Chamber and committees

The Scottish Executive are proposing to fund a bid by Epilepsy Bereaved to extend the national sentinel audit they are undertaking into epilepsy deaths in England, to cover cases of epilepsy related deaths in Scotland.

A Joint Central/Local Government Working Group has been established to ensure that any disruption that arises from a decision to join the Economic and Monetary Union is kept to a minimum as far as local authority services are concerned. The Scottish Executive and COSLA are members of the Group.

It is too early to estimate the potential costs to local authorities, if it were decided that the United Kingdom should join the Economic and Monetary Union. As I indicated in my previous response (to Question S1W-585 on 30 July 1999) both the Scottish Executive and the Convention of Scottish Local Authorities are involved with other Departments in a Working Group to look at the potential implications for local authorities, but this work is at an early stage.

Any potential new burdens on local authorities arising from decisions taken by the Scottish Executive will be discussed fully with the Convention of Scottish Local Authorities as part of the statutory consultations which take place each year on the local government finance settlement. The presumption is that where the introduction of a new policy will impose new costs on local authorities, then these should be reflected in the local government finance settlement.

The funding arrangements for the devolved administrations are set out in the Statement of Funding Policy, published by HM Treasury on 31 March 1999. The Statement provides that budgets may be exceptionally adjusted to compensate a devolved administration for costs which it incurs as a result of actions by the UK Government not already allowed for through the operation of the Barnett Formula. Budgets will not, however, be adjusted to accommodate additional costs incurred as a result of decisions by the UK Government which the UK Government is expecting its departments with parallel responsibilities to absorb within existing spending plans.

I understand that only a small proportion of football supporters use the Glasgow underground system when travelling to Ibrox. In the event that underground services are cancelled on match days this should only have a minor additional impact on traffic in the Southern General Hospital's catchment area. It is most unlikely that this would disrupt the safe operation of Accident and Emergency Services at the Southern General Hospital.

The existing contract between the First Minister and Glasgow Careers Service Company expires on 31 March 2000. The company will be asked to re-contract and it is expected that the contract documentation will issue towards the end of September. Providing Glasgow Careers Service Company are able to meet the contract conditions the new contract will take effect from 1 April 2000 and will last for a period of 5 years.

Official Insolvency Statistics are published quarterly by the Department of Trade and Industry. There were 2,585 individual insolvencies (sequestrations) and 501 company insolvencies in Scotland in 1997/98 and 3,090 individual insolvencies and 569 company insolvencies in 1998/99. A further breakdown of this information is not available.

The only relevant public sector organisations currently borrowing from European Institutions are local authorities.The Scottish Executive and the Convention of Scottish Local Authorities (COSLA) are both represented on the Joint Central/Local Government Working Group set up to consider the introduction of the Euro and possible later entry by the United Kingdom. Our involvement is designed to minimise any disruption or disadvantage which may result from UK adoption of the Euro.

There would be considerable implications for financial systems. For example systems including payroll, pension, purchasing and billing operations would need to be adapted to handle the Euro as would council tax and business rate collection arrangements. Coin-operated machines would need altered and pricing policies examined.The precise implications would vary from council to council. In the event of the UK joining it would be up to each council to identify the impact on its operations; and to plan accordingly. But in that event support and guidance would be offered based, amongst other things, on experience in first-wave countries and on pilot projects. Information and experience will be shared through the central/local government working group and the local authorities' own network of officials.