The Economy and Living Standards

Roger Williams Excerpts

Thursday 12th June 2014 Commons Chamber

[Roger Williams (Brecon and Radnorshire) (LD)]

I welcome the Queen’s Speech. In particular, I welcome the proposals giving the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs powers to introduce regulations to hold direct elections in national parks in England. Why do I think this is important? I speak from some experience as I was the chairman of the Brecon Beacons national park. The Bill refers to England, but the governance of national parks in England is very similar to that in Wales. At the moment, all members of national park authorities are appointed, not elected. This results in a democratic deficit. Members appointed by the Secretary of State represent the national interest—I can understand that—but members appointed by local authorities, often on a political basis, sometimes do not even represent wards in the national parks. Elections for local authority councillors do not often feature national park issues.

The national parks that were set up in Scotland some time after those in England and Wales do have direct elections for a proportion of the members of national park authorities. The elections have been well contested, with good turnouts, and have proved popular; but more importantly, they give people a chance to debate national park matters during a democratic process.

I believe that this proposal will strengthen the case for national parks and their purposes. The national park establishment believes that it will bring forward anti-national park candidates. It might do that, but I believe that most people who live in national parks support the principle, but wish to express a view on how their services should be delivered. This Bill will be good for national parks and for the people who live in them.

I also welcome the announcement in the Queen’s Speech that, from 2016, all new homes will be required to meet a zero-carbon standard. However, that will not deal with the existing housing stock. In constituencies such as mine, rural fuel poverty is a serious issue that can have terrible health impacts. I had hoped that new proposals would have been included to help people who are struggling with fuel bills and fuel poverty by improving our current housing stock.

The energy bill revolution has repeatedly shown that investment in a major home energy efficiency programme would deliver better economic outcomes than almost all other forms of investment. Improving homes through insulation would help to bring down people’s energy costs. It would help to keep their homes warmer and have major health and environmental benefits. Improving the quality and efficiency of our homes must be one of our top priorities if we are to tackle the growing issue of fuel poverty. We must recognise the economic, social and environmental benefits of improving our homes and establish the idea that creating homes capable of keeping people warm and healthy is the most vital infrastructure investment we can make. I trust that such a provision will appear in the infrastructure Bill.

On 28 November 2012, I congratulated the Government on introducing regulations to protect wild animals in travelling circuses and asked the Prime Minister whether he would commit to introducing a ban in this Parliament. He responded by saying:

“It is our intention to do just that. My hon. Friend is absolutely right to raise the fact that we have changed the regulations in advance of legislation, so that the clearly expressed will of this House can be met.”—[Official Report, 28 November 2012; Vol. 554, c. 219.]

Given that the Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, the British Veterinary Association, the Captive Animals Protection Society and Animal Defenders International all support a complete ban on the use of wild animals in circuses, it is surely time finally to pass legislation on this issue. Twenty-seven other countries have introduced some form of prohibition on the use of wild animals in circuses, including half of the EU countries. Given the widespread support for a ban, I was concerned that there was no mention of it in the Queen’s Speech. I hope that other Members will support me in asking the Government to introduce this uncontroversial, and long overdue, legislation for a complete ban.

In 2012, the Independent Panel on Forestry published its final report to the Government on the future of England’s forests and woodlands. It called for our forests and woodlands to be revalued to take into account all the services they provide. Forests are particularly important for the local economy in rural areas. The panel’s research showed that our forests are the

“single largest provider of outdoor leisure and recreation”,

the single largest timber producer, and a vital habitat for wildlife. The report estimated that our forests

“are producing annual returns on investment estimated at £400 million”.

It suggested that the public forest estate should be defined in law as land held in trust for the nation. The Government’s response supported the suggestions, but legislation has yet to materialise. I am sure that other hon. Members would agree that action is now needed to ensure that our forests are protected for generations to come.