That this House deplores the conduct of ministerial business by the Secretary of State for Wales in denying, last November, any awareness of the political affiliations of David Rowe-Beddoe whom he appointed as the Chairman of the Welsh Development Agency and then, on Friday, 27th January, agreeing that the curriculum vitae of Mr Rowe-Beddoe which specified that he was the Chairman of the Monte Carlo branch of Conservatives Abroad had been supplied for his perusal before he made the appointment; and believes that a Secretary of State who asserts that the back to basics policy must include a moral component ought to oblige himself to abide by the highest standards of political conduct inside and outside the House, of openness and frankness in all dealings with the people of Wales and its elected representatives on all politically sensitive issues.

That this House deplores the conduct of ministerial business by the Secretary of State for Wales in denying, last November, any awareness of the political affiliations of David Rowe-Beddoe whom he appointed as the Chairman of the Welsh Development Agency and then, on Friday, 27th January, agreeing that the curriculum...

That this House condemns the wholesale disposal of ??75 million of Welsh Development Agency industrial assets announced not to this House but through the obscurest of public information channels, namely the Supplement to the Official Journal of the European Communities of 8th December (239/63); is concerned that following such a huge asset sale, the Welsh Development Agency will be in no position to assemble an effective competitive package of industrial incentives including land and factory buildings for would-be investors in Wales in the future, as it will not own enough land and factory buildings; notes that even the very process of privatisation of these industrial property assets is being privatised, through the call for tenders to act as private property management services contractors for the marketing and negotiation of the disposals of these assets; and believes this to be an example of not merely selling the family silver, but selling the sideboard with it as well.

That this House condemns the wholesale disposal of ??75 million of Welsh Development Agency industrial assets announced not to this House but through the obscurest of public information channels, namely the Supplement to the Official Journal of the European Communities of 8th December (239/63); is concerned that following such a...

That this House condemns the disastrous catalogue of mismanagement and worse at the Welsh Development Agency revealed in the report of the Committee of Public Accounts published on 8th July on the Agency's 1991-92 accounts; notes the departure of Dr Gwyn Jones from the Chairman's job at the Agency on 30th June with the hope that the opportunity exists for the Agency to make a long overdue fresh start; further notes that Dr Jones still holds the high office of Chairman of the Board of BBC Wales, carrying with it an automatic seat on the full Board of Governors of the BBC itself, and of S4C, the Welsh Fourth Channel Authority; considers that the evidence revealed of his defective stewardship of the affairs of the Welsh Development Agency from 1988 to 1993 renders him an unfit person to hold the same responsibility for the BBC in Wales; calls for the Prime Minister to demand his resignation from that office; notes the criticisms of agency board members and until 1st January 1993 Deputy Chairman Sir Donald Walters; and demands likewise his resignation from the chairmanship of the board of the new Llandough Hospital NHS Trust.

That this House condemns the disastrous catalogue of mismanagement and worse at the Welsh Development Agency revealed in the report of the Committee of Public Accounts published on 8th July on the Agency's 1991-92 accounts; notes the departure of Dr Gwyn Jones from the Chairman's job at the Agency on...

That this House calls on the President of the Board of Trade to proceed no further with the appointment from 1st April of Lord Walker as Chairman of the Urban Regeneration Agency, nor as his adviser on job-creation in pit closure areas, because of the new evidence which has come to light with the publication on 17th March of the minutes of evidence and memoranda of the Committee of Public Accounts investigation into the 1991-92 Accounts of the Welsh Development Agency (HC, 1992-93, 353-i), where on pages 48 and 49 (Appendix 5) details are disclosed of merchant bankers Barclays de Zoete Wedd submitting a preliminary report to Lord Walker, then Secretary of State for Wales, on future options for increased private sector participation in the activities of the Welsh Development Agency and specifically to the choice between placing a majority of shares in the Agency with financial institutions together with a Stock Exchange listing, or on the other hand an outright flotation of all shares in the Agency, all knowledge of which privatisation proposals was denied by the self-same Secretary of State in the course of Welsh Questions on 17th July 1989, Official Report, column 5, when he gave the answer 'no Sir' followed by 'the honourable gentleman is totally wrong' to the question by the honourable Member for Carmarthen, asking specifically about the existence of discussions between Barclays de Zoete Wedd and the Agency and whether the agenda in those discussions included both possible 50-50 public-private structure and 'outright privatisation'.

That this House calls on the President of the Board of Trade to proceed no further with the appointment from 1st April of Lord Walker as Chairman of the Urban Regeneration Agency, nor as his adviser on job-creation in pit closure areas, because of the new evidence which has come...

That this House considers that the new evidence in relation to the responsibility of Lord Walker for the initiation of the Operation Wizard privatisation exercise for the Welsh Development Agency in 1988-89 revealed in pages 48-9 of the Committee of Public Accounts minutes of evidence on the WDA's Accounts (HC, 1992-93, 353-i) demonstrates clearly that the WDA was not safe in Lord Walker's hands then, and that therefore the nation's pit closure areas and the new Urban Regeneration Agency will not be safe in his hands either; urges the Committee of Public Accounts to examine closely whether Lord Walker, as one of the prime movers in the Operation Wizard privatisation strategy for the WDA, should now be asked to repay an appropriate proportion of the ??308,000 total of professional consultancy fees incurred without any parliamentary authority by the WDA at Lord Walker's behest; and is not surprised that he has been keen to disown his involvement.

That this House considers that the new evidence in relation to the responsibility of Lord Walker for the initiation of the Operation Wizard privatisation exercise for the Welsh Development Agency in 1988-89 revealed in pages 48-9 of the Committee of Public Accounts minutes of evidence on the WDA's Accounts (HC,...

That this House deplores the actions of Dr Gwyn Jones in obtaining a grant of ??16,895 in July 1988 under false pretences from the Welsh Development Agency Rural Conversion Grant Scheme, four months after being appointed Chairman-designate of the Welsh Development Agency; notes that the grant was awarded for converting the Old Flour Mill at Porthmadog into craft workshops, whereas in the event it was converted into residential accommodation; notes further that Dr Jones has recently made a partial repayment of the grant of ??3,395; and urges the Agency to seek repayment in full from its Chairman, lest any other Chairman-designate of any public body follows his example in attempting to defraud the body of which they are about to become Chairman.

That this House deplores the actions of Dr Gwyn Jones in obtaining a grant of ??16,895 in July 1988 under false pretences from the Welsh Development Agency Rural Conversion Grant Scheme, four months after being appointed Chairman-designate of the Welsh Development Agency; notes that the grant was awarded for converting...

That this House condemns the Welsh Development Agency's decision to give a grant of ??50,000 to Mr Brian Walker, in spite of his past record of calamities, including his first factory in Wisbech destroyed by fire in March 1986, his second business at the Croda site in Merthyr destroyed by fire in March 1987, his third business at Taff Vale Works destroyed by fire, a fourth business a wine bar in Merthyr destroyed by fire in 1989; notes in addition three of his companies have been wound up in 1989 and 1991 with debts of ??284,000, ??11,000 and ??21,000, respectively; notes that he is now preparing to open an indoor children's pleasure park in Newport, Gwent, for work on which he has at least three unpaid debts to local firms of ??20,000, ??15,000 and ??18,000; recalls that in one of the fires staff had to flee for their lives; is alarmed that a person with Mr Walker's safety record proposes to supervise children in an indoor children's play area in an adapted building; and deplores the use of public money to sustain Mr Walker in business.

That this House condemns the Welsh Development Agency's decision to give a grant of ??50,000 to Mr Brian Walker, in spite of his past record of calamities, including his first factory in Wisbech destroyed by fire in March 1986, his second business at the Croda site in Merthyr destroyed by...