Mr Barry Henderson: Has the rate of purchase of new town development corporation houses by sitting tenants been matched by other local authorities?
Mr Barry Henderson: Is it not the case that the present output of the construction industry is at record levels and that there has been a dramatic increase in expenditure for the construction of roads and on the Health Service?
Mr Barry Henderson: asked the Solicitor-General for Scotland if he will make an official visit to the procurator fiscal at Cupar to discuss prosecution policy.
Mr Barry Henderson: I am glad to hear that from my hon. and learned Friend. Will he discuss the merits, and possibly some of the difficulties, of extending the principle of fixed penalties for a wider variety of motoring offences?
Mr Barry Henderson: Will my right hon. and learned Friend accept that this welcome statement, which gives encouragement to Scottish ratepayers to expect a similar or lower rate bill in the coming year, owes much to the Government's success in persuading more Socialist authorities to budget at or near guidelines? Will he make further efforts to see that the track record of prudent local government management will...
Mr Barry Henderson: Is my right hon. and learned Friend aware that many people regard this as a wise and imaginative statement which has something of what might be called "Malcolm's Magic"? In particular, is my right hon. and learned Friend aware that it will be regarded as better educationally, financially and geographically than what was first proposed? Given the opportunities that my right hon. and learned...
Mr Barry Henderson: Is my right hon. and learned Friend aware that many people welcome that part of the statement and the earlier comments of the Prime Minister that emphasise that the Commonwealth Games Federation is independent of the Government in this country? That would be welcomed in other countries that are not democracies in the free sense that we understand the word. Will he confirm to the world and to...
Mr Barry Henderson: Does the announcement of my right hon. Friend not underline the vital contribution that Scotland makes to the defence of the West and the extent to which defence considerations make an important contribution to the jobs and economy of Scotland?
Mr Barry Henderson: The hon. Member for Glasgow, Cathcart (Mr. Maxton) has been uncharacteristically mean-minded in his speech. I would not be surprised if there were some Link housing association houses in the constituency of my hon. Friend the Minister in addition to those in the constituency of my hon. Friend the Member for Edinburgh, West (Lord James Douglas-Hamilton). I have housing associations in my...
Mr Barry Henderson: I am grateful to the Minister for that additional information. This is a difficult subject and I am grateful to my hon. Friend the Minister for the way in which he has worked assiduously to get the right answer to extremely complicated questions. If I have time, I shall return to that later. This might be an appropriate point to take up a comment which the hon. Member for Cathcart made about...
Mr Barry Henderson: The hon. Gentleman drew a similar distinction in relation to charities. I think he was trying to draw a distinction between one sort of genuine charity and another. He was making a distinction between charitable housing associations operating with their own money and those which operate with public money. The fact is that most housing associations operate substantially with public funds....
Mr Barry Henderson: Is it not true that, since the right hon. Member for Glasgow, Govan (Mr. Millan) left office as the Secretary of State for Scotland, the annual funding of housing associations in Scotland has increased tenfold? It is not surprising in those circumstances that individual housing associations may have grown considerably in that time.
Mr Barry Henderson: The hon. Gentleman has perfectly fairly made the point that local authorities have been trying to operate the Housing (Homeless Persons) Act. It has had slightly different effects in different parts of the country but he is right to say that there has been a genuine attempt to work the Act. None the less, he will also agree that local authorities have had difficulties in working that Act....
Mr Barry Henderson: There have been several complaints about local authorities which have not been helpful and which have positively obstructed the right to buy. Has my hon. Friend had any complaints about local authorities refusing to pay attention to the guidance to which he has referred?
Mr Barry Henderson: Will the hon. Gentleman give way?
Mr Barry Henderson: I had not intended to speak, but I should like to make a point arising out of the exchange between the hon. Member for Inverness, Nairn and Lochaber (Sir R. Johnston) and the hon. Member for Glasgow, Garscadden (Mr. Dewar). I am puzzled by the position of the alliance. To say that the alliance is in favour of sales is perhaps going too far. It is not against sales, which is the way in which...
Mr Barry Henderson: The hon. Gentleman's point might have had a little more validity if the distinction which he makes had been made in amendments tabled by the Opposition during the passage of the Bill. I was not a member of the Committee that considered the Bill. The Opposition may have moved amendments in Committee, in which case I apologise, but I was not aware of amendments appearing on the Floor of the...
Mr Barry Henderson: Is my hon. Friend aware that there will be a warm welcome, especially among less well-off ratepayers, for his reiteration of the Government's commitment to introduce legislation next Session? Does he agree that students are already paying substantially for local government in that through the rents for their residences they are paying rates?
Mr Barry Henderson: Does my hon. Friend recall that on several visits to north-east Fife recently, and perhaps particularly on his visit to Auchtermuchty, he met manufacturers who had made a substantial contribution to the increase in employment in Scotland through being very effective, despite having no regional development assistance? In addition to those successful manufactures, which include hosiery, ties...
Mr Barry Henderson: Can my right hon. and learned Friend confirm that the worst fall-out in Scotland from Chernobyl has not amounted to as big a close as someone would get from an X-ray in hospital? Would my right hon. and learned Friend agree that the reason why there should be no anxiety on the part of the public is that the Government have been extremely cautious in making such arrangements, which allow the...