§ Lord James Douglas-Hamiltonasked the Secretary of State for Scotland according to what criteria Her Majesty's Government fix the guidelines for local government expenditure.
§ Mr. YoungerThe guideline figures for 1981–82 are based on the assessment of expenditure needs implicit in the demographic formula used to distribute the needs—general—element of rate support grant, modified in the light of previous guidelines in order to avoid undue variations from one year to another. I am currently considering the method of calculating the guidelines for 1982–83.