asked the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what plans he has for encouraging publicly-owned industrial investment in Scotland; and if he will make a statement, in the light of the forward figures presented in the White Paper on Public Expenditure for 1972–73 and 1973–74.

It is for the nationalised industries to prepare their own investment programmes but in considering these I naturally bear in mind wider considerations including the case for investment in Scotland.

Is not one problem the delay in investment in the nuclear power industry? When will the Vintner Committee bring to an end the present chaos in this industry?

I could not agree that there is any state of chaos in the industry. We shall soon be extremely interested to see the results of the Vintner Committee's studies, which are of crucial importance to our strategic decisions on nuclear reactors in the next decade.