HC Deb 08 December 1998 vol 322 cc132-3
4. Mr. Robert Syms (Poole)

If he will make a statement regarding the reform of local government. [61266]

The Minister for Home Affairs and Devolution, Scottish Office (Mr. Henry McLeish)

The Government are working to ensure that we create modernised local government, delivering the services people need. We appointed the Commission on Local Government and the Scottish Parliament under the chairmanship of Neil McIntosh; it will report to the First Minister in due course.

Mr. Syms

Does the Minister think that the McIntosh commission on local authorities has missed an opportunity by not recommending an anti-corruption commission to look into allegations of wrongdoing in the central belt?

Mr. McLeish

The reason why we did not ask the McIntosh commission to look at that matter is that we are looking at it ourselves. Next week, we will issue a new code of conduct for councillors, which will be part of the question of ethical standards in local government. There will be standards committees for councils, and a standards commission for Scotland, to provide a means of dealing with allegations of misconduct external to the council involved. We have acknowledged that there is a difficulty and we have taken steps to remedy it. We will publish our findings next week, and the Scottish Parliament will legislate.

Mrs. Rosemary McKenna (Cumbernauld and Kilsyth)

Does my hon. Friend agree that the root cause of the problems in Scottish local government lies directly with the Conservative party and its botched and expensive reorganisation, which removed from local government a vast number of experienced officers? Is not the bottom line the fact that the Scottish Parliament will work with local authorities to provide the high-quality, modernised services that the people of Scotland desperately need?

Mr. McLeish

I could not agree more with my hon. Friend. For 18 years, local government was neglected and abused. In the past 18 months, we have had an opportunity to tackle problems where they have arisen, but we must go ahead in partnership. I have no doubt that the new Parliament will ensure that local authorities retain their autonomy. We will make sure that standards are improved and that services are modernised. Where it is required, we will rebuild public trust and confidence. That is an important agenda for the new century—an agenda that it would be impossible to achieve under the Conservative party.

Dr. Liam Fox (Woodspring)

Self-regulation by the Labour party in Scotland scarcely fills us with confidence. The Labour party cannot be the solution, because it is the problem. Perhaps the Minister can refresh our memories. How many investigations are currently taking place into misdemeanours in Labour-run councils? Strathclyde regional council last week found that it was leaving a deficit of £78 million for its successor councils to pay up. Was that old Labour, new sleaze or new Labour, old sleaze? How would the Minister describe his party's financial incompetence?

Mr. McLeish

It is clear again that the hon. Member for Woodspring (Dr. Fox), the Opposition's principal spokesman, has completely missed the point. No one is talking about self-regulation by the Labour party. We are talking about a new ethical framework which, I repeat, will comprise a code of conduct for councillors, standards committees for councils and an independent standards commission for Scotland to provide the means of dealing with allegations of misconduct. That will be the basis of an announcement, and the basis for parliamentary legislation in Holyrood. Dealing with the House of Lords may be a trifle easy, but dealing with Scottish local government requires the Opposition to be serious—which they have not been in the past 18 months.

Mr. Nigel Griffiths (Edinburgh, South)

Does my hon. Friend realise how much the extra £860 million for local government will improve services, and how welcome it is in the schools in my constituency and elsewhere that an extra £1.3 billion is being spent on our education services over the next three years? That is 15 per cent. above inflation, and far more than was ever given by the Conservative Government.

Mr. McLeish

I welcome my hon. Friend's comments, because that is the reality of Scottish local government. My right hon. Friend the Secretary of State is investing heavily in the future of education. That is important to Labour Members, even if it is not important to Conservatives. We want to invest and modernise, and that requires partnership, which is what the new Parliament at Holyrood will provide.