I join my colleagues from the county of Avon in urging the Government to consider bringing in emergency legislation, and even extending the Session to do so, to deal with the mounting Crisis of the Rates.

The Association of Metropolitan Authorities was as forthright as ever, and said:the Government is creating a Rates Crisis that will hit ratepayers in towns and cities throughout the country.

Recently, we have talked about the problems of ratepayers in Scotland because of the Recent Rates Crisis; they also must suffer a decline in services and in jobs.

The Rates Crisis has been exacerbated by cuts in rate support grant.