§ Mr. YoungerTo ask the Secretary of State for Scotland if, pursuant to his answer to the hon. Member for Ayr of 1 February,Official Report, column 213, he is now able to make a statement about local authorities' budgets for 1990–91.
§ Mr. RifkindDetails of local authorities' budgets for 1990–91 compared with those for 1989–90 are set out in the table.
Based on adjusted budget returns, it is now clear that authorities are planning an average increase of 8.9 per cent. in their expenditure for 1990–91 over the corresponding figure for last year. This is a noticeable reduction over the previous year's actual increase of 12.3 per cent., and I have already expressed some satisfaction that there are some signs that accountability is beginning to work through. There are, however, no grounds for complacency as too many authorities are still budgeting for growth in their expenditure, leading to higher than necessary community charges. It is for individual authorities to justify those increases to their local electorates.
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Budget Estimate 1988–90 £000 Budget Estimate 1990–91 £000 Percentage increase Borders 71,169 76,979 8.2 Central 174,297 194,142 11.4 Dumfries and Galloway 98,292 107,068 8.9 Fife 232,235 259,686 11.8 Grampian 308,204 333,956 8.4 Highland 154,670 176,434 13.9 Lothian 482,368 547,306 13.6 Strathclyde 1,690,456 1,780,005 5.3 Tayside 266,540 289,441 8.6 Regions 3,478,431 3,765,521 8.3 Orkney 18,588 19,184 3.2 Shetland 23,714 35,743 50.7 Western Isles 33,384 37,928 13.6 Islands 75,686 92,855 22.7 Berwickshire 1,215 1,465 20.6 Ettrick and Lauderdale 2,426 2,612 7.7 Roxburgh 2,686 3,034 13.0 Tweeddale 1,044 1,144 9.6 Clackmannan 5,992 6,791 13.3 Falkirk 11,912 12,115 1.7 Stirling 10,173 11,983 17.8 Annandale and Eskdale 2,749 3,132 13.9 Nithsdale 4,445 5,110 15.0 Stewartry 1,724 2,073 20.2 Wigtown 2,291 2,755 20.3 Dunfermline 12,631 14,705 14.6 Kirkcaldy 15,303 16,465 7.6 North East Fife 5,844 7,175 22.8 Aberdeen 24,950 28,296 13.4 Banff and Buchan 7,179 7,927 10.4 Gordon 5,212 7,831 50.2 Kincardine and Deeside 3,194 3,663 14.7 Moray 6,559 7,129 8.7 Badenoch and Strathspey 773 909 17.6
Budget Estimate 1988–90 £000 Budget Estimate 1990–91 £000 Percentage increase Caithness 1,953 2,082 6.6 Inverness 4,408 4,677 6.1 Lochaber 1,597 1,758 10.1 Nairn 765 891 16.5 Ross and Cromarty 4,170 4,565 9.5 Skye and Lochalsh 881 1,087 23.4 Sutherland 1,194 1,474 23.5 East Lothian 8,600 9,047 5.2 Edinburgh 53,127 60,191 13.3 Midlothian 8,284 9,016 8.8 West Lothian 12,888 13,788 7.0 Argyll and Bute 7,673 8,275 7.8 Bearsden and Milngavie 3,650 4,041 10.7 Clydebank 6,229 5,603 -10.0 Clydesdale 6,506 7,208 10.8 Cumbernauld 5,875 6,527 11.1 Cumnock 4,370 4,874 11.5 Cunninghame 14,685 16,415 11.8 Dumbarton 8,405 9,662 15.0 East Kilbride 8,734 10,168 16.4 Eastwood 4,603 5,028 9.2 Glasgow 136,736 148,060 8.3 Hamilton 10,028 11,418 13.9 Inverclyde 9,684 10,958 13.2 Kilmarnock 7,752 8,432 8.8 Kyle and Carrick 12,574 14,104 12.2 Monklands 11,705 12,991 11.0 Motherwell 14,527 16,320 12.3 Renfrew 24,019 26,459 10.2 Strathkelvin 8,459 10,012 18.2 Angus 8,581 9,533 11.1 Dundee 19,931 22,231 11.5 Perth and Kinross 10,600 12,521 15.9 Districts 571,905 635,740 11.2 Scotland 4,126,022 4,494,116 8.9 Note: Figures are total relevant expenditure excluding loan and leasing charges and CFCR.