§ 3. Mr. Tam Dalyell (Linlithgow)If he will make a statement on the status of the leaked document relating to control by the Scottish Parliament and Welsh and Northern Ireland Assemblies of budgets currently managed in London. [63567]
§ The Minister for the Regions, Regeneration and Planning (Mr. Richard Caborn)My hon. Friend should know that Governments do not comment on leaked documents.
§ Mr. DalyellHow about putting in the Library of the House the respectable case for central funding?
§ Mr. CabornI am speaking not on behalf of the Library of the House, but for the Department of the Environment, Transport and the Regions. I do not believe that that comes within our expenditure.
§ Mr. John Swinney (North Tayside)Bearing in mind the fact that the Minister's answers on the point raised by the hon. Member for Linlithgow (Mr. Dalyell) will be recorded in the Official Report, does the Minister believe that it would have been better for the issue to have been raised in public, rather than appearing in a leaked memo, and for the House to have had the opportunity for scrutiny and debate?
§ Mr. CabornWe deplore all leaks from Government Departments, but there has been adequate time to discuss on the Floor of the House and in Committee the financial arrangements for devolution for Scotland, and there is secondary legislation dealing with that as well.