Local Government Committee, 11 Jun 2002

Meeting date: Tuesday, June 11, 2002

Official Report 143KB pdf

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Subordinate Legislation

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Local Government Finance (Scotland)<br />(No 2) Order 2002 (SSI 2002/230)

Item 2 on the agenda is subordinate legislation. The order is to be considered under the affirmative procedure. I welcome the Deputy Minister for Finance and Public Services, Peter Peacock, and Nikki Brown, who is from the local government finance and performance division of the Scottish Executive finance and central services department.

I will allow a short time for the minister to give evidence on the order and for members to ask questions, but only for clarification or explanation. During that time, questions may be addressed to the minister, who can decide whether to answer them or to call on his officials to answer. I will then open the debate. The minister will read his statement and, at the end, move the motion. We will then have an open debate, during which I will call committee members who wish to speak for or against the motion. Finally, I will put the question on the motion. The procedure should be clear by now, because we do it regularly.

I ask the minister to give his evidence.

Thank you, convener. I will be brief, but no matter how brief I am, I suspect that we will not see the end of the Ireland v Saudi Arabia football match.

As members know, ministers have promised to commit the necessary resources to implement free personal care and nursing care for older people, to support the increases in care home fees, to implement the national concessionary fares programme and to improve debt advice services for some of our most vulnerable people.

We have consulted the Convention of Scottish Local Authorities about all those matters. The order will give effect to the allocation of the additional resources that we seek to apply to all those matters. The order does so technically by revoking the Local Government Finance (Scotland) Order 2002, which Parliament debated on 31 January, and replacing it with an order that incorporates the increased allocation of revenue support grant.

I will be pleased to answer any questions.

There appear to be no questions from members. I ask the minister to add anything that he wishes to add and formally to move the motion.

The points that I have just made carry into this part of the process. As I indicated, the resources are for free personal care, nursing care, the increases in care home fees, the implementation of the concessionary fares programme and improved debt advice. The order will deliver on our promises on those matters. The order is in addition to a settlement that gives grant increases of twice the rate of inflation to every council and increases local authorities' revenue grant by about 11.3 per cent. I am pleased to seek Parliament's approval for grant allocations to local authorities as set out in the order.

As I indicated, the full agreement of COSLA to the allocations has been obtained. I commend the order to the committee.

Motion moved,

That the Local Government Committee recommends that the Local Government Finance (Scotland) (No 2) Order 2002 be approved.

Motion agreed to.

I might, after all, see the end of the football game.