Chamber and committees

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.

Information on the percentage of invoices paid within 30 days is published by the Accounts Commission in their Annual Report "Comparing the Performance of Scottish Councils 1997-98" (Figure 3). Based on this information, the authorities that paid more than 25 per cent of their bills after 30 days during 1997-98 were as follows:Aberdeen City, Aberdeenshire, Dundee City, City of Edinburgh, Falkirk, Fife, City of Glasgow, Inverclyde, Midlothian, Moray, North Ayrshire, North Lanarkshire, Perth and Kinross, Renfrewshire, Scottish Borders, Stirling, and West Lothian.

The cost of changeover would depend on the approach taken. By undertaking advance planning and preparations, we will ensure that local authorities are in a position to make a smooth and cost-effective changeover.

The Scottish Executive and the Convention of Scottish Local Authorities (COSLA) are both represented on the Joint Central/Local Government Working Group set up by the Department of the Environment, Transport and the Regions (DETR) to consider the introduction of the Euro.In addition HM Treasury will step up its contacts with first-wave member states in order to learn from their experiences and will work with other Government Departments, the Scottish Executive and local government to develop pilot projects to act as a guide for preparations in other organisations.

The Scottish Executive is providing £6m in the current financial year to education authorities through the Excellence Fund and the pilot Alternatives to Exclusion Programme. These resources will support authorities in making provision for pupils at risk of exclusion and thereby assist them achieve the national objective of reducing exclusion by a third by 2002 and to ensure that full time education is provided for all pupils excluded for over three weeks.

We already recognise the additional pressures which Glasgow and other major urban centres face. The local government finance settlement takes account of commuters and other non-residents in the assessments for a number of council services.These distribution arrangements are kept under review, with the Convention of Scottish Local Authorities, through the joint local government finance Distribution Committee.

As noted in my reply of 30 June to the Member's earlier question, the responsibility for agreeing a list of areas where the UK will propose Objective 2 designation lies with the UK Government. The Scottish Executive and the UK Government are considering jointly the Scottish areas to be included in that list.The needs of Glasgow, as of all other areas, will be taken into account. The requirement to concentrate the European Structural Funding for the new programmes means that it is inevitable that some areas will not be on the list. All existing Objective 2 and 5b areas will retain, at minimum, transitional Objective 2 status and funding.

Capital investment at 1999-2000 prices is as follows:

	£ million
1999-2000	166.0
2000-01	187.3
2001-02	200.8

The existing review of the local authority (non-housing) capital finance system is being taken forward under the auspices of the Capital Planning Committee of the Working Party on Local Government Finance in Scotland, comprising representatives of the Scottish Executive and COSLA. The remit is to review the existing distribution arrangements and to consider the differential ability of councils to raise capital receipts. It is expected that a report on the outcome of the review will be made to Scottish Ministers and COSLA Office Bearers at the consultative meeting on local government finance in either November or January.

The reasons are as set out in the "Partnership for Scotland" agreement.On tuition fees, the Partnership Agreement said that we would propose a Committee of Inquiry, to review tuition fees and financial support for those participating in further and higher education. This Committee will consider all student finance, which is based on systems that have become dated as modern study patterns have developed.On local government finance, the Partnership Agreement said that we would continue to improve the distribution mechanisms of local government finance and would keep under review wider issues of local government finance. We recognise that many aspects of the present financial arrangements need to be addressed and we will be pursuing action on a number of fronts. We believe that, in this instance, this is a more practical and appropriate response than an independent review.