§ Mr. WilsonTo ask the Secretary of State for Scotland if he will compensate Cunninghame district council because of the error in calculating the authority's non-domestic rate income for 1991–92.
§ Mr. LangYes. I propose to make an ex-gratia payment of £250,000 to Cunninghame district council towards the additional interest costs which it has incurred, pending an adjustment of revenue support grant, as a result of the fact that, in estimating the council's non-domestic rate income in respect of 1991–92, my Department used incorrect rateable valuation data. The council has accepted my offer of this payment.
Parliamentary approval to this new expenditure will be sought in a supplementary estimate for the revenue support grants, Scotland vote—class XV, vote 20. Pending that approval, this urgent expenditure will be met by a repayable advance from the Contingencies Fund.