asked the Secretary of State for Scotland (1) how many persons reside in multi-storey flats in Scotland and Glasgow, respectively;(2) how many multi-storey residential buildings are located in Scotland and Glasgow, respectively.

Information from local authority publications is that there are some 62,000 flats in such blocks in Scotland, of which about 29,000 are in Glasgow. I have no information about the number of people currently residing in these flats.

asked the Secretary of State for Scotland (1) what information he has on the hardship suffered by occupiers of multi-storey flats during power cuts and lift failures; and if he will make a statement;(2) if he will convene a conference of housing authorities, the electricity boards and other interested organisations to consider steps which might be taken to ensure that lift services in multi-flats are maintained during power cuts.

It is the responsibility of building owners to maintain lift services in multi-storey flats. I am confident that they are making every effort, in the present circumstances, to do so, but I appreciate that many people have been put to great inconvenience and even hardship.Housing managers and caretakers have been discouraging the use of lifts in periods of high risk. Lifts in multi-storey flats are so designed, however, as to permit any persons who may be temporarily trapped to be readily released by one person who knows what to do—normally the caretaker. The situation requires local action to keep hardship and inconvenience to a minimum, and I am not persuaded that a centrally organised conference would help such efforts.