§ 2. Mr. KirkwoodTo ask the Secretary of State for Scotland if he will make an official visit to Berwickshire to discuss reform of local government boundaries with local interested parties.
§ Mr. LangMy hon. Friend the Minister for local government and planning discussed the Government's reform proposals as they affect Berwickshire with a delegation that included the hon. Gentleman.
§ Mr. KirkwoodWill the Secretary of State accept that in the run-up to publication of the White Paper last summer, much to the dismay and disbelief of local people in Berwickshire, the Government's policy fundamentally changed in terms of combining Berwickshire with East Lothian? Will he further accept that the people of Berwickshire feel that they have never had any sensible explanation of why the Government changed their minds? If he is not prepared to come to Berwickshire himself or to give the House the reasons why the Government changed their mind, will he undertake to look favourably on an amendment moved in Standing Committee, early in the new year, aimed at keeping Berwickshire within the borders?
§ Mr. LangI look forward to debating the issue in the Standing Committee that considers the Bill. That is the place where those matters should be further developed. The Government did not change their mind. They developed the proposals and published them in the White Paper. To some extent, we were influenced by the views of local district authorities in the area. Ettrick and Lauderdale favours a single borders authority, but the other three districts of Berwickshire, Roxburgh and Tweeddale favour an alternative arrangement, part of which, in the three-way split, was Berwickshire and the coastal strip of East Lothian. In defence of their proposals, they said:
This would be by far the strongest in terms of representing the variety of local communities. It remains rooted in many continuing historical associations and links.I suppose that that had something to do with our consideration of the matter.
§ Mr. Bill WalkerIs my right hon. Friend aware that the people of north Tayside welcome the proposals affecting that part of Scotland? Is he further aware that some people are concerned about the absence of any mention of leisure and recreation? We presume that those matters will be properly addressed when the boundary changes.
§ Mr. Home RobertsonIf the Secretary of State wants to discuss East Lothian and Berwickshire, he had better come to see me because I am certain that I am the only citizen of Berwickshire who is interested in East Lothian. Is he aware that the one common interest of the people of the two regions is that his low-logic, high-cost plans for local government in Scotland should be aborted at birth, and that goes for the whole of East Lothian, which includes Musselburgh?
§ Mr. LangI am never sure of the hon. Gentleman's status in this matter; perhaps he lives in Berwickshire and owns East Lothian. I understand that he, too, has been to 298 see my hon. Friend the Minister for local government and planning to make representations. Those, too, will be taken into account when we debate the Bill in Committee.
§ Mr. George RobertsonIs not the Berwickshire decision just one of the many ludicrous proposals in the Government's White Paper that highlight—if it needed highlighting—the fact that this exercise in butchering Scottish local government is conducted purely in the interests of the Scottish Conservative party? Has the right hon. Gentleman not yet grasped the fact that the reorganisation is unwanted and unnecessary, that it will be disruptive to industry and commerce throughout Scotland and that it will be a huge new cost to every taxpayer north of the border? Will he stop it before it starts?
§ Mr. LangI noticed an interesting opinion poll the other day in the business community, which suggested that more than 80 per cent. of the local business community welcomed single-tier local government. Until recently, the hon. Gentleman's party was committed to single-tier local government, as are the Scottish National party and the Liberals. I had no idea that the hon. Gentleman was so frightened of the Conservative party's strength in local government. If he sees great advantage for the Conservative party in local government, it must be as a result of the policies that we propose to reform local government and to strengthen local democracy in Scotland.