§ 26. Mr. Hamiltonasked the Secretary of State for Scotland if he will consider issuing the Scottish Digest of Statistics quarterly instead of half-yearly as at present.
§ Mr. N. MacphersonMy right hon. Friend is anxious to provide as much information as Parliament and the public want, but before agreeing to the hon. Member's suggestion he would wish to be thoroughly convinced that the advantage of a quarterly publication of the Digest would be commensurate with the considerable extra work and cost that would be involved.
§ Mr. HamiltonDoes that reply mean that the hon. Gentleman has the suggestion under consideration, or is he rejecting it out of hand? It is rather important that Scottish Members should have this extra information, much of which is out of date by the time we get the six-monthly document.
§ Mr. MacphersonMy right hon. Friend and I would be glad to consult with the hon. Gentleman and others concerned. We do not reject this out of hand, but I must point out to the House that it would involve a considerable amount of extra work, as the figures are not available in this form in every case.