§ Mr. GorrieTo ask the Secretary of State for Scotland what is his Department's current estimate of the cost to be borne by Scottish local authorities of spending on contaminated land in(a) 1998–99, (b) 1999–2000 and (c) subsequent years, and of central Government's contributions towards meeting these additional costs. [56958]
§ Mr. MacdonaldAs part of the Government's Comprehensive Spending Review, provision of £1.7 million has been made in next year's Scottish local government finance settlement. This will cover the expected revenue costs of site identification and preliminary investigation work associated with the new contaminated land regime. This figure will rise to £2 million per annum thereafter. It is not anticipated that there will be significant expenditure in the current year.324W The actual cost of remediation will generally fall on those who have caused or knowingly permitted and contamination, or the owner or occupier of the land.