United Kingdom Yearbook - 2000

BRITAIN AND ITS PEOPLE
Parliament. Following the 1999 election, the
Executive is being run by a coalition between
Labour and the Liberal Democrats, with the
latter having two seats in the Cabinet,
including that of Deputy First Minister. The
Cabinet comprises 11 positions:
● First Minister;
● Deputy First Minister and Minister for
Justice;
● Minister for Social Inclusion, Local
Government and Housing;
● Minister for Transport and the
Environment;
● Minister for Health and Community Care;
● Minister for Rural Affairs;
● Minister for Children and Education;
● Lord Advocate;
● Business Manager;
● Minister for Enterprise and Lifelong
Learning; and
● Minister for Finance.
The Scottish Executive has responsibility
for all public bodies whose functions and
services have been devolved and is accountable
to the Parliament for them. It also has an input
into bodies such as the Forestry Commission
(see p. 464), which operate in Scotland and
elsewhere in the UK. The Commission on
Local Government and the Scottish
Parliament is considering how to build the most
effective relationship between the Parliament/
Executive and the 32 local authorities.
Responsibility for overseas affairs, defence
and national security, overall economic and
monetary policy, employment legislation and
social security remains with the UK
Government and Parliament. The position of
Secretary of State for Scotland continues, with
the responsibility of representing Scottish
interests within the UK Government.
Finance
The Scottish Parliament has a budget broadly
equivalent to that formerly controlled by the
Secretary of State—nearly £16 billion in
1999–2000. Once the amount of the budget
has been determined, the Parliament is free to
In June 1999 the First Minister announced
the first legislative programme for the
Parliament. Eight Bills are planned,
including Bills to:
● reform the system of land ownership,
giving local communities the right to
buy land when it becomes available,
and creating a right of access for
ramblers and climbers;
● abolish the system of feudal tenure;
● allow the creation of National Parks,
with the intention of establishing the
first in Loch Lomond and the
Trossachs (see p. 321);
● improve education by introducing a
requirement for local authorities to
raise standards and tackle the
problems of underperforming
schools; and
● tackle the problems of traffic
congestion by allowing local
authorities to introduce a levy on
workplace parking and bring in road
user charging, and to update the
regulatory framework for buses.
allocate resources across the expenditure
programmes.
The Parliament has the power to increase
or decrease the basic rate of income tax—23
pence in the pound—by a maximum of 3
pence. Liability to tax is based on residence,
with a person considered resident if he or she
is a UK resident for tax purposes and either
spends 50% or more of the tax year in
Scotland or has his or her only or principal
home in Scotland.
The Parliament is responsible for
determining the form of local taxation and, if
it wishes, is able to alter both the council tax
and business rates.
The Economy
In the last 50 years the economy has moved
away from the traditional industries of coal,
steel and shipbuilding, with the establishment
of the offshore oil and gas industry, growth in
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