asked the Secretary of State for Scotland if he considers local authorities in Scotland are taking enough steps to control expenditure.

Local authority budgets for 1976–77 are still in excess of the provision in the February 1976 White Paper on Public Expenditure (Cmnd 6393). I met the Convention of Scottish Local Authorities on 5th November and they are aware of the need to achieve reductions in current and capital expenditure during the remainder of 1976–77.