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Session 1997-98
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Standing Committee Debates
Scottish Grand Committee Debates

Implications of the Budget for Scotland

Scottish Grand Committee

Tuesday 8 July 1997

(Westminster)

[Mr. John Maxton in the Chair]

Point of Order

10.30 am

Mr. Alex Salmond (Banff and Buchan): On a point of order, Mr. Maxton. Can you confirm whether we still have the ability, as a Committee, to invite Ministers from all Departments to attend our proceedings? If so, should not we be making arrangements to hear from the Home Secretary at our next sitting and from the rest of the gang of four of English Ministers who are now running devolution policy instead of the Secretary of State for Scotland?

The Chairman: On the genuine point of order, Standing Orders allow Ministers from outside Scotland to take part in debates, but do not allow them to vote. The hon. Gentlemen's second question is not a point of order for me.

Oral Answers to Questions

Islands Needs Allowance (Argyll and Bute)

1. Mrs. Ray Michie: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland what plans he has to meet representatives from Argyll and Bute council to discuss special islands needs allowance status for the area. [5764]

The Secretary of State for Scotland (Mr. Donald Dewar): I am looking forward to visiting the council on 18 July.

Mrs. Michie: I thank the Secretary of State for that reply. I understand that a review is taking place into the funding of local government, but that it will not be completed for some considerable time. The right hon. Gentleman will be aware of the great difficulties facing Argyll and Bute council. Will he consider giving interim assistance that is equivalent to the special islands needs allowance, knowing as he does the number of islands in Argyll and Bute that are spread over a huge geographical and maritime area? I hope that the new Government can give us some help.

Mr. Dewar: I certainly cannot give the hon. Lady that undertaking. Indeed, she would be astonished if I did. I am making a particular point of meeting Argyll and Bute council after the highland convention on 18 July and I have no doubt that it will put its case as strongly as the hon. Lady wishes--and we shall listen to it. A review, which we have agreed with the Convention of Scottish Local Authorities, is taking place into the special islands needs allowance. It is important to establish the exact pattern of relative spending before we can contemplate making changes and that will make it difficult for the financial year 1998-99. The matter does not concern only the geography of the islands; there are special problems in other areas given the geographical spread of the Scottish highlands. Clearly, an overall balanced judgment must be reached.

Local Authority Housing

2. Mr. David Marshall: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland what plans he has to reintroduce (a) slum clearance subsidy and (b) derelict land grant to enable local authorities to demolish unwanted housing stock; and if he will make a statement. [5765]

The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Scotland (Mr. Malcolm Chisholm): There are no plans to reintroduce either a slum clearance or derelict land grant to enable councils to demolish unwanted housing stock.

Mr. Marshall: I thank the Minister for his reply. Is he aware that the disposal of poor-quality, unwanted housing stock by demolition alone has added almost £3 per week to the rent of every council tenant in Glasgow? Will he give serious consideration to initiating some form of grant scheme that will enable councils better to tackle the specific problems of demolition and clearance of poor-quality housing stock?

Mr. Chisholm: The slum clearance grant to which my hon. Friend refers was a grant for the demolition of private sector houses. It was abolished in 1990 with the agreement of COSLA. I am aware of the problems to which he referred and I shall have a meeting soon with the convenor of the housing committee in Glasgow to discuss them and other matters. We shall be returning to the subject in the Adjournment debate at 1 o'clock.

Mr. Welsh: Given that there will be a huge £192 million cut in money allocated to Scottish housing this year in the face of massive need, will any or all of the £66 million and more that will be saved by reducing mortgage interest relief at source in Scotland be allocated to meeting Scottish housing needs?

Mr. Chisholm: I am sure that the hon. Gentleman will know that, as a result of last week's Budget, Scotland received a generous allocation of money to meet our very real housing needs. We inherited massive cuts from the previous Administration which we cannot deal with overnight, but my right hon. Friend the Chancellor of the Exchequer flagged up housing as a major priority of the Government and an extra £55 million will be spent on housing in Scotland by next year.

Secondary Schools

3. Mr. Russell Brown: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland what plans he has to address the problems of numeracy and literacy in the early years of secondary education. [5766]

The Minister for Education and Industry (Mr. Brian Wilson): Her Majesty's inspectors of schools are due to report shortly on a major review of the first two years of secondary school. I will consider the advice that they offer in their report and thereafter consult on measures for improving standards in those years.

Mr. Brown: Is it the Minister's opinion that the greater involvement of parents in their children's education, especially within primary education, would assist in that matter?

Mr. Wilson: I am greatly in favour of greater parental involvement in and parental support for schools. For that reason, my first engagement in this post was to address the Scottish School Boards Association. Although we are committed to looking at the composition of boards and, possibly, their names, I am much more concerned about the minority of schools where there is either no parental involvement or inadequate parental involvement than about the great majority where there is supportive parental involvement, and the more we can build on that the better.

Sir Robert Smith: On parental involvement, is the Minister aware that in my constituency and, I think, throughout Scotland, parents and teachers feel strongly that the best way in which to improve standards in schools would be to provide the funding that schools so desperately need? Will the Minister at least do better than the previous Government and admit that the present local authority settlement does not provide the funding needed fully to meet the standards of education that parents and teachers would like to provide?

Mr. Wilson: On the basis of the hon. Gentleman's premise, I assume that there was great celebration in his constituency last week at the splendid announcement in the Budget of substantial additional resources for Scottish education. However, he made a valid point. For instance, I am led to believe--I have asked for a much more detailed report on this--that we have inherited a £200 million maintenance backlog for Scottish schools. That shows the scale of the challenge that lies ahead and further justifies the priority, both in political terms and in terms of additional resources, that we are giving to education.

Nursing Homes

4. Dr Lynda Clark: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland what plans he has to review the Nursing Homes Registration (Scotland) Act 1938 and to change the law on the control of nursing homes. [5767]

The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Scotland (Mr Sam Galbraith): To address inconsistencies of approach that have arisen across Scotland, the Department will this week publish guidance that sets out in clear terms core standards for the registration, operation and inspection of nursing homes.

We will keep the legislation under review with the aim of achieving and maintaining the highest standards of care for all residents.

Dr. Clark: Will the Under-Secretary agree to look at two problems: first, the lack of a national inspectorate in Scotland which is needed to define national standards and secondly, the absence of a statutory time limit within which complaints or disputes about registration must be dealt?

Mr. Galbraith: I am grateful to my hon. and learned Friend for her suggestions. We are looking at this matter in some detail with a view to introducing new statutes. We are considering whether to place residential and nursing homes on a similar statutory basis, and we are looking at core standards. We shall look at statutes for residential homes. We are, therefore, discussing such matters and I should be grateful to hear any suggestion that my hon. and learned Friend wishes to make.

School Buildings

6. Mr. Moore: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland if he will make a statement on his plans for capital provision for school buildings in rural areas. [5769]

Mr. Wilson: My right hon. Friend the Chancellor of the Exchequer has announced additional resources to improve the condition of school buildings. This will amount to £115 million in Scotland over the next five years.

Mr. Moore: I am grateful to the Minister for highlighting that extra cash, and we shall wait to see it appear in rural areas, such as the borders. I hope that the Minister will consider specific problems such as that in Peebles where additional development pressures have meant that the school roll has grown at a great rate yet the school is inadequate and unable to serve the purpose for which it is required. That problem is replicated in Stow where the primary school desperately needs to be replaced. Will the Minister acknowledge those problems and ensure that the new money is allocated in a much more fair way than the bidding process that was widely discredited under the previous Government?

Mr. Wilson: I am very pleased to acknowledge the hon. Gentleman's point on the allocation procedure. On that and every other aspect of education or, indeed, Government policy, I firmly believe that money should be distributed on the basis of need. I have no doubt that there are substantial needs in rural as well as urban areas in terms of school buildings.

Roads Programme

 
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