February 2008
One of the most important aspects of being a Member of Parliament is to scrutinise Government Ministers and to hold them to account. One of the most effective ways of doing this is to summon them to appear before House of Commons Select Committees. We also summon business and union leaders, broadcasters, journalists and other public figures.
For nearly three years I have had the privilege of chairing the Welsh Affairs Select Committee which is made up of MPs of all political parties. Whilst our principal task is to hold the Secretary of State for Wales and his Wales Office to account – and we shall be seeing the new incumbent Rt Hon Paul Murphy MP next month – we also call other Ministers from other Whitehall Departments. Even though we have a Welsh Assembly Government there are big UK Departments like Work and Pensions and Defence which have a big effect on the Welsh economy.
The Welsh Affairs Committee is about to start an inquiry on 'cross border' issues – how different policies in health, education and transport affect public services in England and Wales. The new Secretary of State, Paul Murphy, has often said that whilst devolution is to be welcomed, developing policies that are different is not good enough: they have to be better. In this new inquiry we will be particularly keen to take evidence on student recruitment and research in universities and on specialist health provision.
A welcome development for us will be that we will work jointly with relevant Committees in the Welsh Assembly.
Anyone interested in the work of the Welsh Affairs Committee (our annual report is to be published soon) can learn more about it from our website.
The public can also watch our committee online.
Back in the constituency, I was pleased to attend an event at the Corus plant in Port Talbot which signifies its continued progress and success. The event recognised Corus' achievement of Ford's 'QI' status as a supplier. The link between Corus at Port Talbot and Ford Europe is very important – the supply of over 30,000 tonnes of steel every year. This is another sign of the hard work and professionalism of all at Corus Port Talbot.
I wonder whether this continued success will eventually lead to an announcement of the Margam New Mine sooner rather than later?
