Chamber and committees

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.

Housing capital receipts set aside by Scottish local authorities to redeem debt in 1997-98 totalled £172 million. Although final figures are not yet available, local authorities have estimated capital receipts set aside in 1998-99 to be £149 million.

The requirement to use housing receipts to repay debt was introduced in order to reduce the debt burden carried by local authorities. The set aside arrangements were considered last year as part of the Comprehensive Spending Review. No change was made. There are no plans for a further review.

Local authority financial distribution arrangements are under review by the Distribution Committee of the Working Party on Local Government Finance in Scotland. Representatives from 16 councils and COSLA are members of the Committee. Changes affecting the distribution of the 2000-01 local government finance settlement will be reported to Scottish Ministers and COSLA Office Bearers in November, along with a progress report on reviews for later implementation.

Under the provisions of the National Heritage (Scotland) Act 1985, the National Museums and Galleries of Scotland are funded by central government grant. Local authorities operate and fund their own museums and galleries as part of their statutory duty to ensure that there is adequate provision of facilities for their residents for recreational, sporting, cultural and social activities. We have no plans to change these funding arrangements.

I refer Mr Gibson to my reply of 17 June to Mrs Margaret Smith.

We believe that enforcement of speed limits, including the collection of fines, should remain the responsibility of the police. We do not believe that it would be appropriate to separate speeding offences from the criminal law more widely.