HC Deb 04 July 1988 vol 136 cc428-9W
Mrs. Fyfe

To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland what representations he has received about problems faced by Glasgow district council following the change of definition of capital expenses, and the implication for the council's ability to finance vehicle and equipment purchases; if he will agree to make a further permanent adjustment to the council's basic capital allocation to take account of the different treatment of such expenditure in the council's accounts of previous years.

Mr. Lang

Glasgow district council and the Convention of Scottish Local Authorities have made representations about the Definition of Capital Expenses (Scotland) Order 1987. Glasgow district council's capital consent allocation for 1988–89 takes account of such capital expenses financed from current revenues as the district council itself reported in earlier years. I have explained to the council and to the convention that we have applied this procedure consistently to all authorities. In Glasgow the amounts involved were small, and the previous practice irregular. Any increase in Glasgow's capital allocation for 1988–89 now would be at the expense of other authorities and I cannot see any justification for that.

Mrs. Fyfe

To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland what were the net capital expenditure allocations including capital met from current revenue for general services in each of the years 1985–86 to 1988–89 expressed per head of population for(a) Glasgow district council, (b) the average Scottish district and (c) the district with the highest figure.

Mr. Lang

The information is set out in the table.

Capital consent allocation expressed per head of population for:
1985–86 1986–87 1987–88 1988–89
£ £ £ £
(a) Glasgow district council 6.54 5.86 5.45 5.87
(b) The average figure for Scottish district councils1 7.177 7.60 7.74 7.96
(c) The district with the highest per capita figure 15.91 17.35 19.10 19.10
1 Total of final allocations to district councils, divided by Scottish population (less islands councils' populations) at 30 June in each year.