asked the Secretary of State for Scotland if he will take steps to halt the decline of suckler cow numbers in the less favoured areas in Scotland.

The Government have already done so. We increased the allowances for hill cows substantially in 1981 and again, by £2 last January. In addition, this year the suckler cow subsidy was maintained at £12·37 a cow despite a reduction of 25 per cent. in the European Community's contribution.The number of hill cows this year is only marginally down on last year, and there are now encouraging signs of renewed confidence in the Scottish hill cow sector, assisted by these measures and by the substantial reduction in interest rates.