HC Deb 04 December 1990 vol 182 cc183-95

4.8 pm

Mr. Speaker

We come to the statement by the Secretary of State for Scotland——

Several Hon. Members

On a point of order.

Mr. Speaker

Order. I shall take the points of order after the statement.

The Secretary of State for Scotland (Mr. Ian Lang)

With permission, Mr. Speaker——

Several Hon. Members

rose——

Mr. Speaker

Order. Hon. Members know perfectly well that they must sit down. I shall take the points of order after the statement.

Several Hon. Members

rose——

Mr. Speaker

Order. I have said that I shall take the points of order at the usual time. I must ask the hon. Members to resume their seats—[Interruption.] I must order hon. Members to resume their seats.

Mr. Lang

With permission, Mr. Speaker, I would like to make a statement about public expenditure in Scotland.

Following the announcement on 8 November of the Government's public expenditure plans by the then Chancellor of the Exchequer, my right hon. Friend the Prime Minister, I have now decided how I propose to deploy the resources which are available for my programmes in Scotland. As usual, a table summarising my decisions is available in the Vote Office and will appear in Hansard. Full details will appear in due course in my departmental report, which will be published in February.

My right hon. Friend said in his autumn statement that the Government had been obliged to take some tough decisions in this survey in the interests of the economy. The task of allocating the resources available to me under the formula arrangements has not been an easy one. However, the total sum at my disposal in 1991–92 is just over £11 billion, whereas the latest estimate of outturn for the current year in the programmes is just over £9.7 billion and the planned provision at this time last year was £9.6 billion. After allowing for transfers, notably in respect of my new responsibilities for training and for nature conservation in Scotland, planned expenditure on my programmes will exceed this year's forecast outturn by over £1 billion, or 11 per cent.

My right hon. and learned Friend, who is now the Secretary of State for Transport, has already, of course, announced a very fair settlement for Scottish local authorities. This settlement should, particularly in the light of the expected fall in inflation, remove the need for any significant real increase in community charge levels next year. I believe it was right to give priority in this survey to offsetting the effects on community charge payers of high spending by Scottish local authorities, but that has inevitably meant that the increases that I can afford for my other programmes are lower than I would have wished.

Expenditure on the Scottish Development Agency, the Highlands and Islands Development Board and the Training Agency in Scotland will be rolled forward as planned to launch Scottish Enterprise and Highlands and Islands Enterprise on 1 April 1991. Together they will have available gross expenditure of £477 million. Of this, Scottish Enterprise will be able to spend £406 million, of which £226 million will be training resources transferred from the employment programme. Highlands and Islands Enterprise will have £71 million, of which just over £13 million is for training and related expenditure. This provision will maintain the high level of activity which the new bodies inherit from the SDA and HIDB, including last year's additional resources for Caithness.

I have given priority to the health programme, which next year will amount in gross terms to more than £3.3 billion. This is 11 per cent. more than original plans for the current year, and 9.3 per cent. more than forecast outturn. This increase is greater than the formula consequences from the comparable programme in England, and will enable continued progress to be made with the major reforms which are under way in the management of the service, while maintaining patient care. These additions to the programme are particularly significant given that expenditure per head on health is already over 20 per cent. above comparable expenditure in England. Overall, planned expenditure on the NHS in Scotland in 1991–92 will be 38 per cent. higher after allowing for inflation than in 1979–80.

I attach importance to the environment and I am pleased to announce a further substantial increase in resources for local authorities' water and sewerage programme. This will enable me to enhance the programme by 17 per cent. next year to £166 million and to £238 million in three years' time. Planned expenditure then will be two thirds higher than it was this year, and more than double the level for 1988–89. I am sure that this major increase will be widely welcomed by everyone who cares for the environment. Local authorities will be able to make continuing improvements in the quality of drinking water and bathing waters to meet United Kingdom and EC standards and the new £130 million sewerage improvement grant which my right hon. and learned Friend announced in June will be of considerable further assistance. My plans for the environment also provide for the establishment of NCC Scotland with effect from next April and for increases in the budgets of the Countryside Commission for Scotland and United Kingdom 2000.

In the education programme my plans provide for rising numbers of Scottish students at universities and colleges, for extra resources for school buildings and for the completion of the Scottish centre for children with motor impairments. In housing, Scottish Homes' funding will increase next year by 10 per cent. and local authorities should be able to maintain gross capital expenditure per house on their own stock at this year's levels, and increase their contributions to the partnership areas. Local authority improvement grant provision will be maintained.

In transport, we plan to maintain the excellent progress made so far on upgrading the A74 to motorway standard, and to start the final schemes to complete both the A9 Perth to Stirling and the A94 Perth to Aberdeen dualling. We will continue work on the central Scotland motorway network and on the A96 Aberdeen to Inverness route.

There has been a steady improvement in infrastructure and public services in Scotland over the past decade. It is this Government's effective management of the economy and prudent approach to public finance which have made these improvements possible, and the decisions that I have announced today will ensure that they will continue.

Following is the table:

£ million
1990–91 Estimated outturn gross net 1990–91 Planned Provision gross net 1991–92 Planned Provision gross net 1992–93 Planned Provision gross net 1993–94 Planned Provision gross net
Central government's own expenditure (including public corporations other than nationalised industries) and local authority capital expenditure
Agriculture, fisheries and food 237 228 237 232 253 246 260 260 270 270
Industry, energy, trade and employment 349 252 348 251 601 528 610 530 610 520
Tourism 12 12 13 13 14 14 10 10 10 10
Roads and transport 387 384 387 384 378 375 390 390 400 400
Housing (see Note 5) 1,066 660 1,024 639 1,154 711 970 700 980 730
Other environmental services 369 278 334 271 415 344 430 360 460 390
Law, order and protective services 323 308 317 298 346 330 360 340 380 360
Education 451 450 440 439 543 538 580 580 600 600
Arts and libraries 35 35 35 35 41 41 50 50 60 60
Health 3,087 2,990 3,041 2,936 3,375 3,275 3,550 3,450 3,680 3,570
Social work services 39 39 38 38 51 51 50 50 60 60
Other public services 170 139 170 139 201 163 210 170 230 180
Total central government and local authority capital 6,525 5,774 6,385 5,676 7,372 6,615 7,480 6,900 7,730 7,150
Central government support to local authorities' current expenditure 4,020 4,019 4,389 4,510 4,620
Nationalised industries financing limits −84 −119 48 50 10
Total expenditure within the Secretary of States responsibility 9,711 9,576 11,052 11,460 11,780

Notes:

1. 1990–91 and 1991–92 rounded to nearest £1 million. 1992–93 and 1993–94 rounded to nearest £10 million.

2. Figures may not add due to rounding.

3. Central government support to local authorities comprises revenue support grant, grants to local authorities for specific purposes, and income from non domestic rates.

4. The estimated outturn for 1990–91 is lower than that shown in the autumn statement as it takes account of changes to the nationalised industries' financing requirements since the autumn statement was compiled.

5. The housing gross figure for 1990–91 includes £10 million and the gross and net figures for 1991–92 include £170 million and £38 million respectively for Scottish Homes' loan repayments to the national loans fund.

Mr. Donald Dewar (Glasgow, Garscadden)

I congratulate the right hon. Gentleman on his promotion. I gather from the public prints that it came as a surprise to him, but it shows the wonderful things that can happen when someone backs a winner. I particularly welcome his pledge to dialogue and accord in Scotland. If that is realised, it will make a notable change from the past 11 rather abrasive years.

The total announced in the autumn statement which has now been divided up is clearly inadequate. The problems of the Scottish Office which have been widely advertised in the press in the past week or two make that clear.

How can the Secretary of State defend a settlement that means a cut of £200 million in real terms between 1991–92 and 1993–94? If, as the Secretary of State claims, the settlement removes the need for any significant real increase in community charge levels, why are authorities such as the Borders, Dumfries and Grampian looking to poll tax increases of about £50 in the coming year? Does he not agree that local authorities needed an 11 per cent. increase in grant to stand still, are facing substantial new statutory duties in areas such as community care and face problems that arise from the changes in the Government's contribution to the cost of rebates?

I note that gross expenditure of £477 million is being made available to Scottish Enterprise and Highlands and Islands Enterprise. I am sure that the Secretary of State will understand that that makes it difficult to compare this year's and next year's employment budgets. Will he confirm that the new presentation conceals grim news? Does he agree that on the SDA's traditional role the increase in expenditure for next year is up by only 3.3 per cent. which represents a substantial cut in real terms?

Is not the right hon. Gentleman worried about the fact that, in 1986–87, the Welsh Development Agency budget was 55 per cent. of the SDA budget? In 1991–92, the WDA budget will be 88 per cent. of the SDA budget, and that is for a country half the size of Scotland. Can he confirm that, in 1991–92, nearly £60 million will be slashed from training expenditure in Scotland? Is that the launch pad for the training revolution which we need and which occasionally the Government promise us under the new structure?

Does the Secretary of State agree that, although he has announced a cut in gross expenditure on housing of £50 million in real terms between 1991–92 and 1992–93—in cash terms, a loss of £14 million? Those are the figures after allowing for the £170 million that will be repaid in 1991–92 by Scottish Homes to the national loans fund. Is he satisfied that that will allow the housing stock to be satisfactorily maintained? His statement contains a form of words which suggests that he has nothing like the confidence that he should have on that matter: local authorities should be able to maintain gross capital expenditure per house on their own stock at this year's levels". Is it correct to translate that as a significant cut, because the number of houses will fall and no allowance has been made for inflation?

The Minister will admit that no one listening to him would guess that a cut in the roads and transport budget next year of £9 million in cash means £29 million in real terms? That will make sore reading and will bring little consolation to those who are waiting for good news about roads that never comes. I accept that the statement is not that of the right hon. Gentleman but that he has inherited it from his predecessor. He is predicting trouble, difficulty and turmoil in supporting in future years services for the most vulnerable in our society. It would be helpful if he would at least give a commitment to do better next year and halt the decline in funding, which is clearly outlined in the figures, in the run-up to 1993–94.

Mr. Lang

I thank the hon. Gentleman for welcoming me to the Dispatch Box on my first appearance as Secretary of State for Scotland. After that, the hon. Gentleman fell back into the usual well-worn complaint about inadequate resources. This year there is an increase of 11 per cent. on last year's anticipated outturn. By any standard that is a substantial increase, especially when we anticipate that by the time this public expenditure period begins inflation will be falling.

The hon. Gentleman talked about a £50 increase in the community charge. Such increases are completely unnecessary. We have made a generous increase of 10.4 per cent. in local government funding. To talk about substantial increases in the community charge and to blame them on non-payment and non-collection is totally unacceptable. The evidence shows that local authorities are collecting about 90 per cent. of budgeted income, and that will bring them close to 98 per cent. of total anticipated revenue from all sources. If they cannot meet the gap from adjusting their budgets rather than turning to those who do pay to cover the default of those who do not, there is something badly wrong in local government management.

The hon. Gentleman asked about the budgets for Scottish Enterprise and Highlands and Islands Enterprise. I refute his suggestion that the news about them is grim. There has been a substantial provision of resources to enable these bodies to plan for the development of activities in their area. The hon. Gentleman is fond of talking about the net budget for these organisations. The net budget on the forecast outturn for 1990–91 for the Scottish Development Agency is £97 million, and the net budget for 1991–92 for Scottish Enterprise is around £120 million. That is not taking into account the addition of training provision.

We have made substantial provision for training—some £226 million for Scottish Enterprise and £13.3 million in the case of Highlands and Islands Enterprise—at a time when the demographic trend is reducing the number of school leavers by 6.5 per cent. over the year and when long-term unemployment has been falling substantially. It has fallen faster in Scotland over the past six months than in any other region in the United Kingdom. The training provision includes substantial resources for the needs of the training courses that will be available.

As to housing, net provision will be up £34 million. In the case of Scottish Homes, grant in aid will be up by 10 per cent. the growth provision of local authorities will be maintained at the same level as last year.

The roads programme next year will be slightly less, but over the past two years there was an increase of no less than 40 per cent. The figure of 40 per cent. in the context of the roads programme may be familiar to the hon. Gentleman, because that is the proportion by which the last Labour Government cut the roads programme. We have substantially increased it, and over the next year there will be much work going on in roads and motorways all over Scotland. That is as it should be, and this settlement has the right mixture of divisions between the programmes for Scotland's needs.

Sir Hector Monro (Dumfries)

I also congratulate my right hon. Friend and neighbour on his promotion to Secretary of State. I am glad that he has announced significantly increased expenditure on health and education. Is he able to meet the Nature Conservancy Council's target for Scotland of £18 million, which is estimated to be the minimum needed to set up its new Scottish identity? How much money does he hope to set aside within Scottish Enterprise to help in Lanarkshire, where British Steel is so shamefully closing Ravenscraig and the Clydesdale plant, where there will be significant unemployment and where we should be helping with resources?

Mr. Lang

I thank my hon. Friend for his welcome, which I appreciate, and for his support for the parts of my statement affecting the health and education programmes. There will be an increase in the health programme of 11 per cent. over our plans for last year, which I think hon. Members will welcome. There will also be a substantial increase in education, where net provision will go up by £89 million, or over 20 per cent. above our plans for 1990–91.

We have made provision to increase resources to the NCC by more than £1 million over the three-year expenditure period.

I am keen to ensure that all necessary resources are brought to bear to help in the economic regeneration of Lanarkshire. I hope that all bodies, public and private, will bring resources to bear and that they will use the capacity of their different schemes to regenerate the economy of that region.

Mr. Malcolm Bruce (Gordon)

I extend my congratulations to the right hon. Gentleman on his elevation, which was caused by the transfer of his colleague to the role of Secretary of State for Transport. Given that the right hon. and learned Gentleman's first announcement as Secretary of State for Transport was about increased investment in the M25, which is in the home counties, will the Secretary of State press on the Secretary of State for Transport the need to ensure that we get a fair share of transport policy, not least the electrification of the railway line north-east to Aberdeen and the extension of the A1 motorway north of the border? Although the opening of the Inverurie bypass last Friday was a welcome move, will the right hon. Gentleman continue funding for the A96?

Does the right hon. Gentleman acknowledge that the shortfall in local Government spending is partly due to the high cost of collecting the poll tax? In the extensive review of the poll tax that the right hon. Gentleman claims will take place, will he recognise that with a system of local income tax there would not have been a non-payment problem because the Inland Revenue would have ensured that the tax was paid? Will he give an assurance that, when the poll tax is abolished, it will apply to Scotland a year ahead of England and Wales? In addition—[Interruption.]

Mr. Speaker

Order. It is unfair of the hon. Gentleman to ask three questions.

Mr. Bruce

If I may say so, Mr. Speaker, the Opposition Front Bench——

Mr. Speaker

Order. The hon. Gentleman is not a Front-Bench spokesman, even though he may represent his party. He should have some consideration for his colleagues.

Mr. Lang

The north-east of Scotland and the north of Scotland in general have been and continue to be substantial beneficiaries of the roads programme. The Inverness to Thurso road has nine schemes outstanding, valued at £59 million. There are eight major schemes for the A96, and it has top trunk road priority. The hon. Gentleman mentioned the Inverurie bypass. I can inform him that since 1979 £109 million has been spent on the Perth to Aberdeen road, and the last dualling stage of that road is about to start.

The cost of collecting the community charge is higher than the cost of collecting domestic rates because twice as many people pay the community charge. We would also expect a new system to be more expensive to collect at the outset. However, the collection costs represent only a small percentage of the total resources at the disposal of local authorities. In return for that, we have a system that is fairer than domestic rates because the burden is spread more evenly across the whole of the adult population. We will be debating these matters further, and no doubt the hon. Gentleman will have an opportunity to develop his points.

Mr. Alick Buchanan-Smith (Kincardine and Deeside)

I join my hon. Friend the Member for Dumfries (Sir H. Monro) in congratulating my right hon. Friend and wish him every success in his new responsibilities. I welcome his announcement of a 17 per cent. increase in the water and sewerage budget, which should be of enormous help to the environment in Scotland. Will he press on regional councils the absolute priority of preventing the discharge of raw sewage into the sea, which is one of the worst examples of damage to the environment? There are examples of that in my constituency at Newtonhill and at Inverberrie, on the east coast. Will he please make that a major priority?

Mr. Lang

I thank my right hon. Friend for his welcome. I understand his concern about the discharge of raw sewage. We regard expenditure on this matter to be extremely important, and that is reflected in my announcement today. My right hon. Friend might like to know that we are talking about an increase in provision not just for next year but for later years. By 1993–94, the water and sewerage budget will have more than doubled.

Mr. Norman Hogg (Cumbernauld and Kilsyth)

Will the Secretary of State accept congratulations on his appointment from a member of the class of '79? I agree with the observation that some, at least, of that class are doing well. In the context of expenditure on the health service, will the right hon. Gentleman carefully consider the needs of general practice in the new town of Cumbernauld? In particular, will he carefully consider the need for a new central health clinic? The present health clinic has woefully inadequate facilities and is much overused, and the difficulties faced by doctors are very real. I shall write to the right hon. Gentleman about that matter, but will he today give an assurance that he will carefully consider the need for a new central health clinic in Cumbernauld?

Mr. Lang

I thank the hon. Gentleman for his greeting, which is warmly appreciated. I listened with interest to his points about the health concerns in his area, and I shall ensure that those matters are drawn to the attention of the health board. We are increasing the gross provision for health by 9.3 per cent., and a health budget of £3.3 billion reflects a substantial rise—no less than 38 per cent. up, in real terms, on what it was when the Government came to power. I believe that, within those substantial resources, it should be possible to meet concerns of the sort mentioned by the hon. Gentleman.

Mr. Bill Walker (Tayside, North)

I too congratulate my right hon. Friend on his appointment as Secretary of State, and I congratulate him, along with my right hon. Friend the Prime Minister, on the return to the Front Bench of my hon. Friend the Member for Eastwood (Mr. Stewart), about which Conservative Members are delighted.

I remind my right hon. Friend that the Opposition consider that education and health will be important matters at the next general election and that our record in those areas, particularly now that spending next year on education will be increased by 20 per cent. and on health by 11 per cent., an increase of 38 per cent. over and above inflation since 1978–79, should enable us to answer all the humbug that comes from the Labour party, which was the party of cuts during 1978–79.

Mr. Lang

I am grateful to my hon. Friend for his welcome. He is right to identify those important areas of expenditure as ones to which we have given considerable attention and not a little priority this year. My hon. Friend might also like to know that we are making further provision for increased expenditure on education in the later years so that, at the end of the three-year period, expenditure will have risen by no less than 33 per cent.

Mr. John McAllion (Dundee, East)

Is the Secretary of State aware of the Shelter report "Some Chance", published earlier this week, which revealed that 10,000 young Scots are homeless and sleeping rough, and which called on the Scottish Office to make the young homeless a national priority? Why did he not mention the young homeless this afternoon and, more importantly, why did he not target specific spending to deal with the problem of the young homeless in Scotland? Is it not a national disgrace that, at a time of rising homelessness and a housing crisis in Scotland, he should announce a real terms cut in funding for housing in Scotland?

Mr. Lang

As the hon. Gentleman will know, in making allocations to local authorities we take account of the anticipated needs of the homeless and it is for local authorities to decide how to spend their resources. I simply do not believe that, out of the resources that we are increasing by £34 million next year, it will not be possible to find the necessary provision to deal with that problem.

Mr. David Marshall (Glasgow, Shettleston)

Is the Secretary of State aware that 1,000 Winget houses in the Carntyne area in the Provan and Shettleston constituencies in the east end of Glasgow have suffered for years from serious structural defects? The district council has no funds to do anything about that problem now or for several years to come, and today's statement, particularly in relation to housing, does nothing to alter that one bit. I join my hon. Friend the Member for Cumbernauld and Kilsyth (Mr. Hogg) in wishing the Secretary of State well in his new position, but what advice does he have for the people trapped in defective houses?

Mr. Lang

I thank the hon. Gentleman for his welcome. As I have said, the housing resources are being substantially increased. By the end of 1992, £1 billion will have been available to Scottish Homes since its inception. Within the available resources, it should be possible to meet problems of the kind to which he referred.

Mr. Robert Hughes (Aberdeen, North)

Is the Secretary of State aware that his announcement today on housing is grossly inadequate? The vast majority of my constituents are suffering great troubles from dampness and other things which need to be taken care of. When he comes to allocate money to the regions, will he take account of the particular and special needs of Grampian region, which has a great deal to remedy and whose part-Labour council is prepared to bring forward its manifesto promises?

Mr. Lang

The needs and priorities asserted by all local authorities are taken into account and assessed in a fair and even-handed way when allocations are considered. Again, I point to our record on housing expenditure. Since we have been in office, a record £9 billion has been invested in housing in Scotland.

Mr. Thomas Graham (Renfrew, West and Inverclyde)

I congratulate the Secretary of State on his appointment. I thought that tonight we might have had some Christmas cheer but, unfortunately, it looks as if the Scrooge regime will continue. My constituency has literally hundreds of young people who are desperate for homes but cannot afford to buy them because they have no jobs. Scottish Homes is not playing its part in providing homes for young people in my area. Tonight, as on many other nights, young people are languishing in the streets, living in cardboard cities throughout Scotland. Some young people will probably die from hyporthermia because they do not have a home and somewhere to sleep. The Secretary of State's pittance will condemn such young people to a life of abject misery. He ought to hang his head in shame, and should now start to solve the problem of Scotland's homeless.

Mr. Lang

The hon. Gentleman probably knows that we are covering the deficit for hostel provision from housing support grant. As to the provision for housing, I mentioned a figure of £34 million, which is within an overall increase in expenditure in Scotland of 11 per cent. over and above the estimated outturn for the current year—11 per cent. at a time when we anticipate that inflation will be substantially below that and falling when the programmes come into effect. It is a very good settlement.

Mr. Tom Clarke (Monklands, West)

I join my hon. Friends in congratulating the right hon. Gentleman and in expressing the hope that the cancelling of our meeting on Friday represented a postponement rather than anything else.

I remind the Secretary of State that the only commitment made in Committee on the National Health Service and Community Care Bill, given by the hon. Member for Stirling (Mr. Forsyth), about dowry funding for people leaving long-stay psychiatric hospitals. Given that that principle has already been accepted in England and Wales, is it covered by the statement? If not, when may we expect a similar commitment for community care in Scotland?

Mr. Lang

I am grateful to the hon. Gentleman for his welcome. Our meeting has indeed been postponed, not cancelled, and I look forward to it. The point that the hon. Gentleman raises does not come within the substance of my statement today. As to the social work budget, I am glad to tell the hon. Gentleman that the net provision is to increase by no less than £12 million, or 31 per cent., over last year.

Mr. Dick Douglas (Dunfermline, West)

I welcome the Secretary of State to his post, and his expertise in the terpsichorean art. The only problem is that he might be running out of dancing partners on his side of the House. When the Government sort out the poll tax, will the funds that the Secretary of State has cut be replaced? Does he agree that he has announced what is really a standstill financial provision, for there has been no real increase over the year? When will Scottish water be safe to drink, and when will our beaches be safe to bathe from? As to education and training——

Mr. Speaker

Order. Two questions are enough.

Mr. Douglas

Does the Secretary of State have any particular——

Mr. Speaker

Order. A debate that must end at 7 o'clock is to follow.

Mr. Douglas

It was different for the Labour Front-Bench spokesman.

Mr. Speaker

Order. The hon. Gentleman is a Back Bencher. He is like everyone else on the Back Benches.

Mr. Lang

I thank the hon. Gentleman for his welcome, which I appreciate. Far from cutting local government resources, I have added £67 million to the consequentials that flow from the settlement south of the border. Some of that was at the expense of the Scottish block and of my other programmes. That represents an attempt to lift the burden on community charge payers. The onus is on local authorities to plan their budgets in a more economical and frugal way, rather than increase the burden without any thought for the costs imposed on those least able o meet them. The figures I gave show also the substantial commitment that we have to water.

Mr. Adam Ingram (East Kilbride)

The statement made no mention of the growing housing problem in Scotland's new towns. Why has the Secretary of State not proceeded with the proposition from East Kilbride development corporation to build up to 2,000 new public sector houses? Is it because he has started out as he means to go on—as a mere cipher for the Treasury?

Mr. Lang

The hon. Gentleman will know of the excellent progress that has been made in new town housing in the past two years. He may recall that it was I, as the Minister responsible for new towns, who lifted the general moratorium when I first assumed that office. As to the current settlement, there will be enough available to enable new towns to meet half their special needs requirements in housing over the three-year period.

Mrs. Maria Fyfe (Glasgow, Maryhill)

A few minutes ago, the Secretary of State said that housing resources in Scotland had increased. Would he care to tell us how many local authorities are now entitled to housing support grant, what proportion of Glasgow district council now receives the grant in comparison with the position in 1979, and how much of the capital allocation given to Scottish authorities in the current year had to come from the proceeds of sales of their own properties and how much was the result of genuine permission to borrow?

Mr. Lang

The first point is not directly covered by the statement. As for the second, in our provision for housing, instead of assuming a substantial increase in receipts as has been done in previous years, with subsequent justification—we are assuming a reduction.

Mr. William McKelvey (Kilmarnock and Loudoun)

May I congratulate the right hon. Gentleman on his promotion? It is nice to see one's former pair getting on.

Nevertheless, I was disappointed by the right hon. Gentleman's performance today. The £9 million cut in road financing coincides with a Scottish Office news release announcing that the Scottish Office is to promote private financing for the building of Scottish roads. I fear that we shall leap from a poll tax society into a toll tax society. Can the right hon. Gentleman give a guarantee that Strathclyde regional council will receive sufficient funds to bring back on stream the A77 upgrading and the link with the motorway?

Mr. Lang

I am grateful to the hon. Gentleman for his welcome.

As I have explained, there has been an increase of no less than 40 per cent. in the roads programme in the past two years. We are not maintaining that trend this year, but there is still a considerable amount of work under way which still has to be digested.

The hon. Gentleman is rightly concerned about the A77; given his constituency interest, I understand his feelings. It was not the Government's decision, but Strathclyde regional council's, to postpone plans for the road for over two years. If the council manages to sort out its problems and present its proposals, we shall be able to take another look at the matter.

Mr. Dennis Canavan (Falkirk, West)

Have the expenditure plans taken into account the recent governmental changes? We should remember that all three contenders for the Prime Minister's job declared themselves in favour of an immediate review of the poll tax, once hailed as the flagship of the Tory party.

Does the Secretary of State agree with John Mackay, ex-Tory Member of Parliament and ex-chief executive of the Scottish Tory party, who wrote in yesterday's Glasgow Herald that the poll tax had turned out to be the rock on which the Thatcher era had perished? Will he take it from me that, unless the poll tax is abolished completely, it will also turn out to be the rock on which the Major-Lang era perishes?

Mr. Lang

I assure the hon. Gentleman that this statement is my statement, and that I made the final decisions—although, of course, much of the work was done during the period in office of my right hon. and learned Friend the Secretary of State for Transport.

No direct implications for the community charge arise from the statement, but I can reassure the hon. Gentleman that the Thatcher era has not finished—[Interruption.] The Thatcher era moves on under the leadership of my right hon. Friend the Member for Huntingdon (Mr. Major). I am sure that, given that new, reinvigorated momentum, we shall win another period of office, which will be just as long as that of my right hon. Friend the Member for Finchley (Mrs. Thatcher).

Mr. Harry Ewing (Falkirk, East)

My hon. Friend the Member for Cumbernauld and Kilsyth (Mr. Hogg) should not be so sensitive about the difference between the progress made by him and that achieved by the Secretary of State, a fellow member of the class of '79. My hon. Friend has one distinct advantage: he will be back here after the next election.

As a result of the measures announced in the statement, will unemployment in Scotland go up or come down?

Mr. Lang

The hon. Gentleman knows that we never make forecasts about unemployment. What I can say is that unemployment is now at its lowest since October 1980—a decade ago; that it has fallen for nearly four years, which constitutes the biggest single fall recorded; and that, at 2.28 million, Scotland's work force is now larger than it has ever been before. That is a record of achievement that the last Labour Government were never able to equal.

Mr. Alistair Darling (Edinburgh, Central)

Does the Secretary of State plan to spend the night of 16 December at his magnificent residence, Bute house in Charlotte square? If so, after he has finished looking at the lovely Adam fireplaces, would he like to go down to St. John's church in the west end and join the hundreds who will be sleeping out in cardboard boxes for the whole night, just as many do every night of the year in Scotland's capital city?

Does the right hon. Gentleman accept that one way of ending that disgrace would be to allocate more funds to housing associations in Edinburgh, which could then build more low-cost housing? Does he accept that those housing associations are fighting a losing battle with private speculators because of escalating land prices in the city?

Does he not realise that, in the midst of everything else in that capital city, there is a great deal of poverty, which will never be addressed unless the Government radically change their attitude towards public housing?

Mr. Lang

I shall have to consult my diary to see what I am doing on 16 December. As for the hon. Gentleman's question about homeless people, with planned gross housing expenditure of over £2.9 billion over the next three years, housing authorities have ample scope—if they also have the will—to pay more attention to the task of tackling the plight of the homeless.

Dr. Norman A. Godman (Greenock and Port Glasgow)

I compliment the Secretary of State on his appointment.

I was surprised that the right hon. Gentleman's observations about Scotland's transport system contained no mention of the maritime transport network that is so essential to our island communities. What provision has he made for the replacement of aging Caledonian MacBrayne passenger ferries? When, for example, will the Suilven be replaced? May I remind the right hon. Gentleman that there are still shipyards on the Clyde that need those orders -especially Fergusons of Port Glasgow?

Mr. Lang

I thank the hon. Gentleman for his welcome.

We shall be making an announcement about shipyard provision shortly. Let me tell the hon. Gentleman, however, that the Government believe that ships should be built because they are needed and will be paid for, not just for the sake of retaining employment in the shipyards. We do not believe in allowing shipyards to build vessels for which there are no immediate orders.

Mr. Tam Dalyell (Linlithgow)

May I register my dismay, and that of my hon. Friend the Member for Livingston (Mr. Cook), at the public expenditure circumstances that are the root cause of the industrial action taken by those long-serving, hard-working, serious night nurses at St. John's hospital, Livingston—people who would not normally conceive of doing any such thing? Will the Secretary of State—and, indeed, his responsible Minister—meet Dr. Baynham and Lothian health board to try to end the circumstances of the dispute? If he does not, he had better consult the present Secretary of State for Transport and the hon. Member for Edinburgh, West (Lord James Douglas-Hamilton), because, sooner or later, the action will be spread to the great Edinburgh hospitals.

Mr. Lang

Of course, no one likes industrial disputes of this kind, especially if they take place in hospitals. This is essentially a matter for the health board, but I understand that the board is anxious to make arrangements to protect the nurses' earnings for a year, and to bring shift patterns into line with those in other hospitals.

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