HC Deb 14 July 1959 vol 609 c192
16. Mr. G. M. Thomson

asked the Secretary of State for Scotland what consultations he has had with the Voluntary Service Overseas Organisation with a view to encouraging young secondary school-leavers to undertake social service in Asia and Africa

Mr. Maclay

My Department has supplied this organisation with information to enable them to approach schools and education authorities in Scotland.

Mr. Thomson

Is the Secretary of State aware that there appears to be almost no Scottish participation in this imaginative and worth-while scheme? Will he not consider making grants to this organisation for the work and for encouraging particularly junior secondary school boys in Scotland to take part in this scheme?

Mr. Maclay

I agree that this is a most interesting and imaginative scheme, but I understand that the organisation which makes these arrangements has always desired that it should be a voluntary scheme unaided by State grants. But I am doing what I can to help to bring information about it to local authorities in Scotland.