§ Mr. Hendersonasked the Secretary of State for Scotland if he will seek powers to intervene when there is prima facie evidence that a regional council is undertaking expenditure on matters which are properly the responsibility of district councils and which could have the effect of making ratepayers in one district pay for facilities provided for another district.
§ Mr. AncramThe powers of regional and district councils were recently reviewed by the committee chaired by Lord Stodart of Leaston. The Government implemented their response to the committee's recommendations in the Local Government and Planning (Scotland) Act 1982. It is up to authorities to satisfy themselves that they have the necessary power to incur expenditure on particular services. If an authority incurs expenditure beyond its powers, that is a matter for the auditor under the arrangements set out in the Local Government (Scotland) Act 1973.