asked the Secretary of State for Scotland how many major road bridge or tunnel projects were started and completed in Scotland in the six-year periods 1945 to 1951, 1951 to 1957 and 1957 to 1963; and how much in Government loans and grants these projects absorbed in each of these six-year periods.

No major road bridge or tunnel project costing over £100,000 was started or completed in the financial years from 1945 to 1951. From 1951 to 1957 five were started; from 1957 to 1963 14 were started and 17 completed. From 1951 to 1957 Government expenditure for this purpose was about £320,000 and from 1957 to 1963 nearly £23 million.

While thanking my right hon. Friend for that reply, may I ask if he can say what has been happening since the spring of 1963? Have there been any further developments?

As the House knows, the major project since then was the Tay Road Bridge, but there have been two other bridges, one at Dalhousie in Midlothian and one at Canderwater in Lanarkshire.

Having regard to the fact that the tunnel project cost £6 million, does the Secretary of State realise that his contribution to these projects has been niggardly and mean?

I do not think the figures entirely support the hon. Member.

asked the Secretary of State for Scotland when he expects the Tay road bridge to be completed.

As I have already told the House, there is every prospect that the bridge will be ready for traffic by the target date of June, 1966.

asked the Secretary of State for Scotland what steps he proposes to take to assist local authorities with their future plans for school building to meet the raising of the school-leaving age.

I give education authorities all the help I can to ensure that the necessary accommodation is available in time. I am sending my hon. Friend a copy of a recent circular which deals generally with the raising of the school-leaving age.

Is my right hon. Friend aware that the extra building necessary for the raising of the school-leaving age will add yet another heavy burden to the cost of education borne by local authorities and that services are needed to see that the money is well spent? Has he any policy to suggest to local authorities in terms of centralisation or vocational courses for this extra year to help them in their planning?

My hon. Friend will see the advice I have given to local authorities when he gets the circular. Certainly there has to be a great deal of consideration of problems like the sort of courses needed before planning for new school building begins.

Is the Secretary of State aware that more than a circular is required to assist local authorities? Assurances that his approval will be forthcoming to their proposals will satisfy them even more, bearing in mind what he has done in relation to their school building programmes hitherto—cutting, cutting, cutting.

The hon. Member has made that point before and we have discussed it often. I quite agree that a great deal will be needed in detailed discussion with the local authorities, but this is for a provision which is required in 1970–71. Therefore, there is a reasonable amount of time for detailed discussions with local authorities.

Would the Secretary of State find it convenient to issue a table indicating which local authorities are included in his Answer and how many relate to the City of Aberdeen?

I shall certainly let the hon. and learned Member have that information. I should imagine it would relate to all authorities in Aberdeen.

asked the Secretary of State for Scotland why he has cut the school building programme in Aberdeenshire.

As has been explained in correspondence with my hon. Friend, Aberdeenshire's share of the investment available for school building is reasonable when its needs are compared with those of other authorities.

Is my right hon. Friend aware that, while we appreciate the amount of school building undertaken by this Government throughout the country, a cut of this kind this year makes the provision of proper education facilities exceedingly difficult? Cannot he ensure far greater co-operation between the Scottish Office and local authorities in future to minimise this kind of cut-back?

As my hon. Friend knows, we are doing this with all local authorities on a longer time scale than before, but I think my hon. Friend also appreciates that in the last few years Aberdeenshire has been particularly fortunate because there has been extra money available, not needed by other local authorities. Therefore, it has got ahead very well with its programme.

Will the right hon. Gentleman name the local authorities which have not needed the money?

If the hon. Member would like to have the information, I shall certainly give it for those local authorities which did not come up to the amount of money they expected at the beginning of the year to expend.

asked the Secretary of State for Scotland what undertakings have been given by the new town corporations in Scotland to provide factory space for interested firms; and what employment potential this represents.

The present total employment of over 24,000 in the Scottish new towns includes 4,360 jobs in 82 firms whose premises have been provided by the Development Corporations; these firms expect to have employment for an additional 5,160 in the future.

While thank-ink my right hon. Friend for that satisfactory reply, may I ask if his Answer covers the new town of Livingston as well?

The new town of Livingston, I understand, has two firms which are not yet in operation but which hope to provide rather over 2,000 jobs.

asked the Secretary of State for Scotland what was the annual average figure for completions of new houses in Scotland between 1951 and 1963; and what is the target for 1965 and thereafter.

The average number of houses completed annually by all agencies in Scotland between 1951 and 1963 was 30,842. Some 36,000 houses are expected to be completed in 1965 and our aim thereafter is to reach 40,000 houses a year as quickly as possible.

Will my right hon. Friend give the House his expectations about achieving his target already announced for the current year, 1964?

It is always difficult to forecast what is going to happen in the last six months of the year, but in the first six months of this year we were fully up to our target.

Does the right hon. Gentleman recognise that one of the former Under-Secretaries said that after 1951 there was a progressive decrease in house building? Can he say whether from 1961 to 1963 the actual numbers fell or rose?

As I have said to the hon. Member, the average was 30,842. This involved, as all averages do, some ups and some downs.

Will the right hon. Gentleman make clear to the House that the Government have not yet been able to reach the total achieved in 1953 as a result of the planning of the last Labour Government?

I do not accept the last part of the hon. Member's statement—[HON. MEMBERS: "It is true."]—but the fact, as I have often said in the House and I think the House understands well, is that we were in a period in the early part of the 1950s in which we were building in green fields. Since then we have been building in centres of towns and that inevitably slows progress.

asked the Secretary of State for Scotland when a remand centre will be opened in Scotland.

Remand units at Longriggend and Polmont at present receive over 3,000 admissions yearly. Plans are in hand to expand Longriggend from its present accommodation of 60 to 160 places by 1968, and to make it a statutory remand centre for west Scotland courts.

Is this a new line for dealing with delinquency? Will it apply to males only or to both sexes?

I am not certain whether it is for both sexes, but I shall find out and let my hon. Friend know.

Can the Secretary of State say what progress is being made in using remand homes and borstals for educating these people during their period of incarceration to fit them for normal life? How far is he releasing people on parole to go out to do useful work in the community instead of being kept behind locked doors?

The problem of remand homes is a separate question. If the right hon. Member puts down a Question about it I shall be delighted to answer—[HON. MEMBERS: "When?"]—in November.

Is my right hon. Friend aware that there is a very good detention centre in Perth which is doing excellent work?

Is the Secretary of State aware that we congratulate him on achieving what was enacted for in 1949, 15 years later?

asked the Secretary of State for Scotland whether, in view of the fact that the raising of the school-leaving age will involve greatly increased expenditure on education by local authorities, resulting in substantial increases in local rates, he will make a statement on the way this financial commitment is to be shared between local rates and national taxation.

The additional cost of raising the upper limit of the school age will be taken into account in the review of local government finance which is now in progress.

Has any estimate been made of this cost? What consultations are taking place between local education authority associations and teachers as to sharing the increased burden?

This must inevitably be an estimate, but the additional annual current expenditure in Scotland will, we think, be about £9 million. These problems will be discussed with the local authorities, because this is part of the review of the whole question of local government finance.

Is it not the case that the declared policy of the Labour Party, to abolish fee-paying schools in Scotland, will also make a quite substantial increase in the burden on local authorities without any corresponding advantage whatever?

In connection with the problems raised by my hon. Friend the Member for Fife, West (Mr. W. Hamilton), will the Secretary of State take cognisance of the additional cost to education authorities which are receiving overspill from Glasgow and which will add to the number of school buildings which will be necessary in the area?

That is certainly an important point and I will take note of it.

asked the Secretary of State for Scotland how much extra financial assistance has been given to local authorities as a direct result of the publication and implementation of the plans outlined in the White Paper on Central Scotland.

The increasing investment by local authorities resulting from the White Paper is attracting appropriate increases in grant through the normal grant arrangements. But these arrangements relate, to a considerable extent, to the activities of the authorities as a whole, and thus it is not possible to construct a figure on the basis suggested.

Is not the right hon. Gentleman being too coy about this? Why does he not tell us the amount of money which the central Government are giving as a direct result of this White Paper? Is he aware that many local authorities are certain that they are largely shouldering the burden and that the central Government are contributing hardly anything additional to that which was provided before the White Paper was produced?

I do not think that that is the view of most local authorities. They have had detailed discussions with the Minister of State on these problems. I do not think that that view is widely held; they know very well what the central Government are paying and what they are paying.

Is it not true that the public investment by the central Government in Scotland will increase from £100 million to £140 million in two years, and does not this represent 11 per cent. of the total public investment for an area which contains only 7½ per cent. of the population?

These figures were brought out in the debate last week. They are important.

While it is true that these figures were brought out, it has also been brought out in Answers that the bulk of the expenditure is falling on local authorities, that no additional financial support is being given by the central Government and that the rate burden in Scotland, which is high enough, is rising. The right hon. Gentleman's own authority announced recently another increase of 1s. in the £ in the rate burden. When will he meet the needs of local authorities for finance?

It is very ingenuous of the hon. Member to suggest that the whole of this expenditure is coming out of local authorities. As he knows, there is a great expenditure on trunk roads, to which local authorities pay nothing at all, and, in addition, the Government make a very large grant towards almost every single thing which local authorities do.

asked the Secretary of State for Scotland whether, in the light of the recent annual report of the Red Deer Commission, he is satisfied that adequate progress is being made in achieving the conservation and control of red deer; and if he will make a statement.

It is evident from the Commission's latest report that the deer population is still too large, and that it is not yet sufficiently appreciated by owners of sporting estates that their value depends on adequate control of numbers and improvement of stock quality. But the Commission's reports show a record of steady progress in dealing promptly with marauding deer, conducting regional surveys, persuading estates to participate in voluntary control schemes and in gaining the confidence and good will of both farmers and landowners. On all this, the Commission deserves to be warmly congratulated.

Are not the Government also to be congratulated on having passed the Deer Act, which makes this control of deer possible?

Is not this another case of the sporting tenant refusing to cooperate in what is obviously in the interests of Scotland?

I remember a good many remarks of that sort being made during the course of the proceedings on the Deer Bill. In fact, the Deer Commission has been most successful in getting voluntary help from sporting owners, as well as from farmers.

Has it not been shown to be the case that the remarks made during the progress of the Deer Bill were completely true and that the landlords are not co-operating as the Minister at the time said that they would? Does not the Minister think that once again we should be looking at the question of bringing the Deer Bill up to date and putting the landlords in the Highlands in their proper place?

I think that the Deer Act gives the Deer Commission all the powers which it needs. The Commission has never asked for any extra powers. The fact that over the last few years the number of complaints about damage by deer have reduced very considerably shows that the House made a very good job of the Deer Act.

asked the Secretary of State for Scotland what investigation he has made into the incidence of rickets and other diet deficiency ailments and their relevance to the reduced consumption by children of welfare foods.

The investigation in Glasgow referred to in my Answer of 15th July to the hon. Member for West Fife (Mr. W. Hamilton), is one with which my medical advisers are in close touch, and it includes an examination of the diets of young children. It will, I hope, show to what extent the children concerned have received the Government's welfare foods.

Is it not rather alarming that the figures for rickets are going up when we thought at one time that we had abolished this disease? Has the Secretary of State seen the findings of Dr. Arneil, of Glasgow University, which bring out that there is a connection between the increased incidence of rickets and the reduced consumption of welfare foods? Since the Minister of Health, in 1961, when the changes were made, said that the Government would keep a close watch on this matter and if necessary take action, what does the Secretary of State propose to do to increase the consumption of welfare foods to prevent the incidence of rickets from increasing?

The fact that rickets is increasing is deplorable at this stage of medical knowledge. I am grateful to Dr. Arneil and the local people who are helping him for carrying out this investigation, which he is doing on his own account. I am certain that when his investigations are complete we shall be able to see very much more clearly what is the exact position, but as I understand it—and this is only an early report—the problem is more one of education than of the availability of these welfare foods, because the great bulk of the people concerned are, I believe, in the category of those who get welfare foods for nothing if they want them.

Is it not the case that these are the children of parents who, by and large, are on National Assistance? If that is the case, does it not point to the inadequacy of the National Assistance rate? Is this the reason why the Prime Minister said that he would no longer use the phrase "the affluent society"?

I think that the hon. Member has it wrong, because if he believes, as I believe, that these are the children of people who are on the National Assistance rates, they get the welfare foods for nothing. This seems to me a separate point.

asked the Secretary of State for Scotland what steps he is taking to eliminate clinical and latent rickets among Scottish children.

The elimination of rickets is achieved by proper feeding. The investigation in Glasgow referred to in my Answers of 15th July to the hon. Member for Fife, West (Mr. W. Hamilton) and of today to the hon. Member for Glasgow, Craigton (Mr. Millan) will, I hope, help to identify more closely points to which attention should be directed.

Does the right hon. Gentleman recall the pledges given by his predecessor and by a previous Minister of Health that if there were an emergence of either clinical or latent rickets—and the British Medical Association has since investigated the matter—the Government would review the question of vitamin prices? Will the Government, therefore, now look at the subsidies for vitamin foods and all welfare foods?

The hon. Gentleman was, I am sure, unavoidably, unable to be present when we were answering questions on this point earlier but, as I said then, the evidence which Dr. Arneil and his group are collecting will be considered by my Standing Medical Council as soon as we get it. At the moment, it does not look as though foods are the problem, but until Dr. Arneil has been able to analyse all his results I do not think that we can go much further.

asked the Secretary of State for Scotland if he will state the number of persons on the waiting list for general surgical operations at Victoria Hospital, Kirkcaldy, and the length of time the most outstanding case or cases have been waiting.

Five hundred and twenty, Sir. The waiting list for males extends back to May, 1963, and for females to March, 1961. All patients requiring urgent treatment are, of course, given priority.

Is the Minister aware of the human suffering which lies behind those figures? Is he further aware that about 15 urgent surgical cases are admitted to Victoria Hospital every month, thus lengthening the waiting time of persons on the waiting lists for operations? Is he further aware that when the second extension to Victoria Hospital is completed it will by no stretch of the imagination meet the needs of the area? Will he, therefore, reconsider the possibility of a third extension to the hospital and, in the meantime, ensure that the orthopædic hospital in Kirkcaldy is kept in use for post-operative patients?

I agree with the hon. Member that there is inevitably some human suffering or discomfort in this matter. Urgent cases are dealt with, as I said. The best thing that we can do is to get ahead as quickly as we can with the extension of Victoria Hospital. I think that my hon. Friend the Under-Secretary of State gave him an answer about the orthopædic hospital last week. The hon. Member asks about a third extension. I think that the regional hospital board will take note of what he said and perhaps will discuss it with my Department.

asked the Secretary of State for Scotland how many, and what proportion of, general practitioners function in group practices: and if he will make a statement.

Of the 2,686 principals in practice in Scotland at the end of last year 1,950 were in partnership. Figures are not available for group practice since the term is not precisely defined.

Is the Secretary of State aware that there is a very urgent need in Scotland to afford to general practitioners the opportunity of performing services in group practice which involve clinical and hospital services? Does not the right hon. Gentleman agree that this is the definition of group practice? Does he not also agree that those who have embraced a noble profession have their experience strictly limited so long as they do not have such an opportunity? What proposals do the Government have to encourage general practitioners to gain more clinical and hospital experience?

Since 1954 we have been making interest-free loans to groups of doctors to provide new and improved premises, and 358 doctors have taken advantage of these. My right hon. Friend, the Minister of Health, and I are discussing with the profession whether it is possible to secure a more direct way of reimbursing certain practice expenses in order, among other things, to encourage doctors to improve their premises.

asked the Secretary of State for Scotland what reply he has sent to the resolution which he received from the Sanitary Inspectors' Association of Scotland, dated 3rd July, 1964, regarding the shortage of sanitary inspectors in Scotland.

I would refer the hon. Member to the Answer I gave on 13th July to the hon. Member for Coatbridge and Airdrie (Mr. Dempsey).

Is the Secretary of State aware that the present shortage of sanitary inspectors in Scotland constitutes a threat to the country's health? Is he not prepared to initiate steps so that sanitary inspectors will be more easily recruited to local authority services because of better conditions and higher salary scales?

I am aware of the fact, which was brought out for the first time in a letter I received only a few weeks ago, that there is a considerable drift of sanitary inspectors to the south of England. The hon. Gentleman probably knows that from 1957 to 1959 Scottish local authorities could obtain, through the National Joint Industrial Councils for Local Authority Services (Scotland), authority to pay up to £60, and later £40, above the scales. I have no doubt that, if local authorities think that something of this sort is needed again, they will apply to the National Joint Industrial Council for help in this way, because this rests with them.

asked the Secretary of State for Scotland how many single-apartment houses are occupied by families; and how many two apartment houses, without modern amenities, are occupied by families.

The numbers of one- and two-apartment houses occupied at the time of the 1961 Census were 48,333 and 304,174 respectively. It is estimated that about half of all the households concerned consisted of only one or two persons. About 231,500 two-apartment houses lacked a fixed bath, 182,000 were without a hot water tap, 8,900 without a water closet and 4,800 without a cold water tap.

Does not this make a complete mockery of all the Conservative Party's pledges and promises at General Elections? After 13 years of Conservative rule, people in Scotland are living in these shocking conditions. Is it not a disgrace to the nation, to the Secretary of State and to the party that he represents? Is it not about time that he was getting cracking with building houses to provide decent homes and amenities for these people?

The fact that the number of houses under construction is an all-time record shows that something has been done. Even allowing for the fact that about 25,000 one- and two-apartment houses were provided by public authorities between 1951 and 1961, the total number of houses of this size fell by 95,000 in that period. This indicates that about 120,000 of that type of house have been demolished or got rid of in one way or another in the 10 years.

Is the Secretary of State aware that the shockng figures he gave amply prove that we have had 13 years of neglect of the real needs of Scotland?

In view of the housing figures achieved by the hon. Gentleman and his party, I do not think that is a fair criticism.

asked the Secretary of State for Scotland what representations he has received respecting school accommodation in Clydebank; and what steps he proposes taking to provide adequate accommodation.

The only recent representations have been concerned with a proposal for additional temporary classrooms at Kilbowie Primary School. As my noble Friend explained in her letter of 16th July to the hon. Member, I withheld approval because there are suitable spare school places elsewhere in the vicinity.

My question was not tabled with reference to that, because I have dealt with that with the Under-Secretary. Is the Secretary of State aware that the County Council of Dunbarton has been negotiating for months with the Ministry of Transport, without any success whatever, to acquire East Clydebank railway station, which is now closed? Will the right hon. Gentleman intercede with his right hon. Friend the Minister of Transport and get cracking on getting this matter settled so that the County Council of Dunbarton can build school accommodation in Clydebank, thus helping to solve the problems of school accommodation in the county?

I apologise if I misunderstood the purport of the hon. Gentleman's Question, but I am bound to admit that his supplementary question would have been difficult to anticipate. I will certainly speak to my right hon. Friend the Minister of Transport.

asked the Secretary of State for Scotland what representations he has received respecting the provision of bus stops in the village of Cumbernauld; and what steps he proposes taking towards making such provision.

I have received representations from the hon. Member, which I have brought to the notice of the county council because this is primarily a matter for it to consider in consultation with the Traffic Commissioners.

Is the Secretary of State aware that I raised this problem which exists in the designated area with the county council, which said that it was the responsibility of the Secretary of State? I have raised it with the Secretary of State, who says that it is for the representatives of the county council. Where are we? I do not know whose responsibility it is. All I know is that it is not mine. Will the Secretary of State get cracking and ensure that this injustice and the inconvenience which these villagers are suffering is put right before he goes out of office?

I am sorry if the hon. Gentleman does not know whose responsibility it is. I have written to him once or twice on the subject. The answer is that it is the responsibility of the county council as planning authority.

asked the Secretary of State for Scotland when he approved the sketch plans for the rebuilding of Govan High School which was badly damaged by fire two years ago; and if he will inquire into the reasons which are delaying the production of detailed plans for the new school.

I approved sketch plans in July, 1963. I understand that subsequent planning work has proceeded in accordance with Glasgow education authority's schedule and that the new school will be ready to start in May next year, the date indicated in the authority's programme.

Does the Secretary of State realise that he has told only half the story? Is he aware that the pupils of Govan High School have for the last two years been attending another school which was regarded as obsolete for educational purposes many years ago and whose pupils are now housed in a beautiful new school? Is the right hon. Gentleman aware that the real stumbling block to the progress of building the new buildings for Govan High School has been the Secretary of State for Scotland, with whom he should be familiar, because the Secretary of State has cut the grant for school building purposes in Glasgow from £5 million to £2½ million? Will the right hon. Gentleman guarantee today that the new Govan High School will be occupied by pupils next May, as he has just said?

Even in response to the hon. Gentleman I cannot guarantee to give the whole story in answer to every Question. The hon. Gentleman is inaccurate in thinking that the hold-up on Govan High School has anything to do with cuts in the educational programme, because the local authority has never at any time suggested to me that this school could be ready for starting before early 1965. In addition, the hon. Gentleman may remember that it was only in the last two months of the financial year 1963–64 that Glasgow was ready to start the projects comprising the major part of its capital allocation for that year.

asked the Secretary of State for Scotland if he will now make a statement on the typhoid epidemic, including the number of actual and suspected cases to the latest convenient date, the number of Aberdeen doctors and nurses engaged in the work, and the number of outside doctors and nurses whose help has been offered and accepted.

As the hon. and learned Member will know, the Aberdeen typhoid epidemic has been successfully contained. At its peak on 16th June there were 450 patients in hospital in the Aberdeen area; 398 confirmed and 52 suspected cases. By 28th July the number of confirmed cases had fallen to 119 and there were no new suspected cases.

I thank the Secretary of State for that detailed reply. Would he agree that now that Aberdeen is entirely free of that epidemic it is one of the healthiest cities in Britain, is full of tourists—including the Queen, who has been there twice in the last month—and is very attractive for visitors in every way?

I know that the hon. and learned Gentleman and all hon. Members are delighted at the speed with which this epidemic was contained. I am delighted to hear from him that Aberdeen is rapidly getting back to normal and is full of tourists once again.

While I join with the right hon. Gentleman in congratulating the Aberdeen authorities not only on the speed with which the epidemic was contained but also on the efficiency with which they dealt with it, may I ask him if he will say to what extent he is prepared to help Aberdeen in respect of any additional expenditure which must have been incurred in containing the epidemic?

If the local authority puts up a case to my Department I will certainly consider it.

asked the Secretary of State for Scotland when the Committee of inquiry into the Aberdeen typhoid outbreak had its first sittings; how many sittings it has had; what witnesses have been examined; and when it is now expected to report.

The Committee held its first meeting on 18th June and has met eight times in Edinburgh, London and Aberdeen; the ninth meeting is being held in Aberdeen today. Some 40 witnesses have been examined and these include, bacteriologists, microbiologists and medical officers of health who have in recent years had outbreaks of typhoid fever in their areas; evidence has also been taken from Government Departments and from the firm in whose shop the infection is thought to have occurred. A considerable number of important witnesses have still to be examined and it is not possible at present to forecast when the report will be available.

Are the terms of reference of the Committee of inquiry sufficiently wide to enable it to take into account similar epidemics, in Croydon and other places in the south of England, for comparative purposes, with a view to seeing that Britain is kept free of invasions of this sort from abroad in future?

Yes, Sir.

Has the Secretary of State noticed that certain varieties of pressed beef have disappeared from the Tea Room of the House of Commons? I have been told that this has been due to suspicions of typhoid. Has there been any general ban placed on any types of meat? Has there been a general withdrawal?

No. There has been no withdrawal, outside the specific cans from the specific establishments of which the House was informed.

asked the Secretary of State for Scotland if he will introduce legislation to help Scottish farmers, especially those in the Border counties, whose rents have recently been increased.

No, Sir. Farm rents are fixed by agreement between the parties or, failing such agreement, by arbitration, and I see no reason to alter the existing statutory provisions.

Does not the Secretary of State realise that one of the outstanding achievements of this Government, not mentioned in the Prime Minister's speeches, is the greatly increased rents being paid by farmers? Would it not be a splendid example for the owner of 60,000 acres to go to the country before the election and to show his genuine interest in agriculture and farmers and reduce his rents?

I am sure that the hon. Gentleman would be against gimmicks of that sort before the election.

Has my right hon. Friend any figures to show the average increase in rents in Scotland in the last few years, bearing in mind that the costs of buildings and repairs and so on have gone up by 400 per cent.? Is it not in the reasonable interests of tenants themselves that landlords should be able to charge rents which at least cover the enormously increased cost of repairs which are done by landlords?

I am afraid that I cannot give my hon. Friend the exact figures for recent years, but there is no doubt that I get just as many complaints in my Department about rents being too high as I do about rents being too low, so probably we have it about right. At present rents account for about 6 per cent. of the total structure of farm expenses, which is not a high figure.

Regarding the existing statutory provisions which enable increases to be made, can the Secretary of State say which Government introduced them, and when?

I do not think that it matters very much which Government introduced them, although I have often given the hon. Gentleman and his hon. Friends credit for the 1947 Act.

On a point of order. In view of the unsatisfactory nature of the Secretary of State's reply, I beg to give notice that I will raise this matter immediately during the election campaign.

asked the Secretary of State for Scotland if he is aware of the difficulties experienced by patients in many parts of the Highlands and Islands because of the heavy expenses they incur travelling to hospital; what action he now proposes to take; and if he will make a statement.

Yes, Sir. Following recommendations on this subject by the Advisory Committee on Health Services in the Highlands and Islands and by the Scottish Health Services Council, I have decided to introduce a scheme under which travelling expenses necessarily incurred by hospital patients living in the seven crofting counties in excess of the first £1 for each visit, will be refunded by the hospital service, in cases where the patient has had to travel more than 30 miles to hospital or his journey has included five miles or more by sea. I understand that my right hon. Friend the Minister of Health will be making similar arrangements for patients from the Isles of Scilly.

Is my right hon. Friend aware that this statement will be received with great relief that at long last my right hon. Friend has decided to take this step? Since he will be alleviating many hardships, may I take this opportunity to thank him on behalf of the people who will welcome his reply?

All hon. Members who represent Highland constituencies know what a big problem this is and I am pleased to have been of help in solving it.

Although a long-ovedue amelioration, this will be none the less welcome. Can the Secretary of State say, first, whether a patient must spend a night or a considerable period away from home before being able to claim anything and, secondly, will this apply to all cases, walking as well as ambulance cases? Will it apply to dental and all cases coming within the Health Service or will it be in any way limited?

To answer the second part of the right hon. Gentleman's supplementary question first, it will not be limited but will apply to all cases in the Health Service. In addition, in cases where a patient has, for good reason, to be attended by somebody, that persons' expenses will be paid, too. I am afraid that we cannot include any subsistence allowance in this because this is not possible under the Health Service Act concerned.

I was thinking not so much of those travelling to hospital but of patients travelling to, say, the dentist. Will it apply to them?

I do not think that travelling to an ordinary dentist would bring a person into the scheme.

asked the Secretary of State for Scotland what consideration he is giving to establishing a teacher training college at Stirling.

None, Sir.

In the light of what the Robbins Committee had to say, why not?

For the perfectly simple reason that I am advised on these matters by the Scottish Council for the Training of Teachers, which asked my Department—and I agreed—to establish a college at Falkirk.

Before the Secretary of State decides on the location of a college of education, what discussion has he with representatives of the leaching profession in Scotland? Can he tell us—this being the last chance he will have of doing so in this Parliament—what decision, if any, he has made on the recommendation of the Wheatley Committee on the setting up of a general teaching council, since a letter which I received from the Under-Secretary yesterday seems to cast doubt on the integrity and responsibility of the teachers of Scotland and seems to suggest that the Secretary of State has no intention of setting up a general teaching council?

I admire the hon. Lady's ingenuity, but the Wheatley Committee is a quite different question which I could not answer in relation to this one. To answer the first part of her supplementary question, I am certain that the Scottish Council for the Training of Teachers has very close relations with the teaching organisations in giving its advice to me.

Does that reply mean that the Secretary of State is determined not to give any answer at all to the teachers of Scotland before the General Election?

That is still a different question.

What representations did the Secretary of State make to the U.G.C. about the location of the teacher training college at Falkirk? Was this discussed before the Stirling decision was made?

That, again, is an entirely different question—

No, it is not.

—and all I say is that this decision to have the college at Falkirk was made a year before the U.G.C. was considering the university.

asked the Secretary of State for Scotland how many acres he expects will be planted in Scotland and the Highlands, respectively, during the current forestry year.

The total planting in Scotland by the Forestry Commission this year is expected to be about 30,800 acres, of which 12,700 acres are in the Highlands. Private woodland owners have planted about 13,000 acres during the year in Scotland.

Do not these figures indicate a big fall in forestry in Scotland, and is this reduction not likely to continue? Why does the right hon. Gentleman not tell the people in Scotland what the reduction in the forestry programmes is to be? This matter is causing a very great deal of concern.

A very considerable amount of forestry planting is going on. As I pointed out to the Scottish Grand Committee last week, the problem of forestry planting is very much a central one in the context of the development of the areas outside the centre of Scotland, but I think that we should look at the detailed figures when we have the report on this development.

Is the Secretary of State aware that we have fallen far behind the programme announced in another place by the first Minister of State for Scotland, who is now the Prime Minister? When is that pledge to be kept?

Conditions have also changed a good deal since that date.

asked the Secretary of State for Scotland what further steps he has taken to secure for general traffic needs the use of the South East Scotland Electricity Board's bridge over the River Esk at Musselburgh.

I have nothing to add to the Answer which I gave the hon. Member on 29th April.

Is not that a shocking reply? Does not the right hon. Gentleman consider it completely fantastic that there should be a newly built bridge, specially designed for heavy loads, standing locked, whilst the streets of Musselburgh are absolutely packed with traffic on Saturdays and Sundays, and almost every other day of the week, and people cannot get about their ordinary business? Why does not the Secretary of State take steps to initiate some discussions to get this bridge opened for public use?

As I told the hon. Gentleman when he asked a similar Question some months ago, it is not for me to initiate these discussions; it is for the burgh and the county council.

Can my right hon. Friend tell me when he has seen the hon. Member for Edinburgh, East (Mr. Willis) not shocked?

asked the Secretary of State for Scotland which local authorities in the financial year 1962–63 were in receipt of Exchequer equalisation, and or general grants which represented 33·3 per cent. or less of their relevant local expenditure; and what was the highest percentage a local authority received in grant in relation to its local relevant expenditure.

In 1962–63, the Burghs of Millport and Rothesay received less than 33·3 per cent. of their relevant local expenditure by way of Exchequer equalisation grant and general grant. The highest proportion was 91·2 per cent. in Zetland.

Does the Secretary of State recall that on 8th July he told me that £477,000 of Exchequer grant had been returned from Scottish local authorities? Is he really proud to be the first Secretary of State to filch nearly £½ million of grant from Scottish authorities and return it to the Treasury? Is he further aware that the anomalies created by the revaluation in 1961 affected Kirkcaldy and Dumbarton, as well as Millport and the other town he mentioned, quite considerably? Will he take steps to ensure that the assessors in Scotland have consultations before the next revaluation in order to agree on a uniform base line on which to operate the new valuation, and thus remove the unjust anomalies of the last base line?

I know that the hon. Gentleman appreciates the fact that it is not the duty of the Secretary of State to interfere directly with the revaluations, and I know his particular feeling about the problem of Kirkcaldy. As for the first part of the hon. Gentleman's supplementary question, the money was not stolen back by me; the local authorities concerned decided not to put up their rents in accordance with the wishes of the House of Commons, and therefore lost the money.

But is it not the fact that £½ million has been sent back to the Treasury which was already attracted to Scotland? The right hon. Gentleman is prepared to send it back.

The local authorities apparently did not want to keep it.

asked the Secretary of State for Scotland why he will not intro duce legislation to give himself power to investigate the removal of elector's names from the voters roll by electoral registration officers.

I do not consider that a Minister should have such a power.

Has the attention of the Secretary of State been drawn to the recent case in Kinross and West Perth where the secretary of the local Unionist Association submitted to the electoral registration officer a large list of names of people whom he claimed were dead, including two well-known Scottish Nationalists who were very much alive, with the result that their names were removed from the electoral register after the register had been publishd? Is it not deplorable that this kind of thing could happen, and is it not a matter that the Secretary of State ought to investigate?

I do not agree with the hon. Gentleman. I have seen the papers in this case, but a power to investigate surely implies a power to interfere with the duties of electoral registration officers. Such interference has always been excluded by the Representation of the People Act, and I do not think that Parliament would accept it now.

These people had their names removed for no reason at all except the intervention of the Unionist Party. Does not the Secretary of State feel that he ought to investigate the matter, as there must otherwise remain a suspicion that the electoral roll can be open to undue influence by political parties?

I do not think that there is the slightest evidence of any undue interference. I do not know what the other two persons' political beliefs may have been—perhaps they were paired off—but I think it right that the preparation of these rolls should be in the hands of the electoral registration officer, and it is his job to check the information he gets.

asked the Secretary of State for Scotland whether he is aware that the uptake of the three vitamin welfare foods, orange juice, cod liver oil and vitamins A and D tablets, whether free or sold at cost price, has fallen by over two-thirds in the last eight years; what estimate he has made of the number of poorer families who would benefit from increased consumption of these welfare foods; and what steps he is taking to increase their consumption.

I am aware that the uptake of welfare foods is now about one-third of what it was in 1956, but it has recently been rising. To estimate the number of families who would benefit from increased consumption of welfare foods, would require a large-scale special survey. As regards the third part of the Question, advice on the value of welfare foods is regularly given by doctors, health visitors and local authority clinics, information about their availability is displayed by local authorities at suitable locations, and the National Assistance Board distributes special leaflets about the arrangements under which they may be supplied free.

Is not the right hon. Gentleman aware that the fall in the consumption of these units came after June, 1961, with the imposition of extra charges and that in the British Medical Journal of Saturday, 25th July, in examining this problem a Glasgow doctor said that the increase in rickets was not due, as has been alleged, to coloured immigration or to unsatisfactory families but was primarily due to the reduction in the consumption of vitamin foods? Is the right hon. Gentleman aware that this was the direct consequence not of medical activity but of a political decision by the Government of which the right hon. Gentleman is a member and for which therefore he has responsibility? Will he look again at this question of free distribution of vitamin foods for children?

As I have already said, when Dr. Arneil's analysis is completed we will certainly look into it and see what special steps are needed.

Does the analysis include cases, which are alleged, of blatant deficiencies? This is an important matter, as the right hon. Gentleman must recognise, particularly relevant to an earlier Answer which he gave to one of my hon. Friends.

I cannot answer for Dr. Arnteil on that, but I know that he is very much aware of the problem and I expect that he will give useful information about it.