§ CAPTAIN ELLICE (St. Andrews Burghs)To ask the President of the Board of Trade whether his attention has been called to the amount of harbour accommodation at Anstruther, Fife, for meeting the present requirements, and to the fact that fishing boats from all parts of Scotland are hampered in their operations, and frequently suffer damage, owing to the congested state of that harbour; and whether he will instruct the Board of Trade Harbour Department to send an engineer to Anstruther, Fife, to examine and report as to the best means of providing increased harbour accommodation there.
(Answered by Mr. Gerald Balfour.) My attention has not been called to the insufficiency of the harbour accommodation to meet present requirements, and the Board of Trade are not in a position to appoint an engineer to advise upon an increase of accommodation; that is a matter which should be undertaken by those who are interested locally, but if a scheme is prepared which requires legislative or other sanction, the Department will be glad to give it full consideration.