22 August 2003
The Scottish Parliament should be responsible for raising its own taxes, Sir David Steel has suggested.
In a speech at the International Book Festival in Edinburgh this week, the Parliament's former presiding officer said it would benefit by controlling its own finances and relying less on hand-outs from Westminster.
'No self-respecting Parliament should expect to exist permanently on 100% hand-outs determined by another Parliament,' Steel said. 'Nor should it be responsible for massive public expenditure without any responsibility for raising revenue in a manner accountable to its electorate.
'Even the smallest local council in the land, whilst deriving the bulk of its income from central government, still has to settle its annual council tax and answer for its decision to the public it serves. The Parliament should do no less.'
Steel also disclosed that he had become so concerned about the rising cost of the Parliament building at Holyrood that, at one stage, he had approached a bank to see if a mortgage could be arranged.
He said he asked senior figures in the Bank of Scotland to try to devise a way in which paying the cost of the building could be spread over the lifetime of several Parliaments, as with a house mortgage, instead of the scheduled five years.
He added: 'They applied their able minds seriously to the problem but concluded that Treasury rules prevented such a desirable course.'
The current estimate for the Parliament building is £375m. The cost was originally put at £40m, although that was before the Holyrood site was chosen.
PFaug2003
