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Welsh Affairs

I am pleased to be able to make a contribution to this debate on behalf of my constituents. I thank the Secretary of State for the work that he has done for Wales in general and for higher and further education in my constituency, and for the time that he has spent in our local college of knowledge. We have heard about the importance of education and training. I hope everyone agrees that although previously our area relied primarily on two industries—coal and steel—the training provided through the steel industry was and is second to none. There is much to be learned and gained from examining the apprenticeship and production training structure in the plants at Port Talbot and Llanwern in particular, and Trostre, and the training methods used. The first issue I want to raise is local government funding. We have heard that there are strains on local government, given reductions in some of the finances available. I thank the Secretary of State for writing to me recently on the Barnett formula. Although I accept that significant sums have been poured into Wales, I ask hon. Members to examine a report issued by The Alliance in December. The Alliance is a group of local government representatives backed by the Labour Back-Bench group on regeneration. The report shows that although there has been an improvement in some areas, the gap between those who have the most and those who have the least is the same as it was eight or 10 years ago. The two areas that feature highly in the report are Blaenau Gwent and Merthyr Tydfil, so it is important to review the Barnett formula. We should not throw the baby out with the bathwater, but I urge the Government to take part in that review, alongside the Welsh Assembly Government. I have copies of the report, if anyone wishes to obtain one. The second issue is incapacity benefit. We would all agree that we want those who can work to be in work. However, the approach that is being taken to drive the numbers down is wrong. I recently met a constituent, aged 64 and a half—people come off incapacity benefit at 65—who has been on the benefit for 10 years. He is supported by his GP, but he has been told by a board that he is fit for work. How can I explain that to him when he says, ““I have not improved in 10 years. My health is not much better, the arthritis is worse and my back is still bad.””? We cannot tell such people that they are now fit, especially if their GP supports their claim. I hope that we can take a slightly different approach. We do need to examine those on incapacity benefit, but we also need to examine how they get on the benefit in the first place. For years, in areas such as mine, people would come out of a traditional heavy industry and go on to incapacity benefit. That mentality has continued, so it is not just a case of getting people off the benefit, but of examining who is put on it and seeing how we can help them. Often, there are jobs that they could do.