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Address in Reply to Her Majesty's Most Gracious Speech

My Lords, I thank all noble Lords who have taken part in this excellent, wide-ranging debate. On behalf of my noble friend Lady Andrews and myself, I thank all noble Lords who have been kind enough to welcome us to our new posts. Before starting my speech, I want to draw particular attention to the excellent maiden speech of the noble Lord, Lord Rana. It was an extraordinary speech that showed a record of service in Northern Ireland over many years. It was a powerful contribution to our debate. I know that my noble friend Lord Rooker will read it with interest and I am sure that other Ministers in the Northern Ireland Office will also want to read what he had to say. We look forward to hearing his opinions not just on Northern Ireland but on other subjects as well. I welcome back the noble Viscount, Lord Eccles, who made a very interesting speech. I must confess that I did not entirely agree with it. When I heard him talking about his electoral success, I though for a moment that I was in the wrong place, bearing in mind that it is just after a general election. But I was not, and the House must congratulate the noble Viscount on his victory and welcome him back to the House of Lords. This debate clearly shows the links between rural affairs, sustainable communities, transport and the regions. I have 20 minutes in which to answer this debate. There will be many questions that remain unanswered, but I hope to write to Front-Benchers with answers to questions raised by them and with answers to questions from other noble Lords if I do not reach the answers in time. In her opening, my noble friend demonstrated the importance of sustainable communities, both urban and rural, and how transport and local involvement contribute to building them. Sustainable development will contribute to a sustainable global community as we tackle the challenge of climate change, as well as to sustainable local communities as we look to reduce disadvantage and to increase social inclusion. A sustainable community is a place that offers opportunities for people of different ages and backgrounds to live, work and play. It is a community that balances and integrates social, economic and environmental needs. To this end, the Government are creating new opportunities for people to enjoy our natural environment. As was pointed out by the noble Earl, Lord Peel, in—if I may flatter him—an excellent speech, by the end of this year, the Countryside and Rights of Way Act will have opened up about 1 million hectares of additional land, including some of the finest landscapes in England and Wales. But there is more, much more, that we can do. Through the Natural Environment and Rural Communities Bill, we will create Natural England and unite in a single organisation the responsibilities for enhancing biodiversity and landscape, for promoting access and recreation, and for increasing opportunities for everyone to understand, enjoy and benefit from the natural environment. The Bill will also formally establish the new commission for rural communities, which will act as an independent advocate, adviser and watchdog for rural people. It will ensure that the Government's policies make a real, tangible difference to people in rural areas, especially in tackling social and economic exclusion and disadvantage. In the House this afternoon, we have heard many fine speeches about rural areas. The noble Baroness, Lady Byford, started us off. The right reverend Prelate the Bishop of Norwich made a fascinating contribution. I think that it is generally agreed that my noble friend Lord Giddens made a speech that was a tour de force on this topic. I have referred to the speech of the noble Earl, Lord Peel. My old opponent, the noble Lord, Lord Kimball—who forgot to say that he thrashed me soundly all those years ago—also talked about this issue. He asked how many fewer officials there will be when this is finished. The number will come down from 3,500 to 2,900 and there will be savings of millions of pounds over the next number of years. We shall also introduce a Bill to promote the sustainable management of our common land, a matter that has been referred to. That will help us to meet our targets on valuable wildlife sites, reinforce existing protections for common land and safeguard public access. I emphasise that we want to continue on a path to a sustainable farming and food industry. I agree with much of what the noble Lord, Lord Livsey, said about food. I was slightly taken aback by the view that it is thought in some quarters of the House that the Government do not believe that agriculture is an important part of this country's heritage and present and future. That is not the position. The noble Lord, Lord Mackie, in his understated way, said that he hoped that we thought that agriculture was "quite important". We think that it is rather more than quite important. That is not to say that we can satisfy every need or requirement of farmers, but it is undoubtedly a very important part of this country. Implementing the reform of the common agricultural policy this year is a large step in that direction and represents the biggest change in farmer support for generations. Not only will farmers be free to respond to markets rather than just subsidy regimes, but we are—this should be noted by those who accuse us of over bureaucracy—combining 10 major subsidy schemes and several others into one payment with consequent benefits. That will be very important in terms of paper work. Some time ago the noble Lord, Lord Monro of Langholm, asked how many failed to join the single payment scheme. It is difficult to say for the reason I mentioned in the oral Answer this afternoon, but we know that about 3,000 more are expected to pass on their application forms before the deadline of 10 June. In this anti-bureaucratic mood the whole farm approach, about which the noble Lord will know, is due to come on-line later this year and is something that I hope all farmers will welcome. In England we are moving towards full decoupling of support from production by 2012, which we trust will bring fairness and transparency to the whole system. These are enormous changes. We have recognised that in the unprecedented programme we have undertaken in the past 12 months to ensure that farmers are aware of the changes and their effects. There were more than 115,000 applications for the single payment scheme by the deadline. Alongside the reformed CAP, in March this year we introduced a major new environmental stewardship scheme, which we hope will be widely taken up by farmers. At the moment everything looks promising. We expect to inject around £150 million of extra resources into farming in its first year. Through such measures we are supporting the crucial role that the farming community plays, not only in producing safe nutritious food—that should not be underrated—but in protecting and enhancing our landscape, our wildlife, soils, water, and other natural resources. Everyone wants sustainable farming that responds to market signals not to subsidies, with high-quality products and farmers being rewarded for the public goods they provide through their positive management of the countryside. In that way we can look to a more secure future for the farming industry and a better environment for us all to enjoy. This is a major programme of work. The House knows that the Natural Environment and Rural Communities Bill was published last Thursday. We shall continue to press forward with this important agenda. In rural areas providing a range of housing but with particular emphasis on providing more affordable homes is key to delivering sustainable communities. That will be at the forefront of the new rural housing commission's agenda. We are working together across government to make sure that a choice of sustainable, affordable housing is available and retained in rural communities. In her opening remarks, my noble friend pointed out the commitment made in our manifesto to increase the supply of affordable housing in rural communities. In both rural and urban areas, it is vital that we achieve housing growth sustainably and raise the environmental performance of what we build. We know that balancing these different interests—social, economic and environmental—is not easy. On transport, for example, we heard some fascinating speeches from my noble friends Lord Snape, Lord Berkeley, Lord Faulkner of Worcester and Lord Simon, the noble Earl, Lord Mar and Kellie, and the noble Lord, Lord Cobbold. Improved transport access and ease of mobility can make a positive contribution to social and economic progress. However, the negative impacts of transport on the environment, about which we have also heard today, affect us all. While we are working to improve the position, both road and air traffic remain significant sources of greenhouse gas emissions, leaving aside the local impacts on noise, air pollution, wildlife and landscape that many people feel more keenly. We recognise that transport has to make a contribution to reducing carbon dioxide emissions. We already have in place a number of measures to achieve this, as outlined in our climate change programme review consultation document, and we are exploring further measures as a key element of that review. We are prepared to listen and even to change our minds. Let me give a practical example of that. My first decision in this job was to amend the guidance about the effect of the new single payment scheme on motor sports in rural areas. That will not be the last time that we change our minds. We will do so if it is the proper thing to do. Across government, we are committed to empowering people to have more say in the way places are run. This applies to Wales, Scotland, Northern Ireland and to the English regions, down to the most local level of the parish councils. Devolution was one of the biggest changes to the constitution for many years. We believe that it has increased political accountability and enabled distinctive local solutions to be found for particular issues. Perhaps I may say a word about Northern Ireland, in particular to the noble Lord, Lord Laird. I am sure he will understand that setting the statutory criteria and regulatory regime which determines who should or should not hold office in financial institutions in the Irish Republic are matters for the Government of the Irish Republic, and that the issues over which Phil Flynn resigned from his position at the Bank of Scotland (Ireland) are connected to a criminal investigation in the Irish Republic. It would not be appropriate for me to comment further at this time. As my noble friend Lady Andrews said in her opening speech, the Government remain committed to restoring the Northern Ireland Assembly on an inclusive, power-sharing basis. Devolution is what the people of Northern Ireland want. I repeat that there has to be an end to paramilitary activity and criminality on the one hand, while on the other we need to see unionist participation in an inclusive government. We are fully committed to devolving delivery closer to communities. Local authorities have key responsibilities in building sustainable communities now and for generations to come in both urban and rural areas. We have had some very interesting speeches around local and regional government. Passions run high on these issues and we have heard them from all parts of the House. I shall try to respond to one or two of the issues that arose. On regional assemblies, we have set ourselves a target of improving the economic performance of all the regions, particularly those which are performing less well. We need to do that through all the agencies that are available. We believe that regional assemblies are inclusive bodies representing the whole range of opinion in their region, not just that of individual local authorities. Their members are drawn from a variety of political parties: economic—including both business and employee—and social partners, as well as environmental stakeholders. On the future of local government, the House will know from our document on vibrant local leadership that the Government agree that leadership is vital to delivering successful, thriving cities. We are also considering the best way of developing the future of local government in the light of the document we published before the election. The noble Baroness, Lady Scott, mentioned rental housing. It is an important subject. We have more than doubled investment for social rented homes, to around £2 billion in 2007–08. We will provide for 75,000 new homes for rent by 2008. We have also, as the noble Baroness will know, supported rented housing through some measures in the Housing Act 2004. It is up to Sir Michael Lyons to decide exactly when he reports. The terms of reference are fixed and they require a report by the end of 2005. This sort of job should not be rushed; we have to await the publication of his findings before saying more. Real empowerment at the local level enables local spending to be determined by local needs. Parish plans identify and prioritise the community's needs and set out how they might be tackled. We are putting a further £1 million into funding them this year. For example, empowering local people has enabled Danby parish council, in the Esk Valley in Yorkshire, to secure highway safety improvements and pathways worth £188,000 and grants for health facilities worth more than £1 million. Many of us in this Chamber have served on parish or town councils and we know the valuable service they provide. Of course, our sense of community cannot be limited to just where we live; it extends much further. We are trustees of both our global and local communities and we have to meet the challenge of climate change and work to increase community inclusion for all. Many speeches have emphasised the difficulties surrounding climate change. The noble Duke, the Duke of Montrose, my noble friend Lord Faulkner of Worcester, the noble Lord, Lord Dixon-Smith, my noble friend Lord Hunt of Chesterton, my noble friend Lady McIntosh of Hudnall and the noble Lord, Lord Palmer, all commented on climate change. We have to use energy more efficiently. My noble friend told us earlier how the Government are already managing these challenges through a series of targeted actions to reduce emissions. We are on course to achieve the target agreed under the Kyoto Protocol. Provisional estimates suggest that in 2004, UK greenhouse gas emissions were about 12.5 per cent below base year levels. There is a long way to go to achieve our domestic target. The current review of the climate change programme is examining ways to ensure that we get back on track to achieving that goal and puts us on the path to making real progress by 2020, towards our longer term goal of some 60 per cent reduction by 2050. We have also launched a new high-level forum to tackle climate change issues in rural areas. It was in that respect that the noble Countess, Lady Mar, talked about her concerns regarding pesticides and chemicals, and I shall be writing to her. Anyone who imagines for a moment that the Government do not take climate change and all that it involves really seriously is quite wrong. This has clearly been the theme of our debate in many ways. There is a feeling, I believe, in the country that this issue has to be tackled. To say it has to be tackled means that it is a very difficult issue, but one that we have to face. People in all areas deserve access to high-quality services. In rural areas, general affluence can often mask small pockets of disadvantage and social exclusion. The Government's aim is to ensure that rural communities benefit in the same way as urban areas from our programmes to modernise, improve and support public services. We heard two excellent speeches from North Wales. One was made by my noble friend Lord Jones, who did such a fantastic job in getting industry to his part of Wales; the other was made by the noble Lord, Lord Roberts of Conwy, who was delighted by his party's three extra seats. I do not think that his party would have been delighted with that 10 years ago, let alone 50 years ago, but if he is delighted, then we are all delighted. I conclude by returning to the main themes: rural affairs, sustainable communities, transport and the regions. In all these agendas, working in partnership is key, whether it is in delivering 1.1 million new homes in the wider south east or in tackling the climate change challenge. As we strive to create sustainable communities, we have to balance social, economic and environmental needs. Local transport plans will encourage local transport providers to think about all these aspects, and the very important new code for sustainable buildings will promote increased resource efficiency in buildings to complement our policies on density and greater use of brownfield sites. Building strong communities also means investing to tackle disadvantage and working to narrow the gap between deprived communities, wherever they are, and others who share with them the privilege of living in this country.