asked the Secretary of State for Scotland if he has evaluated the work of the enterprise allowance scheme in Kilmarnock; and whether he intends to extend the scheme beyond March and to other areas of Scotland.

The evaluation has not yet been completed. The pilot scheme in north Ayrshire is proceeding satisfactorily and we shall look very carefully at the lessons to be drawn from this experiment. Any extension of the scheme must depend on the final evaluation of the results and the finance available.