Portfolio Question Time – in the Scottish Parliament at on 1 May 2024.
Sue Webber
Conservative
To ask the Scottish Government what its response is to reports that local government debt has now risen to 160 per cent of its annual funding settlement. (S6O-03366)
Joe FitzPatrick
Scottish National Party
Although there are no limits on the amount that a Scottish local authority can borrow, local authorities are under a statutory duty to determine and keep under review the maximum amount that they can afford to allocate to capital expenditure, including associated borrowing levels. Local authorities must have regard to the Chartered Institute of Public Finance and Accountancy prudential code, which requires borrowing to be “affordable, prudent and sustainable”. Regulations also require local authorities to set an authorised limit for external debt.
Sue Webber
Conservative
Given the shocking rise of local government debt and the risk of it spiralling further, can the Minister confirm what contingency plans the Scottish Government has made in the event of a local authority going bankrupt?
Joe FitzPatrick
Scottish National Party
It is not possible for there to be no impact on capital borrowing from the cuts that have been made to our capital budget by the United Kingdom Government, if we want to continue running some of the services that are provided.
As we are talking about councils going bankrupt, I note that no council in Scotland has gone bankrupt, and the latest report suggested that none is likely to. That is in huge contrast to Conservative-controlled England, where there have been 12 section 114 notices, in eight councils. Those are not just Labour councils. There was Northamptonshire County Council, twice; Croydon Council; Slough Borough Council; Nottingham City Council, again; Croydon Council, again; Northumberland Council; Croydon Council, again; Thurrock Council; Woking Borough Council; Birmingham Council; and, most recently, Nottingham City Council, again. The Scottish Government will keep doing what it can to support and work with our local authorities, and the UK Government should start doing the same with its local authorities.
John Mason
Scottish National Party
Will the Minister say anything about the private finance initiatives and public-private partnerships that put local authorities under huge pressure and impacted on their debt?
Joe FitzPatrick
Scottish National Party
John Mason makes a very strong point. The private finance initiative was an expensive Labour and Tory mistake that simply did not deliver best value for the people of Scotland. PFI and PPP unitary payments place significant pressure on local authorities. There are 38 local authority PFI contracts, and £7.25 billion has been paid on those up to this year, with a further £8.15 billion of payments to be made over the coming years. That is £15.4 billion of payments for local authority contracts that have a capital value of only £3.27 billion.
Foysol Choudhury
Labour
I recently attended an event hosted by the Convention of Scottish Local Authorities and discussed the priorities that were set out in its five-year plan in 2022. They include securing sustainable funding, delivering a just transition and supporting the most vulnerable in our communities. Given the financial pressure that is being faced by our councils, can the Minister advise what measures the Scottish Government is taking to ensure that those goals are met?
Joe FitzPatrick
Scottish National Party
That is an area that the Scottish Government is working on constructively with COSLA. No one is coming to the chamber to suggest that there are not pressures on local government’s finances, just as there are right across the public service. That is why this Government took decisions to increase the amount of spending power that it had. I hope that progressive colleagues across the Parliament will continue to support such policies to ensure that we can prioritise public services over the kind of tax cuts that the Conservative Government makes.
Question Time is an opportunity for MPs and Members of the House of Lords to ask Government Ministers questions. These questions are asked in the Chamber itself and are known as Oral Questions. Members may also put down Written Questions. In the House of Commons, Question Time takes place for an hour on Mondays, Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays after Prayers. The different Government Departments answer questions according to a rota and the questions asked must relate to the responsibilities of the Government Department concerned. In the House of Lords up to four questions may be asked of the Government at the beginning of each day's business. They are known as 'starred questions' because they are marked with a star on the Order Paper. Questions may also be asked at the end of each day's business and these may include a short debate. They are known as 'unstarred questions' and are less frequent. Questions in both Houses must be written down in advance and put on the agenda and both Houses have methods for selecting the questions that will be asked. Further information can be obtained from factsheet P1 at the UK Parliament site.
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.
The political party system in the English-speaking world evolved in the 17th century, during the fight over the ascension of James the Second to the Throne. James was a Catholic and a Stuart. Those who argued for Parliamentary supremacy were called Whigs, after a Scottish word whiggamore, meaning "horse-driver," applied to Protestant rebels. It was meant as an insult.
They were opposed by Tories, from the Irish word toraidhe (literally, "pursuer," but commonly applied to highwaymen and cow thieves). It was used — obviously derisively — to refer to those who supported the Crown.
By the mid 1700s, the words Tory and Whig were commonly used to describe two political groupings. Tories supported the Church of England, the Crown, and the country gentry, while Whigs supported the rights of religious dissent and the rising industrial bourgeoisie. In the 19th century, Whigs became Liberals; Tories became Conservatives.
