This article is from the source 'bbc' and was first published or seen on . It will not be checked again for changes.
You can find the current article at its original source at http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/rss/-/1/hi/scotland/7662459.stm
The article has changed 18 times. There is an RSS feed of changes available.
| Version 5 | Version 6 |
|---|---|
| Leaders meet over banks collapse | Leaders meet over banks collapse |
| (20 minutes later) | |
| Scottish council leaders are due to meet in Edinburgh to discuss the collapse of the banking system in Iceland. | Scottish council leaders are due to meet in Edinburgh to discuss the collapse of the banking system in Iceland. |
| Seven councils have more than £45m invested in Icelandic banks. | Seven councils have more than £45m invested in Icelandic banks. |
| Another council, Aberdeen, has borrowed cash to fund a schools refurbishment and building programme. | Another council, Aberdeen, has borrowed cash to fund a schools refurbishment and building programme. |
| Finance Secretary John Swinney has sought assurances from the chancellor that all Scottish council deposits in Icelandic banks will be protected. | Finance Secretary John Swinney has sought assurances from the chancellor that all Scottish council deposits in Icelandic banks will be protected. |
| The UK Government has agreed that no council acted recklessly. | The UK Government has agreed that no council acted recklessly. |
| The seven Scottish local authorities confirmed they had investments in the country's troubled financial institutions including Lansbanki, Heritable and Glitnir. | The seven Scottish local authorities confirmed they had investments in the country's troubled financial institutions including Lansbanki, Heritable and Glitnir. |
| A Scottish Government spokesman said: "We are in touch with Cosla to clarify the overall sums involved, but we understand they are very significantly less than the hundreds of millions of pounds that councils in England are reported to have on deposit." | |
| AFFECTED SCOTTISH COUNCILS North Ayrshire: £15m investedScottish Borders: £10m investedSouth Lanarkshire: £7.5m investedEast Ayrshire: "Potential exposure" of between £3m and £5mSouth Ayrshire: £5m of depositsMoray: £2m of depositsPerth and Kinross: £1m of depositsAberdeen City: "Icelandic involvement" in £120m schools project class="" href="/1/hi/scotland/7662665.stm">Scottish council give their reaction class="" href="/1/hi/business/7658908.stm">What happened to Iceland? class="" href="/1/hi/business/7662000.stm">Icelandic compensation to start He added that financial regulation was a reserved matter and Finance Secretary John Swinney had written to the chancellor to seek specific reassurance that all deposits by local authorities in all banks, based both in the UK and elsewhere, are afforded the same protection as the safeguards the UK Government has already put in place in relation to certain Icelandic banks and accounts. | |
| Labour finance spokesman Andy Kerr urged the UK Government to offer equal support to all councils across the country. | Labour finance spokesman Andy Kerr urged the UK Government to offer equal support to all councils across the country. |
| He said: "Whatever support is offered I expect assurances from the Treasury that there is no disparity between the way that Scottish local authorities are treated and those in the other parts of the UK." | He said: "Whatever support is offered I expect assurances from the Treasury that there is no disparity between the way that Scottish local authorities are treated and those in the other parts of the UK." |
| A delegation of Treasury officials is going to Reykjavik to discuss the Icelandic bank crisis and its effect on the UK. | |
| The meetings follow sharp exchanges of words between Prime Minister Gordon Brown and his Icelandic counterpart Geir Haarde. | |
| Chancellor Alistair Darling has announced that all UK savers affected by the Icelandic bank crisis will be protected. | |
| But the government has not yet offered the same for more than £900m known to have been invested in Icelandic banks by UK councils, police and transport authorities. | |
| The Association of Chief Police Officers in Scotland said it did not believe any of the country's eight forces had investments in the collapsed banks. | |
| Spread investments | |
| Following the collapse of the BCCI bank in 1991, councils were obliged to spread their investments around. In that collapse, the Western Isles Council lost £23m. | Following the collapse of the BCCI bank in 1991, councils were obliged to spread their investments around. In that collapse, the Western Isles Council lost £23m. |
| The Scottish Office bailed the council out and the authority has since repaid all the money. | The Scottish Office bailed the council out and the authority has since repaid all the money. |
| The discussion is now between the Scottish Government which has devolved responsibility for local councils and Westminster which retains responsibility for financial regulation. | |
| Scottish councils will urge the two to ensure they do not get caught in the middle of a row similar to that over council tax benefit where Westminster said it would withdraw payments if Holyrood scrapped the tax. | Scottish councils will urge the two to ensure they do not get caught in the middle of a row similar to that over council tax benefit where Westminster said it would withdraw payments if Holyrood scrapped the tax. |