§ Mr. Ernie Rossasked the Secretary of State for Scotland (1) if his Department has attempted any calculations of the cost of transferring powers such as 279W education from a county to a non-metropolitan district as discussed in Cmnd. 7457, "Organic Change in Local Government"; and if he will publish details of any such calculations in theOfficial Report;
(2) if his proposed committee to review the functioning of local government in Scotland will be prevented from considering the transfer of powers from regions to districts as outlined in Cmnd. 7457, "Organic Change in Local Government", published by the Department of the Environment.
§ Mr. RifkindCmnd. 7457 related only to England and Wales. No such proprosals have been made for Scotland, and hence no calculations of the cost of transferring powers in Scotland have been made. As stated in the Scottish Grand Committee in 19 July, an announcement will be made shortly about the review of local government in Scotland.
§ Mr. Gourlayasked the Secretary of State for Scotland if he will consider issuing a White Paper with proposals for the streamlining of local government in Scotland by increasing the responsibilities of district councils and the creation of joint authorities to deal with the remaining functions of the present regional councils.
§ Mr. YoungerNo. I expect to make an announcement soon about a review of local government in Scotland.