asked the Secretary of State for Scotland if he will now list the additional allocations to each education authority for primary school building.

My right hon. Friend has asked education authorities for their proposals by 1st March. He will allocate the extra £4 million which is being made available for primary school building starting in 1972–73 when he has considered the projects that are proposed.

I thank the hon. Gentleman for the Answer, but would he not agree that the amount of the financial allocation which local education authorities in Scotland have been led to believe they are likely to receive only tinkers with the problem? What response has he had from education authorities about this matter?

I think that most education authorities are very glad indeed to have the extra finance made available to them. Although the hon. Gentleman says that the financial allocation tinkers with the problem, I remind him that it is additional to the allocations made only about a year ago by the previous Government.

Will all the schools built prior to and in 1903 be replaced from the extra money being made available to local authorities?

It is impossible to say because the condition of schools varies, apart from the date when they were built. Some old schools are in a very sound condition and have been modernised and improved. I cannot give any assurance, but the extra money will certainly make things easier for local authorities in Scotland.

asked the Secretary of State for Scotland if he is now in a position to make a statement giving details of his discussions with local authorities on housing subsidies.

Discussions started on 8th January, when my hon. Friend the Under-Secretary of State for Development met the local authority associations. At this stage I have no further statement to make.

Is the right hon. Gentleman aware that there is great concern in Scotland about the lack of information on the Government's financial policy for housing? We learn more from the Press than we learn in the House. When is the Working Party likely to report and what are its precise terms of reference? The right hon. Gentleman owes it to the House to give this information.

I learned from my hon. Friend the Under-Secretary of State for Development that the meeting on 8th January covered a wide range of subjects. The Working Party will report as soon as it can. On the question of information, I can only say that hon. Members opposite must be either illiterate or deaf because I have given replies on this subject on at least three occasions in the last two months.

Does the Secretary of State intend to consult the new town development corporations? Does he not recognise that if there is a decrease in housing subsidies it will hit very hard the tenants of houses in new towns where they have not the rates to fall back on?

That confirms what I have just said. In three replies in the last two months to Questions in the House I have categorically stated that the present subsidies are to be not reduced but redirected. The aim is not to reduce the present amount. I shall be having consultations with the new town corporations.

Does not the right hon. Gentleman realise that local authorities in Scotland are alarmed that £10 or £20 million is to be cut from the general subsidy? That is the import of the last statement on the matter. Does not the right hon. Gentleman understand that it is very important that a White Paper on this subject should be published at once or as soon as possible? Approvals and submissions to the Department are falling at a catastrophic rate because local authorities are alarmed by the right hon. Gentleman's proposals.

The proceedings and the discussions are, of course, confidential, but the information which the hon. Gentleman has given is wrong, for there is no proposal to cut the present amount of housing subsidies. That is the savings which it is intended will be obtained by the mid-seventies. If the previous system had continued the amount would have escalated, as hon. and right hon. Gentlemen opposite should know, and they would, undoubtedly, have changed it. As regards—

What about a White Paper?

As for the suggestion about a White Paper, I will consider it when the present negotiations, which are confidential, are completed. They will be carried out as soon as possible. There was no sign, when my hon. Friend had those discussions last week, of any alarm among local authorities.

Mr. Gourlay—Question No. 3.

Before I ask my Question, Mr. Speaker, perhaps I may be allowed to extend to you my warmest congratulations on your election to the Chair. As a former Deputy Speaker, I think I can appreciate better than most Members the onerous task you have now undertaken, and I wish you good health in performing your duties in the future.

Hear, hear.

asked the Secretary of State for Scotland what representations he has received from Burntisland Town Council regarding the future of Rossend Castle; and if he will make a statement.

My right hon. Friend has received no formal representations from the Town Council. Rossend Castle is listed as a building of special architectural or historic interest, and any proposals for demolishing it or altering its character will be subject to the procedures laid down in Part V of the Town and Country Planning (Scotland) Act, 1969.

Is the Minister aware that Rossend Castle was technically demolished, and would have been actually demolished but for an engineering fault in the equipment, before the Minister was given the power by Parliament to invoke these powers which he has now been given in practice? Is he not ashamed to have allowed himself to be pressurised by his political friends and other oddities in Scotland to preserve everything Mary Queen of Scots looked at or Bonnie Prince Charlie sat on, and will he now respect the wishes of the majority of the people of Burntisland and withdraw this Order from this crumbling ruin?

I do not think that either Mary Queen of Scots or Bonnie Prince Charlie was involved in this building, but I would say to the hon. Gentleman that the only purpose of the action which my right hon. Friend has taken with regard to this building is to ensure its protection for such time as is necessary to establish whether there is the possibility of a viable scheme to preserve it. That is the sole purpose of the action taken.

Mr. Brewis—Question No. 4.

Before I ask my Question, Mr. Speaker, may I reciprocate from this side the good wishes to you expressed by the hon. Member for Kirkcaldy Burghs (Mr. Gourlay)?

asked the Secretary of State for Scotland how many probation officers are in service in Scotland; and how this compares with 1968.

Since local authorities in Scotland assumed responsibility for probation in November, 1969, as part of their responsibility for social work, no social workers have been designated as probation officers. In December, 1968, there were 279 probation officers.

Is my hon. Friend satisfied with the working of the Social Work Act, and that there are sufficient properly qualified people to do the work of the courts now that the Act is in operation?

There have been difficulties in some areas due to staff shortages, but these are being gradually overcome by measures which have been taken to increase the number of trained social workers. Over 1,000 full-time social workers are now employed by local authorities, but no central record is kept of how many actually undertake probation as part of their duties.

Would the Under-Secretary please give us some indication of when he will activate that Section of the Act which will bring into operation children's hearings?

I indicated previously that it was our intention that the new arrangements would start at about the beginning of April, and it is my hope and intention to adhere to this programme.

The Minister has mentioned recruiting. Will he keep this point before him, because one of the problems just now is that so many of the social workers, particularly probation officers, have such very heavy case loads that it does not allow them to use their talents and training to the best? We need a great increase in the number of trained social workers, and I should like to hear from him that he will in future take steps to increase the number of trained people in this field.

I fully accept what the hon. Gentleman said, but I think he knows that the Government have indicated their concern for expanding social work by the fact that it is the fastest growing social service in Scotland at present so far as finance is concerned.

asked the Secretary of State for Scotland what action he is taking to secure adequate electricity supplies during the winter months.

I understand from the Electricity Boards that supplies should be adequate to meet the estimated maximum demand in Scotland, assuming normal winter weather and normal working in the industry.

I am very glad to hear that reply. Would my hon. Friend consider publishing the rules to which people work when they are working to rule, so that the public can judge whether men are working to rule or are on strike?

I agree with my hon. Friend that a certain amount of puzzlement was to be noticed among the public as to what were those rules, in particular. I can tell him that, due to the results of the work-to-rule which took place last month, we are, with the Electricity Boards concerned, looking into emergency arrangements necessary for maintaining supplies at times like that.

asked the Secretary of State for Scotland if he will make a statement on the number of new factories he has been invited to open in Scotland in 1971.

I have so far received four invitations to ceremonies concerned with the opening of new factories in 1971, three of which I have been able to accept.

Would the right hon. Gentleman not agree that had it not been for the effective regional policies of the last Administration he would not be performing at those functions? Would he, in addition, while looking forward to carrying out those pleasant duties, not give more attention to the present series of closures and partial closures of factories in Scotland and try to reverse this trend?

I would not necessarily accept the first point which the hon. Gentleman made—

Why not?

—because the policies of the last four years have led to extremely high unemployment in Scotland this winter, starting with a figure of 93,000 a few days after we took office—in July, in midsummer. It is for this reason that we are changing the policies in order to get the longer-term prospects better.

Is the Secretary of State aware that in my constituency there is an advance factory which was completed by the last Government and which was ready for occupation in July, although there are very few signs that there will be any incoming tenant for it? Will he give me some assurance that it will not remain a mock of the good endeavours of the last Government, or an indication of the failure of this Government to attract industry to Scotland?

Is the hon. Member aware of another factory sitting idle in my constituency—and sitting idle for three years—and that I was busy trying to get the last Government to do something about it? Already, in the last six months, we have announced new policies which we are bringing into effect as soon as we can, with the assistance of this House where legislation is required, in order to get the growth and improvement which, I hope, both sides of the House wish to see.

Is the Secretary of State aware that we gave him a legacy of about 55,000 new jobs through I.D.C.s which had been approved, and which it is too late for him now to refuse, when unemployment is rising, and rising seriously, in Scotland, and that none of those policies he has announced is doing anything but worsen the situation?

The right hon. Gentleman gave us a legacy of 93,000 unemployed in Scotland in midsummer. As regards I.D.C.s, the I.D.C.s in Scotland within 12 months from June, 1969, to June, 1970, before we came into office, reflected a reduction of 34 per cent. in jobs against the previous 12 months.

asked the Secretary of State for Scotland for how many new roads in Scotland he has been invited to perform the opening ceremony in 1971; and if he will make a statement.

Completion of four new trunk road or bridge schemes of sufficient importance to justify opening ceremonies of this kind are envisaged this year and my right hon. Friend is likely to be available to open two of them. In addition, he has so far been invited to open one new local authority scheme.

Does not the Minister agree that this is another highlight in the progressive road-building programme followed by the Labour Government? Will he assure the House that this progress will be maintained?

If the hon. Gentleman looks into this, he will find that virtually all these programmes were set out originally in the White Paper produced by the last Conservative Government in 1963. The only thing that makes me slightly sorry is that the previous Government were not able to get on with the programme faster than they did.

Will the Minister tell us whether one of the new roads to be opened in 1971 will be the Ayr bypass? If either the Secretary of State or the Minister performs the opening ceremony, will a promise be given to the people in that area that the bypass will become a dual carriageway road within 12 months?

I very much hope that the road mentioned by the hon. Member will be one of those to be opened this year. The type of road that is being built was laid down by his right hon. Friend before I came to office and it is quite impossible for me to alter it at this stage.

Will my hon. Friend tell the House whether it is his intention to organise an opening ceremony for the Edinburgh—Perth motorway when it is completed one year sooner than planned by the Labour Government'?

I certainly hope that it will now be possible to achieve the completion of the M90 motorway to Perth in 1975 instead of 1976 as was proposed by the previous Administration, and I also hope that there will be an opening ceremony appropriate to the occasion.

asked the Secretary of State for Scotland what study he is making for the use of industrial and military sports facilities by the whole community.

The use by the general public of industrial sports facilities in Scotland is being considered by the Sports Council for Scotland, and the Government have been examining the possibility of extending the public use of Service sports facilities in Great Britain as a whole. The extent to which such sports facilities are made available to the general public has been increasing and I hope to see a continued improvement.

When will the examination be complete?

This matter is being constantly considered. It is not a question of a particular report coming forward. I can assure the hon. Gentleman that we shall take all reasonable steps to ensure that facilities are made available to as wide a section of the public as possible.

asked the Secretary of State for Scotland what study he is making of drug-taking among school pupils.

The subcommittee of the Consultative Committee of Medical Officers of Health, whose report on drug misuse in Scotland was issued last May, has been reconvened and will keep this matter under review.

I should like to thank the Secretary of State for allowing me to discuss this subject in depth with his senior medical advisers and civil servants, but what is meant by "under constant review"?

What is meant is that we have decided to reconvene this committee so that advice will be made available to us on which action can be taken whenever appropriate.

asked the Secretary of State for Scotland what reply he has now received from local authorities in regard to his inquiry about outstanding housing needs in Scotland; and how many houses were completed in the last quarter of 1970.

So far I have received replies from 141 local authorities in response to my request for information about their housing lists and housing needs, and these are being analysed. Provisionally, about 10,500 houses were completed in the last quarter of 1970.

Will the Secretary of State say how the figure for 1970 compares with that for 1969? Will he also say why the previous analyses which were made of Glasgow's housing needs, particularly those in my division of Govan, were not utilised in the inquiries which he has instituted? This would have helped to speed up the solution to the abominable housing conditions in Glasgow.

The figures for December can be only provisional, and there is another Question on the first point put by the hon. Gentleman. It looks as though in 1970 there is likely to have been a record for allocations of houses in Glasgow and also a record for improvements of older housing. We are aiming at the best combination of such programmes with house building, to provide housing where and in the form in which it is most needed.

Can we take it from what the Secretary of State has said about 1970 being another record year—thanks to the last Labour Government—that there will be the same devotion to the achievement of records as the Under-Secretary of State promised on the last day of the Session before Christmas, namely, a target of 50,000? Will he include that in his White Paper?

No such target was given in my hearing, and that will no doubt be looked up in the OFFICIAL REPORT. There was a considerable drop in approvals and starts in house building about a year before we took office. This may have been a positive policy by right hon. and hon. Gentlemen opposite. But we certainly regard as important the other parts of the housing programme, namely, slum clearance, improvements and allocation of houses, as well as house building.

asked the Secretary of State for Scotland if he will make a statement on the functions of the Economic Advisory Section in the Scottish Office.

asked the Secretary of State for Scotland if he will publish the names of his economic advisers.

I draw, for economic advice, upon a wide range of sources: economists employed in the various departments of the Scottish Office, including those in the recently formed Economic and Statistics Unit: my Economic Consultants, a panel of Professors of Economics from the Universities of Aberdeen, Dundee, Edinburgh and Strathclyde who, together with my Consultant on industrial matters, meet monthly in St. Andrew's House; and, of course, the members of the Scottish Economic Council.

I thank the Secretary of State for his reply, but does he not concur that what is wrong with the Scottish economy is not the inadequacy or the quality of the economic advice offered to him but his insufficiency in carrying out the good advice? Will he do something about the malaise into which the Scottish economy is getting, and not present to the Scottish people a series of petty and spurious excuses?

I and my right hon. and hon. Friends are doing something about the malaise in which we found the Scottish economy on arrival in office. That is the reason for the changes, amongst others, announced at the end of October. We are continuing a review of the previous system so as to avoid the stagnation and high unemployment which we found on arrival in office.

When my right hon. Friend makes his economic studies, will he consider by what process of planning his predecessor was able to promise the people of Scotland 60,000 extra jobs by 1970 and succeed in losing 82,000?

I certainly am not above trying to learn from other people's mistakes, but I intend to concentrate on the future.

Can the Secretary of State tell us when we shall see this improvement?

I hope during 1971.

Will the Secretary of State agree that there are frequently occasions upon which the degree of squeeze which may be appropriate to England is wholly inappropriate to Scotland? Are his advisers considering proposing various economic and financial measures to suit the differences between the English and Scottish economies?

These matters and others are all considered by the advisers, and I receive their advice. There is no shortage of advice, but, as the right hon. Gentleman who preceded me probably found, it sometimes conflicts.

asked the Secretary of State for Scotland if he will make a statement on the level of the Government's financial support to the Scottish Council, Development and Industry.

asked the Secretary of State for Scotland what plans he has to set up a national body to co-ordinate approaches by the increasing number of Scottish organisations, to attract foreign industrialists to Scotland.

My hon. Friend the Under-Secretary of State for Development is discussing with the Scottish Council and other bodies concerned how the arrangements for promoting Scotland as an industrial location can be extended and made more effective. I am considering what Government assistance might be given towards the cost of a satisfactory scheme for this purpose.

I thank the Secretary of State for his reply, but does he not agree that there are dangers in a body like the Scottish Council, which is independent and has acted as a valuable sounding board for policy, being brought too much into the governmental orbit? We do not want the situation to arise from this that the Government withdraw from their rightful rôle of attracting new industry to Scotland.

I believe that this is a partnership in which the Government have a rôle to play and in which a promotional body for Scotland also has a rôle, working in association with the Government, and it is with that in view that these discussions are taking place.

I welcome the plans mentioned by my right hon. Friend, but will he assure the House that the regional and local work which has supplied so much of the dynamic in the past will not be stifled by any new agency but will be more productively canalised?

My hon. Friend has hit on another of the matters which must be resolved. We wish to make the best use of the regional efforts and at the same time to make sure that they are co-ordinated, do not compete with each other and do not conflict.

asked the Secretary of State for Scotland what proposals the Highlands and Islands Development Board have made to him involving changes of policy towards the development of manufacturing industry; and what reply he has sent.

The Board has not proposed any fundamental changes of policy towards manufacturing industry in the Highlands. However, it has proposed that it should build advance factories and my right hon. Friend has now authorised it to undertake a limited programme of this kind.

I thank the hon. Gentleman for that reply. Has his right hon. Friend authorised the building of the full programme which was recommended of some 16 advance factories in the Highlands? Could he say whether the lack of change in fundamental approach means that the present Board and Government endorse the broad strategy of concentrating on large-scale industrial developments in the three areas of Lochaber, the Moray Firth and Wick and Thurso?

In regard to the first part of the question, we are now urgently discussing with the Board the choice of locations for the first advance factories in the programme and also the number that it will be appropriate to authorise in the first place. On the second part of the question, the new Board and the present Government endorse the work of the previous Board, and although I have not yet had an opportunity of meeting the new Board, when I do so I hope to discuss with them the matters mentioned by the hon. Gentleman.

The hon. Gentleman will be aware that his statement will bring great pleasure to the Highlands of Scotland. Has he or the Board received any inquiries in connection with advance factories of this type?

The Board has found from time to time that in its opinion it would be valuable if it had power to build advance factories, and although it has not had any inquiries with specific references to the announcement which I have just made, it no doubt will bear them in mind in the future.

asked the Secretary of State for Scotland what proposals he has received from the Highlands and Islands Development Board relating to the improvement of land use in the Highlands and Islands; and what reply he has sent.

My right hon. Friend has received no formal proposals of this kind from the Board.

Is the hon. Gentleman aware that there are conflicts between the interests in different land uses in the Highlands and that the exclusivity of the sporting estate is much resented? Has he any proposals for improving the land use, particularly to allow more people to use those facilities and to improve the agricultural use of the hills and uplands in that area?

This is a matter on which it is primarily for the Board to produce proposals. As the hon. Gentleman knows, it has been conducting land use studies in the Strath of Kildonan and on the Isle of Mull. We are looking forward to receiving from the Board the results of those studies.

Is my hon. Friend aware that many people hope that the Board will in fact use its powers in regard to land, since there is little point in having teeth if you keep them on the mantelpiece?

No doubt the new Board will bear this matter in mind. I know that the new Board is determined to make a real and worthwhile contribution to develop the Highlands.

asked the Secretary of State for Scotland if he will state the total amount granted in rate rebates, and the number of rate rebates granted in the financial year ended 14th May, 1970 in the county of Fife and in Kirkcaldy, respectively.

As the Answer contains a number of figures I will, with permission, circulate it in the OFFICIAL REPORT.

Is the Minister aware that there are many anomalies in administration, particularly in regard to the rate rebate scheme, as between different local authorities in Scotland? Would he consider issuing a standard

asked the Secretary of State for Scotland how many ratepayers claimed rebates during the past year on grounds of financial hardship; and what is the average amount granted to each.

In 1969–70 rate rebate was granted to about 90,800 domestic

As the hon. Gentleman knows, the income level for rate rebate was raised fairly recently by the previous Government. In regard to anomalies between areas, I have had no representations that this is so; but if the hon. Gentleman has any specific cases which he would like to raise with me, I shall be happy to look at them.

Would the Minister consider issuing a circular to local authorities asking them to deal with the matter of rate rebate and rent rebate at the same time when application for assistance is made, since many people find it difficult to distinguish between rents and rates? Is not the situation of the poor at present quite ridiculous when one considers the number of applications which they have to make to a myriad of authorities?

I am sympathetic to the hon. Gentleman's point, but it is necessary at present for these matters to be dealt with separately since rent rebate and rate rebate apply to different categories of people and tenants. I hope, however, that when the Government's new housing policy comes into effect, there will be less difference between the categories involved and that at that time it may be possible to amalgamate some of the administration.

As the amount of the rebate is relatively small, though welcome, and in view of the acute hardship which rate increases cause old folk living on small fixed incomes, would my hon. Friend consider making a general rebate to all pensioners?

That would be quite a different question and would have to be considered in the course of a general review of social services. As for the effect on ratepayers generally of the increased costs of local authority work, this is one of the reasons, I think, why the previous Administration introduced the rate rebate scheme.

asked the Secretary of State for Scotland what estimate he has made of the shortage of teachers in technical subjects in the county of Lanark that will result from the raising of the school-leaving age in 1972.

It is not possible for my right hon. Friend to make such estimates since he cannot predict the relative success of particular authorities in recruiting additional teachers. He is, however, asking the Education Authority to let the hon. Member have such information as it has about the demand for additional teachers of technical subjects.

Will the Under-Secretary of State not recognise that at present Lanarkshire is short of about 30 technical teachers? Is he aware that some of the pupils in some areas are not taking 0-level examinations and higher certificates because of the shortage of teachers? Will he also recognise that by 1972 there will be greater emphasis on technical education? Although it is partly a matter for the local authorities, does he not think that it is time that the Government made their own plans?

I was made fully aware by Lanarkshire authority during my recent visit of the severe problems in this respect. This is one of the reasons that we are making every endeavour to ensure a fairer distribution of teachers throughout Scotland.

asked the Secretary of State for Scotland if he is aware of the continuing decline in the population of the North-East of Scotland through migration; and what steps he proposes to reverse this trend.

The rate of decline in the population of North-East Scotland has slackened since 1967 and over the last two years the population has been virtually stable. My right hon. Friend has told the local authorities that he will support them in pursuing the strategy and main objectives of the Gaskin Report.

I thank my hon. Friend for that reply. The statistics are extremely confusing. It would be a great help to the public discussion that goes on in the North-East on this subject if my right hon. Friend could publish the statistics on this matter and also his own long-term aims to stop rural depopulation.

I will see what can be done to help my hon. Friend with his request for statistics; I agree that it is necessary for people to have them. In regard to the North-East in general, I wish to pay tribute to the most impressive work done by the North-East of Scotland Development Association and also to the work carried out by the local authorities in the area which have made a fine effort to pull together at this time.

Will the Minister give credit where it is due and confirm that the reason for the slacking off in migration from Scotland was the policies of the last Government? Will he not accept that bodies like the North-East of Scotland Development Association are very much concerned that the kind of economic policy being pursued by the present Government will reverse this trend and will lead us back to the old days of mass migration from the North-East of Scotland?

I do not accept the first part of the hon. Gentleman's question. The question of migration generally is a wide one, but the picture over the last five years has been of a great decrease in migration within the United Kingdom because of the fact that under the previous Government's policy it was made less attractive to go to England.

Is the Minister aware that successive studies have shown that our problems of migration in the North-East are fairly standard, with similar trends throughout the rest of the country, but that our difficulty has lain in succeeding in attracting new immigrants into the region? It is in that context that my hon. and gallant Friend the Member for Aberdeenshire, West (Lieut.-Colonel Colin Mitchell) is so welcome in his area.

I agree with what my hon. Friend said at the beginning of his question. This is why I am so encouraged at the efforts being made by people in the North-East to encourage others to come into the area and to help the situation.

Would it not be only fair for the hon. Gentleman to take back all he said in 1966? He then said that the migration problem would become worse, instead of which it has become better. The fact is that we managed to halve the migration rate. Why does he not seek to get everybody's co-operation in Scotland to improve the situation? Has there been any worsening of the trend?

I certainly hope, as would the right hon. Gentleman, that the migration figures could not conceivably have got worse than they were in 1967, which was the worst year for a very long time. I welcome very much the fact that they have now got better and I only wish that the unemployment position were better, too.

asked the Secretary of State for Scotland if he is aware of the recommendation of the Gaskin Report that the location in the North East of some of the offices of Central Government should be given serious consideration; and what action he proposes.

I am well aware of the facilities which the North East of Scotland, and other areas, can offer for additional public sector employment. I can assure my hon. and gallant Friend that I will make sure these facilities are given full consideration whenever locations are being decided for new or transferred Government work.

I thank my right hon. Friend for his reply. It would appear that this is an opportunity for creating employment by direct Government initiative, as opposed to encouraging industrialists and others to bring their goods into our part of the world. As it is very much in the gift of Government to take these measures, I hope that he will be extremely strong in pressing these points over the next few months.

The recent White Paper on the reorganisation of central Government stated that we intend to pursue a policy of dispersing Government offices from London. My hon. and gallant Friend will be aware that I was a member of the Government who decided to move the National Savings Bank to Scotland, so I know what can be done.

In view of this comparative success in the North-East, has the Secretary of State any intention, following the precedents of previous Conservative Governments, to de-schedule any part of the area and exempt it from the advantages of the development area grants, or whatever other benefits his Government may achieve?

I am considering it in the light of the Gaskin Report, which we are not sure that the previous Government accepted. It proposed two growth areas, and there was some doubt whether the previous Government acknowledged that as a method. I am studying the needs of the area and what can be done in future in the light of that Report and other advice.

asked the Secretary of State for Scotland what is the percentage of motor accidents where impaired vision was a contributory cause.

I regret that this information is not available.

Would it not be possible for my hon. Friend to find this out? The increase in the number of accidents is a matter for concern. May it not well be that, as people grow older, their eyesight should be tested in the same way as the mechanical facilities of their cars are tested?

I am sympathetic to what my hon. Friend says, but this is strictly a question for my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for the Environment, who is responsible for the conditions upon which driving licences are issued. On the particular point, I think that my hon. Friend may agree that it would be difficult to expect anyone at the site of an accident to express an opinion whether the accident was due to defective eyesight in a driver concerned, as that is not assessable without a detailed medical opinion.

asked the Secretary of State for Scotland whether he is satisfied that there are in Scotland adequate facilities for research into soil structure; and if he will make a statement.

Yes, Sir. Different aspects of this research are covered by the Agricultural Colleges and Research Institutes in Scotland and there is also full and free access to information arising from research in England and Wales.

Would my hon. Friend say, in view of the Report published today affecting England and Wales, "Modern Farming and the Soil", which has shown a great need to increase drainage, whether an adequate survey has been made of drainage requirements in Scotland? Second, also in view of what this Report says—that soils cannot be expected to maintain the intensive farming systems imposed on them because of the squeeze on farmers' incomes—is he satisfied that he is right to acquiesce in the British Sugar Corporation's closure of the sugar beet factory at Cupar?

I agree with my hon. Friend about the question of drainage. On the second part of his question, about a break crop in Scotland, I would remind him that sugar beet is not the only break crop in Scotland; temporary grass is a major crop. Also the English Report says that there are problems of soil structure in beet-growing areas in England.

What conclusions has the Scottish Office drawn from the parlous situation of soil over-use in Northamptonshire, North Oxfordshire and other English counties?

This is what the question was about. The Report which my hon. Friend mentioned has implications for Scotland. We shall be studying them in that light.

asked the Secretary of State for Scotland what increase has taken place in the last three years in the amount of fish landed by the Scottish Inshore Fishing Fleet; and if he will make a statement.

As the reply contains a number of figures, I will, with permission, circulate them in the OFFICIAL REPORT. There has over the period been a 23 per cent. increase in landings by weight and 26 per cent. by value.

In view of the fact that we are now reaping the benefit of the extension of fishery limits which took place during the last Conservative Administration, would my hon. Friend ask his right hon. Friend to publish the figures of landings in the countries of the European Economic Community during the same period, so that we can judge whether their catches, in their territorial waters, are going up or down?

Questions of statistics in the countries of Europe are for those countries, but in relation to the Common Market we have entirely reserved our position on fisheries and have made representations to the Common Market about its own policy.

In view of these satisfactory figures which the Minister has reported, would he not agree that they show how right were the previous Government in increasing the grants available for the acquisition of new fishing vessels, and how wrong was the decision of the present Government, taken apparently for doctrinaire reasons, to align fishing with manufacturing industry in cutting those grants by 10 per cent.?

There is another Question on this point on the Order Paper. In 1966, in dealing with the question of investment grants, the hon. Gentleman's Government also dealt with fishing questions at the same time. What we did was a similar thing in the other direction.

asked the Secretary of State for Scotland when he intends to lay before Parliament his proposals for the reform of local government finance in Scotland.

It is proposed that a Green Paper extending to Great Britain as a whole will be presented later this year.

May I take it, in view of the right hon. Gentleman's protestations in opposition, that this Green Paper will precede a paper on the Wheatley reforms of local government in Scotland and the Government's comments on them? Since the right hon. Gentleman promised that White Paper on local government reform in Scotland very soon—I believe this month—may I take it that the Green Paper will be published within the next few days?

Last February, in the debate on the Wheatley Report in the Scottish Grand Committee, the hon. Gentleman will remember, his right hon. Friend informed me, after I had pressed him two or three times, that this study on finance had begun, and that a Green Paper of this kind would be published. He then said that it would be published some time after the White Paper. When we came to office we found that the financial study had gone so far that it was right for us to allow it to be completed. My White Paper on the reform of local government should be available soon.

Very disappointing.

It is disappointing as a result of the programmes of the last Government.

asked the Secretary of State for Scotland what additional money he is providing for promotional campaigns in 1971 to attract new industry to West Central Scotland.

I welcome the initiatives being taken to establish a promotional organisation in West Central Scotland and the response which local authorities and other bodies have so far made to these initiatives. It is right that the finance and other resources for these regional efforts should come from the regions concerned, but I am considering what Government assistance might be given to measures for the promotion of Scotland as a whole which could be linked with these regional efforts.

Is it not the case that neither of those Answers adds anything to the information which we already have and that it is important that we know how much money is involved in this—just as important as it is to know how the financial reforms in local government will affect the structural reforms?

I answered an earlier Question about the possibility of finance for the Scottish Council from the point of view of Scotland as a whole. From the point of view of Scotland West, I take this opportunity to congratulate Mr. Robin MacLellan, President of the Glasgow Chamber of Commerce, and the Lord Provost, Sir Donald Liddle, on their initiative in this matter and on the success which they have already had.

asked the Secretary of State for Scotland what is the number of primary school classes in Lanarkshire with more than 40 pupils.

I am asking the education authority to send the latest available information to the hon. Member.

In being told that the local authority concerned will send me the details, are we seeing a new trend on the part of Conservative Administrations? Is the hon. Gentleman aware that local authorities sometimes take as long as 11 weeks to reply to letters from hon. Members? Does he not feel that when an hon. Member tables a Question in this House he should be given a reply by the Minister responsible?

The recruitment of teachers is the responsibility of the local authority concerned and that is why I am asking it to send the latest available information to the hon. Gentleman. I am sure that there will be no undue delay.

asked the Secretary of State for Scotland if he will refuse applications made to him by education authorities for him to take steps to relieve them of their obligation to raise the school-leaving age to 16 years.

The Secretary of State has no power under existing legislation to approve any such applications.

Has the hon. Genleman forgotten that in 1963 the then Conservative Government decided to raise the school-leaving age in Scotland to 16? Now that the Conservatives are back in power, when is that promise likely to be honoured? Now that the hon. Gentleman and his colleagues have a chance to honour it, what do they intend to do? Will he resist, when he starts doing something about it, any appeals that may be made by local authorities to get out of accepting the Government's will in this matter? May we be assured that such authorities will be told that they must follow Government policy?

I indicated at a recent meeting in Glasgow that it was the Government's present intention to go ahead with arrangements for raising the school-leaving age by the due date. It is not fair, therefore, for hon. Gentlemen opposite to make accusations on this question of the school-leaving age when, as they know from previous Answers, that it is anticipated that there will be a shortage of more than 3,000 secondary school teachers by the planned date for raising the school-leaving age.

On a point of order. I beg to give notice that I shall seek to raise this matter of the school-leaving age on the Adjournment at the earliest possible opportunity.

asked the Secretary of State for Scotland what further representations he has received from the Scottish inshore fishing industry regarding current negotiations with the European Economic Community.

My right hon. Friends the Secretary of State and the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster received a deputation from the Scottish inshore fishermen's associations on 15th December.

While my hon. Friend may not have received any further representations in the meantime, that does not mean that the inshore fishing industry is satisfied. On the contrary, it believes that the present E.E.C. plans would not merely cause the industry great difficulty but would mean its death within a couple of years. May we be given specific examples of the care that is being taken, rather than general assurances?

I am entirely aware of the concern that is felt within the inshore fishing industry and I repeat my assurance that we have entirely reserved our position about fisheries. I am sure that my hon. Friend will not expect me to declare our negotiating position in advance while these difficult negotiations are going on.

Why not?

Is the hon. Gentleman aware that there is resentment growing in Scotland about the possible effects of our joining the E.E.C.? Will he seek to obtain Scottish opinion not only about the fishing industry but about, for example, the coal and steel industries in relation to the future of the people of Scotland should we join the Community?

The Question relates to fishing. I trust that the hon. Gentleman heard me twice give an assurance about our negotiating position in relation to fisheries. I trust that he is not so naive as to think that we could declare the exact details of our negotiating position in advance.

Does my hon. Friend realise that the best way to solve this difficulty and at the same time to give protection to our fishing industry would be to keep out of the Common Market altogether and to abandon the negotiations?

Yes. Another way is to negotiate.

asked the Minister for the Civil Service if he will make a further statement on the Central Policy Review Staff.

I have nothing to add to the reply which my right hon. Friend the Home Secretary gave to the hon. Member for Manchester, Wythenshaw (Mr. Alfred Morris) on 17th December.—[Vol. 808, c. 446.]

Is the hon. Gentleman aware that a number of constitutional matters arise as a result of the setting up of the Central Policy Review Staff? Will he at least undertake to keep the House fully informed and not to apply secrecy to this important new development? When shall we be told how many members of this staff will be dealing with matters concerning economic policy? May we be given information about further appointments that are being made?

I accept that there are important implications arising from this development and I undertake to see that the House is fully informed at the appropriate time as developments take place. It is too early yet to give the hon. Gentleman the information which he seeks in the remainder of his supplementary question.

asked the Minister for the Civil Service whether he will transfer the offices of a Government Department to Peterlee.

We shall consider Peterlee, along with other places in development areas, as a possible location for a dispersed Government office both under the study announced in the White Paper on the Reorganisation of Central Government, Cmnd. 4506, and as cases arise apart from the study.

In giving a cautious welcome to that Answer, may I ask my hon. Friend whether he is aware that the substantial incentives which were offered in the policy of the Labour Government failed to achieve the level and type of employment that the area needs? Is he aware that the policies of the present Government are exacerbating the position? Does he agree that action of the kind I am suggesting is imperative when one has a rising unemployment level of 6·5 per cent., which is the position in the area now?

I do not accept the second proposition and I assure the hon. Gentleman that areas of high unemployment will be given sympathetic consideration. I cannot, however, give a specific commitment in relation to Peterlee at this stage.

asked the Minister for the Civil Service whether he will give either actual figures or an estimate of the cost to public funds of the pay increases to higher civil servants and chairmen of nationalised boards since October, 1964.

The estimated cost to the end of 1970, for the higher Civil Service and chairmen of the main nationalised industry boards, is about £3½ million.

May we be told why, when these civil servants and higher-paid State employees receive a 62 per cent. increase in two-and-a-half years, this appears to the Government not to be inflationary while a 10 per cent. increase for lower-paid workers appears to be inflationary? May we be given figures of the actual increases that have taken place during this period for these employees?

I am not sure that I accept all of the hon. Gentleman's arithmetic. These increases, of course, flowed from the recommendations of the Plowden Committee, which were put forward when the Labour Party were in power, and represent increases covering a period of years. They must, therefore, be seen in that light.

Will my hon. Friend accept the relevance of my supplementary question, which is that it is excessively difficult to seek to limit an increase in pay for power workers to 10 per cent. when the heads of the industry in which these men are working receive increases in pay of seven or eight times that amount, utterly without justification?

I see the relevance of my hon. Friend's supplementary question but not its validity, because these increases cover a number of years. When one sees the matter in that light, one sees a fairer and more sensible picture.

asked the Minister for the Civil Service to what extent industrial and other civil servants are engaged on overtime; and what action he is taking to reduce such overtime.

Overtime varies from Department to Department and according to the nature and volume of the work. Individual Departments and their local managements decide what overtime is necessary; they are under standing instructions to keep it to the minimum. A number of the productivity agreements now operating in the industrial Civil Service provide for a reduction in overtime.

I thank the hon. Gentleman for that reply. Has not a committee recently been looking into the subject of overtime generally both in industry and in the Civil Service? That being so, will not the Government take action to see that overtime is cut in the services for which they are responsible?

There has been the Prices and Incomes Board Report on overtime to which the hon. Gentleman, I think, is referring. We are watching very carefully the matter as it relates to the Civil Service. We are seeking to reduce overtime. In all Departments this is the view and the policy being followed.