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I am sorry that my noble friend Lord Barnett was not present to hear the debate on the Barnett formula. We think that it has delivered transparent settlements for Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland over successive Administrations for almost 30 years. It is an established and tested formula, and, for that reason, we have no plans to change it. So far as concerns blaming Barnett, in a sense, for decisions made in Wales and Scotland that are different from those made in England, I stress that the Barnett formula provides a block of money to the devolved Administrations, but what they then decide to spend it on is a matter for those Administrations.

Lord Forsyth of Drumlean: My Lords, I am grateful to the Minister. However, surely he recognises that no one is complaining about the Barnett formula, which gives Scotland, like England, a proportionate share according to population. People are complaining that the baseline expenditure is much higher relative to the rest of the United Kingdom and that there should be a needs-based assessment. Barnett was meant to bring that about over a number of years, but for a variety of reasons under successive Governments it has failed to do so. Will the Minister address the real issue, which is to have fair funding for the whole of the United Kingdom?



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Lord Hunt of Kings Heath: My Lords, I knew that it was tempting fate to open up the question of the Barnett formula. My understanding of the Barnett formula is that it makes the same pound per head changes that will eventually lead to convergence in expenditure north and south of the Border. We shall come back to that issue in the future.

Like the noble Lord, Lord Tyler, I regret that the consensus on party funding appears to have broken down. I urge the party opposite to consider carefully the decision it has taken. We will bring forward proposals very shortly on the regulation of party finance and expenditure. We believe that reducing expenditure is the central way forward and is likely to command the greatest level of public confidence.

I shall not refer to Lords reform because we shall have ample opportunity to discuss it again. I shall simply end by saying to the noble Lord, Lord Smith of Clifton, that he raised some interesting points on savings and efficiency, and indeed on the importance of integrated schools. In response to the noble Lord, Lord Laird, it is unhelpful to use parliamentary privilege to speculate on a particular murder case, but I acknowledge that it was a brutal and horrific crime, and our sympathies are very much with the Quinn family.

My time is up. It has been an excellent debate and I wish to thank all noble Lords for their contributions. I return to what I said at the beginning. Noble Lords have expressed great concern about the impact of counter-terrorism measures on the liberty and freedom of the British people. I assure noble Lords that while it is clearly of the utmost importance—indeed, the first importance—for any Government to ensure the security of their people, we are as mindful as any Member of this House about the hard-won liberties and freedoms of the British people. Our task is to achieve a balance between the two, which is what we aim to do, and we look to the assistance of your Lordships’ House to do so.

Lord Bach: My Lords, on behalf of my noble friend Lady Andrews, I beg to move that the debate be adjourned until tomorrow.

Moved accordingly, and, on Question, Motion agreed to.


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