§ Mr. Dewarasked the Secretary of State for Scotland what representations he has received from Scottish local authorities concerning (i) the Green Paper "Paying for Local Government" and (ii) the consultation document "The Community Charge Operational Issues"; and what proportion in the first of these have been favourable to the Government's proposals.
§ Mr. RifkindI have received 19 representations from local authorities about the Green Paper "Paying for Local Government". In addition, three authorities have submitted observations on the consultation document "The Community Charge: Operational Issues", and the detailed proposals are under discussion between my officials and representatives of the Convention of Scottish Local Authorities. I expect the convention's formal views on the Green Paper proposals to be submitted in August.
Most of the responses include comments in favour of some of the detailed proposals and against others. It is not therefore possible to estimate the proportion of responses which are in favour of the proposals as a whole.