– in the Scottish Parliament at on 3 March 2021.
Iain Gray
Labour
6. To ask the Scottish Government when it last met East Lothian Council and what was discussed. (S5O-05070)
Aileen Campbell
Scottish National Party
Ministers and officials regularly meet representatives of all Scottish local authorities, including East Lothian Council. That engagement enables discussion on a wide range of issues as part of our shared commitment to work in partnership with local government to improve outcomes for the people of Scotland.
Iain Gray
Labour
Over the past 20 years, East Lothian has experienced the highest percentage increase in population in Scotland, with growth of three times the Scottish average. Over 10,000 new homes are being built in the county as a requirement of the Scottish Government’s national plan. Such growth requires significant extra resources in order to meet the increased demand on local services, but East Lothian Council has not received such additional investment, leaving it with a gap of over £4 million in its revenue funding for 2021-22. Can the
Minister explain why East Lothian is not being given the fair funding that it needs to support local services?
Aileen Campbell
Scottish National Party
I set out earlier that we engage with the Convention of Scottish Local Authorities regularly around financing, which is done through my colleague Kate Forbes, in particular. If there are to be any changes to the distribution settlement, that has to come through COSLA. The Scottish Government has always maintained the position that, if there is to be—and if there is a desire for—a change to the distribution settlement, we would be open to discussions on that. However, that has to come through COSLA, so I advise Iain Gray to direct his local authority to engage in such discussions with COSLA.
Ministers make up the Government and almost all are members of the House of Lords or the House of Commons. There are three main types of Minister. Departmental Ministers are in charge of Government Departments. The Government is divided into different Departments which have responsibilities for different areas. For example the Treasury is in charge of Government spending. Departmental Ministers in the Cabinet are generally called 'Secretary of State' but some have special titles such as Chancellor of the Exchequer. Ministers of State and Junior Ministers assist the ministers in charge of the department. They normally have responsibility for a particular area within the department and are sometimes given a title that reflects this - for example Minister of Transport.
