Keith Harding: To ask the Scottish Executive what the full costs were of publishing, printing and distributing its consultation document Community Budgeting: A consultation on local services and community engagement .
Keith Harding: To ask the Scottish Executive, with regard to its news release SE5621/2002 on 28 March 2002, what criteria it used to select the winners in its Digital Communities initiative.
Keith Harding: To ask the Scottish Executive what the full costs were of publishing, printing and distributing Scotland’s Bathing Waters: A strategy for improvement .
Keith Harding: To ask the Scottish Executive what the full costs were of publishing, printing and distributing Water Supplies in Public Buildings: A Consultation .
Keith Harding: To ask the Scottish Executive what the full costs were of publishing, printing and distributing Scottish Economic Statistics 2002 .
Keith Harding: To ask the Scottish Executive what the full costs were of publishing, printing and distributing The Scottish Budget: Annual Expenditure Report of the Scottish Executive 2003-04 , including both the summary and detail booklets.
Keith Harding: To ask the Scottish Executive how many circulars, guidelines and guidance notes it has issued to local authorities in each of the last three years.
Keith Harding: To ask the Scottish Executive how many police stations have been operated by Fife Constabulary in each of the last five years.
Keith Harding: To ask the Scottish Executive whether Fife Constabulary has any plans to close any police stations in its area and, if so, which police stations will be closed.
Keith Harding: Will the minister confirm that the white paper has little to do with promoting local democracy and accountability but everything to do with protecting the self-serving interests of the Labour-Liberal Democrat Executive and that it will deliver nothing in time for the next local government elections?
Keith Harding: As a Scottish Conservative, I am proud to be part of the only party in Scotland that understands and trusts business. We realise that it is individuals and businesses, not politicians, who create a successful economy and a prosperous society. I contrast our approach with the behaviour of the Local Government Committee, which has exposed the long-term plans of the three left-of-centre parties...
Keith Harding: Not at the moment. Even when the Executive seemed to heed business calls for it to honour its commitment to reject any such proposal, Aberdeen Central Labour MP Frank Doran let the cat out of the bag by backing calls for Aberdeen and other cities to get back the right to fix, collect and spend business rates. The view of Tom Sunter of the Institute of Directors is clear. He said: "We feel...
Keith Harding: Andrew Wilson will have an opportunity to reply to my speech in summing up. Bill Stitt, deputy director of the Scottish Chambers of Commerce, who has consistently argued for the return of a uniform business rate for the whole of the UK, stated: "Returning business rates to local authority control would only exacerbate this problem." It is clear to me that Labour, Liberal Democrat and SNP...
Keith Harding: I will give way to Fergus Ewing.
Keith Harding: Of course it is not totally inconsistent with the motion. We introduced the uniform business rate and we want it to be maintained. Without business wealth creation there would be no public spending, so easing the burden of tax and regulation on Scotland's firms is paramount for the future of the whole of Scotland. Scots firms already pay 9 per cent more than their English counterparts. That...
Keith Harding: The SNP says that it wants to ease the burden on Scottish business, but would let our councils milk them with much higher business rates. Where is the consistency there? Even the Executive's sop of the rate relief scheme for small businesses is no help, as it is a typical bureaucrat's reaction to a problem. It is extremely unfair on medium-to-large businesses and sends out entirely the wrong...
Keith Harding: The Conservatives also welcome the bill, which should, as intended, establish a simpler and modernised, one-stop shop, public sector complaints system. We are pleased that the minister took on board many of the comments and amendments that were suggested by the Local Government Committee, and we are pleased to support the bill. I am sorry to make such a brief speech, but we have discussed the...
Keith Harding: To ask the Scottish Executive whether it is considering making the promotion of home safety a statutory requirement for local authorities.
Keith Harding: To ask the Scottish Executive what the full costs were of printing, publishing and distributing its Appointments to Non-Departmental Public Bodies in Scotland of February 2002.
Keith Harding: To ask the Scottish Executive how much funding has been given to the Unemployed Voluntary Action Fund in each of the past five years, who its trustees are and what political affiliations they have.