§ Mr. Teddy Taylorasked the Secretary of State for Scotland whether the reserve powers outlined in the White Paper and Supplementary Paper on Devolution are designed to enable Parliament to require a Scottish Assembly to make orders to remove oilfields, oil platforms and oil rigs from valuation rolls, as provided for in the Valuation and Rating (Exempted Classes) (Scotland) Bill; and if it is also intended to give the future Assembly powers of revocation.
§ Mr. MillanThe broad purpose of the Valuation and Rating (Exempted Classes) (Scotland) Bill is to ensure that certain installations should be subject only to national taxation and not also to local rating. Under the Government's devolution proposals, national taxation is to continue to be a matter for the United Kingdom Government and, consistent with this, the powers in the Bill to allow the Secretary of State to exempt certain categories from local rating will continue to be exercised by the Secretary of State.