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House of Commons

Wednesday 21 October 1992

The House met at half-past Two o'clock

PRAYERS

[Madam Speaker-- in the Chair ]

Oral Answers to Questions

SCOTLAND

Scottish Enterprise

1. Mr. Donohoe : To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland when he last met the chief executive of Scottish Enterprise to discuss the Scottish economy.

The Secretary of State for Scotland (Mr. Ian Lang) : My ministerial colleagues and I frequently meet both the chairman and the chief executive of Scottish Enterprise to discuss a range of economic development and training issues. I last met the chairman last week.

Mr. Donohoe : When the right hon. Gentleman met the chairman, did he discuss the Government's intention to cut the training budget of Scottish Enterprise by up to 10 per cent? That cut will mean the loss of £2 million to £3 million from the Ayrshire economy, although it is a part of the country which has already been devastated by high unemployment, not least in south Ayrshire where the mines have already been shut down by policies introduced by the Government. There have been further redundancies this week in my constituency at Amkor Anam--a factory which the Secretary of State visited about two years ago

Madam Speaker : Order. I think that the hon. Gentleman is coming to his question, is that right?

Mr. Donohoe : Yes, Madam Speaker. Will the right hon. Gentleman ensure that the intended training cuts do not go ahead?

Mr. Lang : The hon. Gentleman is premature in his speculation as to the budget next year of Scottish Enterprise and Highlands and Islands Enterprise. He might like to reflect on the fact that the combined budgets of those two bodies have been far in excess of £500 million this year, and that that is a remarkable increase on the paltry resources put in the hands of the old Scottish Development Agency by the last Labour Government.

As for the hon. Gentleman's constituency, of course I regret the loss of jobs at Amkor Anam, which reflects world trading conditions. The hon. Gentleman might like to recognise the good news in his constituency--the arrival of another 125 jobs at SCI and another 50 jobs at Volvo in Irvine. So it is not all bad news.

Sir Nicholas Fairbairn : Will my right hon. Friend reflect on the analysis in The Times on 15 October, showing that pay in Scotland is 2 per cent. above the national average

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and that Scotland is so successful that costs are 2.5 per cent. less, and the average standard of living and quality of life is 4.5 per cent. above, the rates in any other area of Britain, apart from Greater London?

Mr. Lang : My hon. and learned Friend is right to draw attention to the quality of life in Scotland and also to its advantages as an industrial location. I would not wish to disguise the fact that Scotland is suffering in the world recession, just as every other modern industrialised economy is suffering, but gross domestic product is at an all-time high, output and exports are close to an all-time high, and we should not lose sight of those facts.

Ms. Rachel Squire : Is the Secretary of State for Scotland aware of the high unemployment throughout Scotland and of the desperate need to create jobs and to fill them rapidly? Is he aware that there are parts of Fife where the official unemployment figures are 23.4 per cent? If the right hon. Gentleman is aware of that and is concerned about creating jobs, why does he not tell British Coal to reopen the Frances colliery, to create 1,100 direct jobs and to create and maintain many hundreds more jobs throughout Scotland in manufacturing and engineering?

Mr. Lang : I am as keen to see unemployment fall in Scotland as elsewhere in the United Kingdom. Unemployment in Scotland has been rising at half the rate of that elsewhere in the United Kingdom, which reflects the greater strength of the Scottish economy in the past few years. The headline total fell in Scotland by 8,000 last month. I hope that the return of confidence that will follow the recent falls in inflation and interest rates will lead to further employment in Fife and elsewhere in Scotland.

Mr. Tom Clarke : When the Secretary of State breathtakingly talks about good news, does that not show the complacency that has all too often been this Government's hallmark, particularly in relation to Scotland? Does he not think that he should be explaining that unemployment has risen every month since the election, that even with the fiddled figures, a quarter of a million Scots are unemployed and that, because of the Government's failed economic policies, there are bankruptcies, job losses and repossessions on an unprecedented and unacceptable scale? The party that promised recovery has delivered a major slump.

The Scottish people expect the Secretary of State to display at least a fraction of the commitment to the Scottish economy shown by the Scottish miners lobbying the House today who are committed to jobs and a future for Scotland. The Scottish people expect more from a Secretary of State than they receive from one who merely wrings and washes his hands.

Mr. Lang : If the hon. Gentleman is suggesting that the Government are doing nothing to help the Scottish economy recover, he should consider the establishment of Scottish Enterprise and local enterprise companies all over Scotland. He should recognise the extra resources that are going into the urban programme and the specific area initiatives that we are taking, including the Monklands initiative in his constituency. He should also recognise that, under the Government, inflation has fallen by two thirds in the past two years and interest rates have very nearly halved. Those are the conditions for recovery. That will come with returning confidence and would be helped if the hon. Gentleman did not seek to talk Scotland down.

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Hospital Trusts

2. Mr. Ernie Ross : To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland when he last met the chairmen of health boards to discuss hospital trusts.

Mr. Lang : My noble and learned Friend the Minister with responsibility for health in Scotland held one of his regular meetings with health board chairmen on 10 July 1992. In the course of that meeting, NHS trusts were discussed.

Mr. Ross : Given that the majority of those who drafted the applications for the opting out of the hospitals are presently employed by the chairmen as managers in the hospitals in the national health service, will the Secretary of State ask those chairmen why, if they were making all the exaggerated claims for service contained in the applications, those claims have not been implemented? Does he think that it is reasonable for the people in Dundee and Tayside to believe that services will be improved simply on the basis of the trust application made by Tim Brett and others? Does he not think that that is a leap in the dark for those people in Dundee and Tayside to make on the basis of hope?

Mr. Lang : I think that it is desirable that those involved in making trust applications should be familiar with the health service. If they were not, and did not have the necessary experience, the hon. Gentleman would be the first to criticise. He talks about exaggerated claims for the future of trust status. He may like to consider the progress of those hospitals that already enjoy trust status. The chairman of the South Ayrshire NHS Trust hospitals summarised the main achievements the other day, saying :

"The Trust is treating more patients than expected.

Waiting lists and waiting times have been reduced.

The Trust is obtaining better value for public money.

Support from the local community is tremendous.

The Trust's financial status is healthy."

Trust status is good news for patients throughout the health service and the United Kingdom.

Mr. Kynoch : Would my right hon. Friend like to tell the Opposition of the great success story of the Aberdeen royal hospital's NHS trust, which now has a one-stop breast clinic, evening gynaecology clinics and two new consultants and where a record number of patients are being treated who no longer have to wait for an hour when they are given an appointment? Will my right hon. Friend join me in saying that trusts are working successfully in Scotland and improving health care for the nation?

Mr. Lang : My hon. Friend is absolutely right. In addition to the achievements of the Foresterhill trust which he mentioned, he could have listed the introduction of bone marrow transplantation, increased levels of cardiac surgery, direct access for GPs to ultrasound and radiology, and the creation of additional neurology and paediatric consultant posts. Trust status hospitals in Scotland are working well.

Mr. Michael J. Martin : In the event of hospitals receiving trust status, is there any intention to cut the number of beds? Is there not a danger that the trust hospitals will be closed by the health board before hospitals directly controlled by the health board are closed?

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Mr. Lang : I see little danger of the kind of circumstance that the hon. Gentleman describes. The fact is that trust status has enabled hospitals to treat more patients more effectively, to use better equipment and to increase the number of medical posts. That is all to the advantage of patient care ; it is the positive aspects of trust status that are clearly shown up by experience.

Mr. Bill Walker : Does my right hon. Friend agree that in Tayside, where we have a superb health service, one of the great benefits of trust status would be that places such as Stracathro and Forfar would find it immensely to their advantage? We do not want trust status only in Dundee and not in the rural areas. Rural people and those who work in our rural hospitals want to have a say in their future--which is what trust status will give them.

Mr. Lang : I am interested in my hon. Friend's comments. He will know why we were unable to consider trust status for Forfar when it was first considered. If Forfar or Stracathro want to submit further applications, those will be looked at.

My hon. Friend might like to reflect on the fact that if the 14 applications that we have received in the second wave and the 20 expressions of interest for the third wave are translated in due course into trust status, 90 per cent. of hospital and community health budgets throughout Scotland will enjoy trust status. I feel sure that that will represent a positive advantage for Scottish health care.

Mrs. Fyfe : Will the Secretary of State tell us whether, if he has such trust in trusts, there will be genuine dialogue with the local community, unlike the trusts in England? Will local health councils have a statutory right to consultation ; if not, why not? Will trust board meetings be open to the public ; if not, why not?

Of the nine chairmen-designate of the trusts announced three weeks ago, three happen to be well-known Tories and others may be less well-known Tories. It is true that all of them have good works in common, but do so many of them have to have faith in the Tory cause as well? Does not such bias create some doubts about the way in which those hospitals will be run?

Mr. Lang : I certainly hope and expect to see the full involvement of the community with trust status hospitals. Indeed, I enjoyed the company of the hon. Member for Carrick, Cumnock and Doon Valley (Mr. Foulkes) when he and I welcomed my right hon. Friend the Prime Minister when opening the South Ayrshire Trust hospital. That is the sort of community involvement which I welcome.

The hon. Lady asked me about the membership of trust boards. If members of the Labour party show an interest in becoming involved in trust boards, I will be interested to learn their names. I wrote to the leaders of all the Scottish political parties after the general election asking them to submit to me names of members who might be suitable for health board membership. I have not had a single reply.

Unemployment

3. Dr. Strang : To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland what are his Department's priorities for reducing unemployment in Scotland.

The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Scotland (Mr. Allan Stewart) : We shall continue to give

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priority to measures that create an environment in which companies will create new jobs. We are doing this by cutting back on Government intervention in business, by creating the conditions to stimulate entrepreneurial activity and by reducing inflation.

Mr. Strang : Will the Minister now address the future of Scotland's deep-mined coal industry ? Is he aware that to let British Coal flood the Frances colliery would be to sanction an act of colossal industrial vandalism ? Will he give the House an undertaking this afternoon that the Government will not allow that to happen ?

Mr. Stewart : In relation to the two Scottish pits : I agree with the statements of the vice-president of the National Union of Mineworkers about Longannet. There have been unfortunate scare stories about it to which I give no credence.

I fully appreciate the importance of the hon. Gentleman's point about Frances colliery. We are in touch to seek assurances from British Coal on that point and, as the hon. Gentleman and some of his colleagues may know, the general secretary of the Scottish Trades Union Congress, Mr. Campbell Christie, has been in touch with the Government on this point and will receive a response shortly.

Mr. Gallie : Is my hon. Friend aware that, I am pleased to say, last month unemployment fell in my constituency ? I congratulate my hon. Friend and the Secretary of State for Scotland on their work in bringing to Prestwick 500 jobs in British Aerospace. I greatly appreciate that. Prestwick currently enjoys intermediate development status. Will my hon. Friend and the Secretary of State ensure that that continues ?

Mr. Stewart : I am grateful to my hon. Friend for his comments on unemployment in his constituency. Last month, seasonally adjusted unemployment fell not only in my hon. Friend's constituency but in almost all of Scotland's 72 constituencies. Naturally, hon. Members welcome that. Of course, we were delighted by British Aerospace's decision on Prestwick and were pleased to offer assistance with that crucial investment, which will provide a substantial number of new jobs in Ayrshire. On my hon. Friend's third point, we are currently consulting on the future of the assisted areas. I note with great care what he said.

Mr. Wray : What plans does the Minister have to eradicate the poverty and misery being caused in my constituency which has the highest unemployment in Britain ? Every person who is unemployed in my constituency costs the Government and the taxpayer £9,000. Unemployment totals 5,274 and costs the taxpayer £47 million. Fifty youngsters are chasing every vacancy. What do the Government propose to do about it ?

Mr. Stewart : The hon. Gentleman is a vocal constituency Member of Parliament, although he lives in my constituency and not in his own. No one underestimates the problem of unemployment in his constituency or more generally throughout the west of Scotland. But during a recession that has affected the whole of the industrialised world, Scotland, together with the north and Wales, has recorded the smallest increase in unemployment over the past 12 months of all areas in the United Kingdom. That shows that the economy has

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diversified and restructured. Therefore, the Scottish economy is well placed to take advantage of the opportunities when the world economy turns up. That will help the hon. Gentleman's constituents and, as he knows, the Glasgow Development Agency's specific programmes will help in a number of additional ways.

Governance

4. Mr. McAllion : To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland what representations he has received since 9 April relating to the government of Scotland.

8. Mr. Wallace : To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland what plans he has to improve the governance of Scotland.

Mr. Lang : Since the general election, I and my right hon. Friends have undertaken a range of consultations relating to the government of Scotland. We are considering ways of making government more responsive to Scotland's needs within the Union.

Mr. McAllion : Does the Secretary of State accept that the magnificent campaign currently being waged by the National Union of Mineworkers demonstrates that this Tory Government will react to only one kind of pressure--extra-parliamentary pressure? Therefore, does he agree that if the people of Scotland want self-government, they will have to exert extra-parliamentary pressure by turning out in their thousands to support the mass lobby of this undemocratic Parliament on 26 November and the mass demonstration at the Euro summit on 12 December? Where will he be on that date--skulking in his constituency, frightened to show his face to the Scottish people because he has so blatantly let them down in this place?

Mr. Lang : I thought that the hon. Gentleman was taking part in extra-parliamentary activities when he set up Scottish United, along with his hon. Friend the Member for Glasgow, Hillhead (Mr. Galloway). They claimed that thousands were rallying to their cause, but at every meeting the numbers fell by 1,000 or 2,000. I do not think that they are campaigning at all now, are they?

Mr. Wallace : The Secretary of State referred to bringing forward proposals responsive to Scotland's needs. Does he accept that another feature of democracy is having proposals that are responsive to the democratically expressed wishes of the people of Scotland? What wish has he identified for privatisation of our water supplies? Does he believe that taking away local control of the water industry in the teeth of overwhelming opposition is a good exercise of proper democratic government?

Mr. Lang : I think that the hon. Gentleman is a month or two premature with his question. The Government do not have a policy that commits them to water privatisation. We are considering a consultation document that will set out a range of options for the future of the water industry in restructured local government. I look forward to the hon. Gentleman's representations when he has had a chance to read the consultation paper and consider the answers to the questions that must be addressed.

Mr. Rowe : My understanding is that most of the proposals for changing the governance of Scotland would

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result in Scottish Members spending more time in Scotland than here in Westminster. Does my right hon. Friend accept that, although losing some Scottish Members would be of benefit to Opposition parties in the House, we on the Conservative Benches would be sorry to see them spending less time here?

Mr. Lang : I am grateful to my hon. Friend. He is right to recognise that this is the Parliament of the United Kingdom, in which Scottish Members, English Members, Welsh Members and Northern Ireland Members all have equal rights.

Mr. Bill Walker : Does my right hon. Friend agree that the United Kingdom's unwritten constitution and Parliament are the finest safeguards that the Scots can have to ensure that their interests are looked after? We have only to consider the occupancy of the Government and Opposition Front Benches to realise that Scots, with less than 9 per cent. of the United Kingdom population, always enjoy much more representation--probably more than 25 per cent.--on those Benches.

Mr. Lang : My hon. Friend is absolutely right. Scotland enjoys advantages from its membership of this United Kingdom Parliament. Scotland's economy enjoys advantages from its membership of the United Kingdom. Nothing in our consideration will undermine Scotland's place as a full partner in the United Kingdom.

Mr. Galloway : Listening to the smirking arrogance of the Secretary of State for Scotland, we would scarcely believe that just under 25 per cent. of Scottish electors voted for him at the general election six months ago. Having listened to the humbug that he uttered a few moments ago, no one would believe that probably about half those electors would vote in that way again if they could have the general election again.

My hon. Friend the Member for Dundee, East (Mr. McAllion) asked the Secretary of State a question. What will he be doing when thousands of Scots are down here lobbying Parliament? Will he undertake now to meet the lobbyists who come to press Scotland's case for self-determination? Will he name two of the hirelings sitting next to him to meet my hon. Friend the Member for Dundee, East and myself in a public debate in any constituency in Scotland? We shall then see what the Scottish people think of his case and ours.

Mr. Lang : The hon. Gentleman's figure was incorrect. He talks of humbug and calls for meetings in this Parliament. Yet on 8 July--this appeared in the Daily Record --the hon. Gentleman called on his Scottish colleagues to boycott Scottish questions which

"would leave Scottish Secretary Ian Lang to address an empty Chamber."

It seems that the hon. Gentleman's ruse does not work.

Mr. Salmond : Will the Secretary of State now admit that in the disastrous months since the election, it is his stock, his party's stock and London government stock that has nose-dived in Scotland? Can he name any group of Scottish workers--fishermen, miners, nurses or teachers--who have any remaining confidence in his government of Scotland?

Mr. Lang : As the leader of a party who promised to win 37 seats and ended up winning three, the hon. Gentleman knows all about nose-diving. I believe that the vast

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majority of people in Scotland recognise the success that the Government have achieved there in the past few years in helping our economy to diversify and strengthen and in preparing it now for emergence from recession, when we shall continue the process of sustained growth and the development of new prosperity.

Mr. McLeish : Does the Secretary of State accept that the Opposition are used to broken promises on the part of the Conservatives, but that we are not used to the Secretary of State betraying the true interests of Scotland? Will he tell the House and the Scottish people when the constitutional farce, popularly called "Taking stock of the governance of Scotland", will end? Does he agree that Scots are treated with contempt when they are lectured about getting closer to the people from the cosy confines of the Monday Club in Brighton when every decision taken by the right hon. Gentleman rides roughshod over public opinion on every conceivable issue?

Is he also aware that while our European colleagues are taking the issue of subsidiarity seriously we have the spectacle of the Secretary of State and the Prime Minister using it to cover cracks in the Conservative party? Why is he not using subsidiarity to better the government of Scotland? Does he accept that 75 per cent. of Scots want costitutional change? There is a compelling case to be made for a voice for Scotland so that our aspirations and our priorities can be met much more effectively. When will he stop treating the people of Scotland with contempt and, more importantly, when can we expect to see some leadership?

Mr. Lang : I would never treat the people of Scotland with contempt. I put my case to the people in the general election just as my party did and we won re-election as the Government of the United Kingdom. The hon. Gentleman asked me about subsidiarity, but he does not seem to be aware that my right hon. Friend the Prime Minister and Chancellor Kohl of Germany have been the two leading figures within the European Community who have driven the principle of subsidiarity forward.

Development Corporations

5. Mr. Ingram : To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland when he last met the chairman of the Scottish New Town Development Corporation to discuss the future of the development corporations.

Mr. Allan Stewart : My right hon. and learned Friend and I met the chairmen and deputy chairmen on 5 October.

Mr. Ingram : Is the Minister aware of the deep unease and mistrust in the new towns of Scotland about the Government's policy to sell off the assets of those new towns under the demands of the Treasury? Does he accept that the Government have failed to give assurances that the district councils will be given proper resources if the new town tenants elect to choose those district councils as alternative landlords in the wind-up of new towns? Now that the new towns are to be faced with the uncertainty of local government reform, do the Government accept that it would be better to delay the wind-up until the whole question of local authority reform has been settled and shown to be effective?

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Mr. Stewart : In relation to the hon. Gentleman's first point, he may know that I have discussed this issue with SLANT--Scottish Local Authorities with New Towns--recently and I have made clear the Government's commitment to the diversification of tenure after the wind-up. I have also made clear the choice that will be available in respect of local authority tenants.

The reorganisation of local government has been addressed in the consultation paper. I note that the hon. Gentleman has a copy of it and I am sure that he has pored over it ; I look forward to his response.

I do not believe that the hon. Gentleman's criticisms can be upheld. I had a meeting with the board of the East Kilbride development corporation on 13 October followed by a meeting with the East Kilbride business forum. Both of those meetings were constructive and useful.

Industry and Commerce

6‡. Mr. Burns : To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland if he will make a statement on the prospects for industry and commerce in Scotland.

Mr. Allan Stewart : Scottish industry and commerce are striving hard to improve their competitiveness, to take full advantage of the opportunities presented by the completion of the single European market and the creation of the European economic area. The recent cut in interest rates will certainly help in that regard.

Mr. Burns : Does my hon. Friend agree that the prospects for Scottish exports have become greatly enhanced in recent weeks ?

Mr. Stewart : My hon. Friend is-- [Interruption.] I do not know why the hon. Member for Glasgow, Garscadden (Mr. Dewar) is laughing. My hon. Friend is absolutely right. The Scottish economy is highly export- oriented. We export a higher percentage of industrial production than does the United Kingdom generally, particularly to the European Community. There is no doubt that the depreciation of sterling against European currencies improves the competitiveness of Scottish exports. My right hon. Friend the Secretary of State has set up Scottish Trade International, which brings together the expertise of the Scottish Office and Scottish Enterprise. The Scottish exports forum, which brings together a large number of people from the public and private sectors to improve exports, will meet under my chairmanship on Friday. The task of ensuring that Scottish business takes full advantage of new export opportunities, particularly in Europe, will be an important item on its agenda.

Mr. Canavan : Has the Secretary of State yet received the Quayle Monroe report on the possible privatisation of Scottish Water and its effects on Scottish industry and commerce ? Will he, in the interests of open democracy, place a copy of it in the Library, so that the House may have a frank discussion on the full facts ? For example, domestic users in the Central region of Scotland pay water charges of only £20 per annum, compared with more than £200 per annum in many parts of England and Wales that are supposed to be served by privatised water companies.

Mr. Stewart : The report to which the hon. Gentleman refers is confidential--

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Mr. Canavan : Why ? We have secret government instead of open democracy. That is a disgrace.

Mr. Stewart : For reasons of commercial confidentiality. I may tell the hon. Gentleman and other Opposition Members who appear to be expressing an interest that my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State will issue a consultation paper in the next few weeks, and we look forward to receiving from the hon. Gentleman what will no doubt be considered and constructive comments.

Local Government

7. Mr. Tom Clarke : To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland if he will make a statement on Her Majesty's Government's review of local government.

10. Mr. Home Robertson : To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland if he will make a statement on the progress of his plans to change the structure of local government.

12. Mr. Kirkwood : To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland when he expects to announce the Government's preferred option for Scottish local government reform.

Mr. Lang : I published a consultation paper on 12 October that seeks views on the most appropriate single-tier structure for local government in Scotland. I have asked for responses by the end of January next year.

Mr. Clarke : Given that a major document was published but not presented to the House, does not the Secretary of State owe right hon. and hon. Members an apology? The report was published at an extensive press conference in Glasgow a few days before the House returned, when--if there is to be any element of democracy in these matters--a statement should have been made to the House itself. What is the justification for embarking on local government reform in the midst of the longest recession for half a century, and who asked the Secretary of State to do so? If this is an exercise in democracy, why is the Secretary of State allowing a mere three months for the kind of response that he claims to welcome--particularly when there was a commission for England but not for Scotland?

Does it not strike the Secretary of State as ironic that in answering an earlier question, he said that the Government do not have a policy for water? How can there be a genuine review of local government when we do not know the Government's thinking on the structure of the Scottish water industry? If the Secretary of State wants a policy, he should take our advice and make a U-turn over his determination to privatise water, which is overwhelmingly opposed by the people of Scotland. Unless the right hon. Gentleman wants to impose on Scotland the chaos--

Madam Speaker : Order. If the hon. Gentleman has a substantive question to ask the Secretary of State, he should ask it.

Mr. Lang : Oh dear. Let me try to help the hon. Gentleman. On the one hand, he asked why we had produced the consultation paper before the resumption of the parliamentary Session ; on the other hand, he asked for a long consultation period. We produced the consultation paper last week so that we could have as long a consultation period as possible, lasting until the end of January and still leaving us time to present the House with

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a considered policy decision, to prepare legislation and to bring it before Parliament. I should have thought that that was fairly evident.

The hon. Gentleman also asked me about the degree of interest in local government. I note that, in an otherwise dull article in today's Glasgow Herald , he describes local government reform as an irrelevance. He may like to know that we have received 68,000 requests for our leaflet on local government reform, a further 10,000 for the full consultation paper and more than 400 for the video. That, I think, demonstrates the dramatic interest in local government reform that exists throughout Scotland.

Mr. Home Robertson : There is indeed a consensus that government in Scotland needs to be reviewed, starting with the Secretary of State's own office. Does the right hon. Gentleman accept that there is an equally strong consensus in Scotland that the troglodytes of the Scottish Office who gave us the poll tax cannot be trusted with the task of redrawing the maps of Scottish local government?

The consultation document refers to the Wheatley commission. Does the Secretary of State recall that the commission included not only Labour party supporters and local government specialists, but Miss Betty Harvie- Anderson, the former Member for Parliament for Eastwood, and the hon. Member for Inverness, Nairn and Lochaber (Sir R. Johnston)? On this day of independent reviews, will the Secretary of State accept the case for a fair, independent review of the future of Scottish local government?

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