therefore, some cross-party consensus in this Chamber.

Geraint Davies wisely mentioned environmental improvement, which is important to communities in the Valleys and throughout Wales. We have plans to implement new arrangements for the identification and remediation of contaminated land. As well as removing potential health and environmental hazards, they will encourage greater use of brown-field sites for redevelopment. Peter Law will propose draft regulations and guidance on the operation of the new regime in the coming months.

We have not talked enough about the fact that integrated transport is critical to the Valleys. Gareth Jones mentioned the needs of other parts of Wales. That is the issue. All our policies must apply to all parts of Wales, but they must target the most disadvantaged areas, which have lacked investment.

I am grateful to David Melding for his amendment about tackling ill-health and promoting wellbeing. I move away from party politics, which I know—

We must be sparky in this Chamber, not silly. People are out there watching us saying, ‘Do they mean it when they say that they will regenerate our Valleys communities?’ We have a great opportunity to tackle health inequalities and improve the health and wellbeing of people in the Valleys.

I am disappointed that none of the other parties feel sufficiently concerned about the future funding of local government to have mentioned it. I was intent that this would play a major part in today’s discussion. I will outline what needs to be done and why the Tories in the past had a major part to play in undermining the democratic process and the delivery—

We are the Welsh Conservative Party.

I apologise. I should say that the Conservatives with a capital ‘c’ had a major part to play in undermining the democratic process and delivery of the standard spending assessment, which represents the Government’s view of what a local authority should spend to provide a standard service consistent with overall public spending targets, taking into account the social, demographic and geological characteristics of the authority’s area.

We have heard recently that this standard spending assessment has been a disappointment and caused great divides among local authorities in Wales. I hope, if it does nothing else, that the Assembly will exercise great influence and consult fully and appropriately with our partners in local government to ensure that the formula for next year will, at least, assist in regenerating confidence in local government. It is unfortunate that the political policies of the past have played a major role in creating the reputation of local government in Wales.

In concluding for Plaid Cymru—The Party of Wales, I will mention a statement that has lived with me a long time. The statement was made by Clive Betts, in The Western Mail, in 1992. Some would say that he is a man of vision. I hope that his statement proves this. My comments will emphasise the fact. His comment was that

‘Plaid has won almost every Valley seat it has contested since the General Election (10 from 12) fuelling beliefs expressed by academics that the new style working class in the Valleys is about to ditch the “old style” Labour Party.’

This comment related to local council seats, but history has a habit of repeating itself.

In May 1999, not only did the electorate in the Valleys, which because of their poverty were successful recently in attracting Objective 1 status, ditch the old-style Labour Party, whose MPs had presided at Westminster over Valleys constituencies, they also ditched new Labour. Plaid Cymru’s enormous gains, not only at local authority level but also at Assembly level, were proven to be—despite what Brian Gibbons said earlier—due to our manifesto commitment to provide quality of life for those people. The electorate understood and supported our manifesto commitment to rebuild our communities.

The real needs of the Valleys are structural and apparent. We need improved health care, sustainable jobs, appropriate training within easy reach of those who need it, better public transport to get to work or to training, improved support services, including quality childcare, and a better environment, including an end to the curse of toxic sites—the Phurnacite lands in the Cynon Valley and Nant-y-Gwyddon in the Rhondda are examples. We want shops and other services where people live.

Although we note with interest Andrew Davies’s admission in amendment 1 that Labour Governments prior to 1997 were as guilty of neglect as any Conservative Government, we will not support it. We will support amendment 2 and will abstain from amendment 3 because it mentions provision with the private sector rather than consultation. We will not support amendment 4 or amendment 5. We will support amendment 6 because it mentions consultation with the private sector. I commend the spirit and the intent of our motion, and ask Members to look forward to proper and full consultation and co-operation across the Assembly’s political divide for the benefit of all valleys throughout Wales.