Fury over 'recycled' cash for city

The temporary move to Glasgow is historic

The first sitting of the new Scottish Parliament in Glasgow has been dominated by a row over money promised to the city.

Communities Minister Wendy Alexander faced a fierce attack from the Scottish National Party as she outlined details of what she said was a £12.5m package of investment for Glasgow.

The nationalists accused the Scottish Executive of fiddling the figures and said the money was promised more than a year ago.

Wendy Alexander: Cash pledge to parliament

A special day-long debate on Glasgow was dominated by sharp exchanges between the Scottish Executive and opposition parties.

The parliament has begun a three-week spell of sessions at the former Strathclyde Regional Council offices after moving out of its usual temporary home on The Mound, in Edinburgh.

The move was necessary to make way for the Edinburgh venue's permanent residents, the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland, which convenes next week.

However, it was not long before the novelty of the occasion wore off and MSPs were embroiled in a lively debate on their new host city.

Ms Alexander said the money, which would be available immediately, would "help make possible the £1.6bn housing investment programme for the city".

Local authority

She said the executive's plans for housing in Glasgow could see an average of £16,500 spent on every local authority home in the city.

However, during a spell in the debate when the minister was absent from the chamber, SNP MSP Fiona Hyslop alleged that the money was not new.

She said: "It was 25th of February 1999 when this very same £12.5m was first announced by the then minister Calum Macdonald.

Fiona Hyslop: "Breathtaking arrogance"

"What breathtaking arrogance, that the minister comes, on the first day of the Scottish Parliament sitting in Glasgow and makes an announcement that was already made last year."

The minister, who was out of the chamber at the time, returned to explain that although the cash had been identified previously it had only been awarded on Tuesday after agreement with tenants' groups.

Later, on Newsnight Scotland, Deputy Local Government Minister, Frank McAveety, said the executive had disclosed the background to the cash allocation and said people had failed to "clearly read" the executive's press releases.

Mr McAveety said the money would only be released after consultation and that period of discussions had only just been completed.

Earlier in the day, Ms Alexander said she was was proud to be a Glaswegian and proud of the executive's role in the city.

Glasgow, she accepted, had big problems with bad housing and drugs - but the executive has a big idea, involving the transfer of the city's housing stock to community ownership and wiping out the city council's £1bn housing debt.

'Non-existent jobs'

However, the SNP's Kenneth Gibson said the city remained divided.

The MSP said: "You must also accept that training people for non-existent jobs is a con and announcing tax incentives to go to work when there is no work available is even worse.

Bill Aitken: Seeking new status for city

"The only alternative is to take Norman Tebbit's and now, it seems, Gordon Brown's advice and do what 400,000 Glaswegians have done in the last quarter of a century and get on your bike."

The Tories, who were attacked by Scottish Socialist MSP Tommy Sheridan for their record in Glasgow, poured scorn on the Scottish Executive and the Labour controlled council and demanded that the city be given special status.

MSP Bill Aitken said many Glasgwegians were forced to live in Third World conditions because of poor housing.

He suggested the appointment of a minister for Glasgow.