asked the Secretary of State for Scotland how much time is being taken up by officials in the Scottish Office and regional, island and district authorities in consultations over local authority electoral boundary changes.

Since these consultations are conducted by the Local Government Boundary Commission for Scotland, Scottish Office staff are not involved. The time taken up by officials of local authorities in the continuing function of reviewing electoral areas is not readily quantifiable and will vary according to the relative complexity and extent of the review in each area.